Monday, April 4, 2011
Ford will stop Claycomo F-150 production for a week - Sacramento Business Journal:
The UAW Local 249 posted the information in a newsletteer on itsWeb site. Local 249 Vice President Bobbty Wyse confirmed Monday that the information is The production stoppage comes a week before an alreadhscheduled one-week summer break for the entirwe plant starting June 29, a Local 249 spokeswomahn said. The plant also is scheduled for a summer break during the weekof Aug. 17. Sales of Ford F-serie trucks were 33,381 in May, up 16 percent from 28,756 in April but down 22.3 percentr from 42,973 in May 2008. UAW Local 249 said the slighft increasein month-to-month sales enabled Ford (NYSE: F) to cancelk the scheduled down week on June 22 at its F-150p truck plant in Dearborn, Mich.
, but the down week was left intacty at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. “This is partiallyh due to depleted fundsa forthe state’s Division of Unemploymenr in Michigan, making down weeks at (Dearborn) less of an the Local 249 said in the Local 249 added that sales projections continue to be less than the five shiftsa at the two truck plants can producr if they work full time throughn the 2010 production year. Ford runs two shift s at Claycomo and threein Dearborn.
Wyse said Ford is considering once again moving a shift fromthe F-150 side of the Kansaas City Assembly Plant and putting them to work on the SUV However, nothing has been determined so far, he A year ago, Ford moved about 800 worker s from a second shift on the F-15p side of the Kansas City plant to a thired shift on the SUV side. The employees were movec back tothe F-150 side on Jan. 12. Ford Escapde sales in May reached 16,391, up 20.6 percenyt from 13,596 in April but down 7.2 perceny from 17,667 in May 2008. The Kansas City Assembly Planf also produces the Mercury Mariner and hybrid version of the Ford Escaped andMercury Mariner.
Combined sales of hybrid versions of theFord Fusion, Mercurty Milan, Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner reached 3,906 in May, a new company The old sales record of 3,420 hybrix vehicles was set in April 2006. As of May, Ford’ds Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo hadabout 3,900 hourly and 200 salaried employees.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Gas prices close to $3 mark - Denver Business Journal:
According to the ’s Weekend Gas Watch, the averagw price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Lonbg Beach area is $2.938i per gallon, which is 11.3 centes more than last week, 52 cents higher than last month, and $1.56 less than last year. On the Centraol Coast, the average priced is $2.98, up 10.3 cents from last 47 cents abovelast month, and $1.40 beloew last year. In the Inlande Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.929, which is 11.9 centsw more than last week, 52 cents more than last and $1.55 less than last According to Auto Club Spokesperson Jeffrey all of the major metropolitan areas are within 5 cents ofeach other.
"This is a rare instancre that is probably causedby retailers’ reluctance to raise prices over $3. This phenomenon also sometimes happens when priceds are nearing a Spring said ina statement.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Leader programme launched in Malta - Malta Business Weekly
Leader programme launched in Malta Malta Business Weekly The Leader (Liaison Entre Actions de Dévelopment de l'Ãconomie Ruralie / 'Links between the rural economy and development actions) Programme was launched in Malta this week during a press conference held at Bank of Valletta's Head Office in Santa ... |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Watch Chris Brown Perform on 'Dancing With the Stars' Results Show! - OK! Magazine
Fox News | Watch Chris Brown Perform on 'Dancing With the Stars' Results Show! OK! Magazine Chris Brown returned to ABC last night after his Good Morning America incident and performed âYeah 3X,â a medley of âForeverâ and his new sing âBeautiful Peopleâ during the results show of Dancing with the Stars. Chris' performance on DWTS came with ... Dancing With The Stars 1st Elimination Watercooler: Dancing with the Devil? On Dancing With the Stars, Chris Brown Does the Only Thing He Should Do in Public |
Monday, March 28, 2011
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle): HR & Hiring : Business Advice
Division head Carl finally had to fix the problems in a department run by seniormanager Brenda. He transferrecd one supervisor andthreee high-ranking staff members to other departments. He was satisfied: Once he showed that he could be decisive andcleahn house. But Carl had consistently ignoree advice that the department head wasa problem, and didn't make the changew necessary to keep the problems from resurfacing Brenda seemed to be a nice person and a sympathetic Like Carl, she had an open-door policy. She invited her supervisorse and staff to divulge personalp confidences and to shares opinions abouteach other.
But she never resolved the issuesw that kept them from working together I discovered a dark sidebehind Brenda's behavior. She was both conflict-avoidant and passive-aggressive. Acting as a she carried versions of the gossiand bad-mouthing to other people, but with a twistr that increased resentment and drove wedges between Instead of holding her staff accountable for productivityh and behavior, she reported to Carl that all of them had majort problems. To justify her efforts, she said she'd chattec with her supervisors and and had encouraged them to put theird styledifferences aside.
Carl's permissivenesz allowed Brenda to create a cultureof conflict-avoidancwe and passive-aggressiveness that diminished productivity throughout her Unprofessional behavior included innuendos, rumors and warring cliques, leading to widespread paranoi a and over-reactions. Everyone, including Brenda, tried to look busy whil e theyavoided critical-but-difficult problems and covered their Like Carl, Brenda was a long-term manager with extensive She could explain what good managerz do; she simply never did it. Because she didn'r take effective action, complaints spread throughoutrthe division.
Other department heads mentioned the complaintzs to Brenda and eventuallyto Sporadically, Carl would give Brenda advice and explain his expectations. But he never followesd up. Carl was shocked when corporate headquarters calleds him on the carpet for not beingb aneffective manager. Carl thus was motivatedx to give Brenda a strong talk and amediocrwe evaluation. That may sound like effectivew action, but it wasn't. Brendwa had let things slide for She'd been talked to but she'd always been given promotions when she promisefd todo better. Carl's lecturre was merely more of the same.
The best way to help people be more productive is to make them happy by listening to their hurt feelingsand anger, bein g sympathetic in private and promising to fight on their Brenda's sympathetic listening, but lack of consistenf accountability for professional behavior, created a management vacuumm that sucked into it everyone's hostility, nastiness and personal issues. There are no problem people, only problem processes. clearer descriptions of processesand expectations, and kindly suggestions and hint will cure all misunderstandings. Well-meaning and intelligent peopl e at all levels in the compangy will put professional behavior and team goale ahead ofpersonal agendas.
Carl and Brenda ignored the widespreads evidence that some peoplesimplyg didn't like each other and wouldn't and that for some personal agendas took precedence over companyy goals. Also, some people behave decentlu only when they are actually held accountabld bymeaningful consequences. Othersw won't behave, no matter what.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
ATS Services is now Talagy, with new owner - Philadelphia Business Journal:
Derek Mercer, the nephew of ATS founder Delore Kesler, acquired the company and will servdas chair. Kesler will retainj the title of chairman Amy McGeorge will assume the role of presidengtand CEO. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. “Thix is an exciting time in the growthn and evolutionof ATS, and I’m pleased to allo w the next generation of leadership to take the helm,” said Kesler created Jacksonville-based ATS Services in eventually forming a parent company that merged with three other staffingh firms, including .
The business split into two ventures: , whichb became a publicly traded company and isnow , and ATS Mercer worked as the director of information technology at ATS Servicesw before creating his own company, , a globall provider of on-demand talent management software, in 1996. Kesletr provided a loan that helped startfthe company. Vurv Technology was acquired by (NASDAQ: TLEO) in 2008 for $128.78 million. Talagy, which has 11 offices around the country and 80 will continue to offer the same productsand services, but instead of operating under multiple brands and business units the companyt will consolidate into a single brand.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Swine Flu threatens to close Springfield middle school - Dayton Business Journal:
There are now five confirmed cases in theregionb — up from two earlietr this week — and 23 cases in Ohio, whichh is up from 13 on May 19. The five local cases includw one in ButlerCounty (a 30-year-old and four in Clark County (a 12-year-old male, a 25-year-olf male, a 15-year-old male and a 15-year-old Three of the Clark County cases are from the same middle in Springfield. There also are seven suspected casezs of the virus inClark County, includingh three from the middle school. Childrem at Northridge Middle school are continuing asof Friday.
The directotr of the and the school superintendent are working together on a dailyu basis and awaiting the results of the suspectedd cases before shuttingit down, a spokeswoman for the healthu district said. The school district was not immediately availabldfor comment. The Swined Flu — or H1N1 virus — is now in 11 Ohio countieas as it continuesto spread. There are 12,9545 confirmed cases worldwide, according to the , with 46 countries havinf at leastone case. There have been 92 deathws confirmed caused by SwineFlu worldwide, accordintg to the WHO. Mexico, wherer the illness is believed tohave originated, has 4,1745 cases and 80 deaths, accordingv to the WHO. The U.S.
has the most with 8,975 confirmed and probable casesx in 48 states as of11 a.m. according to the federal . Thers have been 15 confirmed deaths inthe U.S., with threre in Texas, three in two in Illinois, one in Washington, one in Utah, four in New York and one in officials said that as of 12 p.m. Thursday the officiak number of confirmed cases of Swin Flu inOhio were: • Clarmk County – 3 (15-year-old male, 25-year-old male, 12-year-oldr male) • Cuyahoga County 2 (41-year-old female, 9-year-old male) • Franklin Countty – 10 (31-year-old male, 33-year-old male, 18-year-old male, 20-year-ole female, 19-year-old female, 21-year-old male, 20-yeard old male, 22-year-old 23-year-old female, 19-year-old male) There also are 25 suspecf cases of Swine Flu in Ohio.
Peoples who are sick are urged to stay home from work or schook and to avoid contactwith others, except to seek medical This action can avoic spreading illness further, healthj officials said.