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Copyright: © 2013 The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
According to some industry estimates fantasy sports is now a $4 billion industry and growing quickly. What is fantasy sports who provides fantasy sports platforms what are the most popular fantasy sports and -- coming off the Indianapolis Colts’ recent Super Bowl win -- can we assume there will be a Super Bowl for fantasy football or for baseball basketball or hockey? Knowledge at Wharton asked Kent Smetters professor of insurance and risk management to bring us up to speed on the future of this industry.
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On February 2 a long-awaited report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released citing ”unequivocal” proof of global warming. Meanwhile some of the biggest corporations in the world including Wal-Mart Ford General Electric and BP have adopted highly visible ”green” strategies. But what does ”going green” mean for the bottom line? Whether motivated by desire to do what is right or to polish their public image and fend off government regulation companies can profit from environmental initiatives according to Wharton faculty and analysts.
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2006 set a record for mergers and acquisitions worldwide. Deals totaled $3.79 trillion 38% higher than in 2005 and 55 of the transactions were valued at more than $10 billion each according to data from Thomson Financial. Private equity firms were major movers in this trend responsible for 20% of global M&A activity and 27% of activity in the U.S. according to Thomson. How long will this M&A binge continue and when it does come to an end what will be the factors behind the retreat? Knowledge at Wharton asked management professor Harbir Singh an expert on corporate acquisitions and restructuring to offer his views on the M&A landscape.
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The U.S. economy may be getting stronger but that doesn’t mean interest rates will go up when the Federal Reserve meets next week on January 31. According to Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel interest rates should hold firm at their current level for quite a while. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Siegel discusses the current balance ”between strength and moderate inflation ” where the housing market is headed and why investors should be cautious about emerging markets like China which ”looks like a bubble.”
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Do your Hindu Sikh and Jain coworkers need a three-day weekend in November to celebrate Diwali? Have you ever asked Muslim employees to help design products destined for a Southeast Asian market? Did you know one colleague urging another to accept Christ as a personal savior is a legally protected act? In the world of corporate diversity and inclusion first there was race then gender and ethnicity then sexual orientation. Now religion is knocking at the door and according to some experts and practitioners it isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.
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Business has long been likened to warfare according to Wharton marketing professor Scott Armstrong so it is hardly surprising that companies strive to beat their competitors and wrest away as much market share as possible. But such efforts not only waste time and energy they can actually be detrimental to the firm’s profitability according to Armstrong. Based on new research and examples from today’s business environment Armstrong and co-author Kesten Green suggest that overemphasis on market share is the wrong approach.
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Announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show and Apple’s MacWorld conference both held earlier this month heralded the arrival of a number of products at the center of technology convergence trends. Among the most eagerly awaited are Apple’s iPhone -- which brings together the capabilities of a cell phone and an iPod music player along with other features associated with personal computers -- and Apple TV which allows users to play the movies and TV shows they download from iTunes on their big-screen TVs. But are computer companies like Apple hitting the right notes? Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about whether iPhone Apple TV and other products are delivering features that consumers really want or if this is simply technology in search of a market.
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There’s a saying in show business: Never follow an animal act. Yet that was the tough task facing Mitchell Caplan CEO of E*Trade Financial Corp. when he took the floor to deliver a speech at Wharton -- with the audience still laughing over a clip from a notorious E*Trade ad that aired during the 2000 Super Bowl. Caplan didn’t falter however and went on to discuss how he had helped rescue a company that four years ago seemed on the brink of extinction.
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Apple’s name change from Apple Computer to Apple on January 9 highlights the company’s new reality: CEO Steve Jobs’ strategy today revolves around converged consumer devices much more than around personal computers. How successful will this new strategy be in the face of competition from Microsoft Sony Motorola Samsung Nokia and others who are looking to dominate the digital convergence domain?
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The sports world went into overdrive this month when it was announced that soccer star David Beckham had signed a landmark five-year sports contract worth an estimated $250 million to play soccer with the Los Angeles Galaxy. But what many Wharton sports and marketing experts are wondering is whether Beckham can live up to the hype surrounding the deal and produce enough star power to not only boost the team’s revenue but also raise the profile of Major League Soccer in the U.S.
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