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The Real Lessons of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc.

What the Supreme Court Decided

On May 29, 2007, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc ., limiting the potential liability of employers for pay discrimination under Title VII. The fact pattern it considered is rather common, which is one reason why this case is so important. Suppose that during the 1980s, a female employee was paid less than comparable males working for the same employer. Thereafter, the female employee and these male employees receive the same pay raises, but because the salary paid to the female employee was initially lower, she continues throughout the 1990s to earn less in each year than her male counterparts. The question before the Court was whether a claim of pay discrimination is timely under Title VII when it reflects a salary disparity established before the 180 or 300-day statute of limitations, but which disparity continues despite gender-neutral pay increases during the actionable period. The Court held that, because Title VII prohibits discriminatory employment decisions , a plaintiff can prevail only by proving that within the limitations period the employer based a decision regarding plaintiff's pay on a discriminatory motive. The plaintiff cannot succeed if during the actionable period her pay is merely a reflection of a discriminatory decision taken beyond the limitations period, because the present effects of past discriminatory decisions do not provide a cause of action. This holding should apply to discrimination claims of all types under Title VII, not just claims of sex discrimination.

Ledbetter's Claim

In Ledbetter , the plaintiff claimed that she was discriminated against under Title VII and the Equal Pay Act (EPA) because the pay decisions during her employment (from 1979-1998) were based on her gender. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that Ledbetter's pay discrimination claims under Title VII prior to September 1997 were time barred. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' decision.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that Title VII pay discrimination claims cannot be based on pay decisions that were made beyond the EEOC charge period (minimally 180 days, but 300 days in a "deferral" state). Essentially, in order for a plaintiff to recover, she must show that a pay decision within the charge-filing period was discriminatory. In other words, instead of the plaintiff being able to show that as a result of a long ago discriminatory pay decision (e.g. her starting pay), every paycheck thereafter continues the discrimination, she now will have the burden of establishing that the most recent employment decisions , i.e., raises and promotions, were discriminatory. This is a significant change from how the law was interpreted in many of the circuit courts of appeal.

The Supreme Court majority stated: "The EEOC charging period is triggered when a discrete unlawful practice takes place. A new violation does not occur, and new charging period does not commence, upon the occurrence of subsequent non-discriminatory acts that entail adverse effects resulting from the past discrimination. But of course, if an employer engages in a series of acts each of which is intentionally discriminatory, then a fresh violation takes place when each act is committed." The Supreme Court also noted that if an employer intentionally retains an earlier adopted facially discriminatory pay structure during the actionable period, the employer engages in intentional discrimination whenever it issues a check to one of its disfavored employees. However, a facially nondiscriminatory and neutrally applied policy during the actionable period does not give rise to ongoing claims of discrimination.

The Supreme Court expressly distinguished pay decisions under the Equal Pay Act from the law governing Ledbetter's claim under Title VII. The majority noted that the Equal Pay Act does not require plaintiffs to prove intentional discrimination and does not require the filing of a charge with the EEOC. Consequently, even if present pay disparities are not actionable under Title VII, they may be actionable under the Equal Pay Act or Section 1981.

What Ledbetter Means for Employers

In the Short Term

The Court's holding in Ledbetter , because it relates to Title VII, is not specific to gender discrimination, but should apply with equal force to all claims alleging intentional discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic, such as race, religion, national origin, and color, as well as sex. In addition, the same reasoning may be applied to claims asserting age and disability discrimination, which, although they arise under different statutes, often are decided under Title VII principles. Furthermore, many state laws that prohibit discrimination look for guidance to the Supreme Court's interpretation of Title VII law, and these too should be influenced by the Court's holding. Therefore, the impact of Ledbetter should be widespread.

However, the immediate impact on employers of this decision may be quite different than its long-term effect. Ledbetter will have an impact on all employers with pending cases and charges alleging pay discrimination under Title VII, because it greatly narrows the scope of actionable claims. If plaintiffs have complained of discrimination solely under Title VII, it will require them to identify a discriminatory decision within the 180 or 300-day window or else be subject to dismissal; it will extinguish potential liability for previous pay decisions that merely set the base from which current pay decisions are measured.

For example, suppose a female employee is paid $40,000 per year and a comparable male is paid $50,000 as a result of compensation decisions made before the limitations period. Next, suppose each is given a 10 percent raise during the actionable period. Although the female employee now earns $44,000, and the male now earns $55,000, Ledbetter holds that no actionable discrimination has occurred because during the limitations period each received an identical 10 percent raise. Moreover, suppose that during the actionable period, the pay of the male employee was increased by 10 percent but the pay of the female employee was discriminatorily increased by only five percent. Ledbetter would recognize this as a discriminatory act, however, the liability for this action would be far less than some courts would impose under previous interpretations.

Under Ledbetter , the discriminatory act would consist of the employer's failure to provide the same 10 percent pay increase to the female employee as the male employee. It already had given her a 5 percent increase and the remedy would be an additional 5 percent pay increase. This amounts to just $2,000, rather than the entire difference between the male's $55,000 salary and the female's $42,000, which equals $13,000. This suggests that employers that regularly decide the amount by which to increase or decrease an employee's pay level, by perhaps a given percentage, may have greater protection under Ledbetter than employers that regularly consider and adjust the pay level of each employee. In the latter case, the decision regarding total compensation may be claimed to recur regularly, thereby creating potential liability for the entire difference in compensation rather than just the incremental change.

By stating that pay discrimination claims brought under a Title VII disparate treatment theory must point to a specific discriminatory act, the Ledbetter decision may also have the effect of substantially undermining the legal theory upon which the OFCCP bases its standards on systemic discrimination in compensation. OFCCP's standards are based on looking at pay disparities to remedy "discrimination under a [Title VII] pattern or practice theory of disparate treatment." 71 Federal Register 35124. This approach seems to be exactly what Ledbetter rejects. How the OFCCP will adjust its compensation standards and approach to conform with Ledbetter is something that federal government contractors will need to watch.

In the Long Term

Although the protection it affords is no doubt substantial, we anticipate that the benefit of the Ledbetter decision will be short-lived for employers, for a variety of reasons. First, other statutes prohibit discrimination, in addition to Title VII. Indeed, the Ledbetter majority notes that the Equal Pay Act prohibits gender discrimination even when pay inequities are unintentional. Consequently, the fact that there was no evidence of the employer's discriminatory intent during the limitations period, which doomed Ledbetter's Title VII claim, would be of no relevance to a claim under the EPA. Because the statute of limitations that applies to an EPA claim can be as long as three years, as opposed to the much shorter limitations period under Title VII, employers should expect to see a greater number of cases alleging EPA violations as plaintiffs attempt to challenge disparities in initial pay setting.

Discrimination on the basis of color, read broadly to include race, ethnicity, and some religions and ancestry, may also be challenged under 42 U.S.C. section 1981. That statute prohibits intentional discrimination, the same as Title VII, but it is subject to a four-year statute of limitations. Once again, by pleading under this statute in addition to Title VII, plaintiffs may be able to challenge a greater number of employment decisions, including possibly those setting initial compensation levels .

Finally, we anticipate lobbying by various interest groups seeking to have Congress legislatively overrule Ledbetter . Indeed, the dissenting Justices in Ledbetter essentially invited such a course of action. With the ink on that decision barely dry, a number of interest groups already have denounced the decision and promised legislative action in Congress. This may also be an issue that comes to the fore in the upcoming presidential primaries and election. As a result, the window that Ledbetter appears to have narrowed may shortly be thrown open again.

Ledbetter is among the most important Supreme Court decisions of the past several years. It potentially can curtail liability for employers presently faced with lawsuits alleging pay discrimination under Title VII. Further, it strongly suggests that employers that structure their compensation systems to focus on deciding incremental changes in compensation, rather than compensation levels , may derive greatest benefit from the decision. However, because there are a panoply of anti-discrimination laws, many with much longer limitations periods, in the long run employers may find that Ledbetter primarily has changed the way in which plaintiffs plead their case as opposed to limiting the employer's exposure.

Allan G. King is a Shareholder in Littler Mendelson's Dallas office. Nancy E. Pritikin is a Shareholder in Littler Mendelson's San Francisco office. If you would like further information, please contact your Littler attorney at 1.888.Littler, [email protected] , Mr. King at [email protected] , or Ms. Pritikin at [email protected] .

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.

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Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007)

SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2006 LEDBETTER V. GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

LEDBETTER v . GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO., INC.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit

No. 05–1074. Argued November 27, 2006—Decided May 29, 2007

During most of the time that petitioner Ledbetter was employed by respondent Goodyear, salaried employees at the plant where she worked were given or denied raises based on performance evaluations. Ledbetter submitted a questionnaire to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in March 1998 and a formal EEOC charge in July 1998. After her November 1998 retirement, she filed suit, asserting, among other things, a sex discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The District Court allowed her Title VII pay discrimination claim to proceed to trial. There, Ledbetter alleged that several supervisors had in the past given her poor evaluations because of her sex; that as a result, her pay had not increased as much as it would have if she had been evaluated fairly; that those past pay decisions affected the amount of her pay throughout her employment; and that by the end of her employment, she was earning significantly less than her male colleagues. Goodyear maintained that the evaluations had been nondiscriminatory, but the jury found for Ledbetter, awarding backpay and damages. On appeal, Goodyear contended that the pay discrimination claim was time barred with regard to all pay decisions made before September 26, 1997—180 days before Ledbetter filed her EEOC questionnaire—and that no discriminatory act relating to her pay occurred after that date. The Eleventh Circuit reversed, holding that a Title VII pay discrimination claim cannot be based on allegedly discriminatory events that occurred before the last pay decision that affected the employee’s pay during the EEOC charging period, and concluding that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Goodyear had acted with discriminatory intent in making the only two pay decisions during that period, denials of raises in 1997 and 1998.

Held:  Because the later effects of past discrimination do not restart the clock for filing an EEOC charge, Ledbetter’s claim is untimely. Pp. 4–24.

   (a) An individual wishing to bring a Title VII lawsuit must first file an EEOC charge within, as relevant here, 180 days “after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred.” 42 U. S. C. §2000e–2(a)(1). In addressing the issue of an EEOC charge’s timeliness, this Court has stressed the need to identify with care the specific employment practice at issue. Ledbetter’s arguments—that the paychecks that she received during the charging period and the 1998 raise denial each violated Title VII and triggered a new EEOC charging period—fail because they would require the Court in effect to jettison the defining element of the disparate-treatment claim on which her Title VII recovery was based, discriminatory intent. United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans , 431 U. S. 553 , Delaware State College v. Ricks , 449 U. S. 250 , Lorance v. AT&T Technologies, Inc. , 490 U. S. 900 , and National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan , 536 U. S. 101 , clearly instruct that the EEOC charging period is triggered when a discrete unlawful practice takes place. A new violation does not occur, and a new charging period does not commence, upon the occurrence of subsequent nondiscriminatory acts that entail adverse effects resulting from the past discrimination. But if an employer engages in a series of separately actionable intentionally discriminatory acts, then a fresh violation takes place when each act is committed. Ledbetter makes no claim that intentionally discriminatory conduct occurred during the charging period or that discriminatory decisions occurring before that period were not communicated to her. She argues simply that Goodyear’s nondiscriminatory conduct during the charging period gave present effect to discriminatory conduct outside of that period. But current effects alone cannot breathe life into prior, uncharged discrimination. Ledbetter should have filed an EEOC charge within 180 days after each allegedly discriminatory employment decision was made and communicated to her. Her attempt to shift forward the intent associated with prior discriminatory acts to the 1998 pay decision is unsound, for it would shift intent away from the act that consummated the discriminatory employment practice to a later act not performed with bias or discriminatory motive, imposing liability in the absence of the requisite intent. Her argument would also distort Title VII’s “integrated, multistep enforcement procedure.” Occidental Life Ins. Co. of Cal. v. EEOC , 432 U. S. 355 , 359. The short EEOC filing deadline reflects Congress’ strong preference for the prompt resolution of employment discrimination allegations through voluntary conciliation and cooperation. Id., at 367–368. Nothing in Title VII supports treating the intent element of Ledbetter’s disparate-treatment claim any differently from the employment practice element of the claim. Pp. 4–13.

   (b)  Bazemore v. Friday , 478 U. S. 385 (per curiam) , which concerned a disparate-treatment pay claim, is entirely consistent with Evans , Ricks , Lorance , and Morgan. Bazemore ’s rule is that an employer violates Title VII and triggers a new EEOC charging period whenever the employer issues paychecks using a discriminatory pay structure. It is not, as Ledbetter contends, a “paycheck accrual rule” under which each paycheck, even if not accompanied by discriminatory intent, triggers a new EEOC charging period during which the complainant may properly challenge any prior discriminatory conduct that impacted that paycheck’s amount, no matter how long ago the discrimination occurred. Because Ledbetter has not adduced evidence that Goodyear initially adopted its performance-based pay system in order to discriminate based on sex or that it later applied this system to her within the charging period with discriminatory animus, Bazemore is of no help to her. Pp. 13–21.

   (c) Ledbetter’s “paycheck accrual rule” is also not supported by either analogies to the statutory regimes of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or the National Labor Relations Act, or policy arguments for giving special treatment to pay claims. Pp. 21–24.

421 F. 3d 1169, affirmed.

   Alito, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Ginsburg, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Stevens, Souter, and Breyer, JJ., joined.

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Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

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Goodyear Tire & Rubber: M&A Synergies

By: Mark Simonson

In late 2020, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Goodyear)'s chief executive officer, Richard Kramer, told Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper)'s chief executive officer, Bradley Hughes, that…

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In late 2020, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Goodyear)'s chief executive officer, Richard Kramer, told Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper)'s chief executive officer, Bradley Hughes, that Goodyear would submit an acquisition proposal by the end of the year. Goodyear had spent the last two years enduring global weakness in the automotive industry and the onset of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to Goodyear's stock falling 70 per cent below its high of $35 in 2018. Kramer attributed the stock's decline to an "industry downcycle," and one analyst speculated that a merger could provide much needed cost and revenue synergies. Goodyear had used mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to achieve scale and fuel its growth in the past, and Kramer's team needed to decide if a merger with Cooper could help them weather the downturn and emerge stronger. Kramer and his team identified several cost synergies, totalling $165 million per year. They also expected efficiency and tax synergies with a present value of at least $700 million as well as revenue synergies. Goodyear was considering using a combination of debt, stock, and cash to finance the transaction. To avoid earnings per share dilution from issuing too many shares as merger consideration, they were working with financial advisor J.P. Morgan to secure up to $2.314 billion of new debt financing. Kramer told Hughes that his team would work over the year-end holidays to provide "a revised proposal or other update" in January 2021.

Mark Simonson is affiliated with Arizona State University

Learning Objectives

The case is suitable for core corporate finance courses at the master of business administration level to illustrate firm valuation methods and adding value through merger & acquisition (M&A). The case applies the following core concepts: increasing shareholders' value, determining incremental free cash flows, estimating cost of capital, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, and scenario analysis. The case can also be suited for courses in M&A, valuation, advanced corporate finance, and financial modelling at the graduate or undergraduate level. The case provides several learning objectives, after completing the case discussion and assignment, students will be able to explain the benefits of M&A from the target's and acquirer's perspective; identify different types of synergies that can justify paying a premium in an M&A transaction; develop a DCF valuation model for a target firm in a merger; incorporate projected cost, revenue, efficiency, and tax synergies into a DCF analysis; use comparable company valuation multiples in a valuation analysis; and perform an accretion dilution analysis for different deal structures and understand any implications.

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Goodyear: The Aquatred Launch

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Goodyear Case Study: Use of SAP Systems for Supply Chain Management

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The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with 95,000 employees worldwide and a daily production of more than 500,000 tires is one of the largest tire and rubber manufacturers in the world. The company has itself six rubber plantations and maintains 84 factories in 26 countries (refer to Figure 8.1). Goodyear has development centers in the USA, Japan and Luxembourg for research and development.

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Buxmann, P., König, W. (2000). Goodyear Case Study: Use of SAP Systems for Supply Chain Management. In: Inter-organizational Cooperation with SAP Systems. SAP Excellence. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04218-2_8

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Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company: A Case Study from the Save Energy Now Program

Through Save Energy Now (SEN), the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) helps industrial plants operate more efficiently and profitably by identifying ways to reduce energy use in key industrial process systems. From its inception in 2006 to May 2008, 526 assessments have been performed around the country, identifying cost savings of over $750 million. Approximately $112 million in energy savings recommendations have been implemented, resulting in 74.1 trillion British thermal units (Btus) of natural gas savings.

In March 2006, an SEN assessment was conducted for Goodyear at the company’s tire plant in Union City, Tennessee. Founded in 1898, Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies, with 70,000 employees and more than 60 tire plants in 26 countries. Goodyear develops, markets, and sells more than 80 different types of tires for a wide variety of vehicles. In 2006, the company posted net sales of $20.3 billion. The Union City plant opened in 1968 and employs approximately 2,800 workers.

The SEN assessment was performed by DOE Energy Expert Don Schmidt of Geos, LLC, who worked with two plant employees to analyze the plant’s steam system. As a qualified specialist in the use of DOE’s steam system assessment tool (SSAT) software, Schmidt installed the program on the employees’ computers and reviewed the data with them. This not only helped the plant team learn the software, but it also showed them how to analyze and identify natural gas savings opportunities in the plant’s steam system and apply those practices to other Goodyear facilities.

The steam system at the Union City plant is served by four dual-fueled (natural gas and No. 6 fuel oil) boilers. The plant uses more than 400,000 MMBtu (million Btu) of natural gas and 4 million gallons of No. 6 fuel oil annually. Steam is important for the Union City plant’s production because it is needed for critical applications, such as tire curing and processing. Because many of the steam traps are next to the plant’s presses, steam trap maintenance is critical to ensuring that the presses operate reliably.

The Goodyear plant has a longstanding energy management policy aggressively focused on maintaining steam traps and repairing leaks. Faced with rising energy costs and the need to remain competitive, plant employees had contemplated additional efficiency improvements to their steam and motor-driven systems. Plant associates had long suspected that their steam system could yield significant energy savings. The SEN assessment report added weight to concerns raised by the plant energy team.

Assessment Recommendations

Using the data collected in the SSAT software, the team identified three potential energy savings measures and evaluated each for technical and economic feasibility. After reviewing expected cost and energy savings and the associated payback periods, the team determined the following near- and medium-term opportunities.

Near-term opportunity

• Optimize Boiler Operation and Load Management Strategy—The steam load profile showed that the plant operated all four boilers at part load for redundancy purposes. In addition, two boilers were operating with excess flue gas oxygen levels, and the air inlet temperatures were unnecessarily hot. Careful analysis of the plant’s reliability requirements showed that the plant’s steam demand could be met by operating the large boiler and one of the smaller boilers at higher loads.

Medium-term opportunities

• Insulate Process Equipment—While much of the steam system, including the headers, was insulated, the plant’s tire presses were only partially insulated. The assessment calculated that the plant was losing approximately 1,500 pounds per hour (lbs/hr) of steam. It was recommended that the plant completely insulate the presses to reduce steam demand, which would lower steam system energy consumption. Annual energy savings were estimated at almost 23,000 MMBtu of natural gas and more than 224,000 gallons of No. 6 oil, with total annual cost savings of around $400,000.
• Recover Process Waste Heat—Due to contaminants from the production process, a significant quantity of condensate is unsuitable for return to the boiler. This condensate is diverted to a “hot well,” where it is cooled in a cooling tower and then used to cool other plant processes. The assessment showed that the condensate’s heat could be recovered using a heat exchanger to raise make-up water temperature, which would reduce the load on the boilers. Annual energy savings were estimated at 9,600 MMBtu of natural gas and 94,100 gallons of No. 6 oil. Estimated annual cost savings were approximately $176,000 per year.

If implemented, the total annual energy cost savings from both the near- and medium-term opportunities was estimated at more than $1 million.

Assessment Results

Goodyear’s Union City plant personnel began optimizing boiler operation and working on a load management strategy shortly after the assessment was completed. To optimize boiler operation, the employees adjusted the automation controls on all the boilers and reconfigured the forced draft fan inlets as specified in the assessment. This enabled them to operate the large boiler closer to full load and shut down one of the smaller, natural gas?fired boilers, resulting in annual energy and cost savings of approximately 70,000 MMBtu and $490,000.

In 2007, plant personnel began insulating the tire presses. They finished installing heat blankets on each of the presses at the end of 2007, and the insulation is yielding annual energy savings of approximately 23,000 MMBtu of natural gas and 224,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil, with cost savings of $385,000.

The plant intends to implement the recovery of process waste heat during a future scheduled plant shutdown.

Total energy savings from the implementation of the two recommendations is estimated at approximately 93,000 MMBtu of natural gas and 224,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil. With total implementation costs of $180,000 and annual energy cost savings of $875,000, these achievements will yield a simple payback of just 2.5 months. The plant’s natural gas costs have declined since the spring of 2006, resulting in lower energy cost savings than originally projected by the assessment. The methodology and results from the assessment were deemed applicable to and are being shared with several other Goodyear facilities.

Lessons Learned

Energy efficiency opportunities in steam systems can deliver significant energy savings without incurring substantial implementation costs. At Goodyear’s Union City tire plant, associates were aware of the potential for energy savings from the measures proposed in the SEN assessment, but before the assessment they had been unsure of the measures’ cost-effectiveness.

The assessment’s calculations of implementation costs and savings revealed that the efficiency opportunities were viable enough to fit the corporate parameters for energy efficiency expenditures. Such opportunities can be replicated in many industrial facilities that use steam.

In addition to the SSAT, other DOE software tools can be used to analyze industrial systems and processes and generate energy efficiency opportunities, including AIRMaster+, the Fan System Assessment Tool (FSAT); MotorMaster+, the Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool (PHAST); and the Pumping System Assessment Tool (PSAT). These tools can be found at www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/software.html . The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association’s 3E Plus® software can also be useful and is available at www.pipeinsulation.org .

This article has been reprinted with permission from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). To learn more about the DOE’s Save Energy Now program, please visit www.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow .

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Csb releases case study on fatal 2008 accident at goodyear tire and rubber plant in houston; cites need for emergency drills, following pressure vessel codes.

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Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company: Case Study

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Resources, Conservation and Recycling

Alexandra Pehlken

Hybrid filler systems consisting of precipitated silica and kaolin modified with a sodium salt of rubber seed oil (SRSO) were studied in blends of natural rubber (NR) and polybutadiene rubber (BR). Substitution of 5e10 phr (parts per hundred rubber) of silica with SRSO modified kaolin imparted lower Mooney viscosity and higher cure rate for the mixes, thereby improving processing characteristics. Higher chemical crosslink density index and bound rubber content of the blends containing SRSO modified kaolin showed a higher extent of rubbererubber and rubber-filler interaction respectively. The lower abrasion loss and compression set and higher tensile strength, elongation at break and tear strength of the blend rubber vulcanizates containing SRSO modified kaolin indicated its potential for application as tire tread compositions. Also, lower value of loss factor (tan ɗ) of these compositions as measured from DMTA could lead to lower heat build-up in tire tread applications.

Provenance Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Emily Gainer , Michelle Mascaro

Industrial clusters are a critical component of the competitive viability of economies around the world. However, clusters are not static but evolve in response to technology and competition. This process has garnered interest from scholars and from practitioners, with the focus primarily on local linkages and networks. Although global knowledge ties have the potential to fuel innovation, scant attention has been given to global knowledge connectivity in the context of cluster evolution. We analyze a comprehensive 30-year patent dataset (1975-2005) associated with the Akron industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio. The results also show that innovation in the cluster has survived in spite of a long-term decline in manufacturing activity and employment. The survival of innovation in the Akron cluster is driven by increasing specialization at the local level with an emphasis on technologies rather than products and growing connectedness to global innovation systems. A key implication of our study is the importance of anchor tenant multinational enterprises and research institutions in ensuring the persistence of local innovation through two key processes (a) orchestrating knowledge networks; and (b) spawning startup activity. We provide support for recent work in industrial marketing suggesting that network evolution has both deterministic and strategic aspects.

asyifau yahya

Global Strategy Of PT Gajah Tunggal

Mark Bowles

Archaeologists have defined past civilizations by the materials that predominated in their societies. The evolution of the use of these materials—stone, bronze, and iron—enabled significant and concurrent changes in the cultures that mastered them. The ability to develop, shape, and use these substances has been one of the measures of a civilization’s capabilities, so much so that we now identify them as the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Historians have also associated the comings and goings of other, more recent, periods with the prevalence of particular types of materials. Brooke Hindle identified America’s pre-Civil War period as its “Wooden Age,” and he characterized the society as one that was “pervasively conditioned by wood.” This dependence slowly subsided after 1850 and was replaced in part by metals and the corresponding products of industrialization. There was one common characteristic that defined these former ages. The materials in question all came from nature. However, at the dawning of the twentieth century, scientists and engineers began to master a new class of materials called polymers. Although some of these occurred in nature (like spider silk or natural rubber), other polymers were made in laboratories and factories and had properties superior to those existing in the natural world. Over the past century, the ability to create and manipulate natural and synthetic polymers has resulted in a revolutionary transformation of our own material culture. One hundred years ago, the artifacts of everyday life were made of wood, stone, textiles, glass, or metal. This is no longer the case, as polymers now often replace these substances and enhance the quality of the products made with them. The result is that the emergence of polymers has become one of the most significant scientific and engineering achievements in the past century. The father of polymer education, Herman Mark, suggested in 1982 that society was “coming to an age in polymer science.” In 1976, an author in Chemical Week simply christened this the “polymer age.” Although it is often difficult and arbitrary to pinpoint dates of when “ages” like this begin or end, it might be argued that the Polymer Age had its beginnings in the late 1970s. While the earliest polymer discoveries took place in the 1920s, it was not until a half century later that the consumption of synthetic polymer materials overtook metals in the United States. In 1973, the United States produced the same amount of synthetic polymers as it did steel—15.5 million cubic meters. In 1976, the United States consumed more plastics than metal on a per volume basis for the first time, and plastics became the most consumed synthetic material in the country. The rapidity with which polymers became so prevalent is an astonishing story. In the 1930s, the United States produced virtually no polymers. Forty years later, it produced twenty-three million metric tons. In 1900, only a handful of chemists concerned themselves with materials that would later be known as “polymers,” and none knew what they truly were. Today, half of all chemists work with them in one form or another. Statistics like these are strong indicators that a new material age has begun. Cultural indicators also point to a sea change since the 1970s in how we value polymer or plastic products. Consider how the idea of plastics was interpreted by Hollywood and pop music stars in the 1960s. In the 1967 film The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) was told by one of his father’s colleagues that the future lay in one word—“plastics.” To Braddock, this suggestion conveyed a sense of conformity, selling-out, boredom, and cheap imitation. The audience of the 1960s easily understood how the mere suggestion of “plastics” symbolized the dull life Braddock would eagerly try to escape. It reminded viewers of a similar song released that same year by pop duo Sonny and Cher, who sang about the “plastic man.” Their lyrics warned about a man not to be trusted, like someone selling cars on television. He was working day and night, not disclosing he was recruiting everyone for his commercial desires. They sang, “He’s doing everyone he can . . . Plastic Man.” The Beatles Rubber Soul album, released in the mid 1960s, further exemplified the negative connotation of another polymer term. Significantly, an important cultural shift has occurred since then. By the 1970s, the image of plastics began to lose its substandard connotations and instead conveyed the belief that polymers represented a new and potentially better way of life. Symbolizing this phenomenon was an unlikely musician who recognized the emergence of polymers as a new dominant material reality. From 1976 to 1979, legendary punk rock singer Marion Elliot adopted the pseudonym “Poly Styrene” to make a statement about the significance of the changes she saw happening around her. She created a character who idealized the glamour of plastic and echoed a youth movement that would eventually come to embrace a new polymer world. She chose the name Poly Styrene for this persona as she herself became infatuated with “plastic” society. One of her songs, a top-thirty hit in London, was called “The Day the World Turned Day-Glo;” in its lyrics she observed that polymers were over taking society. This song paralleled the dawn of a new material era—a Polymer Age. While it is now nearly impossible to go about a normal day without interacting in significant ways with polymers, they have ironically become something of a unseen substance. As Steve Love, Akron journalist and coauthor of Wheels of Fortune, wrote, “Polymers have an identity problem. They are, comparatively speaking, invisible . . . .” This invisibility needs to change. After the process of vulcanization was established in 1839, natural rubber quickly became one of the vital material components of society. The dependence upon it grew so great that during World War II, when the United States realized that it could be easily cut off from the world’s sources of natural rubber, its entire military operation nearly ground to a halt. Without rubber, the greatest military nation in the world would be quickly rendered powerless. The quest to develop synthetic rubber during World War II led in part to the predominance of the synthetic polymer materials that surround us almost invisibly. We are living in the midst of a Polymer Age, and few of us realize it, or even know what this means. As Jeffrey L. Meikle argued in his book American Plastic, “most people ignored . . . that the United States entered the ‘Plastics Age’ in 1979 when the annual volume of plastic exceeded that of steel.” We can no longer ignore its presence in our lives, and the history of its emergence requires telling. With some notable exceptions, there is a disproportionate relationship between the significance of polymers and the number of historical, scientific, and popular discussions that analyze their development. Compared to the number of scholarly studies on other scientific and technological developments like computers, automobiles, and electricity, historians have also been surprisingly quiet on the subject of polymers. The retrospective studies that do exist were largely written by former polymer practitioners. These “insider” stories include memoirs, review articles, and autobiographies. Ffor the most part, biographical treatments have far superseded the institutional perspective of the history of polymers. There is no question that institutions have been essential to the emergence of the Polymer Age, and their historical neglect is an oversight that requires attention. An institutional perspective can help us understand the intellectual and social foundations from which polymer science and engineering developed. Much as an individual’s biography yields important insights into a particular historical context, so, too, does an institutional focus reveal key perspectives. The Polymer Age arose through an international network of researchers working within large academic, industrial, and governmental organizations that over time developed the scientific and engineering skills to create and commercialize polymers. Among these institutions are academic programs (including the University of Akron, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Case Western Reserve University, California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Brooklyn Polytechnic), industrial organizations (including IG Farben, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Goodyear, Bridgestone/Firestone, B. F. Goodrich, and General Tire), and various government agencies and scientific societies like the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. It is beyond the scope of this book to present a sweeping account of the entire network of institutions responsible for the emergence of the Polymer Age over the past century. Instead, this book examines the story within the framework of one academic institution that has played the longest, and arguably the most influential, role in creating and shaping the Polymer Age—the University of Akron. This university has played a signal role in the emergence of the Polymer Age starting in 1909 when Charles Knight offered the world’s first complete course in rubber chemistry, marking the birth of a new academic discipline. This course has now evolved into an entire college—the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering—which has been ranked for the last ten years as one of the top two academic institutions in the United States in the field. An examination of the near century in between the foundation of the course and the flourishing of the college, demonstrates how these long polymer chains became chains of opportunity for an academic discipline, an economic region, and a university.

Journal of Environmental and Agricultural Ethics 28: 313–334 - DOI 10.1007/s10806-015-9536-0

Hub Zwart , Jochem Zwier , Lotte Krabbenborg

In the unfolding debate on the prospects, challenges and viability of the imminent transition towards a ‘Bio-Based Society’ (BBS) or ‘Bio-based Economy’ (BBE) - i.e. the replacement of fossil fuels by biomass as a basic resource for the production of energy, materials and food -, ‘big’ concepts tend to play an important role, such as, for instance, ‘sustainability’, ‘global justice’ and (last but not least) ‘naturalness’. The latter concept is, perhaps, the most challenging and intriguing one. In public debates concerning biotechnological interactions with the natural environment, the use of terms such as ‘nature’ and ‘naturalness’ is both inevitable and hazardous (given the fact that they are so notoriously difficult to define). Indeed, various conflicting interpretations of naturalness play a role on both sides (pro- and con) of the current debate. This paper aims to analyse and critically assess the role of ‘nature-speak’ in the BBS transition. We will begin with a concise overview of the vicissitudes of the nature-concept so far, focussing on how modern science and technology have challenged and affected our understanding of what nature is. Subsequently, we describe how ‘naturalness’ functions in the unfolding BBS debate. Finally, we will focus on a particular case study, namely the production of rubber with the help of natural latex coming from Dandelion plants rather than from (tropical) rubber trees. On the one hand, this is presented as a more natural and nature-friendly way of producing rubber. On the other hand, it is a sophisticated process, involving high technology and primarily focused on competitiveness on the global market. To what extent or in what sense can dandelion latex be regarded as more natural? And what can we learn from this case study when it comes to addressing naturalness in the broader conceptual and bio-political arena?

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May 19, 2024

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The French 'Erin Brockovich' vs Goodyear

by Angela SCHNAEBELE

For a decade, French former childcare worker Sophie Rollet carried out her own, lonely investigation to make US auto equipment group Goodyear accountable for the death of her husband, Jean-Paul, in a collision linked to the company's tires.

The 50-year-old mother of three's work finally paid off this past week, as authorities raided Goodyear sites in Europe, including its Brussels headquarters, as part of a probe into involuntary manslaughter.

In her stone house in Geney, a village in eastern France, Rollet sat every day for years in front of a computer that she used to meticulously track clues, data and articles on all road accidents linked to explosions of a specific model of Goodyear tires.

Jean-Paul died on July 25, 2014, on highway A36 in the eastern Doubs department at the age of 53.

He was on his way home after completing a delivery when his tanker truck was hit by a semi-trailer that was rolling in reverse after its front left tire burst. Both drivers died instantly.

Rollet's investigation led her to link the tire's model, Goodyear Marathon LHS II, to many other accidents in France and Europe.

"Ten years of working against the grain, almost entirely alone... I often asked myself, 'which door haven't I knocked on?'" the calm but determined woman said.

'Courage and tenacity'

After her husband's case was initially closed, Rollet filed a complaint in 2016 for involuntary manslaughter and handed her personal findings to prosecutors in the city of Besancon.

An expert was handed the case. His analysis of the tire concluded that the blowout that caused the semi-trailer to lose control was due to a manufacturing defect, not an external factor.

"This expertise fundamentally changed the case as it validated Mrs. Rollet's findings," recalled Besancon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux.

Manteaux likened Rollet to Erin Brockovich, the US activist whose legal battle against a major American corporation was immortalized in a movie starring Julia Roberts.

"Her determination was central to making the investigations move forward," he said, hailing her "courage and tenacity".

Prosecutors in Besancon have since added two other cases to their probe involving similar accidents that killed two people.

Media coverage and a documentary into her legal crusade prompted another whistleblower, who remains anonymous, to hand the authorities a USB key containing internal documents suggesting that Goodyear was aware of defects of certain tire models and tried to cover it up.

'I did my part'

On Tuesday, authorities searched Goodyear's European office in Brussels, a site in France and the factory that produces the tires in question in Luxembourg.

Goodyear said it was "cooperating fully" with the authorities.

"For me it's a sort of achievement, a relief," Rollet said, feeling that she had "finally" passed the baton in the case.

But the trained firefighter said she also felt frustrated.

"Justice won't be perfect," Rollet said. "We will never be able to identify all the victims 10 years later."

Rollet, however, said it was "time for me to put some distance between me and this case, which has been relatively demanding".

"You can't confuse determination with obstinacy."

Rollet is now training to become an accountant but she still occasionally goes to schools and businesses to talk about road safety.

"I did my part," she said. "I just turned 50 and today I want to think a little bit about myself."

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Goodyear Tire & Rubber Stock Snapshot

Goodyear tire & rubber news more news, gt stock earnings: goodyear tire & rubber misses revenue for q1 2024, the goodyear tire & rubber q1 earnings summary, goodyear tire & rubber non-gaap eps of -$0.10 misses by $0.09, revenue of $4.53b misses by $250m, goodyear tire & rubber q1 2024 earnings preview, goodyear tire rubber earnings preview: what wall street is expecting, historical prices for goodyear tire & rubber, goodyear tire & rubber analyst data, goodyear tire & rubber analyst opinions, goodyear tire & rubber estimates* in usd, goodyear tire & rubber insider activity, goodyear tire & rubber dividend calendar, goodyear tire & rubber co. calendar, goodyear tire & rubber co. past events, goodyear tire & rubber profile, moody’s daily credit risk score, goodyear tire & rubber shareholder.

Best original tires on new cars, trucks and SUVs in 2024

W hen you're shopping for a new car , you take a wide range of features and equipment into consideration before making your final decision. But one factor that's probably not a deal-breaker is what tires the car is wearing. If you think about them at all, you might figure that you'll live with them until they need replacing and then buy the exact tires you want. As it turns out, a lot of vehicles these days are getting excellent original-equipment tires from esteemed brands like Michelin , Goodyear or Continental . A new J.D. Power survey shows that while owners are pretty satisfied with the results, EV owners are less so.

The J.D. Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study assigns a score, on a 1,000-point scale, that ranks owner satisfaction, and in each of four categories the segment average score was roughly around 800 points. (Details in the charts below.) Tires designed for EVs have been making gains in this annual survey; however, the study also found that many buyers were not made aware that these tires, made from low-rolling-resistance compounds, have a tendency to wear faster.

“The widening satisfaction gap between EVs and gas-powered vehicles highlight an opportunity for tire manufacturers and automakers to educate EV owners on the differences in performance,” said Ashley Edgar, a senior director at J.D. Power. “Additionally, because of the inherit conflict of maximizing vehicle range and optimizing tire wear for EVs, tire manufacturers and automakers need to work together to overcome the challenge without completely sacrificing tire performance in other areas, especially as the EV market continues to increase.”

The survey gathered owner opinions in four categories. In order of weighted importance, they are: tire ride; tire wear; tire traction/handling; and tire appearance. (That last one seems like an odd criterion to us; if a tire rides well, is quiet, wears like iron and provides great traction and handling, who cares what it looks like?)

The study also broke down results by vehicle category: passenger car, luxury car , sport/utility, and performance/sport. The study surveyed 31,414 owners of 2022 and 2023 model-year vehicles.

The results? They're not unexpected: Michelin topped three of the categories — in the case of luxury cars, it has topped this annual survey for 21 years running. In the truck/SUV category, Falken ranked No. 1.

These rankings do not reference particular tire models, just brands. Though in any particular category, you can make an educated guess by cross-referencing with ratings and recommendations at Consumer Reports , Tire Rack and elsewhere.

J.D. Power new-car tire rankings:

Truck/utility.

• Falken, 818 points
• BFGoodrich, 812
• Hankook, 804
• Michelin, 802
• Goodyear, 789
• Bridgestone, 783
• Pirelli, 783
• Segment average, 781
• Continental, 765
• Firestone, 725

Performance/Sport

• Michelin, 833
• Segment average , 809
• Pirelli, 798
• Goodyear, 788

Passenger car

• Michelin, 823
• Goodyear, 811
• Bridgestone, 797
• Segment average , 797
• Yokohama, 793
• Falken, 787
• Pirelli, 787
• Continental, 786
• Firestone, 786
• Hankook, 785
• Michelin, 834
• Goodyear, 812
• Continental, 811
• Segment average, 810
• Bridgestone, 803
• Pirelli, 793

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Best original tires on new cars, trucks and SUVs in 2024 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Mar 2024 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .