October 8th, 2013 § § permalink
The current No.2 US automaker, Ford Motor Co., announced on Oct. 7 that they have a five year plan mapped out. The plan aims to have a one-third increase in capacity by expanding its market, overhauling its production methods, and running its factories 24/7.
Ford’s current CEO, Alan Mulally has been trying to restructure the company for the past seven years, and his One Ford” strategy is what the company is trying to implement this time round. The system is aimed at unifying their manufacturing strategy, and in doing so, lowering their costs and boosting their input.
In five years time, Ford plans to expand their factories into more countries and increase their factory shifts, thus boosting their production. They are also in the process of adopting new technology that were deemed “very significant” by the chief technical officer, Paul Mascarenas. All of this is part of their grand scheme of raising their production by one-third in five years time.
Do you think Mulally’s strategy is a good one?
Source: Seetheraman, Deepa. “The Globe and Mail.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
Picture source: Ford Cars. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
October 8th, 2013 § § permalink
To combat the high unemployment rates, the Partis Quebecois government revealed a job creation program pledging $2 billion to be invested into the province. At a press conference on October 7, Premier Pauline Marois and Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau announced this $2 billion plan to the public, and were accused of using the plan as an election campaign, to which they immediately denied.
The $2-billion plan pledges to create more than 40,000 jobs by 2017 through incentives like tax credits and lowered electricity rates. The current plan is to allocate:
– $566 million towards infrastructure
– $516 million towards electric transit industry
– $700 million plus towards tax credits and lowered hydro rate for companies creating new jobs
The job plan has already incurred much criticism on how effective these actions will be. President of the Conseil du patronat, Quebec’s largest employers group, said, “There’s no big change here. They are good measures, but not really what we need to bring Quebec to the level we would like.”
Are lowered electricity and hydro rates and tax credits really enough incentive for companies to lengthen their payrolls and create new jobs?
Do you think the $2- billion job plan by the PQ government will work, or is it just another political campaign to win votes before an election?
Sources: “PQ Announces $2-billion Jobs Plan.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
October 8th, 2013 § § permalink
The long debated pipeline project has been the talk of the country for several months, with U.S. President Barack Obama still delaying his decision on the project. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already stated that Canada will not “take no for an answer.” Supporters of the project are anticipating the benefits that it could bring to Canada’s economy, while opponents of the project are rallying about the potentially harmful impacts that it could bring to the environment.
According to a recent online survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid and CTV News, one in six Canadian are fearing the financial fallout that might occur as a result of failure of the pipeline project. The survey showed that older generations were more likely to fear this financial fallout, which could be understood since many of these older generation members held shares in Kinder Morgan and Enderbridge. However what was most surprising of the survey results were that fifty-five percent of respondents between the ages of the 18 to 34 who also feared this financial fallout. This new generation are the ones who had most likely just entered the workforce, most likely with no direct affiliation with the energy companies, which was why their response was surprising to many. Why is the younger generation fearing financial fallout when they are most likely not the ones with the Enbridge company shares? Were you surprised by these results?
Sources:
“HOME | Northern Gateway Pipelines | Gatewayfacts.ca.” HOME | Northern Gateway Pipelines | Gatewayfacts.ca. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
Janus, Andrea. “Canadians Fear Financial Fallout If Pipeline Projects Killed.” – BNN News. N.p., 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
Picture source: Wolf, Frank. “Sinopec Teams up with Enbridge for Northern Gateway Pipeline.”Financial Post. N.p., 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
