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  • PwC and Knowledge@Wharton High School to Host Business and Financial Responsibility Training Seminar for High School Educators

    K@W: Knowledge@Wharton News and Media Room
    Knowledge@Wharton Media
    29 Apr 2013 | 12:10 pm
    San Francisco – April 29, 2013PwC US and Knowledge @ Wharton High School (KWHS) today announced that registration is open for the PwC-KWHS Seminar for High School Educators on Business and Financial Responsibility.  The financial literacy and leadership development seminar will be offered to 120 educators June 17-19 in San Francisco at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s west coast campus. These educators, including public and private high school teachers, principals, administrators and superintendents predominantly from the western United States, can apply through…

  • Research Roundup: Foreign Diversification, Social Comparisons and Consumer Identity

    Knowledge@Wharton -- Finance and Investment
    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Is investing in foreign stocks still a good strategy for offsetting risk and boosting returns in your portfolio? How do social comparisons impact the different dimensions of trust that people can have for each other? How can companies use emotional cues to convey a particular identity to consumers? Wharton professors Karen Lewis, Maurice Schweitzer and Patti Williams, respectively, examined these issues -- and what they mean for business and consumers -- in recent research papers.

  • Beth Comstock and GE: Imagining the Future

    Knowledge@Wharton -- Leadership and Change
    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Beth Comstock, a senior vice president and chief marketing officer at General Electric, thinks everyone should embrace change, accept challenges and never fear failure. It is advice that has helped her continue to grow in her career at NBC, CBS and now GE, where, among other things, she convinced the CEO to support a new slogan for the company: "imagination at work." Comstock offered her thoughts during a Wharton Leadership Lecture.

  • Saving Social Security: Why New Proposals Are Drawing Fire

    Knowledge@Wharton -- Insurance and Pensions
    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    On April 10, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which included a controversial plan to change how Social Security benefits are calculated. Rather than using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security, the President proposed switching to "chained CPI," which would take into account the possibility that when prices rise for certain goods and services, consumers buy cheaper products instead. Experts from Wharton and elsewhere weigh in on what this change -- and others -- could mean for retirees…

  • The Future of Health Care: The Prognosis Is Optimistic

    Knowledge@Wharton -- Health Economics
    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    There’s cause for optimism about the future of health care, according to panelists who discussed the topic at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013. While the panelists agreed on the enormity of the challenges posed by rising health care costs, increased demand and the need to rein in spending while still being patient-centric, all believed that the outlook for health care would be better by the end of the decade.
 
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Finance and Investment

  • Research Roundup: Foreign Diversification, Social Comparisons and Consumer Identity

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Is investing in foreign stocks still a good strategy for offsetting risk and boosting returns in your portfolio? How do social comparisons impact the different dimensions of trust that people can have for each other? How can companies use emotional cues to convey a particular identity to consumers? Wharton professors Karen Lewis, Maurice Schweitzer and Patti Williams, respectively, examined these issues -- and what they mean for business and consumers -- in recent research papers.

  • The Mysterious World of Bitcoin: Does It Have Staying Power?

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Just what exactly should we make of Bitcoin? The once-obscure digital currency has had quite a ride, with the value of a single Bitcoin soaring from $13 in January to a peak of $237 by mid-April before collapsing to $83 in a day and then recovering to around $134. The roller-coaster ride has raised many questions. Is Bitcoin a legitimate alternative currency -- an online replacement for dollars and euros, as backers claim? Or are we witnessing a giant bubble waiting to burst?

  • Still an Elusive Goal: Measuring the Impact and Success of Microfinance

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Is microfinance an effective tool for bringing people out of poverty? Despite initial success, microfinance institutions have been criticized by many studies for not delivering on their earlier promise. David Roodman, keynote speaker at the 2013 Penn Microfinance Conference, took a rigorous look at some of these studies, and concluded that the yardsticks for measuring success in the microfinance sector are more complex than people realize.

  • CDOs Are Back: Will They Lead to Another Financial Crisis?

    10 Apr 2013 | 1:19 pm
    Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), the bad boys of the financial crisis of 2008, are coming back. With the Federal Reserve committed to keeping interest rates low, investors are driving demand once again for these structured securities, which are riskier but provide more bang for the buck than safer bets such as Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds. Could CDOs wreak havoc again? According to Wharton faculty, the CDO is not an inherently flawed security, so long as it is priced correctly and properly diversifies risk.

  • How VCs Are Driving a Tech-valuation 'Feeding Frenzy'

    10 Apr 2013 | 1:19 pm
    The impressive user bases and buzz that have quickly built around some social media sites are sending the firms' valuations sky-rocketing into the billions of dollars, despite the fact that many of the businesses have yet to completely monetize themselves. But are the high valuations for Pinterest, Spotify, Airbnb and other sites a sign of a building tech bubble? Wharton experts say no, but note that a VC-led "feeding frenzy" for all things tech is creating a bull market for a certain type of start-up.
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Leadership and Change

  • Beth Comstock and GE: Imagining the Future

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Beth Comstock, a senior vice president and chief marketing officer at General Electric, thinks everyone should embrace change, accept challenges and never fear failure. It is advice that has helped her continue to grow in her career at NBC, CBS and now GE, where, among other things, she convinced the CEO to support a new slogan for the company: "imagination at work." Comstock offered her thoughts during a Wharton Leadership Lecture.

  • Using Community Libraries to Create Social Change in Rural South Asia

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    READ Global, an international non-profit that uses community libraries as a platform for creating social change in rural villages throughout India, Bhutan and Nepal, is the winner of the second annual Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize awarded to an organization that is creating social impact through leadership and innovation. Wharton administers the prize on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania. Michael Useem, director of Wharton's Center for Leadership and Change Management, recently interviewed Tina Sciabica, executive director of READ Global. (Video with transcript)

  • GE's Jeff Immelt on Leadership, Global Risk and Growth

    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    GE CEO Jeff Immelt runs a $240-billion company that operates in 160 countries. He recently sat down for a candid discussion about leadership with Wharton management professor Michael Useem at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013 in New York City. Their conversation covered themes such as competitive advantage, global risk management, public policy, mentorship, growth strategies and even the toughest decision of Immelt’s professional career.

  • The New Philanthropists: More Sophisticated, More Demanding -- and Younger

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie once said that he who dies leaving behind many millions will "pass away unwept, unhonored and unsung." That philosophy took root in much of the last century, with major philanthropists giving vast fortunes in their later years to institutions devoted to the public good. But donors today aren't taking any chances. They are integrating the practice of philanthropy into their education and flexing philanthropic muscle at a younger age than their predecessors.

  • The Cleveland Indians, Sports Agents and the Art of Negotiation

    10 Apr 2013 | 1:19 pm
    Mark Shapiro got plenty of lessons in negotiation while growing up in Baltimore, thanks to his father, Ron, a sports agent. During a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture, the elder Shapiro and his son, now president of the Cleveland Indians, talked about the qualities important for successful negotiations -- listening, learning, loyalty, respect and the willingness to give a little to get what you want. (Article with video)
 
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Insurance and Pensions

  • Saving Social Security: Why New Proposals Are Drawing Fire

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    On April 10, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which included a controversial plan to change how Social Security benefits are calculated. Rather than using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security, the President proposed switching to "chained CPI," which would take into account the possibility that when prices rise for certain goods and services, consumers buy cheaper products instead. Experts from Wharton and elsewhere weigh in on what this change -- and others -- could mean for retirees…

  • Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Accepting Uncertainty, Embracing Volatility

    17 Dec 2012 | 8:43 am
    The defining characteristic of future change, according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is that it is impossible -- and foolhardy -- to try to predict it. Nonetheless, the dominant impulse among policymakers and so-called experts is to attempt to reduce volatility rather than deal with it more productively. In his new book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, Taleb argues that in order for individuals, institutions, industries and societies to not only survive but also thrive, it is essential to make peace with uncertainty.

  • Live Long and Prosper? Not If You Are Counting on a Healthy Pension Plan

    29 Aug 2012 | 1:41 pm
    Everyone knows that pension plans, both public and private, are in trouble -- not on life support yet, but definitely facing a host of difficulties, including a poor economy and changing demographics. To shed light on the situation, Wharton's Pension Research Council recently asked two top pension-protection officials to discuss conditions in the United States and the United Kingdom. The forum was titled, "Saving Pensions: What Can the U.S. and U.K. Learn from Each Other?"

  • An End to the 'Golden Years': Increasing Longevity Changes the Work-leisure Equation

    6 Dec 2010 | 10:14 am
    People are working longer and retirement ages are rising everywhere as aging populations, broken nest eggs and distressed pension funds make staying in the workforce a growing necessity. The baby boomers' desire to remain active and engaged further blurs the distinction between work and retirement -- a sharp reversal from attitudes that held sway during much of the 20th century, when retirement was seen as the ticket to an endless weekend.

  • Broken Promises: Can the World's Stressed-out Pension Plans Be Rescued?

    6 Dec 2010 | 10:13 am
    From Chicago to the Champs-Elysees, distressed retirement plans are coming under fire as they struggle to keep pace with projected payouts. Responses range from raising national retirement ages to whacking corporate profits to meet funding requirements. With state and local plans facing the widest gaps, some policy makers are taking increasingly risky steps to keep the funds solvent. According to some experts, resolving these pension-plan woes will take years of hard work.
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Health Economics

  • The Future of Health Care: The Prognosis Is Optimistic

    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    There’s cause for optimism about the future of health care, according to panelists who discussed the topic at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013. While the panelists agreed on the enormity of the challenges posed by rising health care costs, increased demand and the need to rein in spending while still being patient-centric, all believed that the outlook for health care would be better by the end of the decade.

  • Access or Profits? Drug Patent Rulings in India Fuel the Debate

    10 Apr 2013 | 1:19 pm
    In India, recent rulings to deny patent protection for drugs manufactured by Western pharmaceutical firms have cast doubt on whether the industry can make a profit in the world's second-most populous country. They also add fire to the growing debate over whether the industry's obligation to provide access to life-saving medicine should outweigh its drive for profits. According to experts, the rulings will make pharmaceutical multinationals think twice about their overseas strategies -- particularly with regard to innovative drugs.

  • Humana's CEO on Obamacare: 'We're Concerned About What We Don't Know'

    27 Mar 2013 | 12:31 pm
    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- better known as Obamacare -- was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Since then, it has generated enormous amounts of debate, controversy and uncertainty. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Bruce Broussard, president and CEO of Humana, the fourth-largest health care insurance group, offers his take on Obamacare and the challenges -- and opportunities -- it presents to health care stakeholders. (Video with transcript)

  • Helping Employees to Be Healthier: How About a Sweepstakes?

    27 Feb 2013 | 12:13 pm
    In order to design effective wellness programs, most large companies are now asking employees to complete health risk assessments (HRAs) -- questionnaires that ask them to reveal such details as their weight, blood pressure and family history of disease. Experts agree that HRAs can be a useful tool, but only if employees actually bother to fill them out. A recent study co-authored by Wharton health care management professor Kevin Volpp suggests one way to encourage workers to do so.

  • Nurse Practitioners Are In -- and Why You May Be Seeing More of Them

    13 Feb 2013 | 11:55 am
    Despite continuing protests from some physician groups, the role of nurse practitioners in U.S. health care is expanding and will likely change both the costs and type of care experienced by millions of Americans. Insurers, health care centers and private companies are taking notice.
 
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Real Estate

  • Housing Has Bounced Back, but Capitol Hill Holds the Key to a Sustained Recovery

    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    Housing demand in the U.S. is back, fueled by low interest rates and government subsidies. But a sustained recovery depends on legislative reforms to improve housing supply and encourage builders. Reforms will take time, but meanwhile investors have found new business niches in single-family home rentals and in buying distressed assets worldwide. Eventually, the American dream of home ownership will shore up the industry's fortunes, according to panelists at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013.

  • Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff: Pulling Back the Veil on the Housing Market

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Online real estate marketplace Zillow has brought to home buying and selling what a previous generation of travel websites provided to shoppers wanting to compare the prices of hotels, rental cars and airline flights -- transparency. But finding data that is reliable across the board can be difficult, according to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. And the key is not just simply to offer the information, Rascoff said during a recent conversation with Knowledge@Wharton and Wharton real estate professor Susan Wachter; it's about the level of accuracy gained from the various sub-models the company's…

  • Real Estate with a Cause: Identifying Investments that Serve a Triple Bottom Line

    19 Dec 2012 | 11:23 am
    Real estate is already a complex industry, and it grows even more so when the investment is intended to satisfy the triple bottom line of being profitable, hospitable for those who work or live in the structure, and socially responsible. During a discussion at the recent Wharton Social Impact Conference, panelists from the industry discussed the challenges of crafting initiatives that serve all three masters without cutting corners.

  • Why the Housing Market Is Poised to Enter a 'Virtuous Cycle'

    26 Sep 2012 | 12:34 pm
    By the less-demanding standards of the past few years, the latest housing figures, like many from recent months, look pretty good. Is this the start of the long-awaited and elusive housing recovery -- one that would bring a stronger economy overall? Or is the market just taunting us as it bumps along the bottom, perhaps only to plunge again? A new paper co-authored by Wharton real estate professor Susan Wachter suggests that, indeed, things are beginning to look up.

  • Phasing Out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Is It Being Done Responsibly?

    31 Aug 2012 | 7:32 am
    As the federal government looks to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Denmark could provide a new model for home financing, argues Wharton emeritus finance professor Jack Guttentag in this op-ed.
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Law and Public Policy

  • Fueling Growth in Uncertain Times

    1 May 2013 | 10:58 am
    Wall Street and Capitol Hill are in different cities, but where dialog on major economic issues is concerned, they might as well be on different continents. To bridge this gap, the Wharton School recently launched the Wharton Public Policy Initiative. On March 7, the Initiative hosted its first major event, the Wharton Economic Summit, in New York City. In this special report, Knowledge@Wharton covers themes from the Summit, which opened with a discussion on leadership between GE CEO Jeff Immelt and Michael Useem, director of Wharton's Center for Leadership and Change Management. Other…

  • The Natural Gas Boom: Cheap Energy, but at What Cost?

    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    In the next year or two, there will be such a large surplus of natural gas and crude oil in the U.S. that the country won’t “know what to do with it,” said Anas Alhajji, chief economist at NGP Energy Capital Management, at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013. But John Deutch, former head of the CIA, pointed out that unconventional oil and gas production “involves very serious environmental impacts on air quality, water quality, community and land use.” He added that there is also “a climate issue out there that is going to hit this world.”

  • A Need for Speed: Why Building More Roads Won't Conquer Gridlock

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Everyone pays a price for road congestion, whether it's the tangible frustration felt by motorists or the substantial economic costs due to lost productivity. In a new working paper, Wharton real estate professor Gilles Duranton and his co-authors say that building more roads or expanding mass transit are not effective solutions to combating traffic. Instead, they suggest that cities need to take steps to adjust driver demand for travel to congested areas.

  • Research Roundup: The Financial Impact of Social Impact

    10 Apr 2013 | 1:19 pm
    Social impact has become a buzzword in business, but what does the evidence say about the success of social impact initiatives? In separate research papers, three Wharton professors -- Deborah Small, Franklin Allen and Susan Wachter -- look at whether "doing good" means doing well in different contexts: When it comes to corporate image, are "nice" firms perceived as less likely to succeed? How can banks serve rural populations and remain profitable? And can something as simple as planting a tree in an urban setting bump up real estate prices?

  • Same-sex Marriage: What's at Stake for Corporate America

    27 Mar 2013 | 12:31 pm
    The fact that nearly 300 U.S. corporations and other groups are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) suggests that denying federal rights to same-sex couples is bad for American companies. What administrative, financial and social issues are affected by this debate?
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Human Resources

  • Productivity in the Modern Office: A Matter of Impact

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    More than 50 years after management guru Peter Drucker first wrote about the difficulty of defining and measuring the productivity of knowledge workers, management experts say many companies still do a poor job of it. To get a better gauge of how much employees are accomplishing, experts say managers need to remember that quality is often as important, if not more so, than quantity, and that blanket policies rarely remedy such a highly individualized issue.

  • How Disruptive Behavior by Employees Can Devastate a Workplace

    27 Mar 2013 | 12:31 pm
    To Jody Foster, disruptive people in any type of organization -- from a big corporation to a major health center -- can poison the atmosphere for everyone with whom they interact. Foster, who is chair of the department of psychiatry at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and who also has an MBA, talked with Knowledge@Wharton about different types of unprofessional behaviors -- from bullying to compulsive micromanaging to narcissism -- and what organizations can do about them.

  • Is the Party Over? The Unintended Consequences of Office Social Events

    27 Mar 2013 | 12:31 pm
    The office holiday party, the company softball league and the baby shower for the woman who sits three cubicles away are all part of the social rhythms and obligations of the modern workplace, ostensibly meant to help us form and maintain close relationships with our colleagues. But according to new research coauthored by Wharton management professor Nancy Rothbard, while these seemingly innocuous teambuilding activities can yield positive results in some cases, they also can have unintended consequences for members of racially diverse teams.

  • When Working at Home Is Productive, and When It's Not

    13 Mar 2013 | 12:11 pm
    There are numerous tasks -- and just as many distractions -- competing for a worker's time these days. But will ending the practice of allowing employees to work from home, as Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently did, really make workers more productive and more likely to come up with innovative new ideas? Such a policy may help on some fronts, Wharton experts and others say, but it's no cure-all.

  • A Smaller Slice of the Pie: Why Technology Is No Longer Creating Jobs

    13 Mar 2013 | 12:11 pm
    Can technology set off a new boom in job creation? It's an important question given that policy makers in Washington often look to the technology sector to pick up the slack in the employment market. But four prominent economists who took part in a recent panel discussion on Wharton's San Francisco campus were generally bearish in their outlook, some even suggesting that technology increases unemployment and adds to other problems in the U.S. economy.
 
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • What Eyewear Startup Warby Parker Sees That Others Don't

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Warby Parker has vision. The e-commerce startup known for its $95 retro-cool frames has attracted a steady stream of customers and top-notch investors. And just last month in New York City, the company opened its first free-standing store which, according to co-founder Neil Blumenthal, represents "uncharted territory ... the convergence of e-commerce and bricks and mortar. The idea that it's one or the other is ridiculous," he says. "E-commerce as a term will become obsolete in five or six years."

  • As Crowdfunding Grows, the Rewards Increase -- but So Do the Risks

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    As the recent successful campaign to fund a movie based on the television show "Veronica Mars" proves, crowdfunding is now recognized as a reliable funding avenue for both start-ups and established firms. But the growth of the sector also creates more regulatory challenges and raises questions about the risks that funders take when they put their money behind a project.

  • Wharton's 2013 Business Plan Competition: Health Care, Kids, Fashion and More

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Finalists in this year's Wharton Business Plan Competition proposed innovations to disrupt areas including health care, used car sales, children's retail and fashion. On the day of judgment last month, eight teams described their business plan and potential market, with several thousand dollars in prize money on the line. Check out descriptions of each plan, and see if you can guess the winner.

  • Why Innovation Is Tough to Define -- and Even Tougher to Cultivate

    30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    While most people would agree that they are in favor of innovation, providing a succinct definition or example of it is a tougher question, noted participants in a panel on the topic at the Wharton Economic Summit 2013. In addition to offering their personal definitions of truly game-changing discoveries, panelists also discussed the role of the government and the U.S. education system in fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

  • Food for Thought: Why Auntie Anne's Pretzels Failed in China

    6 Mar 2013 | 9:51 am
    Growing up in Indiana and Washington, D.C., Taiwanese-born Wen-Szu Lin often felt torn between two cultures. When, as a young entrepreneur, he was presented with the opportunity to buy the Chinese franchise rights to Auntie Anne's, his unique background began to feel like an advantage: Who better than a Chinese-American to sell an American product to Chinese consumers? That advantage didn't carry the English-speaking, American-educated Lin as far as he thought it would. The China Twist: An Entrepreneur's Cautious Tales of Franchising in China is the story of his journey.
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    Knowledge@Wharton -- Managing Technology

  • Adobe's Shift to the Cloud: Is This the Start of a Trend?

    8 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Adobe, the leading software company targeting creative professionals, is exiting the shrink-wrap software business in favor of subscription-based software and online "cloud" services. While perhaps painful at first, the business model change will be ultimately beneficial for consumers and Adobe alike, and other software companies are likely to follow, say experts at Wharton.

  • Is Facebook Home a Game Changer?

    24 Apr 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Facebook's launch of Facebook Home, a user interface that can replace the existing home screen on select smartphones with features related to the social network, may give the company a solid mobile strategy while potentially causing a headache for rival Google, Wharton experts say. It may also usher in a wave of new, innovative user interfaces for mobile devices.

  • Samsung: A Hardware Manufacturer Seeking Its Software Side

    27 Mar 2013 | 12:31 pm
    Samsung's splashy Radio City Music Hall debut of its Galaxy S4 smartphone marked a coming out party not only for the company's latest flagship device, but also for its ambitions to be an innovative leader in software and an integrator of multiple devices in consumers' lives. Samsung is aiming to become more like Apple, Wharton experts say. The question is, does the Korean electronics giant have the software prowess to accomplish that goal?

  • What Defines Success in the Mobile Race?

    13 Feb 2013 | 11:55 am
    Facebook, Zynga and Google are high-profile examples of companies that are aggressively pursuing mobile strategies. But according to Wharton experts, all consumer-facing firms will have to consider the smaller screens on smartphones and tablets as a primary way to reach customers in the future. The key question, they say, is not necessarily whether companies will adapt, but rather how they will define success on mobile platforms.

  • Farewell to Fido: A Lesson in Digital Customer Relationship Management

    30 Jan 2013 | 11:51 am
    When Zynga announced recently that it was shutting down an underperforming online game called Petville, many players were devastated over the loss of their virtual pets, and angry with the company for pulling the plug so suddenly. Outcry aside, how much responsibility did the firm have to ease the transition for its customers, particularly since the game was not a significant moneymaker? Wharton experts have differing opinions, but they note that Zynga's experience is an important lesson for any firm in how to approach digital customer relationship management.
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