Monthly Archives: September 2020

Amazon Workers Accepting Bribes?

According to an indictment handed down by a federal grand jury, two former Amazon employees formed a unique consulting business. They were hired by vendors who were trying to get their products back on Amazon after Amazon had banished them … Continue reading

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The 64 Below-Admissions-Standards Students Who Still Got Into Cal Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, and UCSD

Sixty-four students, who were rated lower than rejected applicants by admissions readers, still managed to get into the top four UC system schools. They were all white, and one-half of them had families with income over $150,000. One applicant who … Continue reading

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Ethics and Working From Home

COVID-19 brought us the great migration of employees from work to home. Now that the COVID-19 lockdowns are ending (although the rioters and protesters never did work from home), CEOs are thinking through remote work. Some CEOs are candid, as … Continue reading

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VW — Two Events Post-Emissions Scandal

We have good news and bad news. The good news is that VW has completed its three years under government supervision, Its monitor has signed off, certifying that the structures and processes are in place, but noting that the typical … Continue reading

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“I do challenge the suggestion that the development was a failure.”

Keith Leverkuhn, Boeing’s 737 MAX program manager from 2013-2018. Not sure that two virtually identical crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving the 737 MAX that resulted in the deaths of 347 people constitute evidence of success. Be that as it … Continue reading

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On Being “Zoomed”

There were seven of us gathered for a birthday celebration. But there was fear in the air as we sang “Happy Birthday to you.” We all knew the possibility of something else in the air. A Swedish study that concluded … Continue reading

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S&P Says No to Tesla

The TD Ameritrade crowd was buying up the Tesla shares. Tesla was headed into the elite S&P 500 companies. However, Tesla did not make it, despite accumulated profits over four quarters. The market is puzzled. The market needs to look … Continue reading

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Mental Illness As a Defense to Fraud

The Barometer has said and written many times, upon studying the e-mails and texts of businesspeople later convicted of crimes related to their electronic messaging, “Who does this?” Or, “What kind of fool would put that in writing?” From Anthony … Continue reading

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Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Is Under Review

Warren Buffett once said of companies that experience difficulties that the difficulties continue to emerge following their initial problems and headlines. He compared it to turning the light on in the kitchen in the middle of the night. You are … Continue reading

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McDonald’s and Its HR Department

When HR is weak on investigating complaints and doling out discipline, you get exactly what McDonald’s is going through now. An ugly lawsuit by the board against the company’s departed CEO. The allegations are that Mr. Steve Easterbrook had three … Continue reading

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Kitty Genovese’s Neighbor and Friend: Sophia Farrar

On the night of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese died at the hands of an assailant as 38 “respectable, law abiding citizens” of Kew Gardens in Queens, NY that heard her cries did nothing. The story became one of the … Continue reading

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The UAW — When the Leadership Is Corrupt

The latest indictment in the UAW’s long and corrupt history is Dennis Williams, former president (left in 2018). The indictment alleges that Mr. Williams and others used union funds total trips to Palm Springs, California and Missouri. The UAW paid … Continue reading

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