This Month from Knowledge@Wharton

Business Wire, June 1, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- Knowledge@Wharton:

Stories this month include Our Annual Challenge: Pick the Winner Out
    of 'Eight Great' Business Plans and "Immigration: Its Impact on
                    Workers, Wages and Employers"

   Plus: Knowledge@Wharton podcasts with Profs. John Paul MacDuffie,
                             Lawton Burns

This past month some of the timely stories from Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu), the Wharton School's online research and business analysis journal, include:

Our Annual Challenge: Pick the Winner Out of 'Eight Great' Business Plans

The 2006 Venture Finals of Wharton's Business Plan Competition offered participants, judges and the audience an opportunity to peer into the future by surveying potential startups. It was a chance to see what aspiring, ambitious entrepreneurs believe will be the next hot discovery. At this year's competition, healthcare companies -- ranging from medical-device makers to a creator of artificial muscles -- grabbed five of the eight finalist slots. The other three finalists included a virtual call center, an online mortgage broker and a company that would replace credit cards with fingerprints. Read on, and see if you have a nose for the next "new new thing."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1464.cfm

Immigration: Its Impact on Workers, Wages and Employers

Illegal immigration into the United States has sparked heated debate in Congress, roiled the two main political parties, and prompted hundreds of thousands of immigrant supporters to take to the streets recently in peaceful demonstrations nationwide. At stake are the lives and livelihoods of as many as 12 million undocumented workers, the companies they work for, and the job opportunities of millions of low-skill American citizens. The large number of illegal immigrants raises key economic questions: Do illegal immigrants depress wages paid to low-skill workers? Do they take jobs away from Americans? How dependent on undocumented workers is the U.S. economy? Should illegal immigrants be compelled by law to return to their native countries? Or should Congress hammer out legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to pay some type of penalty, yet remain in the United States and continue working?

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1482.cfm

Tip of the Spear: Leadership Lessons from the U.S.-led Armed Forces in the Middle East

The Pentagon recently invited a group of 43 civilians, including Michael Useem, director of Wharton's Center for Leadership and Change Management, to witness the management and leadership of its Central Command, which is responsible for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Useem and his colleagues -- who included executives, private equity investors, media commentators and academics -- traveled to the Middle East to observe troops and operations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Arabian Sea. In this report written literally from the frontlines, Useem takes "a look at the execution of American military policy -- not the policy itself -- a subject of continuing and increasingly intense national debate .... From even this brief foray into their world, it is evident that the U.S. armed services have built what many private companies strive for: a culture of readiness and commitment, cross-service and cross-national integration, and pragmatic flexibility."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1484.cfm

Death in the Middle: Why Consumers Seek Value at the Top and Bottom of Markets

"In the U.S. and around the world, the consumer markets are bifurcating into two fast-growing pools of spending," writes author Michael J. Silverstein in his new book, Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer. "At the high end, consumers are trading up, paying a premium for high-quality, emotionally rich, high-margin products and services. At the low end, consumers are relentlessly trading down, spending as little as possible to buy basic, low-cost goods and services." Between both piles lies a vast range of mediocre, medium-range products that Silverstein claims is doomed to decline. What implications does this have for companies and their brands? David Reibstein, a Wharton professor of marketing, discussed that question with Silverstein, a senior vice president of The Boston Consulting Group.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1477.cfm

Success and Failure in the Chinese Fast Food Industry: It's All About Standardization

The Chinese fast food industry has seen both successes and failures over the past decade, but one thing stands out -- the importance of standardization, in everything from purchasing raw materials to preparing food to ensuring quality service. As Chinese fast food chains take advantage of standardization processes in their drive to expand throughout the country, the industry is also attracting an increasing number of foreign investors, whose appetite for fast food shows no signs of waning.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1470.cfm

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