(VOR News) – Subsequent to the results of a positive drug test conducted by Volkswagen following his return from a vacation in Thailand, Jochen Sengpiehl, the chief marketing officer for Volkswagen Group China, was mandated to exit the country.

This resulted in the cessation of his employment. The Chinese government’s social media platforms have allegedly exhibited considerable interest in this recent event, according to the German publication Bild-Zeitung.

AFP said that German officials verified the news on Tuesday. The confirmation was reportedly made. Sengpiehl was placed in jail for more than ten days and given the direction to leave the country immediately after Chinese police discovered evidence of cannabis and cocaine in his blood, as reported by AFP.

Sengpiehl They also ordered Volkswagen to leave the country immediately.

It took Volkswagen and officials from the German embassy some time to be able to successfully negotiate his immediate release after he had been held for a period of time.

The newspaper Bild, on the other hand, claims that he was compelled to leave the country soon after being required to do so.

Campaign Asia-Pacific endeavored to contact Volkswagen Group for a statement regarding the matter. The subsequent text is a summarized version of the statement issued by a global spokesperson:

We request your understanding that we shall refrain from further commenting on the substance of your inquiries due to our contractual and data protection confidentiality requirements.

The incident sheds a bright light on the many different legal landscapes that are involved in the use of drugs.

Although Germany decriminalized the use of cannabis earlier this year and Thailand became the first Asian nation to decriminalize it for medical purposes in 2022 (although the use of cannabis for recreational purposes is scheduled to be prohibited by the end of the year), China continues to uphold extremely stringent anti-narcotics laws, with severe penalties for those who violate them.

There are also severe Volkswagen penalties for those who violate these laws.

The decade of the 1990s marked the beginning of Sengpiehl’s professional development at Nissan. After that, he moved on to work at BBDO and Daimler respectively. After serving as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Volkswagen AG, he went on to work for WPP for a period of time.

During his time at Volkswagen AG, he held both of these positions. In the time leading up to his appointment as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Hyundai Motor Europe, he was the founder of his own business, which was called Jochen Sengpiehl Automotive Brand Management.

Sengpiehl arrived back at Volkswagen in 2017 and was promoted to the role of chief marketing officer for the global market. This marked his return to the company. It is because of the well-known catchphrase “Das Auto” (which translates to “The Car”) that he is already highly recognized.

It was in the year 2020 that Sengpiehl, who was serving as the worldwide chief marketing officer for the brand at the time, claimed responsibility for controversial advertising that promoted the Golf 8 and featured a video that was racist.

Within a short period of time, Volkswagen issued an apology, removed the commercial from its official Instagram profile, and started an investigation within the company. The year 2022 marked Sengpiehl’s relocation to China, where he assumed the position of China Chief Marketing Officer.

According to Volkswagen, China is a market that holds a significant amount of importance. BYD, a Chinese automotive business, surpassed Volkswagen to become the best-selling car brand in China after the country opened its market for automobiles in 2023.

Volkswagen had previously held this position. When it came to this particular aspect, this was the very first time that China had ever surpassed Volkswagen

SOURCE: CN

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(VOR News) – On Wednesday, American Airlines paid a penalty of fifty million dollars levied by the United States of America Department of Transportation.

The Department of Transportation charged the airline with “numerous serious violations” of the laws safeguarding passengers with disabilities flying by aircraft.

Following an inquiry, the Department of Transportation (DOT) discovered breaches at American Airlines encompassing a four-year period, starting in 2019 and running through 2023. Following an investigation, the DOT found these infractions.

Along with reports of recurrent failures to offer timely wheelchair assistance, the United States Department of Transportation claims to have identified instances of “unsafe physical assistance that at times resulted in injuries and undignified treatment of wheelchair users.”

Americans had also handled hundreds of wheelchairs illegally, either by damaging them or by postponing their return, over the duration of the inquiry.

In a statement he issued, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said, “The era of tolerating poor treatment of airline passengers with disabilities is over.” This comment came from Buttigieg.

“American Airlines violated passengers with disabilities’ rights with this penalty.”

The Secretary of Transportation declared in his speech. We hope that by enforcing fines higher than the cost of operations for American Airlines, we will be able to influence industry behavior generally and stop such kinds of misuse from the starting point. This will be achieved with the aim of stopping such kinds of abuse.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) gathered dozens of advocates for persons with disabilities at a February meeting in Washington, District of Columbia, to investigate the prospect of a rule mandating American Airlines to enhance their performance.

Among those included in this group was Thomas Braddy, the National Council on Independent Living’s current director. “There was too much damage to my chair,” Braddy said during the hearing, “which is why I stopped flying.”

Apart from the fact that it stopped him from traveling with his wife whenever they traveled on holiday, he said his inability to fly had slowed down his professional development.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, representing Illinois, was a casualty of the Iraq War and lost both legs. She delivered a speech at the conference in which she examined the parallels between a wheelchair and a bodily part. “If this fails, you have caused my injury.”

Duckworth has documented that airlines often destroy wheelchairs—including her own as well as those of others. Duckworth claims they were able to destroy 892 wheelchairs in one month last year.

This was within the year before. ” Imagine for a moment that airlines had shattered 892 pairs of legs in just one month, and the average American found out about this. Though there have been none, it is natural to expect a lot of indignation.

During the announcement of the fine, the Department of Transportation (DOT) displayed an American Airlines employee putting a wheelchair down a baggage ramp in this footage taken at Miami International Airport. The DOT videotaped the clip.

American Airlines says it has long helped disabled people.

American Airlines has said this: This dedication Reportedly, it has spent $175 million this year on services, infrastructure, training, and new technology to help ease their path and move their specialist equipment. Reports state this.

According to a press release the company sent, the airline got more than eight million wheelchair assistance requests in 2023. According to corporate data, less than 0.1 percent of consumers reported having a complaint related to a disability.

“Today’s agreement reaffirms American’s commitment to taking care of all of our customers,” Julie Rath, senior vice president of American Transportation, said.

The Department of Transportation has said that the issues it discovered are not particular to American Airlines. The government claims that it is now looking at infractions of a like kind that have happened at other US airlines. These transgressions have happened all throughout the nation

SOURCE: NPR

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(VOR News) – In her capacity as an analyst with William Blair, Sharon Zackfia believes that Starbucks (SBUX -0.12%) has the financial resources necessary to get past the personnel difficulties it is facing.

The coffee firm may see an improvement in the speed and caliber of service it provides at its various locations if it increases the number of staff it employs.

She said Quartz that increasing the number of employees available in stores is the first step towards resolving some of these problems. This was her response to a query. It’s possible that this will reduce the level of stress that the present crew is under; but Starbucks will also need to devise long-term methods to boost employee productivity.

In an email, Starbucks claimed to have made progress in this area.

Furthermore, the company stated that employee churn had decreased to its lowest point since the disease’s breakout.

The feedback from workers “shows consistent improvement in key areas of the Starbucks [staff] experience,” which is something that the company continues to focus, according to a statement released by a Starbucks representative.

Workers have expressed serious worries about the situation, including concerns about ongoing staff shortages. Bloomberg (with a reference to an internal survey) has revealed that some people claim they are required to manage operations using “skeleton” teams.

Starbucks’ attempts to unionize its workforce have encountered resistance from workers who demand better pay and working conditions. For the company, these challenges have been a point of conflict. As a result of the campaign, conversations about how the chain can keep up its brand affinity and resolve employee-related problems have started.

In a letter distributed in September, the business’s chief executive officer, Brian Niccol, asserted that the company is dedicated to holding “good faith” talks with the union representing a significant section of its barista workforce.

Starbucks has recently benefited from a ruling by the Supreme Court that limits the authority of the National Labor Relations Board to enforce labor rules, even though the firm has been found guilty of more than a dozen labor law breaches in recent years.

Starbucks is now able to benefit from the ruling thanks to this decision.

Known for turning Taco Bell into a fast food giant and Chipotle into a powerhouse, Niccol said he planned to take Starbucks back to its roots by focusing on four main areas:

Helping baristas, enhancing delivery, enhancing the in-store experience, and promoting the Starbucks philosophy of serving high-quality coffee. This was approximately when Niccol said what he said.

According to Zackfia, Starbucks could effectively recruit and retain employees by using its strong brand if it adopted the right personnel plan. Zackfia contends that doing so would enable Starbucks to do both. But given that every store has different staffing needs, this is probably going to be difficult.

Consequently, striking a balance between employee expectations and corporate reality becomes imperative. It has been brought to her attention that the business should focus on producing items that people want, such as Refreshers and Pearls, rather than rushing headlong into new coffee innovations.

It is something she ought to think about. Moreover, it is crucial to guarantee that baristas are granted sufficient time to converse with customers.

The demands of drive-thru, in-store, and internet ordering can make it more challenging for staff to build genuine connections with patrons, which further taints the chain’s reputation as a social “third place.” The fact that the chain serves as a “third place” for the neighborhood complicates the chain’s messaging even further.

Zackfia noted during the discussion that “there is certainly potential to make labor more efficient.” “The ability to figure out operations is almost essential to the success of everything else.”

SOURCE: QZN

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