articles 11 to 25 of 251
Baby's First Birthday: Lessons from a Brazilian E-commerce Start-up
The e-commerce story in Brazil is one of tremendous opportunity, but with significant barriers to entry. While the country's growing middle class and its ranking as the fifth most Internet-connected country would suggest a good fit for e-commerce, consumers still harbor skepticism about making purchases online. Bureaucracy and corruption further complicate the situation. But there are rewards for entrepreneurs willing to take on these challenges. Consider baby.com.br, one of Brazil's leading baby products e-commerce companies.
From: January 02, 2013
Entrepreneurship in Colombia: 'Try Fast, Learn Fast, Fail Cheap'
Colombia today is considered to be one of the world's great emerging economies. Its growing political stability, decrease in violence, young working population and overall positive economic trend make it a country with interesting prospects. One particularly noticeable result of this stability is significant expansion of its entrepreneurial environment. While this is good news, it also challenges the Colombian government to figure out ways that this entrepreneurial potential can be cultivated and maximized.
From: January 02, 2013
Silicon Wafers and Semiconductors: A New Black Gold for Abu Dhabi?
The leadership of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) considers economic diversification a necessity to protect the country's economy from oil-price fluctuations and to maintain prosperity. Along those lines, a government-owned investment vehicle is trying to encourage growth and innovation in knowledge-based industries in such areas as aerospace, health care, information and communications technology, and renewable energy. One of the goals -- promoting a local semiconductor industry -- is proving to be especially challenging.
From: January 02, 2013
Retail Chains' Race for Russia
Thanks to relative political stability and strong oil and gas prices, Russia's retail turnover more than quintupled from 2001 to 2011 and now exceeds US$600 billion annually. Data suggest that this sector is entering the steepest part of its growth curve. How will Russia's retailers face the challenges of this critical period of expansion? Will foreign retailers manage to get a slice of this growing pie?
From: January 02, 2013
Innovation and Regulation: Friend or Foe to the French Entrepreneur?
In France, taxation and regulation have worked against entrepreneurship by raising obstacles to innovation and crowding out early-stage investment. Yet opportunity for new businesses still exists, provided the country takes steps to rediscover its entrepreneurial spirit through an examination of its rich cultural heritage. What factors have led to the failure of past efforts to spur entrepreneurship in France? And how can the country innovate by working with, instead of against, its strong central government?
From: January 02, 2013
Water Scarcity: A Daunting Challenge with a Hopeful Future
At the very least, 2012 has been a challenging year for Spain, whose economy continues to suffer due to ongoing fallout from the financial crisis. While the country's construction industry has been at the heart of this crisis -- contributing to, and weighed down by, the bursting of the real estate bubble -- few people know that Spain's construction businesses are responsible for some of the world's most advanced water-treatment strategies and technologies.
From: January 02, 2013
'For the Win': How Gamification Can Transform Your Business
Can work be fun? Can the insights of successful game designers be used to engage customers in a variety of industries? Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach and New York Law School professor Dan Hunter, authors of For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business, say yes. Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Werbach and Hunter about what gamification really is, how companies are using it and what pitfalls to avoid when gamifying. (Video with transcript)
From: December 05, 2012
Venture Capitalist Tom Perkins: 'If There Is No Risk, You Have Already Missed the Boat'
During a recent visit to Wharton's San Francisco campus, Tom Perkins, co-founder of the fabled Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, talked about risk-taking, his mentor David Packard, the downside of corporate VC, ethically challenged Wall Street, and networking vs. "cronyism," among other topics.
From: December 05, 2012
An 'Uber' Problem for Cities: Balancing Innovation with Regulation
Uber, a San Francisco start-up that provides private car service, has been embraced by customers who love its white-glove service and convenience. But municipalities and transportation industry officials are not so enamored, accusing the firm of breaking local laws. According to Wharton experts, the case illustrates the myriad problems that can occur when innovation runs afoul of regulation.
From: November 20, 2012
MOOCs on the Move: How Coursera Is Disrupting the Traditional Classroom
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are shaking up traditional models of education. Among the most active providers of them today is Coursera, a start-up that presents some 200 courses to 1.5 million students in collaboration with 33 educational institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania. But how does Coursera deal with challenges such as scaling up the venture, increasing student retention rates and monetizing free content? Knowledge@Wharton talked with Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, during her recent visit to campus.
From: November 07, 2012
Google's Osama Bedier: Why the Digital Wallet Is Key to the Marketplace
Many of today's digital payment systems leave both consumers and merchants more frustrated than satisfied. But Osama Bedier, Google's vice president of payments, says building a better digital wallet could be the key to more targeted and profitable consumer-merchant relationships.
From: November 07, 2012
At Shell, a Grassroots Effort Aims to Nourish Innovation Via Meditation
Mandar Apte, a chemical engineer, has worked at Shell for 12 years. He is part of the energy giant's GameChanger program, whose mission is to provide seed funding and guidance to cutting-edge ideas and foster a culture of innovation. Apte is also the founder of a staff-led initiative called Empower, which uses breathing and meditation exercises to nurture personal creativity as well as inter-personal skills. So far, some 2,000 employees at Shell offices in the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands and the UAE have gone through modules that are part of the Empower program. In a conversation with Knowledge@Wharton, Apte discusses the impact that Empower has had on him and his colleagues and his hopes for its future. (Video with transcript)
From: August 01, 2012
Research Roundup: Cross Subsidization at Hospitals, Building Better Teams and the Alcohol Bias
Do hospitals depend on profitable services to make up for the losses accrued by less profitable ones? How important are time allocation and geographic dispersion in teams that include members working simultaneously on different projects with co-workers scattered in several different locales? How does a person's drink choice influence perceptions of his or her intelligence? Wharton professors Guy David and Lawton Burns, Martine Haas and Maurice Schweitzer, respectively, examined these issues and what they mean for business in recent research papers.
From: July 18, 2012
Innovation Almost Bankrupted LEGO -- Until It Rebuilt with a Better Blueprint
After years of booming sales followed by a sudden slowdown, the LEGO Group went on an innovation binge, spinning its iconic plastic blocks into a number of new products and markets. Although its effort produced a few hits, the strategy almost bankrupted the company. At a recent conference at Wharton's Mack Center, practice professor David Robertson described how LEGO righted itself without abandoning its cutting-edge ambitions. The story is also the subject of Robertson's forthcoming book.
From: July 18, 2012
LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman: Why You Should Run Your Career Like a Startup
LinkedIn, with more than 100 million members in over 200 countries, has become the social media mainstay of professionals -- a living, breathing Rolodex that provides an ongoing connection to new and old colleagues as well as access to their broader networks. Now, Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, offers another career tool in the form of a book, The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career, written with Ben Casnocha. Wharton management professor Ethan Mollick spoke with Hoffman about how to apply startup strategies to your career, why "tours of duty" are critical and why you should focus more on your second-degree connections.
From: July 03, 2012
