Knowledge@wharton

Sovereign wealth funds the large investment funds supported by governments are mostly a positive economic force that can provide a shot in the arm to the companies -- and countries -- they invest in. They are also a stabilizing force for the nation where the investment originates. Those are some of the main takeaways from a new Wharton study ”The Brave New World of Sovereign Wealth Funds.” In this interview with Knowledge at Wharton Wharton management professor Mauro F. Guillén who helped to oversee the research and two Wharton MBA candidates present some of their key findings. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following the global financial crisis troubled retirement systems around the world face new challenges that may result in sharply reduced income for retirees -- as well as the possibility that younger workers will need to work much longer according to Wharton insurance and risk management professor Olivia Mitchell. In a recent paper titled ”Implications of the Financial Crisis for Long Run Retirement Security ” Mitchell argues that current and future generations must ”build new frameworks [with] public and private partnerships to better educate people about the risks they face to help them work longer ... and to better regulate products and markets for an aging world.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s no secret that many Americans are financially illiterate or unable to understand basic principles of money management. To address this situation Wharton Dartmouth and the Rand Corporation have established the new Financial Literacy Center which will develop ”educational materials and programs that help foster saving and retirement strategies over the life cycle.” Annamaria Lusardi an economics professor at Dartmouth who will help lead the new Center and Michelle Greene deputy assistant secretary for financial education and financial access at the U.S. Treasury Department spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about the Center’s goals and why individuals need to be more proactive about their financial health. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Plenty of people in the publishing world fear that new media and the Internet will kill interest in reading literary fiction. Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum however think of Twitter YouTube and the iPad as opportunities to introduce new audiences to the art of the short story -- and to tell stories in unique ways. They are the founders of Electric Literature a quarterly literary magazine that publishes using a print-on-demand model and enhances its stories through collaborations between authors and animators filmmakers and musicians. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Teresa Lunt who directs the computing science laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center is involved in a wide range of activities including ubiquitous computing security and privacy and ethnography for organizational environments and technology design. During a talk with Knowledge at Wharton at the recent Future of Publishing Conference in New York she discussed a few of her current projects -- such as research into workplace efficiencies a study on mobile advertising and the creation of a rich media information service for a customer in Japan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 as a whole and offers lessons about competitive advantage and marketing that apply to all consumer-driven businesses. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As use of the Internet grows and changes so has the ability of users to search for specific content or stories photos and videos that relate to certain topics of interest. One of the companies trying to harness and expand the power of search is Cuil which is developing Cpedia -- an engine that promises less repetition an encyclopedia-style summary for each search and results that integrate related topics and input and recommendations from users’ social networks. Cuil vice president of business development and finance Seval Oz Ozveren talked with Knowledge at Wharton during the recent Future of Publishing conference in New York. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Great Recession has given a black eye to the tools of financial innovation. Collateralized debt obligations synthetic derivatives and other once-arcane investment vehicles are now the poster boys of what went wrong -- toxic players in the boom-and-doom scenario of the housing implosion and market rout. But these highly opaque and complex instruments are not representative of real financial innovation which stresses transparency and responsible management of risk argues Wharton finance professor Franklin Allen in his new book Financing the Future: Market-Based Innovations for Growth co-written with Glenn Yago executive director of financial research at the Milken Institute. Financial innovation properly used has been the engine of growth through the centuries Allen says and is especially needed now to get the world economy on track again. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the Wharton-sponsored Future of Publishing conference held on April 30 in New York one of the panels looked at the changing nature of content specifically the increasing popularity of user-generated content spilling forth from an ever-growing variety of sources. The panel included Katharine Zaleski executive producer and head of digital news products for The Washington Post and before that senior editor in charge of special projects at The Huffington Post. Following her participation in the panel discussion Zaleski spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about her role at The Washington Post the importance of packaging stories why news sites need to offer other people’s content and what the future holds for investigative journalists among other topics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the run-up to this week’s announcement of the European Union’s $960 billion stabilization plan Wharton management professors Mauro Guillén and Saikat Chaudhuri and Jean Salmona founder and chairman of the editorial board of ParisTech Review participated in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton on likely outcomes from the financial crisis facing Greece some of its sister countries and the European Monetary Union more generally. How did events spin so out of control? How will the politics of the crisis affect the Eurozone’s economic performance? Guillén Chaudhuri and Salmona addressed these and other questions on May 7 just before the huge financial support package was announced. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In recent years GE has faced severe business challenges -- the company’s $200 billion market cap is half of what it used to be. Still an area of enormous strength is the way the company identifies and builds leaders. Much of the credit goes to GE’s corporate learning programs executed through a learning facility in Crotonville N.Y. As business becomes more global how is leadership development at GE changing? How does GE use technology to teach leadership? What impact will the influx of the Facebook generation have on the way leadership is taught? Susan Peters -- GE’s chief learning officer and vice president for executive development and a speaker at the upcoming Wharton Leadership Conference on June 16 -- discussed these questions and more with Knowledge at Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The recession and pullback by American consumers have dealt serious blows to the retailing landscape. Yet while some big names have gone under Polo Ralph Lauren has emerged relatively unscathed from the wreckage according to company president and chief operating officer Roger Farah who recently spoke on campus during the University of Pennsylvania’s Fashion Week an event co-sponsored by Wharton. He attributes the company’s revival and continued growth -- which includes a major push into the Asia-Pacific region -- to a combination of ”left brain” discipline and ”right brain” creativity. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Once dubbed the ”Celtic Tiger” for its transformation from an economic laggard to a growth powerhouse Ireland is now suffering from a stunning reversal of fortune. What once helped drive its economic surge -- a booming real estate market -- has now become the country’s bane. Wharton faculty and other experts weigh in on whether it’s fair to lump Ireland with Europe’s other sick economies such as Greece and what needs to happen for the country to regain its former glory as a magnet for international investment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Goldman Sachs is the Wall Street mega-firm whose money-making prowess leaves many impressed envious or suspicious. Now the firm’s reputation is on the line as it fights a fraud suit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a single deal in 2007 the sale of a complex ”synthetic collateralized debt obligation” called Abacus 2007-AC1. The deal lost investors $1 billion but produced $1 billion in profits for Goldman’s collaborator Paulson & Company a hedge fund betting the housing bubble would collapse. Experts at Wharton and elsewhere analyze the financial legal and ethical issues raised by a case that has riveted both Wall Street and Main Street. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What if you could print a perfect-bound volume for as little time as it takes to brew a cup of coffee? That is the premise behind the Espresso book machine which turns digital PDF files into paperbacks in minutes. Jason Epstein and Dane Neller chairman and CEO respectively of On Demand Books in New York the company behind the Espresso book machine believe their technology has the potential to transform book publishing. Epstein who was editorial director of Random House for 40 years recently wrote a widely read essay in The New York Review of Books about the impact of digital technology on publishing. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton and Stephen J. Kobrin editor of Wharton School Publishing Epstein and Neller discuss their views on where the publishing business is headed. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After losing $60 billion in the last decade -- and billions more recently when a cloud of volcanic ash grounded flights across Europe -- airlines are looking to consolidate as a way to return to profitability amid continued struggles with high fuel prices competition from low-cost carriers and a limited customer pool that shriveled even more during the recession. But experts are skeptical about the ”bigger is better” strategy. Many observers say the carriers have proved downright flighty at following through on making changes that improve operations and put the customer first. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Dow has closed above 11 000 the European Union is bailing out Greece and the U.S. economy seems to be perking up. Is the future as bright as it looks? In fact it looks pretty good says Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel. While the Dow’s 11 000 close doesn’t mean much to professional market watchers it can give ordinary investors a psychological boost. According to Siegel the U.S. economy is in a self-sustaining recovery no longer dependent on government stimulus. And while the housing market could take years to make up recent losses the economy -- and stocks -- should do well he said in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 engage in innovative pricing to achieve maximum profitability and they show how companies like Google are doing just that. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When microfinance began its scope was simple: Charitable donor-driven organizations with a mission to eliminate poverty gave out very small business loans to help the world’s poor. Big banks -- deeming the loans too small to be profitable -- steered clear. That is now changing said microfinance leaders who gathered recently at Wharton’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education to participate in the Women’s World Banking Advanced Leadership Workshop. Banks realizing there is money to be made at the bottom of the pyramid are entering microfinance markets they previously ignored. One of their most immediate needs: loan officers and branch managers with knowledge of the field. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

To find the hottest restaurant bar or concert venue in town many young adults are no longer checking in with their friends. They’re ”checking in” virtually via Foursquare a location-based social networking site. While Foursquare is being touted as the Next Big Thing experts say the true potential lies in companies knowing exactly where customers are and pitching offers or services based on the spots these customers frequent. The challenge for Foursquare and others observers suggest is transitioning beyond buzz and finding uses for geo-targeting that are both profitable and practical. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.