Knowledge at Wharton

Less than three years after emerging from nowhere the hot social networking website MySpace is on pace to be worth a whopping $15 billion in just three more years. Or is it? And is the much smaller Facebook really worth the $900 million or more Yahoo is reported to have offered for it? The problem say Wharton experts is a dearth of information -- including data on expected revenue generation and cost structure -- to plug into the standard valuation models.

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In writing his latest book The Go Point: When It’s Time to Decide -- Knowing What to Do and When to Do It Michael Useem asked more than 100 leading decision-makers to analyze decisions they had made to name their best and worst decisions to describe how they reached them and to comment on what if anything they would change about how the decisions were arrived at. Useem director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at Wharton talks with Knowledge at Wharton about The Go Point.

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It’s not work/life balance and it’s not career burnout. Instead some employees are starting to set career paths based on their own needs values and definitions of success. They are otherwise talented and energetic workers who are ”plateauing” -- setting boundaries around their ambitions rather than striving to climb the next step up the corporate ladder. Some companies are beginning to take notice providing new options and opportunities in the ongoing war for talent.

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It’s always been assumed that when employees leave their companies to join other ones that all their knowledge and experience leave with them. But new research suggests that at least in the high-tech field firms can wind up gaining access to the knowledge being generated at their former colleague’s new place. The results of this research are presented in a paper titled ”Learning from Those Who Left: The Reverse Transfer of Knowledge through Mobility Ties ” by Wharton management professor Lori Rosenkopf and Wharton doctoral student Rafael A. Corredoira.

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People who access the Internet for what have become routine functions -- sending emails writing blogs and posting photos and information about themselves on social networking sites -- do not realize how much of their personal privacy they put at risk according to Wharton faculty and legal experts. Nor they add have the courts fully addressed the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for questionable purposes that encroach on privacy.

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A deal between YouTube and Warner Music Group to share music videos and revenue could usher in an era where the interests of content copyright holders and freebie-loving consumers align. Or it could wind up being just another stab at a business model for YouTube. The outcome will be determined by how the revenue between copyright holders and distributors like YouTube gets shared say experts at Wharton.

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At a recent Wharton roundtable discussion on leadership and innovation panelists were asked how the two are linked and what single factor they think is most critical to innovation in their industry. The answers (in a word): culture passion marketing among others. The event during which panelists also reflected on their career choices was part of Wharton’s 125th anniversary celebration.

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When Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003 a position he had formerly shared with company co-founder Hasso Plattner he faced a number of challenges including an economic slowdown that hurt SAP’s growth. Kagermann quickly reshaped the company’s product offerings and adjusted its market focus to position SAP for the next generation of software. But because SAP’s software is critical for many businesses change requires a delicate balance between progress and stability. Knowledge at Wharton recently sat down with Kagermann in New York City to discuss his vision of SAP’s future.

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In the five years since the attacks on September 11 2001 Howard Kunreuther Wharton professor of operations and information management has collaborated with members of the private and public sectors to determine how individuals and firms can be motivated to enhance security in our interconnected world. In a new book titled Seeds of Disaster Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability Kunreuther and other contributors argue that the United States will continue to be at risk for low-probability high-consequence events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina until the private sector and public leadership develop strategies to persuade individuals and firms to invest in cost-effective protective measures. The book is edited by Erwann Michel-Kerjan managing director of Wharton’s Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes and three others.

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Alex Gorsky was named head of Pharma North America and CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. the U.S. affiliate of Swiss drug giant Novartis in the fall of 2005. Since joining the company in 2004 as chief operating officer and head of general medicines Gorsky has overseen the continued growth of Novartis’s industry-leading cardiovascular franchise notably the blockbuster drugs Diovan and Lotrel. The company sells a variety of products including those that treat endocrine and respiratory disease gastrointestinal illnesses cancer and blood disorders and bone and joint conditions among others. Prior to joining Novartis Gorsky was company group chairman for Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical business in Europe the Middle East and Africa. Before that he spent 15 years in sales marketing and management at Janssen Pharmaceutica. Gorsky was recently on campus to take part in a Wharton business roundtable on leadership and agreed to talk with Knowledge at Wharton about trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

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