Knowledge at Wharton

Jim Smith and Vikrant Kothari each had ambitions to start a company whose focus would be on using information technology as a way to help solve social problems. But it wasn’t until they met in Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives that their idea came together in the form of the Digital Network Group. Two affiliates under the Digital Network Group umbrella include one targeted to helping non-profits develop innovative and long-term IT strategies; the other is a service program that shows how IT and mentoring can help disadvantaged young people from middle school on up become productive members of society. Smith and Kothari spoke to Knowledge at Wharton about these initiatives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Change is the new status-quo and success at work will require agility talent and the ability to learn from -- rather than fear -- failure according to Gregory Shea adjunct professor of management at Wharton and business writer Robert Gunther. The two recently co-authored a book titled Your Job Survival Guide a Manual for Thriving in Change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ”Fiscal Wake Up Tour” is warning voters that today’s financial crisis is a mere ripple compared to the tsunami that will wash over the U.S. Treasury as millions of Baby Boomers demand what they have been promised by Social Security and Medicare. The tour sponsored in part by Wharton’s Business and Public Policy Department was organized by a bipartisan coalition concerned about the unchecked growth of entitlement programs and ever-deepening federal debt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How will the U.S. pay for its plans to prop up the financial sector? Answer: by borrowing -- raising worries about how the country’s ballooning annual budget deficits and aggregating debt will affect the economy and financial markets. Some guidelines such as interest rates and the ratio of debt and deficits to gross domestic product suggest the new debt will be digested easily. But some experts think those guidelines are misleading warning that obligations are piling up like tinder on a forest floor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Wall Street unravels and the economy confronts its crucial holiday spending season consumers cannot be expected to prop up retailers as they have in past downturns. Even luxury stores whose customers have been immune in recent years to retail price sticker shock are expected to take a hit this time according to Wharton faculty and consumer analysts. As one commentator notes: ”It will be a lean Christmas.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While discussion at the recent Erin Anderson B2B Research Conference at Wharton focused on cutting-edge research in the field of business-to-business relationships participants also acknowledged the impact on marketers of the ongoing financial meltdown. Along those lines three university professors and a moderator took part in a panel that analyzed the effect of the economic downturn on the B2B global marketplace. The Conference sponsored by the Wharton INSEAD Alliance was held in honor of Erin Anderson a marketing professor at Wharton from 1981 to 1994 and at INSEAD from 1994 until her death in 2007. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the financial crisis continues to roil credit and stock markets around the globe it seems that no country or continent is being spared the consequences. Brazil Russia India and China -- the BRIC countries -- are no exception. In this Knowledge at Wharton podcast Shiv Khemka vice chairman of SUN Group based in London New Delhi and Moscow; Silas K.F. Chou president and CEO of Novel Holdings based in Hong Kong; and Odemiro Fonseca founder of Viena Rio Restaurantes in Rio de Janeiro discuss their countries’ response to the crisis its impact on specific sectors the decoupling hypothesis and the dangers of protectionism among other topics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In merger-and-acquisition advice an investment bank’s market share does not seem to equate with value delivered to clients two scholars from Wharton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conclude in a research paper. Indeed the opposite may be true: The more market share an investment bank has the less value it will deliver to clients. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With stock markets in free fall U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced on Tuesday that the government’s effort to unlock credit markets would include direct investments of $250 billion in bank equities. He also warned bankers not to hoard the money but to use it to make the loans that lubricate the nation’s economy. In separate interviews Wharton finance professors Richard Marston and Jeremy Siegel tell Knowledge at Wharton that while the investment is not without risk it appears to be the best hope for restoring confidence in credit and stock markets -- and reducing the severity of a recession that is all but certain to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite the rash of bad economic news the recent 11th annual Wharton Investment Management Conference offered its audience some hope for relief or at least a few possible bargains in selected industries. And while no one -- including keynote speaker David McCormick undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury -- felt the crisis would be over anytime soon some still found reasons to be optimistic. Said one conference panelist: Eventually ”people will get bored with being afraid.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.