Knowledge@Wharton Business Research Journal

Innovation: Sometimes It Takes a Village
Companies have formed alliances and strategic partnerships for hundreds of years, but experts gathered for a recent conference at Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation said such connections are more important than ever in a fast-changing business environment. Still, because more innovation networks fail than succeed, companies may have to alter their culture to make these critical alliances work.

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One Way to Lower Health Costs: Pay People to Be Healthy
When employers want their employees to live healthier lifestyles -- to lose weight, stop smoking and exercise regularly -- nothing works like cash, according to research led by Wharton faculty. While some may wince at the notion of paying people to do the right thing, the research found that the incentives cost less than the diseases they prevent.

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DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman's Four Principles for Moving Ahead during Turbulent Times
CEO Ellen Kullman has had to balance the need for immediate action to maintain DuPont's financial stability during the ongoing financial crisis, while focusing on strategic objectives that would preserve the 200-year-old company's leading market position in the future. Among the highest hurdles: Communicating with -- and motivating -- employees. Kullman was a guest speaker at the recent Wharton Leadership Conference, whose theme was: "Leading in a Dynamic and Unpredictable World."

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'Mustaches for Kids': Charities Adopt Private Sector Models to Tap New Funds
In the wake of the global financial crisis, social enterprises are hastening their transition from the traditional donor model to rely more on market mechanisms long established in the private sector. In so doing, organizations hope to not only survive the current recession, but also to create a foundation for long-term sustainability, say Wharton faculty and executives at non-profit institutions.

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The New Role of Risk Management: Rebuilding the Model
Risk managers armed with the most sophisticated quantitative tools available did not foresee the biggest development in a generation -- the systematic breakdown and global contagion of financial markets. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, John Drzik, president and CEO of the Oliver Wyman Group, Richard J. Herring, a finance professor at Wharton, and Francis X. Diebold, a Wharton professor of economics, finance and statistics, discussed how to build a more informed risk management model. All three took part in the recent Wharton Financial Institutions Center and Oliver Wyman Institute 12th Annual Financial Risk Roundtable 2009.

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Hollywood's Peter Guber: Spinning Memos into Tales
Mandalay Entertainment Group chairman Peter Guber, who produced popular movies such as Shampoo, The Way We Were and Taxi Driver, knows a thing or two about telling stories. At the recent Wharton Leadership Conference, he argued that storytelling can be an effective leadership tool. In a separate podcast interview with Steve Ennen, managing director of the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative, Guber explains why in a corporate setting, stories are more memorable and engaging than slide presentations, memos or sales pitches.

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