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Copyright: © 2013 The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
When a report prepared by former Senator George J. Mitchell indicated that Roger Clemens and others used illegal performance-enhancing drugs a marketing agency prepared a voluminous report that relied on statistics to make the case for Clemens’ innocence. But an article written by four Wharton faculty -- Justin Wolfers Shane Jensen Abraham Wyner and Eric Bradlow -- questions the methodology used by the marketing agency noting that the validity of any statistical analysis is only as good as its individual components. And these components they add can be easily misinterpreted.
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John Luke Jr. chairman and CEO of global packaging giant MeadWestvaco was a U.S. Air Force pilot in Southeast Asia during the tail end of the Vietnam era. Since coming home to join and eventually run the company he has been responsible for steering a steady course even as flak comes in from all sides. Speaking at a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture Luke said that during MeadWestvaco’s transformation into a business focused on packaging solutions he had to push for a radical change in focus while continually resisting pressure for quick short-term results.
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Hedge funds are key players in the world’s financial markets but no one knows exactly what they’re up to. Critics and supporters tend to share an assumption however that hedge funds are run by talented people who merit their hefty management fees. But new research by Wharton statistics professor Dean P. Foster and Brookings Institution senior fellow H. Peyton Young questions that idea arguing that it’s easy for hedge funds to fool their investors into believing the managers are better than they really are. The industry ”risks being inundated by managers who are gaming the system ... which could ultimately lead to a collapse in investor confidence ” they say.
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In a new research paper titled ”Dogs on the Street Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence Product Evaluation and Choice ” Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger suggests that what you see in your everyday world can influence what you buy. For example participants in one study who were shown more images of dogs liked sneakers from the Puma brand more than those who had not seen the images -- because dogs are associated with cats and cats with Puma. ”Marketers ... think they have to come up with a catchy slogan or slick advertisement to create a buzz ” Berger says. Instead companies can get a payoff by creating a link between their product and a cue in the environment.
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Innovation timing a good idea and luck are all ingredients of success in the technology industry according to speakers at the recent Wharton Business Technology Conference titled ”Enterprise Agility: Lead with Speed.” Former Microsoft executive Rob Glaser who went on to found RealNetworks and Glenn A. Britt CEO of Time Warner Cable both said strong technology businesses are built on firm technical footings but shaped by business forces that are not always predictable. ”Any successful entrepreneur who says luck did not play a role is either lying or lacks self-awareness ” stated Glaser.
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The ongoing credit crisis in U.S. financial markets has claimed a huge and high-profile victim: Bear Stearns. After being slammed by what amounted to a run on the bank during the week of March 10 the Wall Street firm agreed to be acquired -- for $2 a share -- by JP Morgan Chase over the weekend in a deal overseen by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates the same day -- and did so again on March 18 by three-quarters of a percentage point. Are other Wall Street firms likely to follow Bear Stearns into oblivion? Will the Federal Reserve’s efforts help to boost confidence in the financial system? Finance professor Jeremy Siegel author of The Future for Investors discussed these questions and more with Knowledge at Wharton.
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With their low fees all-day trading and tax efficiency exchange-traded funds have captivated investors. There were no ETFs before 1993; today there are nearly 700. While most experts think ETFs were a good innovation -- built like index-style mutual funds but traded like stocks -- some worry that the increasingly specialized ETFs introduced in recent years stray from the faith encouraging too much risk-taking. That concern is heightened by recent Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to let new funds come to market with less oversight and to invite proposals for introducing actively managed ETFs. Knowledge at Wharton looks at the recent action and angst surrounding ETFs.
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New strategies will be necessary for biotechnology companies to thrive in the new era of personalized medicine but the healthcare system itself will also have to change according to a panel of biotechnology company representatives at the 2008 Wharton Health Care Business Conference. Leaving behind the ”blockbuster drug” mentality must be part of a new mindset for biotech companies going forward suggested one panelist. Others discussed stem cell research regulatory hurdles and competition within the industry.
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A tug of war over the future of media may be brewing between so-called user-generated content -- including amateurs who produce blogs video and audio for public consumption -- and professional journalists movie makers and record labels along with the deep-pocketed companies that back them. The ultimate outcome: a hybrid approach that features entirely new business models say experts at Wharton.
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Accounting techniques like budgeting sales projections and financial reporting are supposed to help prevent business failures by giving managers realistic plans to guide their actions and feedback on their progress. At least that’s the theory. But when Gavin Cassar a Wharton accounting professor tested this idea he found something troubling: Some accounting tools not only fail to help businesspeople but may actually lead them astray. He analyzes these conclusions in two separate research papers.
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