Knowledge at Wharton

Online real estate marketplace Zillow has brought to home buying and selling what a previous generation of travel websites provided to shoppers wanting to compare the prices of hotels rental cars and airline flights -- transparency. But finding data that is reliable across the board can be difficult according to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. And the key is not just simply to offer the information Rascoff said during a recent conversation with Knowledge at Wharton and Wharton real estate professor Susan Wachter; it’s about the level of accuracy gained from the various sub-models the company’s software incorporates. (Video with transcript)

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A colleague asks you for feedback on a report. A LinkedIn connection requests an introduction to one of your key contacts. A recent graduate would like an informational interview. New research from Wharton management professor Adam Grant reveals that how you respond to these requests may be a decisive indicator of where you’ll end up on the ladder of professional success. Grant recently spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about his findings which are explored in his new book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. (Video with transcript)

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- better known as Obamacare -- was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Since then it has generated enormous amounts of debate controversy and uncertainty. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Bruce Broussard president and CEO of Humana the fourth-largest health care insurance group offers his take on Obamacare and the challenges -- and opportunities -- it presents to health care stakeholders. (Video with transcript)

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In a world focused on increased productivity and instant gratification it’s hard to imagine that businesspeople have much time for meditation. But huge corporations -- including Google Monsanto Hearst and National Grid --have discovered the benefits of meditation at work  including improved teamwork more effective decision-making and lower levels of employee stress. In this interview with Knowledge at Wharton Mirabai Bush co-founder of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society spoke with Katherine Klein vice dean of Wharton’s Social Impact Initiative  about the benefits of contemplative thinking. (Podcast with transcript)

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If you have watched and shared PSY’s ”Gangnam Style” video or gone into an unknown restaurant simply because it was full of people and appeared to be popular you have the basis for understanding what makes things go viral. Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger’s new book Contagious: Why Things Catch On distills six principles that cause people to talk about and share an idea or product. (Video with transcript)

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To report on food sourcing and access in the United States author Tracie McMillan went undercover picking garlic in the fields in California and working at a Walmart in Michigan and an Applebee’s in New York. She published a book about what she learned from these experiences called The American Way of Eating. Knowledge at Wharton recently spoke with McMillan about how income level affects food consumption who controls the food we eat and why the food system might be transformed if people threw away less food. (Podcast with transcript)

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Named one of The Wall Street Journal’s top 10 nonfiction books of 2012 Steven Ujifusa’s A Man and His Ship: America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the SS United States brings William Francis Gibbs’ story to life. Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor G. Richard Shell recently sat down with Ujifusa to learn more about what inspired the author to tell Gibbs’ story what led Gibbs to build ships and how the builder’s firm became responsible for 70% of all ships built during World War II. (Video with transcript)

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How do we know which of our successes and failures can be attributed to either skill or luck? That is the question that investment strategist Michael J. Mauboussin explores in his book The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business Sports and Investing. Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant recently sat down with Mauboussin to talk about the paradox of skill the conditions for luck and how to avoid overconfidence. (Video with transcript)

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Whether you are an educator an art director or a project manager you are in sales. So argues bestselling author Daniel Pink in his new book To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others. Pink recently visited the University of Pennsylvania as a guest lecturer in the Authors@Wharton series. Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant interviewed Pink while he was there to learn more about the ideas in his book including why consumers mistrust salespeople what the new ABCs of selling are and why questions may be the greatest selling tool. (Video with transcript)

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