Knowledge@Wharton Audio Articles
Knowledge@Wharton is an on-line resource of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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New Approaches to New Markets: How C.K. Prahalad's Bottom of the Pyramid Strategies Are Paying Off
Five years ago, C.K. Prahalad published a book titled, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, in which he argues that multinational companies not only can make money selling to the world's poorest, but also that undertaking such efforts is necessary as a way to close the growing gap between rich …
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Comcast and NBC Universal: The Rise of a Content King?
Philadelphia-based Comcast, the largest cable company in the U.S., has made a bid to merge its operations with NBC Universal -- home to the NBC television network, Universal Studios and popular cable channels including Bravo, USA, CNBC and MSNBC. If the deal goes through, it would create a programmi …
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Five Questions: What's New with Net Neutrality and India's Mobile Markets?
Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski in late September outlined principles of net neutrality to promote more open use of the Internet. What will these developments mean for business in the U.S. and other parts of the world? In a new interview format called Five Questions, Ra …
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A Year after Lehman's Collapse: What Does Wall Street Look Like?
On September 14, President Barack Obama gave a speech in New York to mark the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers failure. It was a year ago when -- during the course of a single jaw-dropping week -- the investment bank declared bankruptcy; Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch; and the U.S. federa …
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FCC's Cable TV Ruling: Will the Competitive Landscape Change?
For cable TV companies in the U.S., August 28 was a day to celebrate. Ending several years of regulatory battles, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals came down in favor of Philadelphia-based Comcast, which sought to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's contentious 30% market share limi …
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Bangkok's Bumrungrad Hospital: Expanding the Footprint of Offshore Health Care
Thailand's Bumrungrad International Hospital is one of a growing number of institutions making a name for themselves among "medical tourists" by offering patients from Boston to Bahrain a combination of lower-cost, state-of-the-art medical care along with service worthy of a five-star hotel. But wha …
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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 …
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Farhad Mohit: DotSpots and the Wisdom of Crowds
Entrepreneur Farhad Mohit is hardly resting on his laurels, although he could. In 1996, he launched BizRate, a consumer rating site, and then in 2004, Shopzilla, a shopping search engine. His latest venture is DotSpots, a service that lets people update the news in real-time with dots, or distribute …
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Can 'Cash for Clunkers' Help Jump-start the Auto Industry?
Ford reported its first sales gain in 20 months, thanks to the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers" rebate program that gives consumers a rebate of up to $4,500 to trade in older cars for new and more fuel-efficient models. Other manufacturers said their continuing sales declines would have been wo …
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One War We Shouldn't Avoid: A New Approach to Reducing the Cost of Future Catastrophes
In 2005, three major hurricanes -- Katrina, Rita and Wilma -- struck the U.S. Gulf Coast area, causing not just death and destruction, but also leading to insurance payments and federal disaster relief of more than $180 billion. Today, say the authors of a new book titled, At War with the Weather: M …
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The New Role of Risk Management: Rebuilding the Model
Risk managers armed with the most sophisticated quantitative tools available did not foresee the biggest development in a generation -- the systematic breakdown and global contagion of financial markets. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, John Drzik, president and CEO of the Oliver Wyman Group, …
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Jeremy Siegel: 'The Market Will Stage Another Recovery'
Now that it's clear the recession will not turn into a depression, stocks are poised for a recovery, says Wharton finance professor Jeremy J. Siegel. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, he said last week's market decline in response to rising commodity prices -- especially for energy -- and fear …
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Raghda Shaheen: Bridging Two Worlds -- America and The Middle East
Raghda Shaheen, who works for the Dubai International Finance Centre, recently completed a four-week business and legal fellowship program at Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania law school. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of State Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and suppo …
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Providence Equity's Gaurav Sharma: 'Private Equity Is Now a More Mature Market'
In the world of private equity, Providence Equity Partners is a specialist. The firm, whose headquarters are in Providence, R.I., specializes in deals involving media, entertainment, information and communications companies. In 2007, Providence Equity opened its New Delhi office, headed by Biswajit …
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Warning: Big Financial Firms May Be Riskier Than They Appear
Large financial institutions have failed with much higher frequency than is generally perceived, says Andrew Kuritzkes, a partner at Oliver Wyman and head of the management consulting firm's public policy practice in North America. In this interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Kuritzkes suggests some ne …
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Cautious Optimism for GM's Re-invention
Wharton management professor John Paul McDuffie, an expert on the auto industry, says he's "cautiously optimistic" that General Motors can now be transformed into a leaner and more competitive player on the global stage. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, he notes that there are many aspects of …
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Entrepreneur Elon Musk: Why It's Important to Pinch Pennies on the Road to Riches
Superpreneur seems like a better label for Elon Musk. At 38, he has already been a co-founder of PayPal, which sold for $1.5 billion, and SpaceX, which aims to commercialize the launching of payloads into orbit. He is also an initial investor in electric-car pioneer Tesla Motors and solar energy com …
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Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk: 'Great Companies Are Built on Great Products'
Entrepreneur Elon Musk has three passions: the Internet, space exploration and clean energy. The first paid off handsomely for him in 2002 when he sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. The second is fueled by SpaceX, a company that makes space launch vehicles. Musk's third passion is Tesla …
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Why Stock-price Volatility Should Never Be a Surprise, Even in the Long Run
Equities are subject to much wider price swings than previously understood, according to a recent paper co-authored by Wharton finance and economics professor Robert Stambaugh. The research adds a new perspective to the work of Wharton finance professor Jeremy J. Siegel, author of the book Stocks fo …
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David Roberts, of Private Equity Firm Angelo, Gordon, on Adapting to Market Transformation
The world of private equity has been in a shambles since the onset of the financial crisis, but some executives see that as an opportunity rather than a threat. Among them is David N. Roberts, senior managing director of Angelo, Gordon, who manages the firm's private equity business. Roberts also fo …
Knowledge@Wharton Audio Articles
