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INSEAD is celebrating its 50th anniversary this academic year. On September 12, the school staged a ceremony on its Europe campus, bringing together the founders of the school, the first MBA participants, faculty and staff, as well as key dignitaries. We have a special report on the event and we also speak to INSEAD and Wharton School Deans Frank Brown and Tom Robertson.
One year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we examine the state of the banking system with INSEAD Professor Jean Dermine. We hear why multinationals should be targeting both China and India, and we speak to former Microsoft executive, John Wood, who now runs Room to Read. “I may make a lot less money but I’m happier,” he tells INSEAD Knowledge in an exclusive video interview.
Finally, on our Facebook page you’ll find the new INSEAD widget, an application bringing the latest Knowledge articles and podcasts straight to your desktop.
Regards,
Stuart Pallister
Editor, INSEAD Knowledge |
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It was bound to happen. After pouring tens of billions of dollars, pounds and euros - as much as 5.5 per cent of the GDP of advanced economies, according to the International Monetary Fund - governments began to revolt. "If a bank is too big to fail, then it is too big," the governor of the central bank of Belgium told a newspaper at the end of June. If this is true, then what about the corollary: "Small is beautiful?" If bankers' bonuses are being capped, should the size of their banks be capped as well?
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On Adam Smith, Gordon Gecko and controls on self-interest
Maybe it's due to technology, maybe the global economy or maybe the revelations about corporate behaviour as one company after another, melting down and asking for taxpayer aid, laid bare the truth behind their balance sheets. Layman and businessman alike have come to realise that the old taboos surrounding ways of behaviour in the business world no longer work - or perhaps worked inefficiently at best.
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"Are you actually planning to turn a national palace into a private business school?" a shocked French official asked one of the key founders of INSEAD some 50 years ago, when he sought permission to use the Chateau of Fontainebleau as a home base for the school.
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INSEAD & Wharton together: charting a new path for MBAs in financial services
"The thing I would say is, the financial services industry is not dead. Full stop." That's a view shared by INSEAD Dean Frank Brown and his counterpart at The Wharton School, Tom Robertson.
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Those who ignore the emergence of both China and India will do so at great peril, say the co-authors of the book ‘Getting China and India Right’. In fact, Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang are advocating a joint China and India strategy, instead of choosing one over the other.
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Family values: leading the way out of the downturn
Family-owned businesses have been hit by the economic downturn like many others. But while they have suffered along with everyone else, they are able to leverage an inherent competitive advantage to ensure they survive and prosper despite the poor business and financial climate.
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Innovation booming in emerging markets despite obstacles
Traditional measures of innovation usually focus on science and technology, for example on patents produced, scientific papers published and PhD graduates in science and engineering. While the role of science and technology in driving innovation continues to be important, we are witnessing a new type of innovation in Latin America and other emerging markets - innovations that are more horizontal and more context dependent.
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Viral marketing: tell a woman?
Traditional marketing wisdom has it that if you want to use "word of mouth" you'd better be sure the people doing the talking are knowledgeable about the product. But a new large-scale field experiment on viral marketing by INSEAD Assistant Professor of Marketing, Andrew Stephen, puts paid to that age-old concept.
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Communicating your way to the top
Good communication skills outrank other core business competencies as the number one skill for corporate recruiters looking to hire MBA graduates. That rather surprising conclusion comes not from communications specialists, but from an organisation that has all the relevant data at its fingertips, The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which runs GMAT testing for MBA applicants.
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What do Richard Branson and Mother Theresa have in common? They have both been agents for change. But when you put them together, you get - the social entrepreneur. It's a concept and occupation that has been further clarified in new work being done by INSEAD Assistant Professor for Entrepreneurship, Filipe Santos.
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Combating poverty through the power of education
At a time when many social enterprises are scaling back because of the global recession, one non-governmental organisation is doing just the opposite.
"Right now, we're opening five libraries a day on average, 35 libraries a week - 2,200 libraries this year would be our prediction," says John Wood, founder of Room to Read, an organisation that builds schools and libraries in developing nations.
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Profits with principles: being socially responsible can pay
For the sake of the environment, you shouldn't wash your jeans each time you wear them; you should wait until you’ve worn them two or three times. This somewhat unusual advice comes courtesy of John Anderson, President and CEO of jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co, a company promoting itself as a socially responsible corporation supporting environmental and humanitarian causes.
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A helping hand for families trying to escape the poverty trap in India
Kancheepuram, some 80 kilometres south-west of Chennai, is well known for its 500-year-old heavyweight silk sari tradition. But chances were that its ornate, intricate pieces were woven by children between the age of five and 13, working 12 to 16 hours a day and bonded to a master weaver until their parents’ debt was paid in full.
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With the fast-growing proliferation of social networking sites on the internet, it's become common for many people to spend time at work and at play socialising and making new friends online. Indeed, having several social networking accounts on popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Flickr is par for the course for many, such as entrepreneur Thorben Linneberg.
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Crisis, clear skies and China opportunities
With every crisis comes a silver lining. While not everyone subscribes to that belief, Asian business leaders speaking at this year’s Bloomberg Leadership Forum in Hong Kong are certainly convinced of its validity.
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Too late or just in time? President Chain Store seeks to emulate its success in Taiwan with 7-Elevens in Shanghai
In The Art of War, 6th century BC Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu examines how you can achieve your goal before the enemy does, despite starting late. The tactic of deviation - taking a long and circuitous route, and luring away the enemy - is sometimes what it takes to win the battle.
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Bringing zest to China’s hospitality market
By offering travellers chic boutique hotel amenities at budget prices, Chinese entrepreneur Wu Hai is now enjoying the fruits of his success, setting up a chain of 16 hotels in China in just three short years since 2006.
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