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The worldwide wine business is a good case study in free trade, given that there are many producers and few restrictions on commerce. In recent years, the cost of wine has reflected this generally free global market in two ways — one good and the other bad, as George M. Taber argues in this op-ed piece. Taber is the author of four books on wine. His latest is titled, A Toast to Bargain Wines: How innovators, iconoclasts, and winemaking revolutionaries are changing the way the world drinks.

As economic malaise bleeds into another New Year, employers are making hard-nosed decisions about benefits and compensation. That means for many in the nation's workforce, compensation remains flat, health care premiums are up, the 401(k) match has disappeared and bonuses are smaller or nonexistent. The result is not hard to guess.

Armed with powerful mobile devices, consumers and employees have become the force behind a wireless wave of change. Whether they are seeking discounted prices or looking to coordinate a sales campaign, these mobile end-users are growing impatient with companies that are still trying to control behavior and the sharing of information. Enterprises that fail to learn how to give up some of that control and innovate to meet the evolving needs of their constituents could soon find themselves in the back of the pack.

Knowledge@Wharton sat down with Lewis, along with Wharton marketing professor Eric Bradlow and Steve Ennen, president and chief intelligence officer of Social Strategy1, to discuss the opportunities and potential pitfalls of implementing a social media strategy. An edited version of the transcript appears below.

With millions of people looking for employment, the workplace these days is an increasingly unhealthy environment for those who still have, and are trying to keep, their jobs. One key reason -- a stagnant economy that reduces the leverage employees typically have when they attempt to negotiate improved working conditions, move up in their organization or find better jobs outside the company.

As far as Travis Katz is concerned, it is impossible to name the single best hotel in Cabo San Lucas or the absolute tastiest cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

In his new book, The Leader's Checklist, Wharton management professor Michael Useem presents a collection of 15 principles that can help leaders navigate successfully through even the most difficult circumstances. Using such milestone events as the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners in 2010, the collapse of AIG in 2008 and the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox in 1865, Useem illustrates the difference between good and bad leadership, and how to achieve one's own personal leadership success.

David Insler, a senior vice president at New York-based Sibson Consulting, estimates that only about 35% to 40% of companies do performance reviews well.

The basic theory of why companies issue stock options to their employees is fairly simple: The more that a firm's stock price increases, the greater the profit from exercising those options, creating what employers hope is a valuable incentive that will motivate employees to focus on making the company more successful and more profitable.

Starbucks has emerged over the last 20 years as one of the premier consumer brands in the world, alongside icons like Apple and Nike. Now, the company has decided to give that brand a facelift, revamping its ubiquitous logo. While logo overhauls can successfully communicate a company's evolution and growth, those changes are also fraught with peril.