Knowledge at Wharton
The Wharton School
The Knowledge at Wharton Network Acast feed serves as a curated showcase highlighting the best content from our podcast collection. Each week, we feature one standout episode from each show in the Wharton Podcast Network, giving listeners a comprehensive sample of our diverse business and academic content. This rotating selection allows audiences to discover new shows within our network while experiencing the depth and variety of Wharton's thought leadership across different topics and formats. It's your monthly gateway to explore the full spectrum of insights available through the Wharton Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 13, 2002 • 5min
Forecasting in Conflicts: How to Predict What Your Opponent Will Do
J. Scott Armstrong is a marketing professor at Wharton and author of the recent book Principles of Forecasting. In the article that follows he talks about role-playing as a tool for business and government leaders who face crucial decisions in situations ranging from military clashes to marketing challenges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 30, 2002 • 11min
Making the Case for Outside Sales Reps
During the economic downturn that most of corporate America experienced in 2001 the following companies had something in common: Intel Texas Instruments Cirrus Logic and Hunt Wesson. What tied them together was their decision last year to go from a direct (in-house) sales force to a contract or outside sales agency for some or all of their major product lines. Marketing professors Erin Anderson at INSEAD and Len Lodish at Wharton say that outside sales agencies if properly managed can benefit companies regardless of the economic climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 5, 2001 • 16min
Why Job Searching is the Second Most Popular Activity on the Internet
With more than 20 million people registered on the monster.com job search site it’s clear that we are a workforce on the move. In a recent executive education session Peter Cappelli director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources explained how a dramatically different labor market is changing not just the way people are hired and fired but how they view their jobs their employers and their careers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 21, 2001 • 17min
Oh the Games Enron Played
The dramatic disintegration of Enron has left a lot of people wondering how this huge publicly-traded company could have fallen so far so fast. Wharton faculty and others help explain what went on behind the scenes at Enron where it is now clear that management exploited loopholes in accounting procedures and created questionable partnerships involving top company officials among other tactics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 21, 2001 • 12min
The Evolution of B2B: Lessons From the Auto Industry
Only a few years ago B2B exchanges were expected to completely alter conventional buyer-supplier relationships. The reality has been otherwise. Only 10% of the 1 000 B2B exchanges launched in the past 18 months are reportedly still in operation. Meanwhile the important B2B action seems to have shifted to industry-wide exchanges run by incumbent firms such as Covisint in the auto industry and Transora in the consumer products sector. In a new research study Wharton management professor John Paul MacDuffie and colleague Susan Helper explore this evolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 10, 2001 • 22min
What Webvan Could Have Learned from Tesco
Webvan the ambitious online grocer once bragged that it would set a new standard for Internet retailing. As most people now know for all its hubris the company has turned out to be one of the dot-com economy’s most spectacular failures. After burning its way through $1.2 billion in capital it declared bankruptcy in July. Does Webvan’s collapse mean that shoppers dislike buying groceries online? For a part of the answer look across the Atlantic to a Britain-based supermarket chain called Tesco. Its online arm Tesco.com will probably have revenues of $420 million this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 26, 2001 • 9min
A Search for Google’s Success Turns Up Two Words: Trust and Technology
Even as so many well-known search engines are struggling for survival Google.com continues to thrive actually turning a profit this year according to the privately-held company. What explains Google’s success and the loyalty of its users? “Performance not glitter ” sums up one Wharton professor. Plus a purist approach to advertising. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 29, 2001 • 7min
If Affluenza Strikes Take Naps and Stop Consuming
Choose one: a slight pay raise or a shorter work week. If you chose the former you may be suffering from what authors John de Graaf David Wann and Thomas Naylor call “affluenza ” which is both the name of their new book and a reference to America’s worship of economic expansion. Think more shopping malls bigger homes more bankruptcies both monetary and spiritual. Affluenza our reviewer says is a riveting terrifying and inspiring analysis of what ails contemporary America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 18, 2001 • 7min
Measuring Returns on IT Investments: Some Tools and Techniques
How can executives measure returns on investments they make in information technology? This complex issue touches everything from decisions about replacing desktop computers with laptop models to investments in complex software systems. Experts from Wharton and Intel the giant chip maker suggest some methods that may help executives approach these questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 4, 2001 • 9min
Making Customer Relationship Management Work
Customer relationship management or CRM is the buzzword du jour in business circles. To hear some proponents talk about it all a company needs to do is buy and install a sophisticated CRM software package to maximize its returns from customers. Wharton faculty members point out however that making CRM work involves doing a lot more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
