Knowledge@wharton

Kate Roberts is the founder and director of YouthAIDS and Five & Alive two marketing programs implemented by Population Services International (PSI) where she is a vice president. Founded in 2001 YouthAIDS is a global education and prevention initiative that uses pop culture music theater movies and sports to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The program reaches 600 million young people in more than 60 countries with life-saving products and services. In 2002 YouthAIDS partnered with MTV to produce the ”Staying Alive” concert a $3 million event broadcast worldwide and featured on all major news channels. Roberts spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about cause-related marketing the Indian film industry and an event in Africa that changed her life among other topics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John Brock has come a long way since his first jobs working in his uncle’s dime store and later at a paper mill in Moss Point Miss. Today he is chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises the world’s largest marketer producer and distributor of Coca-Cola products. Brock has more than 25 years of experience in the beverage sales industry. In 2003 he was named CEO of Interbrew headquartered in Brussels Belgium. In 2006 he joined Coca-Cola Enterprises where he was appointed chairman in April 2008. Brock talked with Knowledge at Wharton about Coke’s philosophy on selling soda in schools helping the environment and recruiting teens to become devoted customers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After a trek in the Himalayas brought him face-to-face with extreme poverty and illiteracy John Wood left his position as a director of business development at Microsoft to found Room to Read an award-winning international education organization. Under his leadership more than 1.7 million children in the developing world now have access to enhanced educational opportunities. Room to Read to date has opened 725 schools and 7 000 bilingual libraries and funded more than 7 000 scholarships for girls. Wood talked with Knowledge at Wharton about the launch of Room to Read the book he wrote called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World and his personal definition of success. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Octavio Lopes senior partner of private equity firm GP Investments is in the middle of raising what might be the largest private equity fund ever for Latin America. In a podcast recorded in Sao Paulo Lopes discusses the prospects for investing in Brazil and Latin America where he thinks commodity prices are headed and how the discovery of oil in places like Brazil Colombia and Mexico will affect the local and regional economy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 Knowledge at Wharton he talks about the troubled environment in the wake of the slowdown and the key issues in managing a company that is growing at an astonishing 100% a year. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Arminio Fraga was president of the Central Bank of Brazil from 1999 to 2002. He has sometimes been called the Alan Greenspan of Latin America though that comparison may not sit well these days as Greenspan comes in for his share of the blame for the global financial crisis. In 2001 Fraga founded the Rio de Janeiro-based Gávea Investimentos an independent asset management company. It operates principally in the areas of hedge funds wealth management and illiquid investment strategies. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Fraga draws upon his wide experience and understanding to talk about the financial crisis its causes and future concerns. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

These are volatile times for Brazilian real estate which mirrors the situation in most countries. But according to Elie Horn chairman and CEO of Cyrela Brazil Realty Brazil’s largest developer of residential properties Brazil doesn’t have the deep-rooted problems of the U.S. market. It’s just a matter of lying low for some time until confidence returns he suggests in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brazil’s petrochemicals industry has been going through active consolidation a phase that is almost at an end. That process however has seen the creation and growth of Braskem a giant of a firm that is the largest petrochemicals producer not just in Brazil but in all of Latin America. Bernardo Gradin who has been part of Braskem since the company’s formation in 2002 took over in July as its CEO. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton conducted at the company’s Sao Paulo headquarters Gradin discussed Braskem’s goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 petrochemical companies as measured by shareholder value. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Economic crises around the globe have often hit Brazilian banks hard with capital flight hammering the country’s currency the real. But Brazil’s financial institutions seem better positioned to weather the current worldwide credit crunch although lending there is just as frozen as it is elsewhere according to Candido Bracher president and chief executive officer of the São Paulo-based Banco Itaú BBA one of the country’s largest private banks. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Bracher discusses how the international market turmoil has affected Brazil and how this differs from the financial crises of the 1990s. He also speaks about what a commodity-price ”hangover” could mean for the country’s economy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A government plan to rescue the U.S. automobile industry with $14 billion in emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler was approved by the House of Representatives late on December 10 but the proposal continued to face stiff opposition from Senate Republicans. While the lifeline loans would give the Detroit automakers some breathing room legislators and auto executives remain under enormous pressure to come up with a plan to resolve the industry’s deep structural and management problems. Wharton faculty and other experts discuss the merits of the bailout proposal and what the potential alternative -- bankruptcy -- could mean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Many shareholder advocates see the financial collapse and resulting economic woes as stunning proof of their long-held claim that too often the wrong people are in charge of top corporations -- and that attacking this problem demands an overhaul in corporate-governance regulations. But not everyone sees governance as the culprit and some warn that a kneejerk attack on established corporate practices could backfire. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Back in the heady days of the real estate boom property prices in New York City soared along with those in the rest of the U.S. When the subprime mortgage crisis hit and prices collapsed the city’s market held out longer than others -- for two reasons. First it is a major financial center with strong demand; and second the weak dollar made it possible for international buyers and investors to find deals at discounts as high as 40%. Where will the New York market be in 2009? Where are the most attractive deals to be found in emerging markets? In a podcast recorded at the Knowledge at Wharton Real Estate Forum on Emerging Markets on December 2 Donald Trump Jr. executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization speaks about those questions and more. He also discusses how he views his unique contribution to expanding the Trump brand overseas building on the foundation laid by his famous father. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For decades sports have existed in a protective bubble. Even in recessions fans could be counted on to keep buying tickets to games and keep beefing up the huge television audiences that draw top dollar from advertisers. But the current recession seems to be bursting the bubble. Says Wharton professor Eric Bradlow: ”Advertising revenue is down. Corporate boxes and corporate sponsorships are going to be down. There’s no question the [financial crisis] is going to affect the economics of the sports industry.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is the cavalry coming to rescue troubled homeowners? Despite soaring foreclosure rates President Bush and other Republicans have not made this a top priority. But this could soon change: President-elect Barak Obama and fellow Democrats say reducing foreclosures is crucial to attacking the financial crisis. As one expert notes: ”The financial sector weaknesses all originate in the housing market. If we don’t solve the housing problem then the weaknesses in the financial sector are going to continue to multiply.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Just how bad will the economy get? For employers facing tough decisions about layoffs the question is far from rhetorical. If the current economic turmoil is contained sooner than expected premature layoffs could be a disaster. If not enough employees are laid off and the recession continues the company’s bottom line could suffer. What options do employers have when it comes to cutting payroll without adversely affecting the talent pool employee morale or the future of the company? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Before the stock market and the broader economy can return to something that looks like normal banks must start to lend the billions they are getting from the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Recovery Program says Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton he also discusses the government’s rescue of Citigroup and the proposed bailout of the U.S. auto industry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With corporate managers under enormous pressure to control costs and maintain liquidity in the current credit crisis advertising budgets often appear to be a dispensable luxury in the struggle to survive. According to Wharton faculty and marketing experts that attitude can result in short-term gains but long-term trouble. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Although companies around the world are clearly feeling the impact of the economic crisis Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent insists that he will remain focused on moving the company toward an ambitious goal: Increasing global annual revenues for the firm and its more than 300 independent bottlers from $650 billion now to more than $1 trillion by 2020. During a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture Kent talked about his three decades in the beverage industry the ”new equilibrium” facing global brands the challenges of dwindling energy supplies and the opportunities he sees in emerging markets among other topics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At a time when many bulge bracket investment banks are drowning as a result of the financial crisis Moelis & Co. is swimming against the tide. Founded in July 2007 by Kenneth D. Moelis a Wall Street veteran the Los Angeles-based firm has been busy hiring. In just about 15 months it has recruited more than 150 people including some 100 bankers besides opening offices in Chicago New York and Boston. How will the continuing financial turmoil affect the fledgling investment bank’s business? What opportunities can investors find amid the wreckage? In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Moelis discussed these issues and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jim Smith and Vikrant Kothari each had ambitions to start a company whose focus would be on using information technology as a way to help solve social problems. But it wasn’t until they met in Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives that their idea came together in the form of the Digital Network Group. Two affiliates under the Digital Network Group umbrella include one targeted to helping non-profits develop innovative and long-term IT strategies; the other is a service program that shows how IT and mentoring can help disadvantaged young people from middle school on up become productive members of society. Smith and Kothari spoke to Knowledge at Wharton about these initiatives. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.