Knowledge@Wharton

Why Social Entrepreneurs Should Pressure-test Their Ideas

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

Social entrepreneurs -- those who try to tackle major social problems such as poverty and disease while generating revenues -- are often well-meaning people. But in their desire to make a difference to society, they sometimes fail to subject their ideas to rigorous tests. Ian MacMillan, a professor of management at Wharton, and James Thompson, who leads the Wharton Social Enterprise Program, have just published an ebook titled, The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook, to help entrepreneurs do just that. (Video with transcript)

From the Global Financial Crisis, Lessons Only Partially Learned

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

Some of the holes in the global financial system's risk-management defenses have been patched since the financial collapse five years ago, according to panelists at the recent Wharton Global Forum in Tokyo. But bankers are still overpaid, and the needs of customers and the real economy are often still overlooked, speakers said. The panel also questioned whether the economic turnaround that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attempting to engineer will produce the structural reforms required for success.

The New Model for Innovation Is Social -- and Mobile: But Are Companies Ready?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

Consumers are turning to social media and mobile technology to accomplish an ever-growing list of tasks, from finding a doctor to turning on an air conditioner. These changes have left many industries ripe for disruption by companies willing to change their business models and marketing practices to fit a new generation of customers, according to experts who spoke at a recent conference organized by Wharton's Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the school's San Francisco campus.

Ben Jealous and the NAACP: The 'Bold, Scary Dreams' of Every Generation

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

Ben Jealous was appointed president and CEO of the NAACP at a time when its membership was in decline. Jealous, however, has spent the last five years reversing that decline, increasing the number of donors and focusing on current hot-button issues like elimination of the death penalty. What's important, he said during a Wharton leadership lecture, is to "sit with people whom you disagree with 99 out of 100 times and find the one thing you can agree on."

Losing Patience (and Patients): What Makes People Wait in Line, or Decide to Bail

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

When you overhear a person five spots ahead of you at the coffee shop ordering a mocha light decaf no whip one pump, it might be enough to make you abandon your place in line and walk out of the store. But what if the context is different, and the issue at stake isn't a hand-crafted drink, but your health? The factors influencing people who face this dilemma are analyzed in "Waiting Patiently: An Empirical Study of Queue Abandonment in an Emergency Department," by Wharton professor Christian Terwiesch and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Robert J. Batt.

Cost Efficient, Open-space Office Designs: Ditching Desks -- and Privacy

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

As more companies adopt an open-space design philosophy to encourage more conversation and collaboration -- along with cost savings -- some question whether the resulting loss of privacy and frequent interruptions could end up hurting productivity.

Yahoo Continues Its Search for a New Identity

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

Since becoming CEO of Yahoo a year ago, Marissa Mayer has undertaken a far-reaching effort to turn around the beleaguered search company. She has refreshed Yahoo's homepage, made changes to core sites like Flickr and completed a series of acquisitions, including the popular micro-blogging site Tumblr. So far, Yahoo's financial performance under Mayer has been mixed, however, and Wharton experts say the firm still lacks a defining, sector-topping product to solidify its return to relevance.

Corporate Tax Avoidance: Can the System Be Fixed?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:15:44 EST

In a confrontation that made headlines in May, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report claiming that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been using a "complex web of offshore entities" to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes. How do companies like Apple minimize their taxes without breaking any U.S. laws? Why does the U.S. maintain such a tax system, and what are its economic consequences? Should the system be fixed -- and if so, how? Experts from Wharton and elsewhere weigh in.

The 'Forward-looking' CFO: Linking Financial Rigor with Leadership

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:01:44 EST

Global organizations operating in the contemporary business landscape need to tightly link financial rigor and strategic insight. Increasingly, senior financial executives are playing influential roles in strategy development and implementation, working closely with the CEO and the board to creatively assess and design growth opportunities. The question is: Are CFOs prepared to move beyond the number-crunching function to act and lead in this capacity? Wharton's Jason Wingard and John Percival discuss this and other issues.

On Wall Street, Netflix Is a Comeback Kid -- But Can It Stay on Top?

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

Almost two years ago, Netflix seemed to have bottomed out. The streaming and DVD rental company raised its prices, resulting in a mass exodus of subscribers, while also launching an ill-fated attempt to separate its two businesses. Yet the firm seems to have bounced back, emerging as the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 index during the first quarter of this year. Wharton experts and others say Netflix achieved this by focusing on its core customer base and committing to a long-term strategy. But in a highly competitive business, they add, innovation remains key.

Encore Careers: Why an Aging Population Is a Resource, Not a Problem

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

Many people in the Western world used to anticipate retiring in their 50s or 60s. Now, they are embarking on new "encore" careers at the very time when they might have previously been expected to begin a life of leisure. Marci Alboher, author of The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life, spoke to Wharton professor Stewart Friedman about second -- and even third -- acts. (Video with transcript)

Does the Good Outweigh the Bad? Sizing up 'Selective' Corporate Social Responsibility

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

When companies trumpet their efforts to produce organic foods, sell fair-trade T-shirts or just make the world a better place, a cynical view might be that they are diverting attention away from the more unseemly elements of their business strategies. However, according to Wharton experts, it's not realistic to expect perfection when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Instead, judging a company's CSR record involves a mix of skepticism and an understanding of the complex decisions at play.

White House Black Market's Donna Noce on the Power of Personalized Customer Relationships

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

Donna Noce entered college with the intent to major in veterinary medicine. But when a part-time job at a local retail store led to the chance to try her hand as a fashion buyer, she became hooked on the retail industry. For the past six years, Noce has been president of White House Black Market, a retail chain that sells designs focused around the classic color combination. In this interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Noce drew on more than three decades of experience to discuss what has changed in the fashion business -- and what hasn't. (Video with transcript)

Adobe Acrobat at 20: Successes, Second Guesses and a Few Miscues

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

This month, Adobe Acrobat turns 20. Adobe Systems co-founder and co-chairman John Warnock and SVP of technology Bob Wulff spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about the product's origins, early struggles and eventual success -- in addition to expounding on what's wrong with the worldwide web and why the world needs to defeat the App Store.

The 'Social' Credit Score: Separating the Data from the Noise

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

A new wave of financial services start-ups is taking advantage of the era of "Big Data" by using information culled from social networks to assess the creditworthiness of loan applicants, particularly those with spotty or limited credit histories. But Wharton experts warn that it may take years to figure out what type of social data is useful in creating accurate consumer profiles. They note that the tried-and-true method of gauging the quality of a person's credit -- the FICO score -- is far from obsolete.

Skipped Out on Your Restaurant Reservation? That Will Be $200, Please

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

No-shows are a rampant problem in the restaurant industry, costing businesses wasted time and money. Some restaurants have started to experiment by charging "no-show fees" to consumers who fail to appear. In a new paper, Wharton PhD student Jaelynn Oh and operations and information management professor Xuanming Su use a game theoretic model to suggest that many restaurants could maximize profits by punishing customers who don't show up for their reservations and rewarding those who do.

Mobile Devices and Cybercrime: Is Your Phone the Weakest Link?

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:57:58 EST

As wireless devices become increasingly ingrained into our daily lives both at work and at home, they open the door to heightened security risks. Not only do such devices become points of access for cybercriminals, but they also may be more easily breached than personal computers since many consumers do not secure their smartphones or tablets with antivirus software or take simple precautions, such as enabling password protection. The implications are dire for consumers and businesses alike, but the solutions aren't clear cut, Wharton experts say.

TechStars' Brad Feld: A Startup Community Needs a 20-year Time Horizon

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:20:37 EST

Brad Feld sold his Boston startup and moved to Boulder, Colo., in 1995. The city already had a bustling entrepreneurial community, and Feld was soon in the thick of things. He co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, earlier, Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch software companies. More recently, he co-founded two early-stage venture capital firms -- the Foundry Group and TechStars -- which provide seed funding and angel investors. A startup community has to tap its "natural resources," he says in this Knowledge@Wharton interview. Feld is also the author of several books, including Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City. (Podcast with transcript)

The 'Fancy Layaway': Creating a Market for Unique, Online and High-end Fashion

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:21:54 EST

When Aslaug Magnusdottir started going to the top runway fashion shows in Milan, Paris and New York, she often thought about the wasted opportunity that designers were missing. "Because not many women could come to these shows, they were completely shut out of buying the fashion there," said Magnusdottir. She -- and Moda Operandi -- set out to change that.

Upset about Political Bias in the Media? Blame Economics

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:21:54 EST

News organizations are often accused -- and in some cases, outright acknowledge -- that their coverage is biased toward a particular end of the political spectrum. In a new paper, Wharton marketing professor Pinar Yildirim and her co-authors argue that the slant in coverage does not stem from the personal beliefs of a newspaper's corporate owners or staff, but rather from the economics of trying to attract and retain both readers and advertisers.