In today's Business Casual column.
Return of credit card offers sign of recession's end
By Muhammed El-HasanNot that I claim to be special, but I got news of the recession's end before most everyone else.
October 2009 Archives
Toyota is one step closer to getting past this PR nightmare. And as Toyota officials have said, the tragedies connected to the gas pedals jamming shines light on vehicle floor mat safety.
Toyota warns 3.8M of floor mats(Detroit News) Washington -- Toyota Motor Corp. began mailing notices this week to 3.8 million vehicle owners, urging them to remove their floor mats while it seeks a remedy for reports of sudden, unintended acceleration.
Toyota hasn't determined the factors behind a number of accidents, including the Aug. 28 wreck of a Lexus ES-350 in which an off-duty California Highway Patrolman and three others died.
Read more on Toyota's recall.
The refinery recently experienced unscheduled flaring.
Chevron says shuts down El Segundo refineryOct 27 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) is shutting down its Los Angeles-area refinery in El Segundo, California, the firm said on Tuesday in a filing with state pollution regulators.
The shutdown started late on Monday, it said in the filing with the California Emergency Management.
Read more on Chevron's shutdown.
Nearly one-in-five (18%) of workers describe their workplace as scary, according to CareerBuilder's Halloween survey released today.
In some cases, workers thought their boss resembled famous halloween characters. Here's how workers viewed their bosses, according to the survey:
•Glenda the Good Witch, liked and respected by all - 20%•The Wolf Man, is fine one minute, howling the next - 11%
•The Invisible Man, never around - 10%
•Casper the Friendly Ghost, eager to help, but often misunderstood - 9%
•Dracula, constantly sucking the life right out of you - 6%
•Wicked Witch of the West, always acting conniving and sending out minions to do his/her dirty work - 5%
•The Mummy, slow-moving and has an ancient thought process - 4%
•Grim Reaper, constantly delivers bad news and inspires fear among workers - 3%
•Frankenstein, green with envy - 1%
In addition to spooky bosses, when asked what the scariest part of their job was, workers reported the following fear-inducing activities:
•Workload - 18%•Performance reviews - 9%
•Tight deadlines - 9%
•Hours worked - 8%
•Meeting with their boss or supervisor - 7%
•Sitting through meetings - 6%
It's painful, but part of a one-in-a-generation change in the industry. It doesn't mean people don't depend on newspapers as much, only that readers are moving online. Now all we have to do is find out how to make real money off the Internet.
U.S. Newspaper Circulation Falls 10%(NYT) The two-decade erosion in newspaper circulation is looking more like an avalanche, with figures released Monday showing weekday sales down more than 10 percent since last year, depressed by rising Internet readership, price increases, the recession and papers intentionally shedding unprofitable circulation.
Read more on dropping circulation numbers.
Will this voice the results of this latest tanker competition? Oh, boy.
Boeing refused to release tanker pricing -PentagonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing declined a Pentagon request to release Boeing's pricing information from the last aerial tanker competition after Northrop raised concerns that it was disadvantaged by the Air Force's release of Northrop's pricing data to Boeing, according to a Pentagon letter.
Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson told Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) in a letter dated Sept. 23, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, that defense officials did not believe the company was competitively harmed by Boeing Co's (BA.N) knowledge of "some of the prior pricing" and remained convinced that "the integrity of the procurement process will be maintained without the release of additional pricing information."
But Johnson said the Pentagon "actually sought Boeing's permission to release this information, and Boeing declined," according to the letter.
Read more on the earial refueling tanker.
In today's Business Casual column by Muhammed El-Hasan:
This is where many dreams of homeownership are laid to rest, on the cold, hard steps of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Norwalk.
El Segundo's Space and Missile Systems Center will likely have a big role in such a review.
U.S.A.F. Launches Major Technology Review(Aviation Week) In the midst of a deeply entrenched identity crisis, the U.S. Air Force is turning to technology as the potential answer to some of its problems.
Air Force Chief Scientist Werner Dahm is conducting a sweeping "Technology Horizons" study to lay out technological opportunities that could produce useful applications for the service.
"I don't think in the history of the Air Force we've been at a turning point like this. Maybe the closest was the Sputnik launch," Dahm tells Aviation Week. "What does the Air Force do when it is faced with a radically different future? Part of what it does is reach into its science and technology domain."
Read more on Air Force's technology review.
The cost in bad PR is probably higher than the actual price tag for fixing the gas pedals.
Toyota may spend $440 million on U.S. recall: mediaTokyo (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp may need to spend about 40 billion yen ($440 million) to fix the accelerator pedals on 3.8 million cars being recalled in the United States, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Read more on Toyota's recall.
Regardless of the potential legal vulnerabilities, the marketing idea is pretty creative.
Woman Sues Toyota For Convincing Her She Was Being Stalked(CONSUMERIST.COM) It's probably a bad idea to market to consumers by tricking them with practical jokes. It's definitely a bad idea to make a consumer fear for her safety over a five day period because she thinks a stalker is coming after her. That's why a woman in Los Angeles is suing Toyota for $10 million after being on the receiving end of a Punk'd-style stunt to promote the Toyota Matrix.
Read more on Toyota's prank marketing issue.
This story speaks for itself. A recent Business Casual column touches on this issue.
By ANDREW VANACORE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Journalism is at risk and American society must act to preserve it, according to a report co-authored by The Washington Post's former executive editor. In a paper commissioned by the Columbia University Journalism School, the ex-Post editor, Len Downie, and Michael Schudson, a Columbia professor, argue the government, universities and nonprofit foundations should step in as newspapers suffer financially. The authors recommend that the Internal Revenue Service or Congress ensure the tax code allows local news outlets to operate as nonprofits. Downie and Schudson also urge philanthropic organizations to support local reporting. They suggest the Federal Communications Commission establish a fund using fees from telecommunications companies or Internet providers for grants to innovative local news groups. The authors would also like to see public radio sharpen its focus on local news, while universities partner with professional journalists on reporting projects. Finally, Downie and Schudson suggest that data gathered by federal and local governments be made more accessible and useful to reporters. The report, coming from one of the most prominent newspaper editors in the country, is a stark admission that newspapers' problems run deeper than the current recession. As they lose advertisers and readers to the Web -- where ads are cheap and news is often free -- newspapers will play a smaller role in keeping powerful people and institutions in check, the report concludes. The focus now, the authors argue, should be finding workable alternatives. "American journalism is at a transformational moment, in which the era of dominant newspapers and influential network news divisions is rapidly giving way to one in which the gathering and distribution of news is more widely dispersed," the report begins. Some of the suggestions in the Downie-Schudson report already are being tried, including philanthropic funding for journalism projects. But not everyone agrees on what other ideas ought to be pursued next. Anything with the ring of a government "bailout" of the news industry is likely to be met with skepticism. And many in the industry have argued journalists should focus on finding new for-profit models for supporting their craft rather than look for handouts. Then again, "It's hard to think of a time when change was not controversial," said Brant Houston, the Knight Chair Professor in Investigative Reporting at the University of Illinois. What could be worse, he argues, is if nothing is done, and journalists continue to lose their jobs. "If this report is read and read by more than just journalists, it will be really important," said Houston, who was not involved in the report. "More nonprofit and university involvement may be just part of a transitional phase. Right now we're all interested in building a bridge to what's next. If we don't, a lot of people are going to be left on the other side and a lot of skills and knowledge are going to be lost." ------ On the Net: Link to the report: http://tinyurl.com/yzkskjeAP-WS-10-19-09 1924EDT
Despite the efforts of Honda and others in the hybrid market, Toyota still is tops. With Toyota's huge financial resources and growing market share, it'll be tough another car company to pass it in the near term.
Toyota Prius tops U.S. fuel economy list for 2010WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's 2010 hybrid Prius leads the industry in fuel economy at 48 miles per gallon/city and 51 mpg/highway, while Ford Motor Co boasts four vehicles on a U.S. government list released on Thursday of the most-efficient models.
Japanese manufacturers again dominated the annual rankings issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, placing eight gasoline/electric hybrid models in the Top 10.
Read more on fuel efficient vehicles.
The satellite that hit the moon, LCORSS, was built in Redondo Beach by Northrop Grumman Corp.
NASA photos show moon strike created plume(AP) LOS ANGELES - NASA's much-hyped mission to hurl a spacecraft into the moon turned out some worthwhile data after all, scientists said.
New images show a mile-high plume of lunar debris from the Cabeus crater shortly after the space agency's Centaur rocket struck Oct. 9.
"We were blown away by the data returned," Anthony Colaprete, the mission's chief scientist, said in a report Friday from the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., which managed the launch. "The team is working hard on the analysis, and the data appear to be of very high quality."
Read more about the LCROSS mission.
In this week's installment of Business Casual.
Business Casual: Consider journalists for Nobel Peace PrizeBy Muhammed El-Hasan
Dear Norwegian Nobel Committee members,
Please consider my fellow journalists and me for next year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Mattel needs to get past this lead issue as quickly as possible to avoid any further by press.
Mattel Settles Claims Over Recalled Toys With High Lead LevelsOct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Mattel Inc., the world's largest toymaker, settled a consolidated group lawsuit by consumers over recalled toys that contained excessive levels of lead.
"Mattel's previously reported financial results have included charges to reserve for this litigation, and the terms of this final settlement were not material to the company's operating results," the El Segundo, California-based company said yesterday in a statement.
The settlement provides "tens of millions of dollars in monetary relief," plaintiff law firm Whatley Drake & Kallas LLC said in a statement. Consumers who participated in the recall will get either a check for 50 percent of the total vouchers they sent in or $10, whichever is greater, according to the law firm.
Read more on Mattel's lead settlement.
And where will China get its parts to build this new plane? Probably not the South Bay. Definitely a big challenge for local parts manufacturers.
China wants to rival Boeing, Airbus with its C919 'big plane'(USA Today) BEIJING -- For now, China's big entry into the standard passenger jet business is little more than a 20-foot-long model plane on display here at Beijing Expo air show.
But the model -- of the planned C919, single-aisle jetliner designed to seat up to 190 passengers -- represents something much larger.It's what's called the "big plane" project here. It symbolizes the country's stepped-up efforts to get into the commercial passenger jet business in a big way and challenge U.S. plane-making giant Boeing and European rival Airbus, which dominate the global jetliner market. And it will be a showcase for China's ambition to be more than a low-tech producer of consumer goods for the world.
Read more about China's aicraft plans.
I have a friend who had this happen to her. She vows not to renew her T-Mobile contract.
Sidekick contacts, data gone, T-Mobile saysNEW YORK - Owners of Sidekick phones may have lost all the personal data they stored on the phone, including contact numbers.
The phones are made by a Microsoft Corp. subsidiary and sold by T-Mobile USA, which say many Sidekick owners' information is "almost certainly" gone after a failure of servers operated by Microsoft wiped the data out. The companies said they hoped to update customers on recovery efforts Monday.
The phones have been troubled by data outages for more than a week. Some users attempted to restart their phones by removing the battery, which erases data on the device. Normally, the data is then restored from servers, but with the server data gone, the device is left empty.
Read more on the Sidekick failure.
In this week's installment of Business Casual, Muhammed El-Hasan feels the power of a woman MMA fighter.
By Muhammed El-HasanI recently put on a pair of punch mitts and braced myself as a mixed-martial arts fighter hurled fists like bricks into the padded palms of my hands.
Read the entire Business Casual column.
Will the floor mat issue lead to a flood of new lawsuits for Toyota?
Widow asks Toyota to act quickly on floor mats(AP) TOKYO -- Two years before the fatal accident that prompted Toyota to warn 3.8 million American car owners to take out floor mats, Troy Johnson died in a crash also suspected of being caused by a floor mat jamming an accelerator.
Melodie Bohuchot, the widow, pleaded with Toyota Motor Corp. Thursday to act quickly to prevent any more accidents.
"I just want Toyota to fix the problem now. Don't wait," Bohuchot, 30, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Sacramento. "How many people have to die before they take this seriously?"
Read more on Toyota and the window.
But Toyota may be se to rebound.
Troubled Toyota: Patent ruling, recall hurt image
By Muhammed El-Hasan Staff WriterFor decades, Toyota Motor Corp. had dutifully cultivated a reputation for building reliable, economical vehicles.
However, 2009 has come like an oil slick on an icy road, forcing Toyota to swerve to deal with multiple challenges that could damage its reputation.
Read more on Toyota's reputation.
Hopefully, Honda's Torrance design studios won't be affected in this way.
Honda to Close European Design Studio(Automobilemag.com) Honda's European design studio in Offenbach, Germany, will be closing its doors next month as the Japanese automaker continues to search for ways to reduce costs.
Offenbach, located just outside of Frankfurt, is home to Honda's European R&D headquarters. The studio allowed Honda to design vehicles tailored for European consumers, and was responsible for both automotive and motorcycle designs. Motorcycle efforts will likely be transfered to a Honda studio in Rome, Italy, while automotive designs will be moved to Japan.
Read more on Honda's plans.
For the record, I never used any of these excuses.
Personnel firm CareerBuilder released this survey on the most unusual reasons employees used to explain an absence:
•I got sunburned at a nude beach and can't wear clothes.
•I woke up in Canada.
•I got caught selling an alligator.
•My buddies locked me in the trunk of an abandoned car after a weekend of drinking.
•My mom said I was not allowed to go to work today.
•A bee flew in my mouth.
•I'm just not into it today.
•I accidentally hit a nun with my motorcycle.
•A random person threw poison ivy in my face and now I have a rash.
•I'm convinced my spouse is having an affair and I'm staying home to catch them.
•I was injured chasing a seagull.
•I have a headache from eating hot peppers.
This will make a lot of hybrid enthusiasts very happy.
Toyota Plans U.S. Retail Sales of Plug-In Prius Hybrid by 2012(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest seller of hybrid autos, said it intends to begin offering plug-in versions of the Prius hatchback to U.S. consumers within three years.
"The target is 2012 to be coming to market with them," Irv Miller, a group vice president for Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said Friday at a conference in Los Angeles. Before that, "we're going to study the challenges of consumer demand," he said.
Toyota already plans to begin U.S. tests late this year on 150 Priuses with lithium-ion battery packs that can be recharged at electric outlets. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker hadn't previously provided a tentative date for consumer sales.
Read more on Toyota's plug-in Prius.
In today's edition of the weekly Business Casual column.
Never tell a middle-aged man that his nose is drooping.
Beyond the obvious metaphorical implications - and resulting feelings of inadequacy - it is just rude.
Read all of Business Casual.
Toyota has been through a lot in the past few weeks. Aside from sluggish sales, the company plans to recall 3.8 million vehicles in the US and also is dealing with anothe PR nightmare, a former Toyota attorney who claims the automaker destroyed evidence in rollover injury lawsuits.
Toyota Chief Offers Profusion of Excuses(NYT) TOKYO -- Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, might as well have thrown himself on the ground in a tearful kowtow.
From grief over a fatal crash linked to Toyota floor mats to regrets over the company's forecast for a second consecutive annual loss, the executive spewed a litany of apologies to astonished reporters gathered for a briefing Friday at the Japan National Press Club.
Read more on Toyota.
In today's edition of the weekly Business Casual column.
Never tell a middle-aged man that his nose is drooping.Beyond the obvious metaphorical implications - and resulting feelings of inadequacy - it is just rude.
Read all of Business Casual.
It's a fascinating article about Jim Press. Could a mid-life crisis have felled his marriage? And will his reputation and career suffer as a result?
The truly puzzling life of Chrysler's deputy CEODETROIT (Fortune) -- When the news broke recently that Jim Press, the deputy CEO of Chrysler, is being hounded by creditors and the IRS for an array of debts, it presented a puzzle. How could an executive who worked at the top of the auto industry for decades get into such financial difficulty? And what turmoil was going on in the personal life of Press, who had been renowned in the industry for his Kansas-bred calm and quiet charm?
The answers appear to lie in two dramatic changes in his life, in which he abruptly left both his wife and his longtime employer for new situations. In 2006, the father of four startled colleagues when he appeared at a Florida car-dealer event with a new girlfriend, attendees told Fortune. The following week, his wife filed for divorce in Los Angeles.
Read more on Jim Press.
What a headache for Toyota. Lawsuits settled years and years ago could be revisited. It's been a tough time for the automaker. On Tuesday, Toyota said it planned to recall 3.8 million vehicles because of the possible risk of a jammed gas pedal.
Toyota Ordered Not to Destroy Car-Crash Documents(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., its units, lawyers and any other employees were ordered by a U.S. judge to preserve all documents about the "crashworthiness" of its vehicles after the carmaker was accused of destroying lawsuit evidence.
"The court finds an immediate threat of irreparable harm in that, under the allegations, a threat exists that evidence material to this case would be destroyed or altered," U.S. District Judge T. John Ward in Marshall, Texas, wrote yesterday.
Ward's order stems from a federal lawsuit filed in July in Los Angeles by a former in-house attorney for Toyota. Dimitrios Biller claims Toyota destroyed documents that should have been retained as possible evidence in personal injury claims. A Texas lawyer representing families of crash victims who'd resolved their product liability claims with the company sued Toyota after Biller made his claims.
Read more on the lawsuit against Toyota.
