Knowledge at Wharton

A thorny question lies at the heart of meaningful health care reform. How much is human life worth? New Wharton research based on Medicare kidney dialysis data shows that the average figure -- $129 090 per additional year of quality life -- is higher than prior studies have shown. Perhaps more important the study also puts a value on the cost-effectiveness of treatment across percentiles of the entire dialysis population in an attempt to develop a benchmark for coverage decisions. Chris P. Lee a Wharton professor of operations and information management co-authored the paper titled ”An Empiric Estimate of the Value of Life: Updating the Renal Dialysis Cost-effectiveness Standard.”

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Condos in Miami traditional music stores gas-guzzling cars pharmaceuticals that get unfavorable press foods made with trans fats: All marketers from time to time confront products that for whatever reason become difficult to sell. What strategies should companies follow to reposition their products in ways that might attract new audiences or at least retain existing ones? One answer: segmenting. ”There are so many different kinds of customers out there. You just need to find them ” says one Wharton expert.

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The scientific community now overwhelmingly agrees that earth’s 6.5 billion inhabitants are contributing to global warming through heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. While various industries are yielding to public pressure to address climate change new carbon emission regulatory regimes are coming soon and they will likely carry significant costs according to experts from business and academia who spoke at the recent First Annual Conference-Workshop on Business and the Environment which was organized by the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) at Wharton/Penn.

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Ask any CEO or senior level executive what his or her biggest challenge is and the answer is almost always finding and keeping good people. Yet most executives fail to manage their company’s needs in a way that recognizes the unpredictability of the global marketplace. In a book titled Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty Peter Cappelli director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources proposes a new approach to this issue based on applying the principles of supply chain management to people. He and Joyce Bradley senior vice president and general manager Delaware Valley region of Lee Hecht Harrison spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about talent management including the challenges of managing employees in a recessionary economy.

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The ongoing takeover battle between Microsoft and Yahoo has taken several surprising turns over the past few weeks. After rejecting Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion offer in late February Yahoo has announced a two-week ad testing program with its main search rival Google and has reportedly entertained a possible merger with Time Warner’s AOL. Meanwhile Microsoft was rumored to be considering News Corp. as a possible ally in acquiring Yahoo. While spectators wait for the next twist in this saga another headline-making deal has been announced: a merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines to become the world’s largest airline. Knowledge at Wharton spoke with Wharton management professor Saikat Chaudhuri and Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach to find out whether these deals make sense and for whom.

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With a healthy economy that is benefiting from its economically troubled neighbor to the south Canada has little to complain about these days regarding its relationship with the United States -- although there is always room for improvement on both sides. That was the message from Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson during a recent visit to Wharton during which he addressed a wide range of topics including border security energy trading rebuilding Afghanistan and political posturing in the U.S. presidential campaign over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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The boundaries between work and play are beginning to disappear as consumer technologies -- including social networking tools user generated content and wikis -- are increasingly adopted by corporate America. For technology companies this emerging ”consumerization” trend represents an opportunity but it also brings new management challenges as companies struggle to embrace these technologies in a way that doesn’t limit their usefulness but also doesn’t result in lost time or money. And while there may be productivity gains for corporations that experiment with integrating the latest consumer gadgets security remains the deal breaker say experts at Wharton.

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Images of Chinese guards and local police protecting the Olympic torch on its journey to Beijing were hardly the kind of publicity the IOC or the Chinese government were hoping for. Nor can the 12 ”Worldwide Olympic Sponsors” be thrilled at the latest images of hand-to-hand street fighting. How can sponsors make the August Olympics a brand builder for their products rather than a public relations nightmare for their companies? Wharton professors suggest they figure out a way to reap the benefits of associating with the event while maintaining reputations for corporate social responsibility outside China.

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When Bear Stearns collapsed in March some insiders argued it was wrong to blame the firm’s risky bets on mortgaged-backed securities. They had another culprit: malevolent traders working together in the upside-down world of short sales -- making money by knocking down Bear’s stock. There has however been little academic research to explain the forces at work. Now Wharton finance professor Itay Goldstein and a colleague have shed some light on the process in a paper titled ”Manipulation and the Allocational Role of Prices.”

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Microfinance -- the business of providing financial services in small transaction amounts to poor underserved markets -- has taken off in recent years. With financial sectors in many developing countries maturing and microfinance institutions (MFIs) themselves growing rapidly capital markets have been quick to enter the fray providing ample funding for expansion. But microfinance’s evolution in countries throughout Asia and Eastern Europe has cast a spotlight on changes now buffeting the industry as private investors arrive in force and traditional microfinance values are questioned.

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