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Knowledgebase


May 2008

Highlights

  1. How Much Will We Pay for a Year of Life?
  2. Reforming The U.S. Health Care System is an Elusive Goal
  3. Could Wal-Mart Force Health Care Reform?
  4. What Your Car Can Learn From You
  5. Stay Up Close and Personal With Suppliers
  6. Social/Environmental Awareness Benefits Supply Chains
  7. The Socioeconomics of Coffee
  8. Asia’s future as a High-Tech Innovator
  9. Outsourced Jobs Help Attract Venture Money to Asia
  10. Recent Speakers
  11. Something to Read

Health care

How Much Will We Pay for a Year of Life?

Today $50,000 is the internationally accepted value placed on an additional year of high quality human life. That figure is too low according to new research that also warns using cost effectiveness to decide whether to authorize and pay for specific medical treatments raises major ethical dilemmas.

Reforming The U.S. Health Care System is an Elusive Goal

Family insurance premiums have risen 78 percent since 2001 while wages have increased 19 percent, in case anyone doubts the crisis in the U.S. health care system. There are no easy ways to cure the system.

Could Wal-Mart Force Health Care Reform?

Apple turned the music industry on end by rewriting the rules on an iPod. Could Wal-Mart or Microsoft do the same by changing the way health care is offered?

Technology

What Your Car Can Learn From You

As cars become entertainment centers and data-gathering devices, the amount of information they're collecting about you is rapidly growing. And guess who might be interested? Insurance companies, advertisers, government agencies, your boss and perhaps your spouse. Includes Video.

Supply Chains

Stay Up Close and Personal With Suppliers

Many organizations’ reputations rise or fall on the quality of supply chains, whether they stretch around the world or down the block. Don’t depend on long distance communication alone, speakers told a Stanford conference.

PDFSocial/Environmental Awareness Benefits Supply Chains

A study of 20 successful supply chains finds that those who made the greatest strides toward social and environmental responsibility realized the greatest benefits.

International Trends

The Socioeconomics of Coffee

Be it fair trade, locally harvested beans, or coffee grown for a major global firm, Business School students find there are no easy answers as they explore the effects of our favorite drink on Guatemala’s economy.

Asia’s Future as a High-Tech Innovator

Quality higher education systems are the key to global technology leadership. Stanford Authors warn that some Asian nations aren’t ready yet.

Outsourced Jobs Help Attract Venture Money to Asia

As jobs and manufacturing continue to expand to new parts of Asia, can an increase in venture capital be far behind asks Faruq Ahmad.

Recent Speakers

India’s Economic Growth is Missing the Poor

India’s economy has doubled in the past decade, but Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen warns that the benefits are not being shared equally by all levels of Indian society.

Understanding Investing is Key to Personal Success

The saving and investing disparity could be leading to a future crisis in the black community Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, told members of the Black Business Students Association. Among workers with similar education, income and age, white workers have nearly twice the savings of their black counterparts, she said.

Something to Read

Ethics for the Real World: Creating a Personal Code to Guide Decisions in Work and Life

Ronald Howard and Clinton Krover, Harvard Business School Press, April 2008.
We often make small ethical compromises for good reasons: We lie to a customer because our boss asked us to, exaggerate our resume to get an interview, make snap decisions we regret. Minor ethical lapses may create a hard-to-break habit. The authors explore ways to identify potential life compromises; clarify ethical thinking; commit to ethical principles; and generate creative alternatives to resolve dilemmas.

China’s New Face for the Olympics

Beijing has spent more than US$40 billion to modernize itself in preparation for this summer’s Olympics. The new Beijing has been expanded to six rings radiating from the Forbidden City; 2.7 million trees were planted last year; and a 130-kilowatt system will help power the Beijing National Stadium. Jackson Library has compiled a few selected readings on Beijing's preparation for the coming summer.