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Tackling 'grey hairs': How companies can turn an ageing workforce to their advantage
The greying working population in developed economies will be widening intergenerational fissures in today’s companies and organisations. Young managers find it difficult to handle the 'grey hairs' under their charge, while older workers are not always happy taking orders from their younger supervisors. Yet, without talent, businesses run the risk of losing their competitiveness. How should companies bridge the gap and turn the skills and experience of their older workers into their advantage? Drawing examples and cases not just from America but also Singapore, Peter Cappelli and Bill Novelli, professors at Wharton and Georgetown respectively, share some ideas in the book “Managing the Older Worker”.

Knowledge@SMU Sep 01 - Sep 30

From imitators to inventors: China’s changing innovation landscape
Long derided as an economic entity happier to copy than to invent, the number of patents filed and assigned in China has been growing at 13% annually in the two decades to 2006, with a total of 1.1 million patents awarded. Private enterprises, after a slow start, are now leading the charge in securing an ever bigger number of patents, especially after 2001. Individuals, meanwhile, are the second most prolific group. What causes this surge in patent applications? What are some of the issues involved? SMU management professor Kenneth Huang details findings from a recent study.

To be ahead of the game, consider game-based marketing
Games have a way of engaging people in ways that advertisements simply cannot. Many a date, birthday or meeting have been forgotten and disregarded, thanks to the likes of Warcraft and StarCraft – 'sticky' programmes that have caused people to betray their better judgements. Beyond computer gaming, however, consumers have been known to choose a coffee shop, supermarket or airline for reasons that also defy what's rational: to collect stamps, amass points and accumulate 'miles'; all of which have nothing to do with drinking coffee, buying groceries or getting from point A to B. Yet, people play along willingly, in the hopes that they will, someday, 'win'.

Proximity to Power: How people keep governments honest
It is widely accepted that governments are likelier to cater to majority needs. However, history has shown, time and again, that unhappy minorities are a force to be reckoned with. Inequality, on top of an absence of channels by which people may voice their needs and discontent, will motivate insurrections – especially if the dissenting minorities are concentrated within the country's capital city. According to a study conducted by assistant professors Do Quoc-Anh and Filipe Campante from SMU and Harvard University respectively, an "honest", accountable government may have just as much to do with geography as it does with leadership.

Asia Alone? Not time yet to jettison ties
Much has been written about the relationships between America and Asia, largely built on the rubble of the Cold War. It is now a very different world. Following the recent financial crisis, the strains and changes in the relationship between has been further accentuated. A growing number in Asia were talking of extending the de-coupling beyond just economical ties. Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, provides his views on how Asia and America should change and engage each other for the post-crisis future.

LOHAS: Marketing a green and sustainable way of living
What prompted former corporate warriors like Adam Horler and Tay Lai Hock trade their suits for t-shirts and embrace a new way of life with green and sustainability as its central tenet? It is LOHAS, or Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, described as a “biggest market you’ve never heard of”. In a recent talk at SMU, Horler and Tay share what is their motivation, what is the appeal of LOHAS, and how are they marketing this concept to bring more converts on board.