What the Bosses of AZ, Novartis and Schering Didn’t Say in Their Healthcare Roundtable

On October 8, 2009

Attorneys Criticize Dunkin’ Donuts’ Litigious Behavior

This is a post by guest blogger Janet Sparks.

donsniegowski.jpgFollowing Dunkin’ Donuts Independent Franchise Owners’ (DDIFO) twentieth annual meeting in September, president Jim Coen issued a letter to members stating that the association favors a more collaborative approach to reconciling the problems that Dunkin’ Brands sees the need to litigate against. He declared, “Dunkin' Brands continues to pursue litigation against franchisees and shows no signs of changing their seemingly harsh and predatory practices.”

According to Coen, DDIFO is willing and able to take this discussion with Dunkin' behind closed doors, but the franchisor has not shown as of yet, its willingness to do so. He explains, “Keep in mind that there are hundreds of Dunkin' Donuts franchise owners who are today, fighting for their livelihood, trying to protect and defend their sweat equity built over many years, against a seemingly arrogant and intractable Dunkin' Brands Loss Prevention with very deep pockets. I think that is unacceptable.”

On October 8, 2009

Mixed Bag: Chevron Q3 Earnings Up on Production, Refining Biz Flat

Chevron expects its third-quarter earnings to be "significantly" higher than the second quarter thanks to higher crude oil prices, increased U.S. production and $400 million of gains related to the approval of the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project offshore Western Australia. It's downstream business is a different story. The San Ramon, Calif.,-based company, which issued its interim earnings report Thursday, said its downstream business was flat -- a common theme as refineries grapple with weak demand and shrinking margins.  Its international downstream results are expected to be lower, partly because sales of its marketing businesses in Kenya and Cameroon did not produce any gains and due to unfavorable tax effects, Chevron said in its interim earnings report. On the brighter side,...
On October 8, 2009

Supervalu’s SHOP ‘n SAVE Ignites Gift Card Sales with Fuel Incentives

Supermarkets want a bigger piece of the Christmas sales pie and the Supervalu-affiliated SHOP ‘n SAVE chain is among those going after their holiday hunk through gift cards. Of course, supermarkets have been carrying the gift cards issued by other retailers for some time now. In fact, Safeway makes a business out of developing multi-store gift card programs for other retailers. SHOP ‘n SAVE, though, is getting aggressive in going after the business and it’s doing it early in the shopping season, so early that the season hasn’t officially begun yet. Officially doesn't matter much to early bird shoppers, though, and the supermarket chain is looking to get a jump on the season itself by launching a Double Pump Perks...


On October 8, 2009

Neil Cole Steps Out From Brother Kenneth’s Shadow With Iconix — Or Does He?

Iconix Brand Group CEO Neil Cole, often called the unlucky kid brother of fashion designer Kenneth Cole, has a history of overpaying for acquisitions -- most recently, an eagerness to add breadth to Iconix's portfolio of apparel, footwear, and household related-accessories. If licensees of Iconix's clothing and footwear brands, such as iconic names Joe Boxer, London Fog, and Candies, fail to deliver on mandated royalty streams as the recession lingers, what will this mean to the company's financial health and growth prospects? Cole has built Iconix on a novel licensing-only business model with guaranteed royalty streams from 15 direct-to-retailer distribution partnerships involving such well-known stores as Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, K-Mart, Kohl's, and Lowes. The attractiveness of this business model, says management, is...


On October 8, 2009

Fisker Defends Its Business Model: Small is Beautiful

In a second installment of our look at carmakers possibly being too small to make it in the marketplace, we’ve fielded a detailed response from Fisker Automotive. As you may recall, the first story reported on a BusinessWeek commentary by longtime industry analyst Maryann Keller, who said that both Fisker, which will roll out its $89,000 Karma from a Finnish factory early next year, and Tesla Motors, which has 700 battery vehicles already on the road, lack the production capacity to make it in a marketplace dominated by big companies. And thus they’re dubious prospects for the federal Department of Energy grants and loans they received. In a separate BusinessWeek analysis, Keller charged that Tesla (which announced its first profit...


On October 8, 2009

How to Not Get Fired by Using Twitter

It seems fitting to fill your Twitter feed with tweets about your job. Many use the service solely to promote themselves or their company. However, while the jury is still out deliberating on whether Twitter can further your career, it can certainly end it if you foolishly broadcast nasty things about your job.
On October 8, 2009

Powermat: Efficiency Booster, or Useless Gizmo?

Gizmodo had a post today about Powermat, a wireless charger for up to three electronic devices. I heard the buzz on this product while it was in development and was interested to see what kind of press its debut has been getting. Gizmodo's take? "Wireless charging is still in its infancy, but the idea is great: you have a lil' mat or platform onto which you can toss your gadgets and let them charge. No tangled wires and fumbling around." Rachel Metz of the Associated Press likes the Powermat, too: "There's something thrilling about cutting (most of) the cords." Sounds good, and I'm all about simplifying and streamlining and boosting efficiency. But I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid quite yet. First...
On October 8, 2009

CIA Climate Change Center Survives Funding Opposition

The Central Intelligence Agency's plan to open the Center on Climate Change and National Security faced a setback -- aka Sen. John Barrasso --earlier this week, over opposition to what the Republican Wyoming senator called "misguided defense funding priorities." BNET Energywrote about the CIA's new center on climate change last month, prior to Barrasso' opposition. Here's an update on Barrasso' objection and the center's ultimate survival. Barrasso proposed an amendment to the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations bill to prevent the CIA from using any funds to create or operate a center on climate change. His reasons were simple: with an agency that already claims to have scarce resources, why add another distraction to the list? Or put in a more colorful way by Barrasso, "Will...
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