Management in Practice

Problems like climate change, resource depletion, and pollution can seem so large as to be beyond the capacity of any individual person, or even corporation, to address. Peter Bakker, president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, argues that business leaders can take a first step by incorporating sustainability concerns into how they think about risk management.

As patents on the blockbuster drugs of the 1990s expire, the pharmaceutical industry is facing—not for the first time—questions about the sustainability of its economic model. Clive Meanwell, CEO of The Medicines Company, says that the industry can help patients and make money by changing the nature of its relationship to the healthcare system.

Hedge funds are risky. But getting beyond that bromide and evaluating the prospects of a particular fund means understanding everything from internal operations to investors’ incentives to counterparty and market conditions. David Belmont ’92, chief risk officer of Commonfund, gives a tour of the inner workings of hedge fund risk.

Social enterprises, ventures that seek to address significant societal problems while also achieving financial sustainability, have become a bigger part of the business world. Chuck Slaughter ’90, founder of Living Goods, discusses what it will take for the field to produce a breakout star.

Sky-high valuations of tech companies and the return of the IPO has an old debate raging again. Is a bubble brewing? Or is this time really different? Sasson Darwish ’94, managing partner at DS Advisory Group, talks with Yale Insights about IPOs, innovation, and the business models for today’s tech companies.

The alluring promise of big data is to make sense of the innumerable messy and complex decisions made by the world's consumers and provide clear guidance for improved operations, marketing, and performance. How close that promise is to reality varies greatly from industry to industry. A panel at the Yale School of Management considered the challenges and opportunities in using big data to improve healthcare.

Business is a social act. The relationships among a network of stakeholders define an organization and account for a great deal of the success or failure of a global brand. John Pepper discusses how personal relationships and organizational ties defined a career that included serving as CEO and chairman of P&G and chair of Disney’s board of directors.

The Yale School of Management brought together the FDA commissioner, the head of a health insurance company, the CEO of an Internet media empire, and the incoming chief of England’s National Health System to discuss the future of healthcare innovation and the state of care itself.

Perhaps the strongest argument for environmental sustainability within an organization is that it is critical to the mission. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Richard Kidd ’93 explains why strategic thinking about sustainability is essential for the military.

Regulation is often a contentious issue, but most agree that some is necessary and too much is harmful. How do you find the sweet spot? Yale Insights asked practitioners to talk about regulation that impacts their industries.