articles 1 to 10 of 208
Fit for the Holidays: Amazon Is Shaping Up and Shipping Out
Amazon.com enters the holiday shopping season with enviable strength. The financials at the world's biggest online retailer are looking better than ever while it is finding new ways to muscle in on the competitive advantages traditionally enjoyed by conventional bricks-and-mortar retailers -- including its recent launch of same-day shipping in seven major U.S. cities. But as Amazon grows, competitors are still giving it a run for its money, according to e-commerce and marketing experts at Wharton.
From: November 11, 2009
Netflix: One Eye on the Present and Another on the Future
In a year when DVD sales are falling and studios are facing major shakeups in their executive ranks, the movie industry has at least one success story to cheer about: Netflix. Despite the recession, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company continues to thrive and is now in a race to transition to a business model focused on streaming content online while continuing to exploit its current model based on physical DVD distribution. According to Wharton faculty, Netflix has managed this balancing act deftly so far, but growing competition in digital distribution means that it may not have an advantage for long.
From: October 28, 2009
Early Tremors: Is It Time for Another Social Network Shakeout?
Faint rumblings have begun in the social networking landscape. Facebook acquired smaller rival FriendFeed in August; Friendster, viewed as an also-ran in the U.S., has refocused its operations on the Asia-Pacific region; and News Corp., owner of MySpace, has reshuffled executives and restructured the unit as traffic to the site slows. Experts at Wharton say there's still a lot of growth left in the sector, but a round of consolidation, reinvention and restructuring is likely in the not-too-distant future.
From: October 14, 2009
Pushing Zune: Is Microsoft Fighting an Uphill Battle?
In what was billed as "a significant step forward," Microsoft on September 15 launched its next-generation Zune HD media player, touting the device's ability to play high-definition (HD) video and receive HD Radio signals, along with a state-of-the-art, organic light-emitting diode screen. Experts at Wharton say that despite its advanced technology, it isn't yet clear whether these features will matter to consumers. Zune HD already faces the nearly impossible task of competing against Apple and its iPod, which had 73% of the market as of July. Should Microsoft continue to fight this battle?
From: September 30, 2009
Skype's Life after eBay: Free in More Ways Than One
The last four years at Skype have been anything but dull. In 2005, eBay bought the popular Internet-based phone service in a deal that raised plenty of eyebrows. But with eBay's $2.75 billion sale of Skype on September 1, one whirlwind era closes and another one begins. The key for Skype now is to find new ways in the emerging "communication ecosystem" -- as one Wharton expert calls it -- to monetize a service that most of its customers are used to getting for free.
From: September 16, 2009
Google Everywhere: As the Search Giant Grows, How Much Is Too Much?
As it expands into new markets with additional products and platforms, Google is beginning to look a bit like Microsoft in the mid-1990s: A company with big ambitions and an ever-growing list of competitors. Its latest skirmish with Apple over an integrated telephony and voicemail management application for the iPhone is just one example of what is likely to come, according to Wharton faculty and other experts. In addition, they say, as Google tries to be virtually everywhere that consumers are, it needs to avoid making the same mistakes that Microsoft made, and it should pay close attention to privacy issues.
From: September 02, 2009
Information Security: Why Cybercriminals Are Smiling
With Internet usage forecast to grow 45% globally over the next four years, the web has become a paradise for cybercriminals. Many people don't yet fully understand the enormity of the threat -- to individuals, their families and the companies that they work for, warns Andrea M. Matwyshyn, professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton and editor of a forthcoming book titled, Harboring Data: Information Security, Law and the Corporation. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Matwyshyn and two of the book's contributors discuss the major risk management gaps that are leaving valuable data assets unprotected.
From: August 19, 2009
Technological Evolution Stirs a Publishing Revolution
According to Wharton faculty who follow the complicated, emotionally fraught subject of how we buy and sell literature, devices such as Amazon's Kindle and an on-demand book-printing machine called Espresso are helping to upend longstanding customs in the slow-to-change business of book publishing.
From: August 05, 2009
Cable TV Follows Its Subscribers to the Internet
The cable television industry's answer to the increasing threat from Internet video sites such as YouTube and Hulu focuses on a clear-cut strategy: Make cable subscriptions portable to any Internet accessible device, such as a laptop computer or even a mobile phone, for no additional charge. Experts at Wharton say the move is a promising early step in meeting the Internet video challenge, but they expect more such experimentation ahead.
From: July 22, 2009
Leaving 'Friendprints': How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security
A generation is growing up with social networking web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, casually posting accounts of their lives for their friends -- and the world -- to see. Few of these users realize that the information they post, when combined with new technologies for gathering and compiling data, can create a fingerprint-like pattern of behavior. The information provides opportunities not only for legitimate businesses, but also for identity thieves and other predators, according to faculty at Wharton and elsewhere.
From: June 10, 2009
