How fintech is changing the speed of lending
Businessam Staff
October 16, 2017
After $3.5 billion in business loans spread across 100,000 customers, online lender Kabbage is showing one successful path for the fintech industry. In this Knowledge@Wharton interview, Spencer Robinson, head of strategy for the company, explains what Kabbage has discovered that allows it to approve loans in minutes, versus what he says can often be a multi-week slog […]
How to avoid the perils of political forecasting
Businessam StaffSeptember 19, 2017
Tune into any cable news program and chances are you’ll see pundits offering their insights and forecasting political outcomes. And often times, they get things incredibly wrong: The 2016 presidential campaign, for example, was filled with forecasters who predicted a solid Hillary Clinton win. Philip Tetlock, a social psychologist and Wharton management professor, looks at […]
Why Dodd-Frank increased banking industry consolidation
Businessam StaffSeptember 14, 2017
The global financial meltdown of 2008 resulted in sweeping reforms to the banking industry in the United States. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 ushered in a new era of regulation designed to reduce risk to the American financial system. Wharton accounting professor Allison Nicoletti believes the legislation also created a […]
Using the Blockchain to clean up the Niger Delta
Businessam StaffSeptember 5, 2017
In southeastern Nigeria, in an area known as Ogoniland off the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, is the site of one of the most polluted regions in the world. Over half a century of oil drilling and spills in the Niger Delta by Shell and other companies have left the area’s creeks, swamps, fishing […]
A new marketing royalty on the rise: Digital influencers
Businessam StaffSeptember 5, 2017
MARKETING As online platforms become cluttered with ads, marketers are challenged to find new ways to connect with their customers. One rising trend they should pay attention to is “influencer marketing,” or using the power of popular people to reach your target market, according to this opinion piece by Aprajita Jain, a brand marketing evangelist […]
What Google’s memo controversy means for gender diversity
Businessam StaffAugust 29, 2017
MANAGEMENT In the past week, the debate around gender equality and ideological diversity at the workplace has become more intense. The trigger is a 10-page internal memo that Google software engineer James Damore wrote last month, in which he attempted to explain his contrarian positions on those issues. Damore’s observations that biological and other gender-based differences explain […]
How AI makes brand personalities come to life
Businessam StaffAugust 29, 2017
MARKETING Artificial intelligence (AI) is reinventing the creative landscape for marketers. One big leap: Brands are no longer merely seen as objects, but entities with personalities that can interact dynamically with people, according to Winston Binch, chief digital officer for Deutsch North America, the ad agency behind Taco Bell’s award-winning taco-ordering chatbot, the Tacobot. Binch […]
The ‘why’ behind asking why: The science of curiosity
Businessam StaffAugust 29, 2017
INNOVATION Curiosity is a fundamental human trait. Everyone is curious, but the object and degree of that curiosity is different depending on the person and the situation. Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio was so curious about curiosity that he wrote a book about it. He recently appeared on the Knowledge@Wharton show on SiriusXM channel 111 to talk about what […]
‘Every business is a digital business’
Businessam StaffAugust 22, 2017
Nitin Rakesh took over as the CEO of Bangalore-based IT company MphasiS earlier this year. He was earlier CEO and president of Syntel, and president, CEO and managing director of Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, and chief executive of State Street Syntel Services, a joint venture between Syntel and State Street Bank. In this conversation […]
Why ‘quiet’ leadership matters in sports and Life
Businessam StaffAugust 22, 2017
The acronym GOAT in sports stands for Greatest of All Time. It’s a designation currently given to NFL quarterback Tom Brady, and it’s been bestowed on NBA star Michael Jordan and hockey great Wayne Gretsky. All three of these men played in championship games, but being the greatest of all time doesn’t necessarily lead to […]