A new, comprehensive accounting standard is set to change the way many companies recognize revenue in their financial statements, and that could reverberate through myriad systems and processes in significant ways. Many companies do not yet realize the degree of change the new standard will usher in, nor how it could affect many industries in unexpected ways, according to experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Wharton, who discuss the implications in this white paper.

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This second part of a two-part podcast on the new face of private equity (PE) in Africa looks at  the areas of the economy most ripe for growth, and also at some business models that PE firms are pursuing. With GDP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa at 4.4% in 2012 (and a third of the countries there growing at more than 6% annually), the amount of foreign direct investment in Africa has been gaining significant momentum, and interest has spread beyond natural resources to consumers, thanks to an expanding middle class.

Knowledge@Wharton spoke with three experts to learn about the PE landscape in Africa:

Michelle Kathryn Essomé, chief executive of the African Venture Capital Association;

Michael Rogers, global deputy sector leader for private equity at EY; and

Stephen M. Sammut, senior fellow and lecturer at Wharton.

Download the edited transcript: Private Equity Steps Up in Africa – Part II

 

In today’s fast paced and constantly changing market, continuous innovation boosts market share, sharpens competitiveness, lifts earnings and propels careers. CFOs can play a critical role, but for them, supporting innovation presents a particular challenge. According to PwC, faculty at Wharton and top-performing finance executives, embracing innovation requires monitoring risk closely without smothering ideas. For finance executives who have spent the past five years cutting costs and managing cash flow, the balancing act is as formidable as it is essential. The finance department should shed the perception that it bogs down new ideas, and should ensure that companies have the processes and expertise to decide when to invest, and where. In this white paper, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with experts from Wharton and PwC to glean insight into how to approach the challenge.

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GDP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa last year hit 4.4%, with a third of the countries in the region growing at a robust 6% annual rate. Many analysts believe this helps sets the stage for long-term growth, underpinned by a growing middle class and rising foreign investment. That, in turn, is helping to grow the services sector while reducing dependence on natural resources. Accompanying this growth is a pickup in private equity activity (PE), which offers more promise for economic development. To learn more about that, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with three PE experts in this first part of a two-part podcast:

Michelle Kathryn Essomé, chief executive of the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA);

Michael Rogers, global deputy sector leader for private equity at EY; and

Stephen M. Sammut, senior fellow and lecturer at Wharton.

 

Download the edited transcript: Private Equity Steps Up in Africa -- Part I

 

More and more companies are standardizing functions across people, processes and technology. Such “standardization at the core” positions them to achieve cost savings, increased customer satisfaction and improved competitiveness, says Anand Sankaran, senior vice president and business head at Wipro Infotech and global business head — infrastructure and services for Wipro Limited. Companies that share components and processes across product platforms can develop differentiated products efficiently and be more responsive to market changes, says Karl Ulrich, vice dean of innovation at Wharton. According to Morris A. Cohen, Wharton professor of operations and information management, standardization has made way for “servicization,” wherein products are sold and delivered as services. They share their insights on the subject in this white paper produced by Knowledge@Wharton and sponsored by Wipro Technologies.

Download a copy of Why Companies are Increasingly Moving Towards Standardization (pdf)

Answering the question “to hedge or not to hedge?” currency exposure is more than a straightforward mathematical effort. While the aim of currency hedging is to manage risk, the ability to achieve the goal needs ongoing consideration. Companies need to look at several factors, from transaction costs to global funding flows and the timing of revenue collections. And increasingly, there is another big factor that companies must weigh: Some analysts can have a knee-jerk, negative reaction to complexity in general, and hedging strikes them as being too complex. To delve into this issue, Knowledge@Wharton interviewed experts from Wharton and PwC for this white paper. 

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Being an entrepreneur is difficult. Yet some start-up and growth-stage companies do more than survive -- they thrive. Experts from Wharton and GE Capital reveal that business success often doesn’t depend on stunning innovations but instead on common-sense business practices such as embracing change and choosing the right partners and board members.

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Worldwide, companies in the financial services industry face tighter regulations and customers are more wary in the aftermath of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 and the resulting economic downturn across the U.S. and Europe. However, they could use smart technology tools to conform to stringent regulatory requirements, win back consumer trust and deepen those relationships using business analytics, social and mobility platforms. In this white paper, which is part of a “Future of the Industry” series covering several industry groups, Knowledge@Wharton and Wipro Technologies explore how technology could help financial institutions.

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Cloud computing, mobility, data analytics, social, and sensors are disrupting established business models and reshaping customer experience across industries. Working in concert, these advanced technologies are eroding barriers to entry, lowering costs of transactions, and increasing speed-to-market. Fragmented user experiences are becoming more intuitive and seamless, with fewer hand-offs and greater continuity across customer touch-points and channels. Shawndra Hill, professor of operations and information management at Wharton, and Shaji Farooq, senior vice president for advanced technologies at Wipro, weigh the opportunities and challenges that advanced technologies bring in this white paper produced by Knowledge@Wharton and sponsored by Wipro Technologies.

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A tougher economy, increased competition and constrained budgets are forcing businesses to gravitate towards innovative contracting models. Across industry groups, companies and their third party vendors are showing increasing preference for risk-reward contracts over traditional time-and-materials contracts. Trust and maturity on both sides are the key prerequisites for risk-reward models to be mutually beneficial, say Malay Verma, vice president and global head of the Cisco business unit at Wipro Technologies and Ravi Aron, senior fellow at Wharton’s Mack Center for Technological Innovation. Verma and Aron share insights on how these models are evolving in this white paper produced by Knowledge@Wharton and sponsored by Wipro Technologies.

Download a copy of Clients and Vendors Find Big Gains in Linking Rewards to Risks, Revenues and Outcomes