Tuesday, September 28, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 9
American industry changes raise questions for investors
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Of the 20 companies with the greatest stock market values in 1982, only five remain on the list. And 10 of the new entries can be broadly categorized as high-tech companies.
That, in a nutshell, is what has happened to American industry during what is sometimes referred to as the most tumultuous expansion ever of the U.S. economy and its stock market.
It's still going on. You needn't be a Las Vegas gambler to bet that some of today's glamour companies will be culled from the list by 2018. The skill will be to name the newcomers. Not then. Now.
These "biggest" lists were compiled from companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index with the greatest market value. Other lists — such as for assets and profits — might vary.
Shares of AT&T, IBM, Exxon and General Electric led the list in 1982. All four are still listed in 2000, but in far different positions. GE is now the largest, but AT&T is 19th, IBM 11th, Exxon fifth. General Motors, fifth in 1982, is off the list in 2000.
In the interim, newer companies, technological creations, have barged onto the list — companies such as Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Nortel, Oracle, ENC, Sun Microsystems, SBC and Lucent.
As analyzed by Thomas Galvin of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the greatest change in industry leadership over the years was the displacement of energy by technology and communications services.
So great has been the change that some investors today might be surprised that the 1982 list included Amoco, Shell, Mobil, Schlumberger, Atlantic Richfield, Chevron, Royal Dutch and Texaco.
It poses a significant question for today's investors; if such powerful names could be displaced before, why should we believe that tomorrow's lists won't be changed as radically?
In fact, there's reason to believe they will be. As practiced today, technology is effectively a synonym for change. All is in transition rather than fixed, as it may have seemed in 1982.
And not just in technology.
The most prominent non-tech entry in the year 2000 list is a retailer, Wal-Mart, and one of the more prominent departures from the 1962 list is Sears, Roebuck. Both are representative of the upheavals that eliminated many traditional old retailing names.
One of the big questions now is to anticipate what other great changes might be created by American ingenuity over the next two decades. More than a few futurists see it occurring in energy.
The reasoning here is that the some of the world's most powerful nations are increasingly restless with their dependence on Mideast oil, especially as it involves their national security.
Fuel cells that generate energy through noncombustible means, for example, hold possibilities for the automotive industries, already under environmental pressure, and housing industries.
The technologies involved already have been demonstrated in the space program and in limited commercial installations.
Several large companies, General Dynamics and GE among them, are seeking ways to cuts costs and produce volume products for retail markets.
They aren't the only ones. Scores of small enterprises are working feverishly on fuel cell technologies, some in conjunction with larger companies.
VoiceStream to bring new jobs to Kansas
Who is to say they won't be on the 2018 list?
The Associated Press
WICHITA — VoiceStream Wireless Corp., which opened its new Wichita call center last month, now says it plans to hire twice as many people as originally expected by the end of the year.
The company, based in Bellevue, Wash., said in March that it figured on 450 full-time employees by the end of the year at the new Wichita facility.
So far it's hired about 250, said Jerry Maloney, site director of the customer service center, and it plans to have nearly 900 on the job by the end of the year.
VoiceStream provides digital wireless communications services and the Wichita service center is one of 10 in the country.
The workers earn a base pay of $8.25 per hour, with a shift differential for nights, weekends or holidays.
The company provides free coffee and soda to its workers, and there's a fitness center with showers and $50,000 worth of equipment. The new building is 90 percent complete and about 35 percent occupied, with a grand opening planned Nov. 1.
John Rolfe, vice president of development for the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce, said VoiceStream's revised hiring plans will give Wichita more than 4,000 people working at area call centers.
Nationwide, VoiceStream is the fourth largest wireless provider behind AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS and Nextel. It has 2.5 million customers, many coming through acquisitions.
Millions opt to stay away from Internet
AUSTIN, Texas — The head of the Texas AFL-CIO understands technology's benefits for future generations of workers. But Joseph Gunn's personal office is devoid of computers, and he would rather let his wife and staff surf the Internet on his behalf.
The Associated Press
"To some degree, I feel bliss in being ignorant," said Gunn, 69, one of millions of Americans saying no to the Net.
A study released Thursday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than half the American adults who do not use the Internet have little or no desire to get online.
About 50 percent of American adults said they were not Internet users. Thirty-two percent of that group — or 31 million Americans — said they definitely would not go online. An additional 25 percent said they probably wouldn't go online. Fear and a lack of interest are among the main reasons.
Fifty-four percent of all nonusers believe the Internet is dangerous, and 51 percent do not believe they are missing anything, according to Pew. The findings were primarily based on an April telephone survey of 2,503 adults and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The numbers suggest, however, that the Net naysayers will decline over time. While nearly three-quarters of nonusers older than 50 said they did not plan to get Internet access, only one third of their younger counterparts planned to stay Neless.
Universal access may never be achievable, said Tara McPherson, a University of Southern California professor who studies access to technology. She said a small number of Americans remained without phones or television sets today, often by choice.
LaGarde specialises in cutting-edge e-commerce technology, and its StoreFront suite of e-commerce solutions currently powers over 10,000 web stores worldwide.
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LaGarde, Inc., $5040, West 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 86049
785-830-0244 (fax) employment@lagarde.com
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