Finding That Sweet Spot: A New Way to Drive Innovation
Larry Huston was vice president of knowledge and innovation for many years at Procter & Gamble. During that time, he was the architect of its Connect + Develop program, the creator of P&G's Brand Bootcamp operation, and innovation leader for the company's global fabric and homecare business, among other initiatives. He is now managing partner of 4INNO, and recently joined Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation as a senior fellow. Knowledge@Wharton asked Huston to talk about innovatio
Craigslist's Craig Newmark: '100% of What We Do Is Based on Community'
Jon Spector, a former Wharton vice dean and now CEO of the Conference Board, spoke with participants at the Community 2.0 conference in Las Vegas earlier this year to explore how companies are trying to harness communities to reshape their businesses. In this podcast, Spector speaks with Craig Newmark, founder and customer service rep of Craigslist.com. Spector is a co-author, with Barry Libert, of the forthcoming Wharton School Publishing book, "We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power
WebEx's Diane Davidson: 'We Defined a Community Ecosystem'
When Google bought YouTube recently for $1.65 billion, the world of business sat up to take serious notice of social networks. Today, many companies are looking into how they can tap into -- or develop -- communities as a way to make better decisions and increase profits. Jon Spector, a former Wharton vice dean and now CEO of the Conference Board, spoke with participants at the Community 2.0 conference in Las Vegas earlier this year to explore how companies are trying to harness communities to r
Philips Lighting CEO Rudy Provoost: Innovation Means Putting Consumers' Needs First
Approximately 19% of the world's electricity bill comes from lighting, according to Rudy Provoost, CEO of Philips Lighting. As such, Philips, the world's largest producer of industrial and consumer lighting products, has a big role to play in the ongoing transformation from incandescent to solid-state lighting using LED technology. Provoost, who until last year was CEO of Philips Consumer Electronics, is no stranger to new technologies, which he says are "just a vehicle to respond to needs." Fig
Alberto Duran: My Biggest Problem Is Creating Middle Management
Alberto Duran, founder and CEO of Mundivox Communications of Brazil, has seen the world of telecommunications from various perspectives. He worked in the telecom sector for J.P. Morgan in New York, and Bain & Company and Monitor Company in Boston and London. He specialized in the development of strategies for major industry players worldwide, including privatizations and M&A in North America, Europe and Asia. In 1999, Duran founded Mundivox Communications in Brazil. In an interview with Knowledg
The Bernard Madoff Case: Trust Takes Another Blow
Successful marketplaces -- indeed, all social systems -- require a level of ethical behavior among their participants. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, professors Maurice E. Schweitzer and G. Richard Shell, who have conducted extensive research on the role of trust in markets, explain why even the most sophisticated investors put their faith in Bernard Madoff, the New York City financier recently accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. That breach of trust has damaged the broader m
Robots Net
Robots.net provides you with the latest worldwide blog news about personal and industrial robots, robot competitions, and other cool stuff being developed in robotics.
Take Two Advil and ... What Ills Can the Pfizer-Wyeth Merger Cure?
When the giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on January 26 that it was acquiring Wyeth for $68 billion, analysts started questioning what benefits the deal would bring and for whom. Pfizer executives suggest the acquisition makes strategic sense by expanding the company into a range of new areas, and by helping make up for an expected loss of more than $12 billion in annual revenues once its Lipitor patent expires in 2011. But Wyeth also brings some liabilities -- notably, continuing l
FCC's Cable TV Ruling: Will the Competitive Landscape Change?
For cable TV companies in the U.S., August 28 was a day to celebrate. Ending several years of regulatory battles, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals came down in favor of Philadelphia-based Comcast, which sought to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's contentious 30% market share limit on cable TV operators. Not everyone is happy about the ruling, fearing it will lead to cable monopolies. In contrast, Peter S. Fader, professor of marketing and co-director of the Wharton Interactiv
New Approaches to New Markets: How C.K. Prahalad's Bottom of the Pyramid Strategies Are Paying Off
Five years ago, C.K. Prahalad published a book titled, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, in which he argues that multinational companies not only can make money selling to the world's poorest, but also that undertaking such efforts is necessary as a way to close the growing gap between rich and poor countries. Key to his argument for targeting the world's poorest is the sheer size of that market -- an estimated four billion people. How has Prahalad's book -- a revised, fifth-anniversary
Brazil's Gold: How Rio Won Its Olympic Bid
Last fall, after losing previous bids, Rio de Janeiro -- Brazil's second-largest city -- won the approval of the International Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. According to Carlos Roberto Osorio, secretary general of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, this time around, Rio had learned from its earlier failed bids and had the success of hosting the 2007 Pan American Games under its belt. That, combined with Brazil's "special circumstances" of economic stability amid the glob
How Much Should You Charge? Why 'Smart Pricing' Pays Off
Your company has developed a new product that you think will be a winner. A lot of money has been poured into research and development, analysis of the competition and advertising. But there is one key element you may have overlooked: What do you charge for the product? Wharton marketing professors Jagmohan Raju and John Zhang say companies frequently don't put anywhere near as much thought into pricing as they should. In their new book, Smart Pricing, Raju and Zhang argue that firms ought to en
Postcards from the Vineyard: Exploring the World of Wine Tourism
In the book, In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism, author George M. Taber took on the task (someone had to do it) of visiting a dozen of the most breathtakingly beautiful wine regions around the globe. What he came back with is a travel guide for oenophiles that also serves as a primer on how and why winemakers are increasingly turning themselves into destination sites. In addition, Taber's tour opens a window on the growing segmentation of the travel industry
Worlds Apart: What's Behind the U.S.-China Currency Dispute?
Faced with the possibility of a global currency war, Western countries are increasing their scrutiny of China's currency policies, accusing Beijing of intervening in the markets to keep China's currency weaker than it would be otherwise. In the U.S., politicians and regulators say such tactics undermine efforts to boost exports, and thus take away jobs from American workers. But the controversy is more complicated than that, and touches on policies and attitudes that go back decades. Knowledge@W
Falling Prices, Foreclosures and Fear: What's Next for the Housing Market?
The U.S. housing market has been wobbly for several years, but it has shown some signs of perking up in recent months. The latest reports, however, indicate a setback, with median home prices dropping slightly and sales well below the already depressed levels of 2009. Yet a combination of low mortgage rates and apparent home-price bargains should still be drawing some buyers into the market. Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Wharton real estate professor Susan M. Wachter about the housing market's sl
04 Oct 2010: The Fate of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Examining the Legal Battle Behind the Science
The Science and Technology Policy Program of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy invites you to attend a presentation on The Fate of Embryonic Stem Cell Research. At this event, experts will address recent court rulings that reinterpret the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which prohibits the creation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines from destroyed embryos. Federal funding currently is allowed for research using existing lines, all of which were created with private funds, but th
06 Oct 2010: How Things Really Work: Lessons From a Life in Politics
Bill Hobby was elected lieutenant governor of Texas in 1972. As the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Texas history, a media executive, distinguished university professor and philanthropist, he has worked to guide the state into the future. During his 18 years in office, Hobby made education a top priority and helped make health care more accessible. After leaving office in 1991, he continued to run Hobby Communications but was soon tapped to lead the University of Houston System through a
Leesplezier Leesplezier werd geschreven door Ria Dorssemont en Manu Manderveld en is het resultaat van een jarenlang opgebouwde onderwijservaring in de leesbevordering. Het resultaat is een vak- en klasoverschrijdende …
CEO view: Wolfgang Prock-Schauer of India’s Jet Airways
As the aviation industry faces its biggest crisis in recent history because of high fuel prices and the economic slowdown, airlines are forced to do business differently as they seek to trim operating costs ruthlessly to brace themselves for tough times ahead.
“Jet Airways is working on all areas to streamline operations including cutting loss-making routes,” says Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of Jet Airways, India's largest private airline. India’s aviation industry lost $1 billion
Warren Buffett MBA Talk A wide-ranging lecture from Warren Buffet on investment, risk management, integrity, defining your 'circle of competence', successful brands, and various other topics based on questions from the audience.
