Management in Practice

Any large organization has multiple stakeholders with different needs. And a truly global business has to deal with tremendous variation in cultural and regulatory contexts. For example, in the U.S., per capita credit card penetration is 2.5—meaning there are more than 2 credit cards for each person in the country. In Saudi Arabia, where Islam forbids the use of credit, the penetration rate is .04. How can a company cope with exponentially increasing complexity as it moves to more and more markets? And are there some businesses that don't translate easily—or at all—across borders?

The cost to produce energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, has fallen dramatically in recent decades, but so has the cost of natural gas. Daniel Gross, a renewable energy investor, discusses what it will take to make wind and solar cost-competitive.

Technology and globalization have radically changed the way many people do business, but do such concrete considerations also drive creative undertakings? Economist Tyler Cowen discusses the brave new world of cultural production and the increasingly demanding consumer on the receiving end.

Esther Duflo, a development economist at MIT and director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, explains how our understanding of the economic lives of the poor has grown more complex in recent years. While Duflo doesn't see any silver bullet that will end poverty, she points to progress, in part from the use of randomized control trials to solve specific problems.

What does it mean to be a leader and a woman? How much do bias and cultural assumptions still present challenges for women as they move up in their careers? A panel of accomplished Yale SOM alumnae discussed their experiences of leadership and management and reflect on strategies women can use to navigate in the workplace.

Steven Brill, a journalist and serial entrepreneur, lays out his case that fixing the public education system is critical to the future of the U.S. economy. In his view, charter schools demonstrate some successful tactics for education reform, but big questions and big challenges remain if these tactics are going to be brought to scale.

Shareholders own the corporation, so managers should maximize returns for shareholders, right? Corporate law expert Lynn Stout says that there are problems with this argument, starting with the fact that legally shareholders don't own a corporation. On top of that, she says, prioritization of shareholder value harms returns in the long run.

Private equity experts and investors in India describe a unique developing market where even with bountiful capital and few opportunities for anything but minority shares the sector is profitable and a key to harnessing the country's tremendous entrepreneurial energy.

Discussion at the Yale CEO Caucus focused on global hot spots and their likely effects on the business environment in the next year.

A recent online discussion with three experienced private equity professionals provided a survey of the industry’s development over the last decade, as well as advice for those interested in moving into the field. The participants were Peter M. Schulte ’83, Dan O’Connell ’80, and Sally Rocker ’81. The discussion was moderated by Andrew Metrick, Yale SOM Deputy Dean for Faculty Development & Michael H. Jordan Professor of Finance and Management.