Harley Cuts Workforce by 500 - Concentrates on Big, Expensive Models

Omega Man said:

What happened to “performance based” compensation?

OM

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PGlaves said:

Do not get me started on this. To get the bonus, they think only short term. How to maximize stock price in the next 90 days, or some other short term target. This lack of long term thinking has sunk a many executive, and many companies too. After puffing the short term numbers for a few years to get their bonuses the tactic catches up with them, so they are out, but take their golden parachute as they leave, headed to the next target of opportunity.

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Omega Man said:

Do you have an MBA from one of the prestigious business schools........
OM

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PGlaves said:

No. A mere MS from the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Policy.

And I am familiar with the misinterpreted position regarding the "fiduciary responsibility" of business executives. Yes, they do have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize value to shareholders. What that broad generalization fails to elucidate however, is over what time period that responsibility plays out: a 90 day quarter or a two year, five year, or longer time period? Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway, for example, takes the long range view. Eddie Lambert at Sears takes the short view. Each reader can pick who they trust with their assets.

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GTRider said:

Given the (mis)understanding of tariffs and the Smoot-Hawley experience that Wharton appears to have given some of their graduates, I’m not sure the big-name schools are all they tout themselves to be. Between CorpFin and Accounting coursework I’d guess the groundwork for pumping stock price is there in nearly any accredited university’s business college. Useful stuff when there’s a whiff of impending corporate buyout/takeover, after all. Or if there’s a bonus in the works...

Best,
DeVern

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PGlaves said:

No. A mere MS from the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Policy.

And I am familiar with the misinterpreted position regarding the "fiduciary responsibility" of business executives. Yes, they do have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize value to shareholders. What that broad generalization fails to elucidate however, is over what time period that responsibility plays out: a 90 day quarter or a two year, five year, or longer time period? Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway, for example, takes the long range view. Eddie Lambert at Sears takes the short view. Each reader can pick who they trust with their assets.

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weschmann said:

Paul, I do have a MBA, from a smaller university here in the Midwest and actually helped develop the SC program for the University and taught graduate level Supply Chain Management for seven years before retiring. I couldn't agree more with your perspective. Post war economic gain absolutely failed to have a vision of what the environmental costs of doing business would be, and the proof in the pudding so to speak, is the super fund reclamation sites across the country. We had a Westinghouse uranium processing site not 20 miles from my home that took 10 years to clean up and is still being monitored on a yearly basis. And to all those snooty (IMHO) ivy league school graduates, the information taught is the same from one university to another. The caliber of the student is the main mitigating factor, and there are several rubrics that easily identify those who do the work and those who are just entitled to the paperwork at the end of their schooling.

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jad01 said:

Since taking it in grad school, I've long believed that Environmental Economics should be a required course for everyone. One of the courses I teach in Environmental Science (freshman/sophomore level) includes a primer on economics as a driver for environmental impacts (including eternal costs and future discounting mentioned here); the students have often taken courses based on neoclassic economics, so taking them the extra step to include full cost/benefit analysis is fairly straightforward. I'd like to see more economics courses geared toward lower-level students and high school level that included this element, as I think ultimately everyday consumers voting with their dollars will drive any change.

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jad01 said:

Since taking it in grad school, I've long believed that Environmental Economics should be a required course for everyone. One of the courses I teach in Environmental Science (freshman/sophomore level) includes a primer on economics as a driver for environmental impacts (including eternal costs and future discounting mentioned here); the students have often taken courses based on neoclassic economics, so taking them the extra step to include full cost/benefit analysis is fairly straightforward. I'd like to see more economics courses geared toward lower-level students and high school level that included this element, as I think ultimately everyday consumers voting with their dollars will drive any change.

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vark said:

The toxic waste crisis facing the solar panel industry, particularly in china, is a good example. Everyone already knows about nuclear waste, but the average consumer is under the impression that solar is a “green” industry.

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Omega Man said:

It is $$$ for the sales people that don’t mention the “fine” print to homeowners..... and that they still won’t have lights when the power is out ��
OM

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vark said:

The toxic waste crisis facing the solar panel industry, particularly in china, is a good example. Everyone already knows about nuclear waste, but the average consumer is under the impression that solar is a “green” industry.

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vtbob said:

I don't know what the toxic waste crisis is. Please explain, PM if that is more appropriate ..or point me a location where I can read about it.
My perception at this point it is another semiconductor fab process like that support the cell phone, flat screen TV, etc industries.

FWIW I put in solar panels sized to cover all my electric usage, including new heat pump (heat and cooling) and heat pump hot water heater. I did this 6 years ago. With the credits, the major contribution of the heat pumps, I am breaking even this year.

Having no power bills is great!

Thinking about adding to the panels to cover the extra usage for a battery car. Have not fully done the numbers yet...TBD.

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Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 9, 2008

GAOLONG, China -- The first time Li Gengxuan saw the dump trucks from the nearby factory pull into his village, he couldn't believe what happened. Stopping between the cornfields and the primary school playground, the workers dumped buckets of bubbling white liquid onto the ground. Then they turned around and drove right back through the gates of their compound without a word.

This ritual has been going on almost every day for nine months, Li and other villagers said.

In China, a country buckling with the breakneck pace of its industrial growth, such stories of environmental pollution are not uncommon. But the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co., here in the central plains of Henan Province near the Yellow River, stands out for one reason: It's a green energy company, producing polysilicon destined for solar energy panels sold around the world. But the byproduct of polysilicon production -- silicon tetrachloride -- is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards.

"The land where you dump or bury it will be infertile. No grass or trees will grow in the place. . . . It is like dynamite -- it is poisonous, it is polluting. Human beings can never touch it," said Ren Bingyan, a professor at the School of Material Sciences at Hebei Industrial University.....

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EUGENE said:

:




1]What is the life span of panels ?
2] What is the life span of invertors?

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vark said:

My family owns a remote off-the-grid property that relies on solar and batteries for all electricity. So I am not trying to be “holier-than-thou.” But at the same time I am critical of those who think they are virtuous because they run solar. The bottom line is, there’s no free lunch.

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