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Copyright: © 2013 The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
As Wharton marketing professors George Day and Paul Schoemaker see it the recent and well-publicized travails of Ford Motor Coca-Cola and Pepsi offer clear examples of the distinction between vigilant leadership and operational management. To explain that distinction Day and Schoemaker have identified four leadership traits: external focus conceptual ability organizational role and time horizon.
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First it was textiles and consumer electronics. Next may be cars. China is once again looking to target a key consumer market in the U.S. Can China become a powerhouse in the global automotive industry and if so when?
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Facebook a social networking site known as an online meeting place for college and high school students is opening its doors to more people in an effort to grow beyond its current nine million registered users. Could such a move end up blurring the company’s focus and diluting its brand? Are there better ways to expand?
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The struggle to raise pay for low-income workers once fought in agricultural fields and on factory floors is moving to the aisles of big retailers in Chicago where large national chains like Wal-Mart and Target may be forced to offer higher wages along with every-day low prices. While retailers complain the legislation may lead them to stall plans for new downtown stores Wharton faculty say Chicago’s proposed living wage law is largely symbolic and would have little real impact on large retail chains or their employees. Some argue that it also won’t have much impact on poverty.
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The day after Michael Dell’s visit to Wharton on August 29 2006 the Wall Street Journal published a front-page article entitled ”Consumer Demand and Growth in Laptops Leave Dell Behind.” The article replayed the drumbeat of bad news that has recently hit the $56 billion PC maker -- a 51% decline in second quarter earnings from the same period a year ago a stock price that is down 60% from its high in 2000 the exodus of key executives to rival manufacturers -- and suggested that the company’s strategy of ignoring the consumer market plus its failure to maintain an efficient customer service operation have hurt its competitive position especially with respect to rival Hewlett Packard. But Dell himself in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton brushed aside the numbers and focused on the upside. He highlighted the company’s success in emerging markets its record market share new tools and training to beef up customer service and his confidence that the preference of consumers to buy online will continue to grow.
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Roberto Civita is chairman and CEO of The Abril Group one of Latin America’s largest and most influential communications companies. Based in Sao Paulo Abril publishes nearly 100 magazines including its flagship Veja launched by Civita in 1968 and now the world’s fourth largest news weekly. The publication well-known for exposing political corruption in Brazil has been instrumental during the past year in bringing about the resignation of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inner circle. At the recent Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Rio Civita spoke on ”The Role of the Press in an Emerging Economy.” In an interview last week with Knowledge at Wharton he talked about corruption in Brazil old media vs. new media the U.S.’s obsession with quarterly earnings the importance of education and the coming tide of investors among other topics.
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When making a purchase a consumer has a choice between using frequent-flier miles cash or some combination thereof. Which will he or she choose? Another consumer has an opportunity to participate in a special program to get a free car wash after paying for a certain number of washes. What’s the best way for the car-wash owner to motivate the customer to participate? Such questions are serious business for airlines hotel chains credit-card companies and other corporations that offer loyalty programs to customers. Wharton marketing professor Xavier Drèze and Joseph C. Nunes of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business have spent several years studying how these programs can be structured to generate the most revenue for companies offering them.
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Two Wharton researchers have developed a mathematical model that they say will allow companies for the first time to predict at what pace new products will gain acceptance in markets where purchasing decisions by knowledgeable influential customers sway the buying habits of others. Wharton marketing professor Christophe Van den Bulte and doctoral student Yogesh V. Joshi say their model can be put to use in industries as diverse as movies music pharmaceuticals and high-technology. Their findings are presented in a paper titled ”New Product Diffusion with Influentials and Imitators.”
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Floyd Landis’s potential as a product endorser dropped faster than a cyclist speeding down a mountain road when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone after winning this summer’s Tour de France. Sports columnists denounced him even as the companies that had invested tens of millions in him and his team dropped their sponsorships. Landis of course isn’t the only celebrity or athlete who managed to misbehave this summer. Consider sprinter Justin Gatlin French soccer player Zinedine Zidane actor Mel Gibson and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers. Yet as marketing experts and others note celebrity wrongdoing is more than just fuel for gossip columns. Athletes and celebrities push all manner of products and services and their downfalls can tarnish the brands and companies they endorse. ”The perils of these endorsements are consistently underestimated ” says one expert.
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Given Microsoft’s efforts to create a music player and service dubbed ”Zune ” and its offer of design assistance to PC makers in preparation for the company’s new Vista operating system it appears that the software giant is increasingly dabbling in hardware and playing a bigger role in product design. The big question is: Why? While some analysts dismiss Microsoft’s efforts as Apple envy experts at Wharton say there is a bigger picture. Microsoft wants more control over integrating its software with the gadgets that could open new markets. Its real mission: Find new vertical markets to dominate so it can continue to grow even if its Windows monopoly erodes.
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