Google clamps down on in-office debates
Alphabet Inc.'s Google posted new internal rules that discourage employees from debating politics, a shift away from the Internet giant's open culture.
The new "community guidelines" tell employees not to have "disruptive" conversations and warn workers that they'll be held responsible for whatever they say at the office.
"While sharing information and ideas with colleagues helps build community, disrupting the workday to have a raging debate over politics or the latest news story does not," the new policy states. "Our primary responsibility is to do the work we've each been hired to do."
Google has long encouraged employees to question one another and push back against managers when they think they're making the wrong decision. Google's founders point to the open culture as instrumental to the success they've had revolutionizing the tech landscape over the past two decades.
But the free-wheeling culture has led to a rash of problems for Google management in recent years. The new policy says "don't troll, name call, or engage in ad hominem attacks--about anyone."
-- Bloomberg News
VW reports it fired 204 workers in 1Q
Volkswagen AG told employees that it fired 204 staff for breaching company rules in the first quarter, as the German automaker stiffens its response to internal misconduct in the aftermath of the diesel-cheating scandal that was uncovered in 2015.
About half the terminations involved work-time violations like unexcused absence, according to an article published in the July edition of a staff newspaper. Other reasons include property offenses, ignoring drug and alcohol bans, and discrimination.
Volkswagen is cracking down on illicit conduct as it seeks to move past a crisis that took down its chief executive and other senior executives, and had cost $33 billion at last count. Communicating efforts will serve to alert about 650,000 workers to the consequences, while increased transparency potentially shows VW in a better light.
Volkswagen issued 903 formal warnings to employees during the period.
The report covered discipline at subsidiaries that employ about two-thirds of VW's global staff -- 51 VW units with more than 1,000 employees each.
-- Bloomberg News
State index tumbles;
13 of 14 stocks fall
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Friday at 406.14, down 8.52.
All but one of the index stocks dropped in a volatile trading day.
Murphy Oil shares fell 6.57%. Home BancShares dropped 4.44%.
PAM Transportation rose 1.31%.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 08/24/2019