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Copyright: © 2013 The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The recent elections have made Business Roundtable chairman Harold (Terry) McGraw III hopeful that a less partisan political atmosphere can lead to real progress in addressing America’s economic challenges. In a Wharton Leadership Series talk two days after the November 7 elections McGraw who is chairman president and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies called for measures to lower trade barriers improve the competitiveness of the country’s work force modernize health care and ”level the playing field” for U.S. companies abroad -- subjects he elaborated on during an interview with Knowledge at Wharton before his talk.
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Church pastors last year had a chance to win a free trip to London and $1 000 cash -- if they mentioned Disney’s film ”The Chronicles of Narnia” in their sermons. Chrysler hoping to target affluent African Americans with its new luxury SUV is sponsoring a Patti LaBelle gospel music tour through African-American megachurches nationwide. Advertising has begun to seep into churches according to religious marketing and academic experts pushing the boundaries by selling products with no intrinsic religious value.
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Contrary to rumors about its imminent ”death” following the transfer of power from the British Hong Kong has emerged as the financial intermediary through which foreign investors seek to invest tens of billions of dollars into mainland China. Meanwhile once-booming Shanghai’s star is starting to fade. What happened? According to Wharton faculty and other experts while Hong Kong was crafting a strategy to position itself as both a legal and financial services center for China Shanghai was weighed down by corruption and a largely state-run financial services sector.
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To drive home the subject of his speech at the recent third annual Wharton Marketing conference Michael Polk president of Unilever United States flashed up a definition straight from the dictionary: ’Innovation: a new idea or method; a change in something established.’ Polk who manages such brands as Dove Axe Slim-Fast Country Crock Wishbone and Q-Tips said innovation not invention lies at the heart of successful marketing campaigns.
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In mid-October the Chicago Board of Trade agreed to be purchased by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for about $8 billion topping a wave of exchange mergers in the U.S. and Europe. Two factors drove the deal: the enormous growth in the use of futures options and other derivatives to hedge risks and speculate and the need for economies of scale to compete with exchanges that have grown through mergers. Wharton professors analyze the deal.
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Ever since Netflix launched its online video rental service in 1999 conventional wisdom has suggested that the clock was ticking on its business model. First there were worries that Blockbuster would squash Netflix. Then it was Wal-Mart’s DVD rental service which Netflix absorbed in a partnership arrangement last year. Today Netflix is under fire from movie download services offered by powerhouses such as Amazon.com and Apple. Looking ahead what kind of sequel is likely for Netflix?
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With all the statistics showing how many adults in the United States are obese (30%) how many deaths are caused each year by obesity (365 000) and how bad the problem is (getting worse not better) it’s no surprise that obesity is definitely on employers’ radar screens this year. But Wharton experts and others point out obesity is not just bad for the individual; it also weighs heavily on companies’ rising health care costs.
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Errors in corporate strategy are often self-inflicted and a singular focus on shareholder value is the ”Bermuda Triangle” of strategy according to Michael E. Porter director of Harvard’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. Porter who recently spoke at Wharton as part of the school’s SEI Center Distinguished Lecture Series challenged managers to stop trying to be the best company in their industry and instead deliver ”a unique value” to their customers.
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Shoppers with tastes or sizes that fall outside the mainstream may have more trouble finding what they want in stores as retailers attempt to shift low-volume items to Internet sales. According to Wharton faculty and industry analysts retailers are paring back in-store selections in order to save inventory handling costs as well as precious floor space. The strategy however has its drawbacks.
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As Chinese firms increasingly turn their attention to strengthening their ability to compete in the global economy they have a new challenge -- developing international expertise. One way they are doing this is by turning to Western executive education programs which can include everything from courses in finance marketing and corporate governance to a visit to Bloomingdale’s and meals at noted Western restaurants.
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