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Bearish battalions (5th July 2008) 
Contributed by Chetan Parikh
THEY rarely ring a bell at the bottom of bear markets. Investors who thought they had heard a tinkling sound when Bear Stearns, a failing American investment bank, was bundled into JPMorgan Chase in March have been disappointed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now weaker than it was in the spring. A window to a new world (5th July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh FOR an industry that has seen many a defenestration over the past year, you might expect America’s investment banks to be wary of open windows. But the move in March to allow primary dealers as well as commercial banks to borrow overnight from the Federal Reserve’s discount window has calmed fears of further Bear Stearns-like death spirals. Some banks cheap for good reason (4th July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Value manager Alan Wicks, vice-president and senior portfolio manager at Torontobased MFC Global Investment Management, cautions that while a lot of bad news is already reflected in global market valuations, stocks could still go lower as there is considerable uncertainty in financial markets. Fed Cuts Bear Stearns Asset Estimate to $28.9 Billion (4th July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The Federal Reserve trimmed the estimated value of Bear Stearns Cos. assets it took on last month and said lending to securities dealers fell to zero for the first time since it began extending the credit in March. WALL-E: Economic Ignorance and the War on Modernity (4th July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The Disney-Pixar film WALL-E has been adoringly received by the majority of the theatergoing public. This adoration is unjustified. The film blatantly conveys environmentalist, anticapitalist, and antitechnological propaganda — and aims it at an audience of children, who still lack the critical faculties and intellectual sophistication to evaluate all relevant aspects of the issues presented. Vengeance Is Ours (4th July 2008)
Contributed by Abhay Bhagat What can tribal societies tell us about our need to get even? By Jared Diamond The Global Financial Crisis: Shiller’s Economic Claptrap (2nd July 2008)
Contributed by Jayesh Poladia The proposed solutions to the current economic crisis are getting more and more absurd. With that in mind, I am going to be blunt. The end of the superbubble (2nd July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh That sound you hear is the popping of a financial bubble in housing, the economy and the market. And you can trace it all to Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve. Barclays warns of a financial storm as Federal Reserve's credibility crumbles (2nd July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero". Commodity Prices and Inflation: What's the Connection? (2nd July 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The latest data show that the yearly rate of growth of the US consumer price index (CPI) climbed to 4.1% in May from 3.9% in the month before. Most economists and Federal Reserve policy makers attribute this to sharp increases in commodity prices. The Art of Simplexity (30th June 2008)
Contributed by Abhay Bhagat Two of the smartest people you'll ever meet are the guys who used to operate the M. Coy bookshop on Pine Street in Seattle. Business pressures recently forced them to shutter their shop, but for 20 years, they sold their books, and from the moment you walked into their store, they had you figured out. They noticed where your gaze would go; they noticed where you paused. They noticed what books you picked up and how long you lingered over them. They recalled earlier customers who had bought the same titles and remembered other books those shoppers bought. They flashed through their entire 20,000-book inventory and then approached you with the single most important thing they had to offer: a recommendation. Easy Target, but Not the Right One (30th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh It’s not our government’s fault for failing to come up with a credible energy policy — that can’t be it. Nor is the problem the weak dollar, or the voracious energy appetite of the Chinese, or those pesky rebels in Nigeria who are trying to blow up their country’s oil pipelines. And it’s certainly not the fault of you and me for driving gas-guzzling S.U.V.’s. It has to be those speculators. They are the only villains in sight. Vital Signs: Economy, Sink or Stay Afloat? (30th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The main focus of this holiday-shortened week will be the first major economic reports for June: the readings on manufacturing and nonmanufacturing activity from the Institute for Supply Management and the employment report from the Labor Dept. Both will offer evidence on whether the economy is still afloat or starting to sink, and whether growth is firm enough to allow the Federal Reserve to begin lifting rates later this year. The betting in the markets is for more signs that the economy remains weak, but is not falling off a cliff. What we can do in this dangerous moment (30th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh It is quite possible that we are now at the most dangerous moment since the American financial crisis began last August. Staggering increases in the prices of oil and other commodities have brought American consumer confidence to new lows and raised serious concerns about inflation, thereby limiting the capacity of monetary policy to respond to a financial sector which – judging by equity values – is at its weakest point since the crisis began. With housing values still falling and growing evidence that problems are spreading to the construction and consumer credit sectors, there is a possibility that a faltering economy damages the financial system, which weakens the economy further.
DOW down Nearly 20 Percent from Peak: Lessons from the Great Depression: Part XII. Is the DOW now Tracking with the California Housing Market? (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh I was watching CNBC on Wednesday morning and they were on a Fed watch with a countdown and all other bells and whistles. As the day went along, these talking heads were talking about good earnings here, the resilient American consumer, and all this other pointless Chihuahua yammering to keep people from asking the hard questions and letting folks realize that those spewing “investment advice” are nothing more than glorified sales people. Well it came as no shock to anyone that the Federal Reserve stood pat and did not move rates. In fact, according to the Fed inflation is only slightly out of whack: Little Guy Rant #2: Deer in the Headlights (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Bernanke is truly between a rock and hard place….he can’t raise rates as he should be doing, because of the imploding housing prices (which is like watching a slow-motion train wreck) – nor can he lower rates because inflation is undeniably rising, regardless of what those outrageous CPI figures state (and who believes them anyway? Does the government really think it’s fooling anybody with a pulse? Let’s be honest here: they’re caught between a rock and hard place with respect to honest reporting of the CPI as well – they can’t state what it really is or they’ll go broke faster paying out more in Social Security benefits.) A Look at An Unsustainable Advance & a Double Non-Confirmation (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh For weeks now one of the major topics in the news and amongst the politicians is the price of oil. The republicans want to begin more deep water drilling and open up parts of Alaska to drilling that has historically been protected. The democrats have introduced a bill to limit speculation to only those that are end-users of oil. It seems that the word speculator is becoming a four-letter word. I also hear talk of conspiracy and manipulation by the masters of the world. On the Impossibility of Limited Government and the Prospects for a Second American Revolution (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh In a recent survey, people of different nationalities were asked how proud they were to be American, German, French, etc., and whether or not they believed that the world would be a better place if other countries were just like their own. The countries ranking highest in terms of national pride were the United States and Austria. As interesting as it would be to consider the case of Austria, we shall concentrate here on the United States and the question of whether and to what extent the American claim can be justified. Obama and McCain: Two Different Visions for the U.S. Economy (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh 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. Will Technology Firms Bridge the Chasm Between Computer and TV? (28th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh 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. Fed Shifts Its Concern to Inflation (27th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The Federal Reserve’s policy makers ratcheted up their worries about inflation on Wednesday without abandoning their view that the American economy is weak. Aristotle on Mixed Economies (27th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh A friend recently commented that he has found wisdom in moderation. He said it seems that truth and goodness are found not at the extremes, but at the place of balance between extremes. This can be very true. Is the Inflation Scare Over Yet? (27th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The recent downtrend line has been broken. Is the inflation scare over? That is hard to say. It’s much easier to say that it should be. Destruction of credit via massive writedowns in banks and financials, accompanied by sharply rising unemployment rates, falling wages, and curtailment in credit lines everywhere is simply not an inflationary environment. Short seller sees trouble for the economy (27th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Billionaire short seller James Chanos has closed his positions in home builder stocks, thinking the worst is over for that sector. But he still sees trouble for the economy. "We are in a recession, there is not any doubt," he said in an interview following a speech to corporate directors at Stanford Law School on Tuesday. Obama and McCain: Two Different Visions for the U.S. Economy (26th June 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh 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.
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Firing new shots (20th April 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh
Using lasers to trigger fusion could prove cheaper than other techniques Two Technology Executives, Two Views of the Virtues/Perils of Connectivity (12th April 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh When Robert Carter looks over the connected world of online communities that many experts call Web 2.0, it is hard for Carter -- the chief information officer and executive vice president of global shipping giant FedEx Corp. -- to curb his enthusiasm. Al Nugent, the chief technology officer for computer giant CA, surveys the same universe and sees similar promise but worries more about the increased risk of an operational meltdown and the rise of new security concerns. Both men spoke at the recent Wharton Technology Conference 2007. India’s Edge Goes Beyond Outsourcing (4th April 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Outsourcing is breaking out of the back office. Out of the dusty labs (3rd March 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Technology firms have left the big corporate R&D laboratory behind, shifting the emphasis from research to development. Does it matter? Netcore CEO Rajesh Jain: 'In India, the Future of the Internet Will Be Built around the Mobile Phone' (20th October 2006)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Seven years ago, Rajesh Jain ignited a dot-com storm in India when his portal, IndiaWorld, was sold to Sify, an Internet service provider, for $115 million. Today, he is CEO of Netcore, a Linux-based messaging software firm, and also maintains an active blog, emergic.org. Jain met with Knowledge@Wharton at his offices in Mumbai to discuss how mobile phones could hold the key to the Internet's evolution in India and other emerging economies. Language barriers (21st August 2004)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Can a concept exist without words to describe it? Nanotech Gets Down to Business If the excitement at New York's NanoBusiness Conference is any guide, future historians will declare early 2003 to be nanotechnology's tipping point, the pivot on which the industry slid from "not quite ready" to "raring to go."
The Future of Nanotechnology: Molecular Manufacturing The future generations of nanotechnology will rely on being able to effectively arrange atoms. Molecular manufacturing, and the use of molecular assemblers to hold and position molecules, will be key to the future, controlling how molecules react and allowing scientists to build complex structures with atomically precise control. In this essay, Dr. Drexler discusses the benefits and challenges of future molecular manufacturing.
The Telecosm Party. "The story of Qualcomm's CDMA written by George Gilder".
Tech futurist George Gilder talks stocks. "Gilder's theory hinges on a broad and quirky worldview. In an era of material abundance, he says, there are two scarcities that will drive the development of technology. One is a physical limit--the speed of light--and the other is a biological limit--the human lifespan." In Search of Innovation In an era of unrelenting competition, innovation has become a priority for corporations, institutions and nations. Heightened interest is spurring widespread efforts to analyze what underlies the process and assess how firms and countries are doing, because good measurement is central to effective management. Meet the researchers bent on prying the lid off innovation's black box.
Being Wireless. Nicholas Negroponte explains why Wi-Fi "lily pads and frogs" will transform the future of telecom. Surviving the Fibre - Optic Fire Sale. In once-booming telecom country, bankruptcies are up, and assets are up for grabs. Level 3's Jim Crowe surveys the wreckage. Nicholas Negroponte: The Innovation "Void" MIT s Media Lab founder
laments a growing lack of creativity, as seen in bad design and hard-to-use
devices Why the future doesn't need us Contributed by Bill Joy Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species. A must read for everybody interested in knowing more about where we're headed. Miss it at your own peril. And for all you guys at Dalal Street trading paper, the Capital Markets may just not exist in a few years! It's a nineteen-page article, and we'd recommend that you read every word of it. It may take a few seconds for the page to download, but its well worth the wait. Take our word for it… From one of the most respected technology gurus An Excellent Article An excellent article about the so called tech downturn. The author feels this is merely a pause-to-catch-breath phase and there is lots more to be done. Sure, dotcom valuations have fallen, with even frontrunners like Yahoo! Losing 76 % of its value. Sure, venture capitalists are tightening their purse strings. Sure HTML has reached the limits of it can do, but is giving way to another language XML. But, concludes the article, there's no turning back Physician, Wire Thyself. "The article visualises the impact of handheld devices on health care industry." Stumbling Onto The Future. "Quite an interesting description of important inventions in the last two centuries." No, This Man Invented The Internet. "The story of the inventor of the internet." Impatient Pendulum. "When the author was a child, the pendulum swung even slower. It was longer then, too. It was shortened (and therefore quickened) in one of those paradoxical compromises of museum management: People stood mesmerized for so long that they blocked the flow of traffic. This speedup of an icon of slowness is symbolically fitting. The tempo of life has quickened." 5 Patents to Watch.
A handful of hot
new patents that may
change the way business and technology get
done. Distributed Computing.
The future of big
computing may lie in
distributing the work. Edible Vaccines.
Vaccines you eat
will make immunization
less painful and more accessible
worldwide. Raman Amplification.
New Raman
amplifiers are key to
building an all-optical Internet. Tissue Engineering.
Tissue engineering
promises to repair
and even replace damaged body parts.
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Retail in India: Capturing the Opportunities of a Complex Consumer Class (30th May 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh
To optimists, India's consumers represent a huge, untapped middle market; to skeptics, India is still too poor by global standards for mass-market retailers to rush in. According to panelists at the recent Wharton India Economic Forum, the propensity and capacity for Indian consumers to spend depends on a unique blend of price and value, and retailers that understand this complexity stand to reap enormous benefits of scale. Doing a Sports Deal? Get Personal (29th May 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh As in any negotiation, money and performance will usually make or break a sports contract deal. But emotions can be a wild card, according to Wharton Sports Business Initiative director Kenneth L. Shropshire. During a recent Wharton presentation, he talked about the non-financial incentives that helped seal contract deals with star athletes Alex Rodriguez, Reggie White and others; his relationships with boxing promoter Don King and 1984 Olympics organizer Peter Ueberroth, and the importance of personal relationships in getting deals done. Peter Drucker's Essential Tips For Managers in 2005 (16th April 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh "Which of Peter Drucker's books should I read?" "Where in your work do I find the best discussion on how to place people?" Not a week goes by without my receiving half a dozen questions like these. With 34 books published over 65 years, even I find it difficult to answer these questions. Does Voice Recognition Recognize Quality? (28th February 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh “Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes quality." --Peter Drucker Credit Crunch Affects Directors (27th February 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The credit crunch has penetrated the paneled doors of corporate boardrooms. Finding Drucker's vision in all that stuff (6th February 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Commentator Charles Handy reflects on the philosophies of economist Peter Drucker to figure out what to do when a consumer economy starts to buy less stuff. First in an occasional series. Recent spate of shareholder activism nothing new, governance expert says (5th February 2008)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh The tensions that have been brewing recently between corporate managers and their shareholders are just part and parcel of any free-market system Is innovation a flute or a piano? (17th December 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Entrepreneur is the one who innovates. It's not a personality trait, it's not pure hard work, ambition or passion. It's "innovation" that differentiates an entrepreneur from a regular small business owner. It's a tool every successful entrepreneur uses, but can it be done systematically? Can someone be taught to think innovative ideas? What if innovation was a musical instrument...what would it be? Peter Drucker's "Unfinished Chapter:" (6th August 2007)
Contributed by Abhay Bhagat The influence the CEO has on people--individually and collectively. Management: A movie guide (6th July 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh I've read about shamrock organisations, horizontal organisations and federal organisations. I've read about intelligent enterprises and spider-web organisations. The most-quoted management guru Peter Drucker said that managing an information-based organisation is more like conducting a symphony orchestra than running a business on traditional lines. Others have compared it to running a jazz combo, and then there are those who say it's like running a sports team. Q&A with management guru Jim Collins (18th June 2007)
Contributed by Abhay Bhagat The bestselling author answers our readers' questions about business, leadership - and mountain climbing. Beware the 'Walking Dead': Analyzing Customer Data from a Multi-Service Firm (14th June 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Think of them as the "walking dead," a type of customer who currently maintains service with a particular company, but whose next action will most likely be to discontinue that relationship, according to a new study that examines how the customers of a telecommunications firm acquire and discard services over time. The paper -- "Modeling the Evolution of Customers' Service Portfolios," by Wharton marketing professors Peter Fader and Eric Bradlow and a former Wharton PhD student -- focuses in part on whether it is possible to predict future purchasing patterns by looking at past buying behavior.
At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity (4th June 2007)
Contributed by Abhay Bhagat How CEO George Buckley is managing the yin and yang of discipline and imagination Here Today, Discounted Tomorrow: Strategic Shoppers Know When to Buy, and at What Price (1st June 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Some shoppers just can't help themselves and buy mostly on impulse without regard to price. Others are die-hard bargain hunters, who only open their wallets for a discount. Then there are the strategic consumers, who are willing to buy full-price sometimes, but at other times they will wait for a bargain. According to new research by Gérard P. Cachon, professor of operations and information management at Wharton, and doctoral student Robert Swinney, it's these customers that retailers need to focus on in order to reap the full benefits of lean retail inventory management and variable pricing. Marketers For Charity: Peter Drucker (1st June 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Few have had as great an impact on the business world as Peter Drucker. So, it is more than fitting to have his work amplified on Branding Strategy Insider during this years Marketers For Charity effort.
The best business books of all time? Here are the choices of our panel of CEOs and experts (25th May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Robert Bruner still remembers the first book he read as a manager. It was 1988, and Bruner, now the dean of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, was an up-and-coming professor, respected for his work in finance. But he'd never managed people before. And when he was charged with overseeing the first year of the school's M.B.A. program, Bruner began to struggle.Under fire, Bruner scrambled for guidance. He found it in Peter Drucker'sThe Effective Executive. In the book, published two decades earlier, the dean of management thinkers—known for his study of GM under Alfred Sloan—offered advice to managers burdened with exactly Bruner's problems. Strategies: Pray for a public buyer (21st May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh If you own stock in a company that is ripe for takeover, you should hope the company is not acquired by a private equity firm. A New Take on Corporate Governance and Anti-Corruption Crusades (18th May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Most people assume that good corporate governance benefits shareholders, and that corruption in a banking system should be rooted out. But just how much benefit does a company really get when it improves its accounting and puts a few outsiders on its board of directors? And when does an anti-corruption crusade start to backfire, causing a chilling effect that denies loans to credit-worthy borrowers? India offers a chance to study both questions, which were the subject of papers presented at a global conference on India's Financial System held in April at Wharton. The conference was organized by Wharton's Financial Institutions Center with the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and the Stockholm-based Swedish Institute for Financial Research.
Adobe's Shantanu Narayen: India and Other Emerging Markets Are Going to Drive Trends in Software Evolution (18th May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh While a number of Indian IT companies are expanding globally, several major U.S. IT firms are increasing their presence in India. Among them is Adobe Systems, which views India as an important development center and a growing market for its products. In the second of a two-part interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Adobe president and chief operating officer Shantanu Narayen discusses the company's strategy regarding India and global expansion. In the first part of the interview, published in Knowledge@Wharton, he talks about Adobe's product strategy for the emerging trend of rich Internet applications.
Shantanu Narayen on Adobe's Future Direction: Product Strategy for the Next Generation of the Web (17th May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh A key element of what has been called "web 2.0" -- along with ideas such as user-generated content and social networks -- is the concept of "rich Internet applications," which use the web as a platform for innovative types of online experiences. A new generation of Internet-connected applications is beginning to emerge led by such companies as Adobe Systems. Knowledge@Wharton recently interviewed Adobe president and COO Shantanu Narayen about the company's latest product introductions. In the second part of this interview, published in India Knowledge@Wharton, Narayen talks about the key role that India will play in the company's global growth strategy.
Fresh takes on Peter Drucker (12th May 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh IN the past business in China has been predominantly driven by the all-pervasive guanxi or relationships - be it family ties, friendship, or a set of official favors and reciprocation that keep the wheels turning.
Life, not seminars, molds leaders (8th April 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Here comes a truly worthwhile look at leadership, "True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership," by Bill George with Peter Sims.
Big Winners: Hitting That 'Sweet Spot' of Success Year After Year (2nd March 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Alfred A. Marcus, a professor at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, reviewed detailed performance metrics for the 1,000 largest U.S. corporations, identifiying the 3.2% that have consistently outperformed their industries for a full decade. In his book, Big Winners and Big Losers: The 4 Secrets of Long-term Business Success and Failure (Wharton School Publishing), Marcus explains the strategies these companies followed, how they found opportunities in markets that others didn't see, and how they managed the tension between agility and discipline. Below is an excerpt from Chaper Seven, titled "Focus." How Corporate America Came to Recognize Diversity, One Pepsi at a Time (2nd March 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh In 1949, an African-American marketing executive for the Pepsi-Cola company named Edward F. Boyd attended a performance of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. By his own account, Boyd was moved to tears by the play and its echo of his own experiences and disappointments as a salesman in mid-20th century America. Yet Boyd's role in Pepsi's pioneering venture to tap the African-American market by employing African-American sales personnel is a story of triumph, as related in a new book titled, The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business, by Stephanie Capparell. Corporate Governance in India: Is an Independent Director a Guardian or a Burden? (9th February 2007)
Contributed by Chetan Parikh Many Indian companies -- with a few exceptions -- are owned or controlled by business families. This poses a special challenge for corporate governance. According to Wharton management professors Jitendra Singh and Michael Useem, a crucial issue is the approach that the family member who heads the company takes towards independent directors. In well-managed companies, independent directors are viewed as partners of management and as outside guardians whose job is to make sure that management stays focused on delivering shareholder value. Other companies, however, might consider independent directors to be a burden that has to be borne mainly to satisfy regulatory rules for compliance. In this second half of a two-part discussion on corporate governance in India, Singh and Useem discuss these issues and more with India Knowledge@Wharton.
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