There’s a lot riding on those SUVs, including the jobs of nearly 4,000 workers who assemble Suburbans, Tahoes and Yukons at General Motors’ Janesville factory.
The plant was spared from GM’s massive restructuring last month, when the company announced it would shutter five factories and scale back a host of others – moves designed to cut 30,000 manufacturing jobs.
The Janesville factory still faces a risk, particularly if oil and gasoline prices spike again, industry observers say.
Category: Business
GM, Janesville and Where do We Go From here?
Tom Still offers commentary on why Janesville survived GM’s recent cutbacks. Unfortunately, as he notes in closing, the auto industry will continue to shed jobs. Peter DeLorenzo summarizes Detroit’s challenges here.
One in Six Web Users Sell Online – Pew Internet
AP:
One in six U.S. Internet users have sold goods and services online and 2 percent do so on a given day, a new study found.
Sales are typically done through such online classifed ads sites as Craigslist or through an auction like eBay, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said Sunday.
Those who use the Internet more frequently, have high-speed broadband connections or have been online longer are more likely to be an online seller, the study found.
Online selling is also higher among men, the more affluent and the better educated.
WSJ on GM Janesville
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial pens a useful, cautious note:
There are no guarantees that GM will succeed with its turnaround plant. That means there are no long-term guarantees for the Janesville plant.
But in today’s rapidly changing economy, there are few guarantees for anyone.
The lesson for Wisconsin is that knowledge is vital. The knowledge-based economy is transforming all industries, from auto makers to software developers to genetic engineers. The state should invest in its knowledge assets its schools, colleges and universities. They will not only produce the educated work force we will depend upon but also the research that will generate many new businesses.
Families should also invest in knowledge the education and re-education that will be required to prepare for the changing job market.
Bill Ford Seeks Federal Help
Ford Motor Co. Chairman William C. Ford Jr. urged the government yesterday to help struggling U.S. automakers by expanding subsidies for companies that make components for hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles, as U.S. automakers race to close a widening technology gap with the Japanese.
In a speech at the National Press Club, Ford asked for more incentives, such as tax credits, to prod consumers to buy hybrids and other vehicles with fuel-saving technology. He also asked Congress for money to retrain workers, and to consider tax incentives to help manufacturers outfit old plants with new equipment. In the speech, Ford said a national strategy is needed to respond to the pressures of globalization, which he called the “economic challenge of our time.”
Fascinating. Ford, along with GM and to a lesser extent, the others, gorged on highly profitable SUV sales for years. That strategy does not have legs any longer…
GM’s Plant Closings
AP:
General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world’s biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this year
Mark Tapscott has more.
Housing Price Insurance
Fascinating, Tyler Cowen:
Just in time for the apparent top of the housing market, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is introducing futures and options on housing prices in 10 cities for the second quarter of 2006. (Here’s an overview of the products, and CME’s White Paper on the topic.)
Here is the Slate article.
Addendum: Here is further analysis, from a new blog on risk markets.
Drucker’s Intellectual Compass
Drucker had an amazing ability to predict what was coming next, and distilled management into actionable terms for entrepreneurs, eschewing fads of the day. As George Gendron, Inc.’s founding editor-in-chief, once said in a 1996 article, “Both the man and his work have been my intellectual compass for the past two decades.” Gendron wasn’t alone, and Drucker’s works are sure to continue to guide businesses for years to come.
Drucker’s four entrepreneurial pitfalls:
- The entrepreneur doesn’t realize that a new product or service is not successful where he or she thought it would be but it is instead successful in a totally different market. (This, Drucker says, is much more common than you might imagine.)
- Entrepreneurs believe that profit is what matters most in a new enterprise. Cash flow matters most.
- As a business grows, the person who founded it becomes incredibly busy. Rapid growth puts an incredible strain on a business. You outgrow your production facilities. You outgrow your management capabilities.
- When the business is a success, the entrepreneur (who is perhaps bored) begins to put himself and his needs before the business.
- For a fuller explanation, check out the complete text of the article here.
The Evangelist of Entrepreneurship
“FORGET space aliens and race cars—here’s a game that gives kids skills they can use for the rest of their lives.” So says the blurb for Hot Shot Business, an online game (www.hotshotbusiness.com) played each year by millions of “budding entrepreneurs” who get the chance to open their own pet spa, skateboard factory, landscape-gardening business or comic shop in Opportunity City. Players start marketing campaigns; change products, services and prices; and respond to demanding customers and big news events. And, “as a self-funded entrepreneur, you’ll keep all the profits. But if anything goes wrong, well, you’re on your own.”
Three “D’s” of Customer Experience
Eighty percent of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8 percent of their customers agree, says Bain & Company. Here’s how to repair the disconnect.