This Month from Knowledge@Wharton

Business Wire, May 1, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- Knowledge@Wharton:

Stories this month include "Raising Money to Treat the World's
 Sickest People Isn't the Problem: Spending It Is" and "How Successful
                       People Remain Successful"

      Plus: Knowledge@Wharton podcasts with Prof. Jeremy Siegel,
                              Roy Vagelos

This 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:

Raising Money to Treat the World's Sickest People Isn't the Problem: Spending It Is

In the debate over how to build better models to help the world's neediest citizens, supporters of for-profit social impact organizations argue that their model is more sustainable than non-profit schemes. Non-profit and foundation executives agree that new paradigms are necessary, but caution that for-profit models could ultimately put profit ahead of serving the poor. The issues surrounding this debate were further explored at the recent Wharton Social Impact Management (SIM) Conference whose theme -- "Solutions to Social Problems Incident to our Civilization" -- borrowed a phrase used 125 years ago by school founder Joseph Wharton in his directive for business education.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1438.cfm

How Successful People Remain Successful

When James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras wrote their hugely popular 1994 book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, they began by stating clearly that they did not mean to write about visionary leaders. Their goal was to find visionary companies -- the crown jewels of their industries -- and discover what made them extraordinary. Then questions arose about the extent to which the principles of Built to Last might apply to individuals. That sparked another investigation that has now led to a follow-up book, Success Built to Last, which will be published by Wharton School Publishing later this year. Mark Thompson and Stewart Emery, co-authors with Porras of Success Built to Last, spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about their book. In addition, the authors are conducting a global survey on how people think about success; a link to the survey can be found at the end of the article.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1451.cfm

Foreign Stocks Are In, and So Is Indexing

Foreign stocks are soaring and Americans are pouring money into them. But although overseas equities have captured investors' fancy before, there's a twist this time: More investors are embracing passive, index-style investing, ignoring the long-held belief that active managers can beat indexers by uncovering bargains in inefficient foreign markets. Have conditions really changed enough to make indexing pay off as well in foreign markets as it has in the U.S.? It may be too soon to know for sure. But international equity markets and American investor behavior are clearly evolving, according to Wharton finance professors.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1445.cfm

Siemens CEO Klaus Kleinfeld: "Nobody's Perfect, but a Team Can Be"

Corporate leaders must build international organizations to compete in today's economy and be prepared to defend globalization at home, according to Klaus Kleinfeld, chief executive of the German electrical and engineering conglomerate Siemens AG. Speaking at a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture, Kleinfeld said U.S. concerns about the sale of port assets to a Dubai-based firm, and French resistance to the sale of yogurt-maker Danone -- which French officials called a "national treasure" -- highlight growing fears that globalization comes at the cost of jobs in developed countries. He also addressed the need for labor unions to be more flexible, offshoring concerns, the benefits of conglomerates and the qualities he looks for in potential leaders.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1447.cfm

The Coffee Wars Heat Up: New Strategies to Jolt the Caffeine-Conscious Consumer

Consumers' love affair with expensive, customized cups of coffee shows no signs of abating, even though most orders consist of little more than a cup of water, a splash of milk, a spoonful of coffee grinds and 30 seconds of labor. Indeed, Starbucks has managed to turn its customers' craving for caffeine into a $6.4 billion a year business, with close to 6,000 company-owned coffeehouses already up and running, and five new ones opening each day. All of which explains why so many coffee sellers seem intent on taking away some of Starbucks' highly profitable market share. Yet according to Wharton marketing professors, some companies are so obsessed with swiping business from Starbucks, or losing customers to it, that they may be abandoning a niche that has already proved profitable.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1448.cfm

Latest Podcasts

What Will Rising Interest Rates Mean for Investors and the U.S. Economy? Jeremy Siegel Offers His Views

Interest rates are rising around the world. Last Thursday, April 13, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes closed at 5.05%. This was the first time in four years that the yield exceeded 5%. Moreover, short-term interest rates in the U.S. are also going up: The federal funds rate (or the interest rate at which banks provide overnight loans to one another) has risen to 4.75% from some 1% a few years ago. In Europe and Japan, stock prices have been falling last week and this week because of concerns that rising interest rates and higher oil prices will affect corporate earnings. What will this mean for the U.S. stock market and the economy? To answer this question, Robbie Shell, editorial director of Knowledge@Wharton, and Mukul Pandya, editor-in-chief, talked with Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, author of the book, The Future for Investors.