This Month from Knowledge@Wharton.

Stories this month include
           "What's Driving India's Rise as an R&D Hub?" and
 "Are Failed Infrastructure Projects Linked to the Presence of the IMF
                     or World Bank? Read on ... "

This month some of the timely stories from Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu), the Wharton School's online research and business analysis journal, include:

What's Driving India's Rise as an R&D Hub?

India has long enjoyed a reputation as a destination for IT and business process outsourcing. Now, the country is fast emerging as a major center for cutting-edge research and development (R&D) projects for global multinationals such as Microsoft and Motorola as well as Indian firms. What forces are shaping these trends? What does the future hold? To answer these questions and more, Knowledge@Wharton collaborated with the Economic Times Intelligence Group in Mumbai, India, on this special report on R&D in India.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=SpecialSection& specialId=40 (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

Are Failed Infrastructure Projects Linked to the Presence of the IMF or World Bank? Read on ...

When Wharton management professor Witold Henisz was studying the problems that Western investors have financing infrastructure projects in developing countries, one common denominator made him curious: The involvement of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. So Henisz and several colleagues combed through three decades of market reform and industry decentralization projects in dozens of countries, looking for a link between failed or troubled reform efforts and the presence of the IMF or World Bank. They found one. Working on two separate papers, the researchers conclude that the IMF and World Bank do indeed play a significant role in these areas -- but often in a negative way. "If you see the IMF and World Bank influencing reforms in a country...," says Henisz, "It's not a seal of approval. It's a warning flag."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1259.cfm

Strong Leaders Encourage Dissent, and Gain Commitment

In Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus, author Michael Roberto shows how leaders can stimulate dissent and debate within their organization, and also keep such interaction constructive. Too often, he suggests, leaders don't hear bad news until it's too late, eventually becoming so isolated that even high-risk or illegal actions go unquestioned. Using the Columbia space shuttle disaster, an ill-fated climb to Mount Everest and other examples from history, Roberto explores how organizations make decisions, how executives gain commitment from their colleagues and how true leaders encourage open debate but also build long-term consensus.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1265.cfm

Women Who Step Out of the Corporate World Find It Hard to Step Back In

Women executives who leave the corporate world when they hit a glass ceiling, want to raise a family fulltime or decide to focus on other interests, encounter frustrating roadblocks in their attempts to re-enter the workforce, according to new Wharton research. To overcome the obstacles, women should confront the difficulties they face and prepare for their return to the labor force the moment they leave, says Monica McGrath, adjunct professor of management at Wharton, executive coach and co-author of the study entitled, "Back in the Game. Returning to Business after a Hiatus: Experiences and Recommendations for Women, Employers, and Universities."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1257.cfm

The Financial Risks of Terrorism: Balancing Public and Private Roles

Who should pay for the economic consequences of a terrorist attack in the United States? This week, the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center publishes TRIA and Beyond, an analysis of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), which will expire December 31, 2005, if not renewed. The Risk Center's report offers policymakers, key industry representatives and other interested parties an analysis of what roles the public and private sectors should play with respect to terrorism risk coverage in the United States.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1261.cfm

How Well Has Chile's Retirement Program Aged?

Viewed as one of the world's most innovative pension systems when it was created a quarter century ago, the Chilean retirement program is receiving new scrutiny as participants begin to reach retirement age, and President Bush promotes elements of the plan as a way to reform Social Security in the United States. An upcoming Presidential election in Chile has prompted additional debate about whether the Chilean system provides enough coverage to prevent old-age poverty, according to Olivia Mitchell, director of Wharton's Pension Research Council, who recently led a panel entitled, "Exporting the Pension Revolution: Chile and Beyond," at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Santiago.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1263.cfm

Degussa's China Strategy: "The Issue of Risk Is Enormously Overestimated"

In the second of a two-part interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Utz-Hellmuth Felcht, chairman of the management board at Degussa, the world's largest specialty chemicals company, discusses his company's strategy for China. He believes that with 650 million consumers who have a disposable income of $10,000 or more, China represents a larger potential market for Degussa than Western Europe and the U.S. combined. That is why Felcht wants Degussa to be active in China today. As he puts it, "If we want to continue to be the No. 1 specialty chemicals company 10 years from now, we better get going."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1260.cfm

About Knowledge@Wharton and the Wharton School

Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu) is a free biweekly online resource that captures knowledge generated at Wharton through such channels as research papers, conferences, books, and interviews with faculty on current business topics, and distributes that knowledge online to a global business audience.

Licensing content from Knowledge@Wharton: If you are interested in re-publishing at no cost Knowledge@Wharton content on your web site, in your e-newsletter, in print or in other media please contact Peter Winicov: 215/746-6471 or [e-mail]. For more information: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/contentlicense.cfm

Knowledge@Wharton has launched China Knowledge@Wharton, a Chinese edition featuring regular Knowledge@Wharton content:

http://knowledge.wharton.com.cn

or in English at

http://knowledge.wharton.com.cn/index.cfm?languageid=1

Spanish and Portuguese editions are also available via Universia Knowledge@Wharton: http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide.