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Procurement -- Subcontracting and Product Quality in China
Marshall W. Meyer, professor of management at Wharton, has made many trips to China to research the rapid growth of its economy and the successes and difficulties it has had in growing so quickly. In this interview, Meyer discusses the recent controversy surrounding China's exports of substandard toys and pharmaceuticals to the United States, and the implications for supply-chain management.
Obama and McCain: Different -- and Evolving -- Visions for the U.S. Economy
Presidential candidates John McCain, Republican senator from Arizona, and Barack Obama, Democratic senator from Illinois, are staking out contrasting positions, mostly along traditional party lines, in their campaign to win election in November as the 44th president of the United States. One thing they have in common: Both offer tax and spending plans that would deepen the deficit. Wharton professors, as well as commentators from around the globe, weigh in on the economic views of each candidate.
Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon: Leadership in a Decentralized Company
Consumers tend to associate Johnson & Johnson with Band-Aids and baby shampoo, but those well-known products are only part of a much larger picture, according to William Weldon, chairman and CEO. In fact, Weldon has the mind-boggling task of overseeing more than 200 operating companies across three sectors, including consumer products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. On June 18, Weldon spoke at the 2008 Wharton Leadership Conference about the challenges of running the J&J family of companies. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, he elaborated on J&J's decentralized structure and on what he sees as key issues for the health care industry in the coming decade, among other topics.
The Credit Crisis and Failed Risk Analysis: 'We're Nowhere Near the End Here'
When you sit down, you probably don't check under your seat for a bomb. Even though it could kill you, chances are slim that it's there. A similar view of risk led bankers, their regulators and other government officials to overlook dangerous investments and business models that contributed to the global credit crisis, according to speakers at the financial risk roundtable held by the Wharton Financial Institutions Center and the Oliver Wyman Institute.
Will Technology Firms Bridge the Chasm Between Computer and TV?
Hewlett-Packard, Netflix, Apple and others want to move content from the Internet to that big flat-screen TV in the living room. Wharton experts wonder if there is a market for this and indeed, whether consumers are even willing to accept interactive television. The best advice to companies for now: Hedge your bets.
Judgment, Character and Ambition: David Gergen on Leadership in the 2008 Presidential Race
According to David Gergen, the man elected president of the United States in November will face the most daunting foreign and domestic challenges since Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. Gergen, who has been an advisor to four U.S. presidents and who currently directs the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, equated the presidency to "feeling a little like Gulliver in Lilliput.... Giant accomplishments are expected" even as presidential powers are not always what they seem. Gergen discussed today's presidential candidates, as well as former presidents, at the recent Wharton Leadership Conference.
To Love, Honor, Cherish and Consume: The Selling of the American Wedding
Money, to paraphrase the Beatles, can't buy you love. But it can certainly buy a lavish wedding, as noted in Rebecca Mead's new book, One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. Indeed, according to Mead, America's wedding industry exceeds $161 billion annually -- an enormous sum that suggests how much weddings have become not only big business, but big fantasy. Yet as our reviewer notes, the wedding boom is not just confined to wealthy Western nations, but has become a global phenomenon, concerned with "displaying and solidifying social position in a world where such things are fluid and changeable."
Privacy on the Web: Is It a Losing Battle?
What if you visited an investment site and found advertising messages suggesting therapies for your recently diagnosed heart condition? Chances are you would experience what Fran Maier, executive director of TrustE, a nonprofit advocate of online privacy, calls the "creepiness factor." Maier and several others discussed the challenges of maintaining online privacy -- amid rising Internet use and plummeting costs of data storage and tracking -- at the recent Supernova conference in San Francisco.
Procurement -- China Sourcing
Multinational corporations have been sourcing from China for years, but that doesn't mean that all the questions have been answered about how to engage in procurement activities in the world's fastest-growing economy. In this interview, David Lee, a partner and managing director at BCG, says that plenty of challenges remain. Among them: finding good suppliers that offer products at relatively low costs, and being willing and able to outsource a sufficient volume of one's business to Chinese suppliers.
Subprime Crisis: Did Bernanke Go Too Far, or Did He Not Go Far Enough?
To restart the economy, the Federal Reserve created new channels of lending, cut target rates. The prompt and aggressive action was spurred by Chairman Ben Bernanke's research on the Great Depression. How will history judge his strategy?
Subprime Crisis: Could New Rules Avert Another Credit Crisis? Perhaps, but Be Wary
An unusual alignment of economic conditions -- and some very careless and risky bets -- triggered the meltdown. Should regulators step in to prevent a repeat? Should the government rescue the wounded? Experts say some new rules may be in order, but the details will be important. A concern: Bailouts may encourage risky behavior.
Subprime Crisis: A Bouquet of Opportunity Masked a Reek of Risk
In this Special Report, Knowledge@Wharton finds that the credit crisis was triggered when Wall Street alchemists, overeager borrowers and aggressive lenders let their eye for opportunity trump their nose for risk. New regulations might prevent a recurrence -- but so would diligent decision-making.
Opinion: Greed Reflects a Failure of Leadership
Hardly a day goes by without yet another twist or turn in the credit crisis that has engulfed the U.S. financial system for more than a year. Media reports suggest that the world's biggest financial institutions have absorbed more than $300 billion in asset write-downs and credit losses even as home foreclosures are at record high levels and Wall Street has laid off thousands of employees. While much of the discussion about the crisis has focused on its causes and the need for regulatory reform, former Wharton dean Russell Palmer, author of a new book, Ultimate Leadership, writes that the situation offers an opportunity to learn crucial lessons about leadership.
Credit Crisis Interview: Jeremy Siegel on Ignoring Risks
The subprime crisis "was a wreck that could have been predicted," Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel says in this interview. Siegel is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge@Wharton for this special report on the credit crisis.
Credit Crisis Interview: Marshall Blume on the Evolving Marketplace
"There was a machine being developed which created just a fantastic amount of ... junk," says Wharton finance professor Marshall Blume. "At some point, that all had to explode." Blume is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge@Wharton for this special report on the credit crisis.
Credit Crisis Interview: Richard Herring on Mortgage-backed Securities
The home price run-up that preceded the credit crisis "is the sort of thing that happens time and again, bubble after bubble," says Wharton finance professor Richard Herring. He is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge@Wharton for this special report.
Credit Crisis Interview: Richard Marston on Risk
Wharton finance professor Richard Marston discusses the markets' perception of risk in this video interview. Marston is one of seven Wharton professors whom Knowledge@Wharton spoke with for this special report on the credit crisis.
Credit Crisis Interview: Susan Wachter on Securitizations and Deregulation
The drive to securitize mortgages combined with deregulation were key triggers of the credit crisis, says Wharton finance professor Susan Wachter. She is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge@Wharton for this special report on the credit crisis.
Credit Crisis Interview: Todd Sinai on Home Values
Don't think of your house as an investment comparable to savings or a stock portfolio, says Wharton finance professor Todd Sinai. He is one of seven Wharton professors interviewed by Knowledge@Wharton for this special report on the credit crisis.
Credit Crisis Interview: Franklin Allen on Past Crises
As in Japan, an underlying driver of the U.S. credit crisis was a housing price bubble, Wharton finance professor Franklin Allen tells Knowledge@Wharton in this interview. But Japan's bubble was "much bigger than what we have had in the U.S.," he says. "When it burst in 1991, property prices [in Japan] fell for about 15 years in a row. And they went down about 75% or thereabouts."
