Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, Electric

Geneva Preview: NLV Quant returns with less Koenigsegg originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you have ever pictured Times Square to be a place to sit and relax?  Well, now you should.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that the city’s eight month pilot project aimed to relieve traffic congestion by closing city streets will be made permanent.  “It’s going to be innovative and sustainable and celebrate the most famous streets in the world,” said the mayor at his Times Square Press Conference. “The project gives a green light to pedestrians, to mobility, and to safety. The new Broadway is here to stay.” 

Broadway, which cuts diagonally across 6th and 7th Avenues, disrupted the city’s street grid system and caused problems with traffic congestion and high accident rates.  Since May, cars have been banned from driving on portions of Broadway near Herald Square and Times Square as part of the Mayor’s initiative to re-engineer New York’s street grid to improve traffic conditions and public safety in Midtown Manhattan.  “It’s fair to say that this is one of those things that has succeeded,” Bloomberg said. “Not in every way we thought, but in some ways we hadn’t thought about. Not as much in certain areas, but more than we expected in others.”

Despite traffic improvement being moderate compared to expectations, the city deemed the project a success, citing improved public safety statistics and positive feedback from tourists, residents, and local businesses.  The New York Times reported that travel times improved by 7 percent on average, injuries to drivers and passengers fell by 63 percent, and foot traffic in Times Square grew by 11 percent.  “It’s important to understand it’s more than just a minute or two of traffic improvement. It’s about altering the entire Times Square experience” said Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins. 

In addition to the street closures, pedestrian plazas were created by adding outdoor furniture, painted pavement, and other landscaping to help attract foot traffic by enhancing the cultural experience.  “It’s shifted the paradigm for what a street and sidewalk experience is supposed to be like in New York City,” said Tompkins.

Now that the experimental project has been made permanent, the city plans to re-design the plazas to make them more aesthetically pleasing.  In an announcement last week, Mayor Bloomberg said the city would soon put out bids for short and long-term improvements to the plazas.  Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s Transportation Commissioner said in a recent interview that short-term improvements will be completed this summer and involve furnishing the plazas with new paint, planters, and furniture.  The long-term improvement plan will create more permanent structures including public amenities and entertainment infrastructure that can accommodate a variety of events and performances throughout the year. The city has not yet established a timeline for this phase of the project. 

The Architect’s Newspaper reported that design proposals would only be accepted from eight “large firms” in the city’s Design and Construction Excellence Program.  While this move could limit the breadth and creativity of ideas, it stands to vastly speed up the design and construction process, as each of the targeted firms is prequalified for city work.

This groundbreaking project represents a landmark opportunity in the fields of landscape architecture and urban design.  It highlights the fact that cities around the globe are beginning to recognize the environmental, economic, and social benefits of creating public open space in dense urban areas.

The new changes to Times Square also fall in line with the city’s recently released Active Design Guidelines, which were created to spur public health and combat rising trends in obesity through innovative design strategies.  It encourages architects, landscape architects, and urban designers to create healthier buildings, streets, and outdoor spaces which promote active lifestyles and recreation. 

Learn more about the new Active Design Guidelines.

Image credit: Damon Winter/The New York Times

Some of the roads we take in life are far more problematic — have many more lions and tigers and bears, oh my. In fact, if I’d been with Dorothy on her journey, at a certain point I’d have suggested she consider trying a less troublesome path than her Yellow Brick Road – maybe a Turquoise Brick Road – or a nice grassy path!

Same goes for you — and the love path you take to try to live happily ever after in love.

If lately you feel like all the partners you’re meeting are a version of bad, wrong, and “what was I thinking” – thereby these partners are forever blocking your path to reaching happily ever after love  –  now is the time to reassess your path.

In “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” there is a small but mighty poem called “Autobiography in Five Chapters” which wisely describes the need to get off of those more treacherous tracks.

“Autobiography in Five Chapters”

1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost . . .I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open
I know where I am
It is my fault
I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street.
There’s a hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

QUESTION TO YOU: Where are you right now when it comes to your love life? In Chapter 1, 2, 3, or 4? Are you ready to finally get to chapter 5 – and head on down a new path – the one which leads to happily ever after love?

Today is the day to start living your IDEAL LIFE!

If you keep finding yourself experiencing a repeated pattern of bad love, TODAY IS THE DAY TO BREAK THOSE BAD PATTERNS FOR GOOD!

In my book PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME I offer many techniques to help you jackhammerdrill down to understand your repeated patterns in love – then offer you techniques to break your patterns and start attracting healthier love choices. You can find out more about PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME for FREE by reading some of my many articles I’ve written on this subject on www.OPRAH.COM….and/or you can find out more about PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME by clicking this line, right here, RIGHT NOW.

MOST PEOPLE are willing to settle for an average life. If you’re NOT MOST PEOPLE and want to empower yourself to live your HIGHEST POTENTIAL, HAPPIEST LIFE, I absolutely recommend you sign up for my famous and FREE BE HAPPY DAMMIT newsletter…by clicking this line, right here, RIGHT NOW.

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, James Inhofe

Inhofe intends to ask for a probe of the embattled climate scientists for possible criminal acts. And he thinks Gore should be recalled to explain his prior congressional testimony

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) today asked the Obama administration to investigate what he called “the greatest scientific scandal of our generation” — the actions of climate scientists revealed by the Climategate Files, and the subsequent admissions by the editors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Senator Inhofe also called for former Vice President Al Gore to be called back to the Senate to testify.

“In [Gore’s] science fiction movie, every assertion has been rebutted,” Inhofe said. He believes Vice President Gore should defend himself and his movie before Congress.

Just prior to a hearing at 10:00 a.m. EST, Senator Inhofe released a minority staff report from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, of which he is ranking member. Senator Inhofe is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether there has been research misconduct or criminal actions by the scientists involved, including Dr. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. James Hansen of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Science.

This report, obtained exclusively by Pajamas Media before today’s hearing, alleges:

Click source to read FULL report

Source: pajamasmedia.com

Read in full with comments »   

Yesterday, Kia released a couple of sketches of the upcoming Kia Magentis, known in the U.S. as the Optima, which will make its debut at the 2010 New York Auto Show. According to Kia spokesman Michael Choo, a hybrid version of the mid-sized sedan will enter production in Dec. 2010 and will be on sale in the U.S. market in early 2011. The gasoline version of the 2011 Kia Optima will go on sale in the fall.

Choo said that both versions of the Kia Optima will be on display alongside each other in New York.

The 2011 Kia Optima is longer, wider and lower than the current generation. It also sits on a longer wheelbase, allowing for more interior room and cargo space. We’ll have more details for you from the 2010 New York Auto Show next month.

Click here to see our original post on the 2011 Kia Optima sketches.

2011 Kia Magentis (Optima) Sketches:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Let’s start off with two basic premises. First, there has always been a range of borrowers (credit & risk-wise) that need home loans at rates that match the risk. Second, there have always been investors out there with varying degrees of appetite for risk, and demand more return for higher risk. For prime borrowers, the end of the Fed’s MBS program is in sight: 5 weeks, $55 billion, that’s $11 billion a week. After which, of course, mortgage rates zoom out of reach, everyone still left in the business will have nothing to do, all refi’s and purchases will end, and I will fill the commentary every day with the worst puns and one-liners imaginable. Seriously, what is going to happen?

Based on antidotal evidence, it appears that many mortgage companies had great Decembers, then January volumes of about half of December’s, and expect February to be somewhere between January and December’s volume levels. And although 2009 profits tended to make up for 2008 losses, profit margins also appear to be coming down as the realization sinks in that companies will want the production to support staffs.

Credit Suisse came out with a very interesting public report that stated, “Private label Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) have seen a fairly consistent rally since March, 2009. We believe the worst is behind us and there is room for further price appreciation, particularly for lower quality, higher yielding assets.” The study points out that for lower quality assets, such as subprime RMBS bonds, have rallied from yields in the mid 20’s% to yields in the low 10’s%. Subprime pools from 3-4 years ago have roughly 50% of the borrowers seriously delinquent, compared to typical pre-crisis delinquency rate of 4% to 5%. But it also means that half the “subprime” borrowers are making their payments!Credit Suisse believes that this optimistic news is not yet fully priced into the market, and is looking for further gains. In addition, the company believes that “the government will continue its heavy involvement with loan modification programs designed, in part, to stabilize house prices”, also beneficial to mortgage security prices and rates.

Merrill Lynch/Bank of America also released research which focused on “the glass half full”: which borrowers are safer, and more likely to make payments, than others. Their analysts used data from Equifax3, incorporating newly available information on borrower second liens and the history of distress on their other debts besides the first mortgage. It turns out that roughly half of prime and Alt-A borrowers have 2nds on their homes (most HELOC’s), whereas only about 25% of subprime borrowers have 2nds (mostly closed-end 2nds). As you would expect, 45% of prime borrowers have a combined LTV below 100%, while only 19% of option ARM borrowers do, and the propensity of a borrower to default on his mortgage rises accordingly. When other types of debt enter the equation, the propensity to have been delinquent on one’s other debt rises as we move to poorer credit sectors. “For poorer credit borrowers, going delinquent on other debts may be a way of life, but for prime borrowers, it is more indicative of distress.” “We find 65%, 30%, 17%, and 11% of the outstanding balance of prime, alt-A, option ARM, and subprime borrowers, respectively, will not default over 5 years.” Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Global research did a fine job on it, and anyone wanting to see it should contact your BofA rep rather than me.

If anything, in the last few years folks still in the mortgage biz have learned that, at least for now, government regulation is playing an increasingly important role. And although they can’t influence rates or investor programs directly, they can become involved in the political process. You can join MORPAC, which is the MBAA’s political action committee, or attend the MBAA’s National Policy Conference held in April in Washington DC. One active originator wrote and suggested membership in the Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA).  “It does not cost anything, you do not have to be a member of the MBAA, it is non-partisan and they allow you to edit the letters they generate if you want to change something in the content.”   You can sign up for MAA by going here. 

.Brokers learned yesterday that 8-year old Assurity Financial, a wholesaler located in Denver, is shutting down. “Due to circumstances beyond our control, including a rapid, precipitous drop in production below levels necessary to sustain the company’s operations, combined with the recent inability of the company to obtain the long term financing necessary to fund its loan production… the winding down of Assurity Financial Services, LLC…The majority of Assurity’s employees will be let go at the close of business on February 26^th, with a small crew remaining behind to assist in an orderly wind down of the company to satisfy the obligations to its various stakeholders.”

GMAC Bank Correspondent Funding (GMACB) Approved Correspondents received a bulletin dealing with FHA Assignment of Trades and Direct Trades. “All May Trades must be assigned to GMAC prior to April 28, 2010.” In addition, a minimum of two credit scores from two repositories are required for FHA loans. One score is no longer eligible.” And when a borrower vacates their primary residence and purchases a new primary residence, rental income may not be used to qualify the borrower unless the situation meets certain criteria. For example, “Borrower is relocating with a new employer or being transferred by their current employer to an area that is not within a reasonable commuting distance, rental income from their current primary residence may be considered.” The bulletin details the LTV and appraisal information required for such scenarios.

Wells’ wholesale clients received an update dealing with “Using Calyx and Ellie Mae Fee Detail Sheets” (Wells accepts them, but use the most recent version) and “Reissuing the GFE”. “Recent guidance from HUD has made it clear that the GFE must be redisclosed to the borrower within three business days of going from float to lock. The GFE must be redisclosed in all cases and this change is effective immediately. Please note that any redisclosure of the GFE may impact the close/sign date and must be considered when selecting a 15-day lock as the borrower must receive a copy of the redisclosed GFE prior to closing the loan.”

In other news from the GFE front, The Accurate Group devised a “GFE calculator for lenders to use as a tool to calculate all types of title insurance premiums and endorsements, recording fees, transfer taxes. We instantly disclose these to lenders in all counties, nationwide in a GFE format that is easy for folks to use.” http://www.accurategroup.com/tag-gfe.pdf

Please note that in yesterday’s commentary I stated that Flagstar had eliminated their HUD $100 program. As it turns out, they are following HUD’s guidelines, and have eliminated the program only in certain states. I apologize for any confusion – editing investor newsletters can be confusing at times.

Mortgage traders reported that Monday was another quiet day, with very light origination. In fact, much of what traders are seeing is a) the usual Fed buying, b) the usual money manager and hedge fund interest, and c) various investor accounts swapping either coupons or type of security (Fannie for Freddie, or conventional for government Ginnie Mae’s). With origination down, the natural spread between Treasury securities and MBS’s is narrowing, which is helping mortgage rates. And since the Freddie & Fannie delinquent loan buyback announcement came out on February 10^th, although the higher coupon products sold off much more than the lower coupons, it appears that the price erosion has stopped.

And the discount rate hike last week is old news, and the Fed made it clear that the increase should not be viewed as a tightening. In 2007 the spread between the discount rate and fed funds was 100 basis points (6.25% vs. 5.25%) whereas now it just went from 25B basis points to 50. So many are expecting the discount rate to be bumped up another 25-50BP at some point in the not too distant future, while the FF target stays put 0.25%. Most believe that inflation is not a big concern for the US at this point, which is why many think the Fed plans on keeping the Fed Funds rate low for an extended period of time.

Today we have the Case Shiller Index and Consumer Confidence numbers, along with a $44 billion auction of 2-yr notes.We find the 10-year yield back into the 3.70’s (3.77 as I type this) and mortgage prices better by between .125 and .250.

for today’s joke, go here.

Rob

(Check out http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/default.aspx. For archived commentaries, check www.robchrisman.com,  )

I like reporter Tom Foremski and have linked to his stories in the past. I’ve never met the man, but we’ve emailed a few times in the past. But everyone has those days when they write something they clearly haven’t thought much about, and it looks like Tom had one of those days recently. Dark Helmet alerts us to a short blog post that Foremski did for ZDNet that is all kinds of awful. The main focus is on suggesting that you turn in colleagues using unauthorized software to the SIIA to try to claim a $1 million prize. This is a really sleazy process used by the SIIA and the BSA for years. Perhaps you can forgive Tom for not knowing much about how these organizations work, but plenty of other reporters have detailed how these organizations bully companies who can’t figure out how to produce the exact evidence that these organizations demand as “proof.” These organizations are just nasty, often harming small businesses just because they can’t find their specific licensing agreement on a legitimately purchased software application. Encouraging this kind of behavior is not a good idea, Tom.

And, of course, that claim that there’s a “$1 million prize” is great for headlines, like the one Tom wrote, but the details always tell a different story. The real “prizes” are “up to $1 million.” A few years back, we asked for proof that the BSA actually paid out a million dollar prize, and offered a similarly termed “up to $1 million” reward for anyone who could prove that the BSA paid someone $1 million. Of course, they couldn’t, because these groups don’t actually pay that much. In fact, in the year after we asked for proof of the $1 million prize, the BSA actually paid out a grand total of $136,000 to 42 different people — an average of about $3,200. Putting the $1 million prize in the headline is playing into their bogus claims. It’s the sort of thing that reporters shouldn’t be doing. Let them put out their bogus press releases, but reporters should be debunking them.

Finally, in trying to explain why this is a good idea, Tom makes an odd and totally misapplied analogy:

I know that ZDNet for example, faces problems with its content being scraped and illegally being used on web sites that try to make money by running Google ads next to it. It’s often difficult to stop that practice because it’s tough to track down the owners.

But if SIIA went after Google, because it profits from illegal use of copyrighted content, then that would go a long way to stamping out that practice.

First off, we face the same “problem” here at Techdirt, with lots of sites scraping our content and putting it on other sites plastered with Google ads. Except, that we know it’s not actually a “problem.” Most of those sites get very little, if any, traffic, and search engines are smart enough these days to put the originator higher up in the results. The ad views on these sites aren’t costing the original site any revenue. And, if they actually are getting any traffic, it doesn’t take long for people to realize the original source and start going there instead. This isn’t a “problem.”

Second, what the hell does scraping sites have to do with turning your colleagues in for using unlicensed software? The two are totally different situations and have nothing to do with each other.

Finally, if SIIA went after Google because it profits from illegal use of copyrighted content, the lawsuit would be thrown out of court as soon as Google’s lawyers said “DMCA safe harbors.” This is pretty basic stuff, and someone who’s been a tech reporter for as long as Foremski should know better than to think that it’s either legal or sensible to suggest that an organization sue a third party that profits off of the potentially infringing activity of someone else. As Dark Helmet noted with his submission:

This is 3rd party culpability, which is odd coming from a blogger and journalist. Has he ever ran a story about something illegal that was done? And did that publication have advertisements on it? So didn’t he profit from the illegal activity? Shouldn’t he have the FBI going after him for such illicit behavior?”

Again, Tom usually does pretty good work, so I’m going to chalk this up to a rushed post without putting much thought into what he was saying.

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URBANA – Layoffs have struck again in the Facilities and Services department at the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus.

The belt tightening at the university, which is owed more than $400 million by the state, means that nine workers lost their jobs last week.

“Thirteen people received layoff notices in November 2009, but they were extended in December and January, because we had enough work for them,” Urbana campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said. “Last Friday, we had to let nine of them go.”

The group includes four carpenters, two mill workers and three laborers.

One carpenter had “retreat” rights and will become a laborer electrician.

The layoffs were because the workers’ salaries are paid on a “charge back” basis, meaning their salaries are paid by units to Facilities and Services.

Kaler said it was possible the division could lose more workers.

“These decisions are made on a month-to-month basis, but we are continuing to see a drop in the work that supports many charge-back positions,” she said.

In July, eight Facilities and Services staffers were notified of layoffs that took effect Aug. 31.

One employee was cut from each of eight shops: repair, sheet metal, carpenter, transportation, machine shop, pipe fitter, construction and operations engineering.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

DANVILLE – Affordable housing, the value of skill versus degree for jobs, social and health safety nets and prompt payments by the state to social-service agencies were some of the topics brought before a public hearing Monday with the Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty.

Monday’s hearing was meant to gather views from central Illinois residents. Hearings are also scheduled in Chicago on March 8 and Carbondale on April 8.

Eight members of the commission listened to the concerns of those who assist people living in poverty.

Fred Whitman of the East Central Illinois Community Action Agency said affordable, quality housing was of the utmost importance.

“Not multi-family complexes but individual homes that allow for diversity. Some people will never be able to afford to own their own home,” he said. “Single-family houses in a neighborhood give people a chance to develop pride and feel a part of the community.”

Pastor Fred Cowan of the New Hope Church of God in Christ in Danville said desperate times bring on desperate needs.

“At my church, I see more and more working people who can’t pay their bills, have no benefits,” he said. “It’s time to stop worrying about the (political) parties and start worrying about the people.”

Lane Baldwin moved to the area after Hurricane Katrina with virtually nothing and said that 18 months later he is working on two start-up businesses, playing with his band and has established a charity, Danville Foodstock.

“Our social programs are broken, partially by a combination of waste and those people gaming the system,” he said. “When people need a job, when they need health benefits, there’s no safety net. We have college graduates with no jobs, but massive debt.

“We need to give people immediate job assistance when they don’t have one. Give them skill testing, help with training, if that doesn’t work, give them a broom,” he said. “Having something to do gives dignity.”

Thom Pollock, executive director of Crosspoint Human Services, said he continues to be concerned about the state budget and the lack of prompt payment to agencies that serve the people who are mostly likely to be at or below the poverty level.

“The dilemma is a matter of economics and spirit with poverty,” he said. “This community works hard to try to take care of its own, but the idea of ‘pull yourself up by your own bootstraps’ doesn’t work for everyone. How are you going to get help when there’s no transportation to where the help is? How can you live if you get $660 per month on SSI and your rent alone is more than half of that?”

Steve Rice of northern Vermilion County came because he was thinking of a single parent raising three children who tried endlessly to get a job and finally got one at Wal-Mart, but before she had enough time in to obtain health benefits, had to have surgery and couldn’t work.

“There has to be some safety net for health coverage for those working before insurance kicks in,” he said with great emotion. “I thought about this all day and I came down here just so I could tell you.”

The commission will continue taking written comment, opinions and suggestions how the commission can meet its goal of creating and monitoring a strategic plan for cutting extreme poverty in the state of Illinois by the end of 2015. The plan is due Aug. 15.

Send opinions to Doug Schenkelberg via e-mail at [email protected] or mail them to his attention at Heartland Alliance, 33 W. Grand Ave., Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60654.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

If you’ve ever met a Mini driver or seen any Mini commercials, you’ll notice both usually have a very unique style. Continuing with that theme, Mini just released a new promotional video for the upcoming Mini Countryman called “Getaway.”

It’s probably something good to watch if you need to snap out of it this morning and get a song stuck in your head.

Click here for more Mini Countryman news.

Refresher: The base 2011 Mini Countryman will be available in the U.S. with a 1.6L 4-cylinder engine making 120-hp and a maximum torque of 118 lb-ft. The Mini Cooper S Countryman model will be powered by a 1.6L twin-scroll turbocharged 4-cylinder engine making 180-hp and 177 lb-ft (192 lb-ft with Overboost) of torque. Both models will come standard with a 6-speed manual transmission. A 6-speed automatic will be available as an option.

2011 Mini Countryman:

Mini Countryman. Getaway Promotional Video:

2011 Mini Countryman:

– By: Omar Rana

URBANA — An Urbana man pleaded innocent Monday after he was arrested in connection with a residential burglary in Urbana.

Champaign County Assistant State’s Attorney Lindsey Clark said Cedric D. Grant, 19, who listed an address in the 300 block of East Kerr Avenue, Urbana, went into a home in the 500 block of West Main Street in Urbana at 11:43 p.m. Saturday with the intent to commit theft.

According to an Urbana police report, Grant allegedly took a Super Mario DS cartridge, a Super Mario Bros. game, a Sony PlayStation 3 gaming system, a Nintendo DS system, a Pokemon DS game cartridge, a Nintendo Wii controller and nunchuck and an SD card.

Urbana police interrupted the burglary and arrested Grant following a brief foot chase.

On Monday Grant pleaded innocent to residential burglary, a Class 1 felony.

Grant’s bond was set at $5,000. Judge John Kennedy set Grant’s next court appearance for April 6.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHAMPAIGN – Water repair work will reduce some traffic at two downtown Champaign intersections starting on Wednesday.

A westbound lane of University Avenue will be reduced to one lane near the intersection with Walnut Street beginning Wednesday to allow work crews from Illinois American Water to locate a water valve at the northwest corner of Walnut Street and University Avenue, according to Illinois American Water Network Operations Supervisor Ronald Hartke.

A northbound lane of Walnut Street also will be reduced to a single lane near University Avenue for the same project, Hartke said.

The project is expected to be completed by Friday, weather permitting, Hartke said.

In addition, a westbound lane of University Avenue will be closed at the northeast corner of First Street and University Avenue beginning Wednesday while work crews from Illinois American Water locate a water valve at that location, Hartke said.

Westbound traffic on University Avenue will be reduced to a single lane through Friday, weather permitting, Hartke said.

Hartke said work crews will be finding and repairing valve boxes at the two intersections.

Westbound traffic on University will close to one lane at First Street, then widen back to two lanes before closing once more to one lane at Walnut Street, Hartke said.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Things are settling down in Haiti after the devastating earthquake that ravaged the country, but after the initial rescue efforts and emergency response, the country is now left with the prospect of years of rebuilding. Already the poorest state in the region, the cost to rebuild will be a huge burden even with international support. Twitter has prove… (read more)

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet, GM

It looks like General Motors is going to announce that Lordstown will be getting a third shift. Lordstown, Ohio is the plant where GM is going to be building its new compact Chevrolet Cruze, and apparently they think the demand is going to be pretty high for this handsome little sedan.

If you recall, Lordstown was supposed to be a round-the-clock plant when then-GM CEO Rick Wagoner announced a third shift and $350 million investment in the plant. That was way back In August 2008, though, before the carpocolypse. By September, the industry and whole country found themselves in a free-fall. By January 2009, two shifts were eliminated at Lordstwown, idling some 2,800 workers. Last April GM idled the whole plant for three weeks to cut supply and lower operating costs.

The addition of a third shift should bring a number of union employees back to work building the all-important new Cruze, wit the highly efficient, 40-mile-per-gallon Cruze arriving in dealerships this fall.

UPDATE: General Motors made the extra shift at its Lordstown, OH plant official today saying it will add 1,200 new jobs. Follow the jump for GM’s official press release.

[Source: Detroit News]

Continue reading Report: GM adding extra shift at Lordstown to meet expected Cruze demand *UPDATE

Report: GM adding extra shift at Lordstown to meet expected Cruze demand *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm, erstwhile Windows Mobile OEM and now champion of a JavaScript based Mobile OS has been dealt another blow after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya late Tuesday cut his rating on Palm to Underperform from Buy and halved his target price from $20 to $10.

“Palm’s superior platform features have not translated into sufficient carrier support and consumer demand, and we are concerned the window of opportunity may be closing as Google’s Android ecosystem gains ground, Research In Motion revitalizes its portfolio, iPhone increases its presence, and as Microsoft reboots its efforts with Windows Phone 7,” he writes in a research note. “With only $130 million of net cash in an op(eration) ex(pense) intensive space, Palm’s options may be limited in our view.”

Arya expects Palm’s prospects for sales growth to decrease dramatically, by as much as 20% in Q4, when Windows Phone 7 handsets are expected to arrive. He notes that carrier sales staff prefer to sell devices made by other companies, and does not expect new carrier announcements to make much difference.

Palm’s stock has dropped from a 2 year high less than 6 months ago of $17.46 to less than $9 in after hours trading yesterday.  The company, who is no longer making Windows Mobile handsets, has not seen a profit in more than 8 quarters.

A cursory glance at the news headlines every day makes it clear: Our leadership frequently disappoints. Where are the principled leaders who can provide fresh and effective approaches to solving local, national, and global problems? Who will lead the next generation of companies?

Academia—with insights from practice—needs to engage more broadly and deeply with the hows and whys of leadership, according to HBS professors Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana. Their groundbreaking volume, Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice, brings together 26 chapters by top scholars who examine leadership development, identity, and culture, among many other topics crucial to organizations and the wider world.

The book, Nohria and Khurana write, “tries to reinvigorate research on leadership—in as broad a manner as possible, across a wide variety of disciplines—with the hope that we can stimulate new ideas and thinking about leadership, by the best scholars in our institutions, so that we can respond to society’s urgent need for better leadership and, in turn, fulfill the espoused mission of our own institutions to develop better leaders who can serve society.”

This week also sees four new working papers by HBS faculty, among other publications. In one study, “Will I Stay or Will I Go? Cooperative and Competitive Effects of Workgroup Sex and Race Composition on Turnover,” HBS professor Kathleen L. McGinn and Wharton School professor Katherine L. Milkman describe their research on voluntary and involuntary turnover in an up-or-out organization. One of their surprising results: “Clustering same race or same sex junior employees to provide an increased sense of community may have the opposite effects of those desired unless accompanied by similar or greater increases in the diversity of senior professionals.”

— Martha Lagace

Working Papers

Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages

Abstract

This study looks at the role of firms’ internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world’s R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multi-location firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide. Strong internal links across locations allow these firms to leverage knowledge for competitive advantage without risking critical knowledge outflow to competitors. We examine whether multi-location firms increase internal ties when they face appropriability risks from direct competitors. Our empirical analysis of the global semiconductor industry shows that when leading firms co-locate with direct market competitors, innovations tend to be quickly internalized and are more likely to involve collaboration across locations, particularly with inventors from the firm’s primary R&D site. Our results suggest that R&D dynamics in clusters are heavily influenced by multi-location firms with innovative links across locations, and that future research on technology innovation in clusters should account for these links.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-064.pdf

The Strategic Use of Architectural Knowledge by Entrepreneurial Firms

Abstract

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge of a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying “bottlenecks” in the existing system, and then creating a new architecture that isolates the bottlenecks in modules. An entrepreneurial firm with limited financial resources can then focus on supplying superior bottleneck components while outsourcing non-bottleneck components. I show that a firm pursuing this strategy will have a higher return on invested capital (ROIC) than competitors with a less modular design. Over time, the focal firm can drive the ROIC of competitors below their cost of capital, causing them to shrink and possibly exit the market. The strategy was used by Sun Microsystems in the 1980s and Dell Computer in the 1990s.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-063.pdf

The Determinants of Individual Performance and Collective Value in Private-Collective Software Innovation

Abstract

We investigate if the actions by individuals in creating effective new innovations are aligned with the reuse of those innovations by others in a private-collective software development context. This relationship is studied in the setting of eleven “wiki-like” programming contests, where contest submissions are open for reuse by others, each involving more than one hundred contributors and several thousand attempts to generate, over a one-week period, the “best” software solution to a difficult programming challenge. We find that greater amounts of new code and novel recombinations of others’ code, in a contest submission, increases both the probability of achieving top rank and the subsequent reuse by others in their own submission (community value). While increasing use of borrowed code in a submission reduces the probability of achieving top rank, it increases the community value of the submission. Code structures that are more nonconforming to commonly accepted programming conventions similarly increase the probability of generating a top performer but reduce subsequent reuse by others. Surprisingly, greater code complexity in a submission increases both the odds of generating a top performing entry and its community value. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of the literature on private-collective innovation with an emphasis on the importance of considering both individual and community perspectives as they relate to knowledge creation, reuse, and recombination for innovation.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-065.pdf

Will I Stay or Will I Go? Cooperative and Competitive Effects of Workgroup Sex and Race Composition on Turnover

Abstract

We develop an integrated theory of the social identity mechanisms linking workgroup sex and race composition across levels with individual turnover. Building on social identity research, we theorize that social cohesion (Tyler, 1999; Hogg and Terry, 2000) and social comparison (Festinger, 1954) lead to well-known cooperative effects within subordinate-supervisor pairs of the same sex and race, but potentially competitive effects among demographically similar peers. Analyzing longitudinal human resource data on professionals employed in a large up-or-out knowledge organization, we assess the distinct effects of demographic match with superiors and demographic match with peers on the exit of junior professionals. We find largely cooperative effects of cross-level composition—junior professionals who work in groups with higher proportions of same sex senior professionals are less likely to exit. At the peer level, however, these effects are reversed, and professionals are more likely to leave as the proportions of same-sex and race peers within the workgroup increase. The effects hold across demographic groups but vary by majority/minority status, disproportionately affecting women and underrepresented minorities.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-066.pdf