Sinopse
Audio interviews with industry leaders and senior faculty with exclusive insights on current topics brought to you by Knowledge@Wharton and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Episódios
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The Credit Crisis and Failed Risk Analysis: ’We’re Nowhere Near the End Here’
25/06/2008 Duração: 10minWhen you sit down you probably don’t check under your seat for a bomb. Even though it could kill you chances are slim that it’s there. A similar view of risk led bankers their regulators and other government officials to overlook dangerous investments and business models that contributed to the global credit crisis according to speakers at the financial risk roundtable held by the Wharton Financial Institutions Center and the Oliver Wyman Institute. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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To Love Honor Cherish and Consume: The Selling of the American Wedding
25/06/2008 Duração: 13minMoney to paraphrase the Beatles can’t buy you love. But it can certainly buy a lavish wedding as noted in Rebecca Mead’s new book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. Indeed according to Mead America’s wedding industry exceeds $161 billion annually -- an enormous sum that suggests how much weddings have become not only big business but big fantasy. Yet as our reviewer notes the wedding boom is not just confined to wealthy Western nations but has become a global phenomenon concerned with ”displaying and solidifying social position in a world where such things are fluid and changeable.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Procurement -- China Sourcing
23/06/2008 Duração: 18minMultinational corporations have been sourcing from China for years but that doesn’t mean that all the questions have been answered about how to engage in procurement activities in the world’s fastest-growing economy. In this interview David Lee a partner and managing director at BCG says that plenty of challenges remain. Among them: finding good suppliers that offer products at relatively low costs and being willing and able to outsource a sufficient volume of one’s business to Chinese suppliers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Credit Crisis Interview: Jeremy Siegel on Ignoring Risks
20/06/2008 Duração: 14minThe subprime crisis ”was a wreck that could have been predicted ” Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel says in this interview. Siegel is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge at Wharton for this special report on the credit crisis. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Procurement -- Customer-Supplier Relationships
16/06/2008 Duração: 14minIn the never-ending quest for cost savings many companies have reduced the number of suppliers they use consolidated their purchases and negotiated better prices. So where can chief procurement officers and other managers now turn for savings? In this interview Bob Tevelson a BCG partner and managing director says firms must segment suppliers to identify those that can deliver what he calls ”partnership value” by establishing relationships that move beyond the transactional level. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Yanked from Obscurity: Why Finance Experts Are Rethinking LIBOR
11/06/2008 Duração: 11minFirst U.S. Bankers raised questions about how the daily London Interbank Offered Rate was calculated and then The Wall Street Journal demonstrated that the rate was inexplicably diverging from what the data suggested it ought to be. Getting it right is important because LIBOR is the basis for many kinds of loans. The British Bankers Association says it will make changes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Secrets of the Private Equity Trade
11/06/2008 Duração: 07minPrivate equity firms manage some $1 trillion of global capital yet because they are highly secretive much remains unknown about their internal economics. How do PE firms organize themselves for example and how do they capitalize on their success? Some answers emerge from a paper by Wharton finance professor Ayako Yasuda and Yale School of Management finance professor Andrew Metrick presented at a recent Wharton conference sponsored by the Weiss Center for International Financial Research. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Google’s Joe Kraus on How to Make the Web More Social
11/06/2008 Duração: 25minJoe Kraus director of product management at Google believes every killer app on the web -- instant messaging e-mail blogging photo-sharing -- has succeeded because it helps people connect with one another. For Kraus this means the Internet has an inherently social character but it can be enhanced further. Wharton legal studies professor Kevin Werbach spoke with Kraus recently about the socialization of the Internet. Kraus will speak about social computing at the Supernova conference in San Francisco on June 16. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Clearing the Air: How Companies Operate in a Climate-conscious Era
11/06/2008 Duração: 12minWhere to locate a new headquarters how to close a supply-chain loop how to anticipate customer demands: These are all decisions that companies must wrestle with as they respond to increasing concerns about global warming. Given the rush to be environmentally friendly where do companies turn for dependable information and good advice? Wharton faculty and other experts say companies have to rely on a combination of internal and external resources as they try not only to manage the risks of climate change but also to gain a competitive edge. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Bridging the Global Digital Divide One Laptop at a Time
11/06/2008 Duração: 13minOn May 20 the non-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program unveiled the second version of its XO laptop which is designed to bring affordable modern technology to children in developing countries. In April Intel announced its next-generation Classmate PC which targets the same market. Meanwhile Microsoft has been tweaking its Windows XP operating system for these educational devices which also run on the open source Linux operating system. Experts at Wharton say that the focus on third world countries is promising but they question whether these efforts will be effective. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Russia’s Best-known Investment Banker Ruben Vardanian on Building Trust in a Fast-moving World
11/06/2008 Duração: 20minWhen 22-year-old Ruben Vardanian became General Director of Troika Dialog in 1992 he applied international banking standards stressed transparency and built a young multicultural and cooperative workforce. It wasn’t easy in the rough-and-tumble Russian economy of the 1990s but his company is now Russia’s oldest and largest private investment bank. Wharton management professors Valery Yakubovich and Michael Useem spoke with Vardanian about entrepreneurship education -- and staying honest -- in Russia. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Growing Value and Activism Bring New Scrutiny to Public Pension Funds
11/06/2008 Duração: 13minControlling about $3 trillion public pension funds are too big to ignore. Some use their influence to boost shareholder rights or support social causes. In the face of ”pension envy” from private sector workers some governments have adopted defined contribution plans – and some of those have regretted the decision. The issues were explored at a Wharton Impact Conference called ”The Future of Public Employee Retirement Systems.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Procurement -- Global Supply Chain Strategy
09/06/2008 Duração: 23minMarshall L. Fisher director of Wharton’s Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management has been researching issues related to retail supply chain strategy for many years. In this interview Fisher highlights some of the challenges facing global procurement and he discusses the example of Luen Thai a Chinese company that built a giant ”supply-chain city ” becoming a one-stop shop for clothing manufacturers looking to outsource to low-cost producers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Procurement -- Challenges Facing Procurement Organizations
02/06/2008 Duração: 23minProcurement has become an integral part of corporate performance and is drawing increased attention from senior management. In this interview Andreas Gocke a BCG partner and managing director spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about the most critical challenges facing procurement organizations over the next five to 10 years including training and employee development managing global sourcing offices and ensuring collaboration across corporate departments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Procurement -- The Strategic Perspective
28/05/2008 Duração: 13minProcurement has taken on greater strategic importance in multinational companies in recent years -- and it will assume even greater significance in the years to come according to Hal Sirkin senior partner and managing director at The Boston Consulting Group and global leader of BCG’s operations practice. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Sirkin discusses procurement in the context of global business and the ways in which companies from rapidly developing economies are challenging traditional multinationals. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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What’s Behind the Flare-ups in Oil Prices? Jeremy Siegel and Witold Henisz Weigh In
28/05/2008 Duração: 15minMemorial Day which marks the beginning of the summer driving season in the U.S. saw gas prices at nearly $4 a gallon all over the country -- and even higher in states such as Florida. Globally the picture looks more worrisome: Oil prices crossed a record $135 a barrel during the weekend of May 24-25 although by Tuesday prices had come down to $131. What’s behind these regular flare-ups in oil prices? What are the major economic and geopolitical factors at work? How does expensive oil affect the U.S. and world markets and what can we expect over the coming months? Knowledge at Wharton discussed these questions and more with finance professor Jeremy Siegel author of The Future for Investors and management professor Witold Henisz. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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An Earful on Ethanol: Rising Food Prices Inefficient Production and Other Problems
28/05/2008 Duração: 11minJust a year ago ethanol was the renewable fuel of the moment. Derived mostly from corn grown in America’s heartland it was promoted as a home-grown ticket to energy independence for the U.S. and other oil-importing nations. Today however ethanol’s prospects look somewhat cloudy. Critics around the world are crying foul over rising food prices while others say that it takes more resources to create ethanol than the alternative fuel provides. According to experts at Wharton and elsewhere ethanol underscores the hazards involved in the development of any new energy source where failure to understand the broader impact of production can result in unintended consequences. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Why the Credit Crunch Should Help Corporate M&A
28/05/2008 Duração: 07minCredit market turmoil is altering the global playing field in buyouts and acquisitions a field rife with complaints in recent years about too much money chasing too few good deals. The credit shortage puts pressure on pricing and transactional quality while also giving public companies a better shot at acquisitions that the more aggressive private equity firms might previously have snatched away. These are some practical implications of a paper presented at a recent Wharton conference sponsored by the Weiss Center for International Financial Research. The paper documents the pricing anomalies that have characterized private equity transactions in recent years. Chief among them: The greater the leverage applied to a deal the greater the price it has tended to command. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Caught in the Middle: Why Developing and Retaining Middle Managers Can Be So Challenging
28/05/2008 Duração: 12minMiddle managers are often referred to as the ”glue” that holds companies together bridging the gap between the top management team and lower level workers. They implement strategy and organizational changes keeping workers engaged during both good times and bad. Yet according to a recent survey of middle managers around the world 20% report dissatisfaction with their current organization and that same percentage report that they are looking for another job. How do middle managers fare in an uncertain economy and what should companies be doing to keep them happy? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Kiva: Improving People’s Lives One Small Loan at a Time
28/05/2008 Duração: 09minNearly everyone told Matt and Jessica Flannery that their idea -- a website where people could make micro loans to individual borrowers in the developing world -- wouldn’t work. Venture capitalists couldn’t see how anyone could make big money on tiny loans. Foundations wouldn’t support something that they saw as commerce not charity. But the Flannerys persisted and today the website that they created -- Kiva.org -- has so far assisted about 40 000 borrowers in 40 countries and provided a total of $27 million in funding. Matt Flannery Kiva’s CEO and Premal Shah its president spoke about their business at the recent University of Pennsylvania Microfinance Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.