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Quick Links Follow in Facebook Subscribe to iTunes Content Licensing Get our XML/RSS feed Homepage Dec 20 - Jan 3 To Our Readers: We would like to take a moment to thank you for being subscribers, and also to ask you to consider giving the gift of knowledge by forwarding our signup link to those you think might benefit from it, including friends, family and colleagues. As we like to say, Knowledge@Wharton is free, but knowledge is priceless. Wishing everyone a happy holiday. --The Knowledge@Wharton Team ________________________________________________________________ What's New Don't Mention It: How 'Undiscussables' Can Undermine an Organization Recent high-profile scandals at Penn State, MF Global Holdings, Olympus and elsewhere raise questions about why organizations often fail to address significant internal problems that at best impede performance, and at worst could have devastating effects. In hindsight, especially to observers, it is clear what should have been done. But for employees, exposing such problems is more complicated than telling right from wrong, say experts at Wharton and elsewhere. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2921.cfm Law and Public Policy (Videos with Transcripts) China and the WTO: Looking Back, Looking Forward Ten years after China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country has become the world’s largest exporter and accounts for some 10% of global trade. The International Monetary Fund predicts that by 2016, China will overtake the U.S. to become the world’s largest economy. How did membership in the WTO help transform China? What will the next decade mean for China and its trading partners? To discuss these questions and others, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Wharton management professors Marshall Meyer and Mauro Guillen and finance professor Franklin Allen. Their insights appear in this special report, produced in collaboration ­­with Beijing Review magazine. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2918.cfm Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Roundup: Improving Intelligence Forecasts, Vertically Integrated Health Care, and 'Worrisome' Health Care Costs How can intelligence agencies improve accountability and forecasting accuracy? Can hospitals become more efficient through vertical integration with home health agencies and nursing homes? Do taxpayers fully understand how the expansion of health care will be financed? Wharton professors Philip Tetlock and Barbara Mellers; Guy David and Evan Rawley; and Mark Pauly, respectively, examine these issues -- and what they mean for business -- in recent research articles. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2917.cfm Managing Technology The Microsoft Effect: Will Google Become What It Fears? Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs once warned Google co-founder Larry Page that the search giant was dangerously close to becoming another Microsoft -- that is, a company spreading itself too thin by trying to do everything. In recent years, Google has grown from being simply a search engine to having a hand in a range of sectors, an expansion that some worry will make it more difficult for innovative ideas to come to the surface. How can Google avoid some of the missteps made by Microsoft during its rapid expansion? And what can it learn from Microsoft's successes? http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2922.cfm Innovation and Entrepreneurship Procter & Gamble: Mastering the Art of the Innovation Tournament When Procter & Gamble embarked on a plan to power 30% of its energy needs with renewable sources by 2020 -- the first goal in a longer process -- the company decided to hold an innovation tournament. While not a new idea, innovation tournaments are hard to execute well. P&G managed the process by opening it up to a broad circle of participants, both inside and outside the company, and making sure there was "no predetermined list of options." Such an approach "drove us to a better discussion," says one P&G executive. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2919.cfm Leadership and Change Seven Top Leaders on Making Tough Calls and Serving for the Greater Good What makes a great leader? At a recent event, the seven winners of this year's Top American Leaders Award from the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School and Washington Post Live shared personal observations on how they came by the passion that inspires their work -- and on what irks them about public life. Common in all their views is that leadership is about serving more than one's self. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2896.cfm _________________________________________________________________ Highlights from Our Blog The Psychology of Holiday Gift Giving: The Good, the Bad, the Irrational Is holiday gift giving a waste of money, a futile exercise in buying gifts that people don’t want, or is there some intangible "goodness" that comes from focusing on others? (Posted on December 20, 2011) http://knlg.net/tE7b6o Troubled Times Ahead for North Korea? After the death on Saturday of dictator Kim Jong-il, observers warn that North Korea will go through a period of instability, with significant consequences for the rest of the world. (Posted on December 19, 2011) http://knlg.net/sVHLr5 Retailers: Know Thy Customer -- by Channel Despite the hoopla over growth in online holiday sales, a new report from Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Center and The Verde Group says that 76% of all purchases are still done the old fashioned way -- at a store. But why does one customer choose purchasing online over visiting a store? And what can retailers do to satisfy all types of shoppers? (Posted on December 14, 2011) http://knlg.net/vrIDIs Ban Email? Mon Dieu! Do internal emails make you more productive, or are they a big time-waster? Reports last week on the progress made by Atos -- a Paris-based global information technology services company -- in its efforts to prohibit internal emails have reignited the debate. (Posted on December 08, 2011) http://knlg.net/ttCLNR _________________________________________________________________ Articles from Around the Knowledge Network Knowledge@Wharton High School Hip Hop on the Go: Evan Reynolds Is a Young Manager in an Industry of Colorful Characters http://knlg.net/tpGIbO Arabic Knowledge@Wharton eriQoo.com: Eric Tsai's Vision for A More Efficient Search Engine http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/arabic/article.cfm?articleId=2663&language_id=1 India Knowledge@Wharton Lawyer Morris DeFeo: Why Partnerships Are Key for Outsiders Navigating the Indian Legal System http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleId=4664 Universia Knowledge@Wharton Tense Times: Addressing South America's Illegal and Informal Mining http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=2145&language=english China Knowledge@Wharton Is China's Solar Industry Heading for an Eclipse? http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn/index.cfm?fa=article&articleid=2499&languageid=1 _________________________________________________________________ Articles and Links from Knowledge@Wharton Sponsors Deloitte and Knowledge@Wharton: Eye on Latin American Finance Battle of the Brands: The Triumph of Chile's Concha y Toro? Read this story and more on the Eye on Latin American Finance website. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/926.cfm Ernst & Young: December 2011 Private Equity Backed IPO Market Global IPO markets started strong in 2011, but new issuance dropped mid-year. Despite this, PE-backed deals accounted for 24% of the global proceeds raised. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/927.cfm GE Capital: CapitaLens eNewslettter on Leveraged Finance What are the top five M&A deal killers? http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/919.cfm _________________________________________________________________ Help Spread Knowledge Do you know people who might be interested in these research studies and more? If you do, please forward this e-mail message to them. The Knowledge@Wharton Newsletter is a free service of the Wharton School (http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/) of the University of Pennsylvania. Its companion web site, Knowledge@Wharton, includes full details of the stories listed here. To read these stories, go to http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/ To read Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, our portal for women entrepreneurs, visit: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/10000women/ To read Arabic Knowledge@Wharton, our Arabic/English Partnership http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/arabic/ To read India Knowledge@Wharton http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/ To read Universia-Knowledge@Wharton, our Spanish/Portuguese Partnership http://www.wharton.universia.net To read the Chinese Version of Knowledge@Wharton http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn To comment on these stories, go to: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/feedback.cfm To unsubscribe from this newsletter, visit: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/unsubscribe.cfm Sponsorship Inquiries Visit our media kit to find out about opportunities to sponsor Knowledge@Wharton special reports, newsletters, and our site. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/media/ Write Knowledge@Wharton The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 3620 Locust Walk - Suite 202 Philadelphia, PA 19104 *** Current Subscribers: 157,618 New on the Site Climbing the Great Wall of Trust New research from Assistant Professor Roy Y.J. Chua investigates the difficulties for foreigners doing business in China, and what they can do to overcome the challenge. The Most Common Strategy Mistakes In a new book, Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy, Joan Magretta distills Porter's core concepts and frameworks into a concise guide for business practitioners. In this excerpt, Porter discusses common strategy mistakes. What Do YOU Think? Thinking Slow: An Argument for Bureaucracy? Summing Up: Readers of Jim Heskett's column this month offer guidelines for when to think fast and when to think slow, from author Daniel Kahneman's book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. First Look: New Research by HBS Faculty Making Decisions Unconsciously…The Impact of Modularity…Entering the Credit Ratings Industry. Most Popular Stories Are Creative People More Dishonest? Climbing the Great Wall of Trust HBS Cases: Clocky, the Runaway Alarm Clock The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance Creating a Positive Professional Image Best of WK Anita Tucker The Work-Around Culture: Unintended Consequences of Organizational Heroes Follow HBS Working Knowledge on Facebook Visit our Facebook page to offer up story ideas and share your thoughts on the latest business management research. Elsewhere at Harvard Business School Value Measurement for Health Care HBS Executive Education Programs March 26-28, 2012 Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage HBS Executive Education Programs June 3-8, 2012 Strategic Financial Analysis for Business Evaluation HBS Executive Education Programs April 1-4, 2012 Leadership and Strategy in Pharmaceuticals and Biotech HBS Executive Education Programs April 9-14, 2012 HBR.org At HBR.org you'll find articles from the latest issue of Harvard Business Review, new book releases from Harvard Business Review Press, HBR IdeaCast—the biweekly podcast featuring breakthrough management ideas and commentary from editors and authors—HBS case studies, and much more. About this Newsletter Subscribe/Unsubscribe Sign up for the HBS Working Knowledge newsletter, change your e-mail address, or unsubscribe on our newsletter subscription page. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.