1 Samsung foresees record profit (Straits Times) Samsung
Electronics forecast its best quarterly profit in more than three years in the
January-March period, beating expectations and putting it on track for record
annual earnings on the back of a memory-chip super-cycle.
The company has rapidly recovered from last year's
costly failure of its fire-prone Galaxy Note7 device, despite a political
scandal involving vice-chairman Lee Jae Yong, who faces charges including
bribing ousted president Park Geun Hye.
The global memory-chip leader said first-quarter
operating profit was likely 9.9 trillion won, compared with an average forecast
of 9.4 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters survey. Revenue rose 0.4 per cent to
50 trillion won, just ahead of analysts' forecasts.
"The semiconductor business was likely the main
driver for earnings," said Heungkuk Securities analyst Lee Min Hee, adding
that sales of mid- to low-tier smartphones also helped the mobile business to
stay profitable. Samsung shares reached a record high of 2.1 million won last
month on expectations of record annual profit this year.
2 Tesla’s electric truck in September (Dave Lee on
BBC) Tesla will unveil an electric articulated lorry in September, chief
executive Elon Musk has said. Additionally, he said an electric pick-up truck
would be shown off in around 18-24 months. Last year Mr Musk expressed the
firm’s desire to branch out beyond cars.
However, analysts are concerned the company will not
meet demand for its current projects. The Model 3, a more mid-market car
compared to what Tesla currently offers, has 400,000 pre-orders - vastly more
than the company can manufacture in a year. It is due to go into production
later this year.
However, despite this hurdle, investors seem
confident that Mr Musk will meet his ambitious promises - Tesla’s surging stock
price saw it briefly become the most valuable car maker in the US on Monday.
Speaking about the lorry, Mr Musk said his team had
done an "amazing job" and the vehicle would be "seriously next
level". In a string of tweets sent out on Thursday, Mr Musk also said that
the next version of its roadster sports car will be a convertible.
3 Relationships at the workplace (Rania Oteify in
Gulf News) Corporate culture often sets the tone for how people interact in the
workplace, but it is not everything. Personalities often determine how
relationships evolve and grow. Some people are more outgoing than others, and
when relationships begin to form, it is common to have conversations that go
beyond work topics.
This human aspect is important in almost any
workplace. After all, many people spend more time with their coworkers than
they do with their spouses and children. With that in mind, however, it is
important to know where to draw the line. Coworkers are not family and even
when friendships form, the office is not a place to handle personal
relationships.
Workplace rules are different from anywhere else. A
playful comment on a friend’s appearance may be acceptable in a social setting.
At work, it could risk a sexual harassment charge — if the relationship takes a
turn to the worse. Although grave consequences of this type are uncommon, they
become more likely if you let your guard down and you mix work and fun loosely.
That is not to say you must be scripted at all times
when you are socialising with coworkers. Instead, you should have a slightly
more conservative approach than the one you take with longtime friends. This is
particularly important if your communication is in writing over email or text
or using company software. Documented conversations that can be forwarded by
mistake or retrieved later can be detrimental to your career.
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