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INDIA: India's GAIL says study for gas pipeline on track.
Reuters English News Service=20 AEP Realigns Executive Management Team to Prepare for Planned Corporate Sep= aration PR Newswire=20 Enron Unit Files Claim To Recover Argentine Investment Dow Jones International News=20 Seminar Geared to Extrusion Engineers and Supervisors PR Newswire=20 INDIA: India states may face blackout as Enron unit idles. Reuters English News Service=20 Zurich authorities okay EWZ, Enron JV. Neue Z?rcher Zeitung=20 Crude oil rises on possible OPEC cuts Bloomberg News National Post=20 .=20 India: Vijaynagar power project likely to hit roadblock Business Line (The Hindu)=20 India: Tata Power, IDBI discuss Dabhol Business Line (The Hindu)=20 India: SCI in a spot over LNG tanker project Business Line (The Hindu)=20 INDIAN STATE POWER GIANT SAYS NO TO DISINVESTMENT, ENRON STAKE Asia Pulse=20 DPC braces to serve MSEB asset-transfer notice Business Standard=20 Global lenders demand their inclusion in talks Business Standard=20 ONGC not keen on Enron's liquefied natural gas facility Business Standard=20 rethinking the office Say goodbye to the Dilbert cubicle and hello to a new= breed of...cubicle. Make that "workstation." The difference is better desi= gn, stylish layouts and the thing most offices lack: fun. So long to the ol= d workplace hierarchy The Globe and Mail=20 PGNiG Board Ratify Norwegian Gas Deal Polish News Bulletin=20 World Watch The Wall Street Journal=20 INDIA: India's GAIL says study for gas pipeline on tck. By Shailendra Bhatnagarws Service=20 (C) Reuters Limited 2001.=20 NEW DELHI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - State-run Gas Authority of India Ltd said on= Friday its technical-commercial feasibility study for a deep-sea gas pipel= ine from Iran was proceeding on schedule despite fears of war in the region= .=20 But the New Delhi-based firm said the overland option was not a priority no= w because of heightened political uncertainty in neighbouring countries. "We're going ahead with the deep-sea feasibility study and hope to see it c= ompleted in a year's time, Proshanto Banerjee, Gas Authority's chairman and= managing director, said.=20 "But the onshore feasibility is not a priority right now because it would i= nvolve Pakistan and Afghanistan which are disturbed politically at the mome= nt," he told reporters.=20 GAIL is the agency mandated by the government to carry out the $10-million = feasibility study for the proposed 2,500-km (1,550 mile) pipeline that coul= d partly meet India's growing hunger for energy.=20 Analysts estimate India has a demand for 115 million cubic metres of gas a = day against a supply of 65 million. The pipeline from Iran, which has the w= orld's second-largest gas reserves, makes economic sense.=20 But the overground route from Iran to India for the project, estimated at $= 4.0 billion, would pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan - a country that h= as fought three wars with India.=20 FEARS OF WAR HAVE RISEN=20 Prospects of a conflict in the region have risen since the devastating Sept= ember 11 hijack attacks on the United States.=20 Washington accuses Afghanistan's ruling Taliban of sheltering Osama bin Lad= en, its prime suspect for the attacks, and has asked him to be handed over = or face possible military retribution.=20 On being asked whether GAIL would be interested in taking over energy giant= Enron's Corp Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the western Indian st= ate of Maharashtra, Banerjee said the "company would certainly look at the = proposal".=20 Enron's Indian unit, the Dabhol Power Co, is involved in a bitter payments = battle with the state's electricity board, and the U.S. firm wants to sell = its 65 percent stake in the unit.=20 Dabhol's 740-MW first phase has been idle since May and its second 1,444-MW= phase is 97 percent complete but further construction has stopped because = of the dispute. The first phase uses Naphtha as fuel and the second was to = run on LNG.=20 But Banerjee added GAIL had not been approached by any institution or Enron= with a proposal and did not make any estimate of what the 5.0-million tonn= e LNG facility would fetch.=20 GAIL's shares ended 0.50 percent lower at 50.50 rupees on Friday on the Bom= bay exchange, whose main index closed up 3.54 percent. ($1 =3D 47.85 rupees= ). AEP Realigns Executive Management Team to Prepare for Planned Corporate Sep= aration 09/28/2001 PR Newswire=20 (Copyright © 2001, PR Newswire)=20 Company reaffirms earnings guidance for 2001: $3.50 to $3.60 per share=20 COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP= ) announced today that it has realigned executive management to prepare for= the planned separation of its regulated and unregulated businesses. According to E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP chairman, president and chief executiv= e officer, the realignment, which is effective immediately, will allow the = company's executive team to apply diverse management experience to all of A= EP's businesses.=20 Thomas V. Shockley III will continue to report to Draper as vice chairman w= ith the additional title of chief operating officer. He will have overall r= esponsibility for AEP's regulated and unregulated businesses as well as its= engineering and technical development operations. Shockley was formerly pr= esident and chief operating officer of Central and South West Corp. and joi= ned AEP when the two companies merged last year.=20 Two executives reporting to Shockley will head AEP's marketing and trading = operations. Eric J. van der Walde, executive vice president - marketing and= trading, for AEP Energy Services, will continue in that role, overseeing t= he company's trading activities in electricity, natural gas, energy futures= and emissions credits. Van der Walde has led the tremendous growth in AEP'= s trading business since joining the company in 1997 from Enron Capital and= Trade Resources.=20 Steven A. Appelt, executive vice president - administration, AEP Energy Ser= vices, will also continue in his role. Appelt, who guided the development a= nd implementation of AEP's trading architecture and trading support functio= ns, joined the company in 1998 from Enron Oil Trading and Transportation, w= here he was chief financial officer.=20 John F. Norris, senior vice president - operations and technical services, = retains responsibility for AEP's power plant fleet, the largest in the U.S.= , as well as the company's natural gas pipelines, storage facilities, proce= ssing plants and other facilities. Norris, who will report to Shockley, joi= ned AEP in 1999. He was previously president of the American Bureau of Ship= ping Group Inc., and earlier served in several senior positions with Duke E= nergy Corp.=20 Paul D. Addis, executive vice president - wholesale, is leaving AEP to purs= ue other interests. Addis founded AEP's competitive wholesale business, whi= ch includes power generation, engineering, natural gas storage and pipeline= s, energy trading and marketing in the U.S. and Europe, and AEP's unregulat= ed retail business. "Paul has been the driving force behind the development= of AEP's competitive businesses into the vibrant, sustainable businesses t= hey are today," Draper said. "Our competitive wholesale business will remai= n a major focus of AEP's strategy. We thank Paul for his efforts and wish h= im well.=20 "AEP remains committed to its wholesale strategy, which has achieved remark= able success in a short time," Draper said. "We have every confidence that = Eric and Steve, who have been integral parts of our competitive wholesale b= usiness since day one, will continue that record of success. Our wholesale = businesses, together with our substantial regulated businesses, provide a b= alanced combination of growth and stability for our shareholders."=20 Henry W. Fayne, executive vice president - finance and analysis and chief f= inancial officer, has been named executive vice president and head of AEP's= regulated businesses. Following AEP's corporate separation, the company's = regulated businesses will include regulated generating plants as well as en= ergy delivery operations in 11 states. Fayne, who will report to Shockley, = has held numerous positions with AEP since 1974, including controller and s= enior vice president - planning and budgeting.=20 William J. Lhota, executive vice president responsible for AEP's energy del= ivery business, plans to retire at the end of the year after 37 years with = AEP. "Bill Lhota's contribution to AEP can't be overstated," Draper said. "= In the history of AEP and the utility industry, few can match Bill's standa= rd of leadership and professionalism. We are grateful to him."=20 Susan Tomasky, executive vice president and general counsel, becomes execut= ive vice president - policy, finance and strategic planning. Tomasky, who w= ill continue to report to Draper, will serve as chief financial officer. Sh= e will also be responsible for AEP's corporate development activities. Toma= sky joined AEP in 1998 and is former general counsel of the Federal Energy = Regulatory Commission. Jeffrey D. Cross, senior vice president and deputy g= eneral counsel, has been named acting general counsel, reporting to Tomasky= .=20 Donald M. Clements Jr., executive vice president - corporate development, p= lans to retire following a distinguished career in energy and law, spending= the last seven years with AEP. Draper thanked Clements for his role in AEP= 's success. "Don has played an important role in building today's AEP and h= e will be missed."=20 Robert P. Powers, senior vice president - nuclear generation, has been name= d executive vice president responsible for all nuclear engineering activiti= es as well as some non-nuclear engineering. He will also oversee AEP's rese= arch and development operations. Powers will report to Shockley and retains= responsibility for AEP's Cook nuclear generating station and AEP's interes= t in the South Texas Project.=20 Joseph H. Vipperman continues in his roles as executive vice president - sh= ared services, reporting to Draper.=20 "The changes we are making will infuse different strengths and new perspect= ives into all of our operations," Draper said. "At the same time, we will m= aintain management continuity in critical areas. That will make AEP a stron= ger and more flexible competitor in the evolving energy marketplace."=20 Draper reaffirmed AEP's previously announced earnings guidance for 2001 in = the range of $3.50 to $3.60 per share.=20 American Electric Power is a multinational energy company based in Columbus= , Ohio. AEP owns and operates more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capa= city, making it America's largest generator of electricity. The company is = also a leading wholesale energy marketer and trader, ranking second in the = U.S. in electricity volume with a growing presence in natural gas. AEP prov= ides retail electricity to more than 7 million customers worldwide and has = holdings in the U.S. and select international markets. Wholly owned subsidi= aries are involved in power engineering and construction services, energy m= anagement and telecommunications.=20 News releases and other information about AEP can be found on the World Wid= e Web at http://www.aep.com .=20 AEP has scheduled a conference call with financial analysts that will be br= oadcast live over the Internet at 10 a.m. EDT today. The webcast is availab= le at http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=3D1274 .=20 For those unable to listen during the live webcast, the call will be archiv= ed for replay on AEP's web site, http://www.aep.com . To access the replay,= click on "Investor Relations." Once in "Investor Relations," go to "Compan= y Updates" and click on "Conference Call Webcast."=20 Enron Unit Files Claim To Recover Argentine Investment 09/28/2001 Dow Jones International News=20 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)=20 (This article was originally published Thursday)=20 By Tim Loughran Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Azurix Corp., a unit of Houston, Texas-based Enr= on Corp.(ENE), has decided to abandon its $440 million, 30-year concession = to oper ate drinking- and wastewater services in the province of Buenos Air= es and is try ing to recover all investments made there in the last 26 mont= hs, a company spoke sman told Dow Jones Newswires. In addition, Enron and Azurix will seek "some level of damages in addition = to the money we've spent," said John Ambler, Enron's spokesman for its Lati= n Am erican operations.=20 On Sept. 19, the company filed a claim with the International Centre for th= e Settlement of Investment Disputes in Switzerland against the Republic of = Argent ina to make sure "that all of our rights are protected," Ambler said= .=20 In the meantime in Argentina, "we are continuing discussions with the appro= priate government authorities, which we hope will result in a negotiated r= ecisio n of the concession contract without having to resort to arbitration= ," he said.=20 Azurix owns 90% of the Azurix Buenos Aires water company, which serves the = l argest and most populous of Argentina's 23 provinces. The company's emplo= yees ow n the rest.=20 Elsewhere in Argentina, Azurix owns 32.1% of Obras Sanitarias de Mendoza, a= water company in the province of the same name. France's Societe de Amenag= ement Urbain et Rural, or Saur, owns another 32.1%, while company employees= own 10% an d the provincial government retains a 20% stake, according to E= nron's 2000 annua l report.=20 "For the time being, (Azurix) remains active in Mendoza," said Ambler.=20 Earlier this year, reports circulated that Enron planned to sell all Azurix= assets in Argentina to its French partner.=20 At the time, Ambler said he could not comment on any possible sale of compa= n y assets, but did tell Dow Jones Newswires that Enron is in the process o= f selli ng Azurix assets worldwide.=20 When asked if Saur would be a candidate to take over the Buenos Aires water= concession, Ambler said that decision would be left to provincial official= s afte r Azurix satisfied its claims against the province.=20 Buenos Aires Dispute In Enron's 2000 annual report, officials said Azurix Buenos Aires lost $11.= 6 million on operating revenue of $89.5 million in the year ended Dec. 31, = 2000.=20 More recent earnings figures for Azurix Buenos Aires are not yet available,= Ambler said.=20 Azurix has complained for most of the last two years that provincial offici= a ls had yet to fulfill their pre-purchase promises to complete important i= nfrastr ucture projects or allow Azurix Buenos Aires to raise prices to the= levels set i n the concession negotiation.=20 In addition, Azurix claims that provincial officials failed to transfer imp= o rtant assets to Azurix Buenos Aires or pay assorted pre-takeover costs, a= s stipu lated in the concession agreement.=20 Provincial officials were not immediately available for comment on Azurix's= claim and plans to abandon the province. But in the past they have taken a= n equa lly hard line against the water company, saying the company should l= ose its conc ession for its alleged failure to modernize and expand the pro= vince's network of water lines or improve service.=20 To accommodate Azurix's complaints and compensate the company for lost reve= n ue, in February 2001 the company and provincial officials signed an agree= ment th at would allow Azurix to raise prices and invest less than the $350= million it p romised to spend when it won the water utility, according to = the company.=20 Unfortunately, those negotiations yielded little, according to Ambler.=20 "The fundamental flaws have yet to be resolved and that's why we are moving= ahead to work with officials in the province to revert the concession back= to t hem," he said.=20 Argentina has begun the fourth year of a recession that began in mid-1998 a= n d should last until the second half of 2002 at the very least, according = to econ omists.=20 Buenos Aires province, where about half Argentina's 37 million people live,= is so strapped for cash to pay its bills and loans on time that it has pri= nted i ts own currency to pay public employees, retirees and government ven= dors.=20 Several other provinces have followed suit, a trend critics say could in th= e long run keep consumer prices artificially high and prolong a protracted = slump in domestic spending, which accounts for 70% of Argentina's $260 bill= ion gross d omestic product.=20 -By Tim Loughran, Dow Jones Newswires; 5411-4313-1918; tim.loughran@dowjone= s .com Seminar Geared to Extrusion Engineers and Supervisors 09/28/2001 PR Newswire=20 (Copyright © 2001, PR Newswire)=20 AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- No matter if your job is fine-tuning = the shop-floor extruder, designing the die, or overseeing your plant's extr= usion department, Plastics Encounter Atlanta (formerly Plastics Fair) offer= s something for you. In addition to the Plastics News-organized Encounter b= usiness conference and trade show being held Nov. 13-15 at the Georgia Inte= rnational Convention Center, other groups are staging events on site to hel= p maximize attendee value.=20 On Nov. 13 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Society of Plastics Engineers' Southe= rn Section is partnering with SPE's Extrusion Division to present a regiona= l MiniTec educational seminar and conference for extrusion engineers. This = day-long event will feature several technical presentations delivered by of= ficials from such firms as Conair, Coperion, Davis-Standard, Xaloy, Leistri= z, Fluortek and Crescent Associates. Participants will have time during the= 12 to 1:30 p.m. lunch break to visit the 100+ exhibits on the show floor. Cost for this seminar is $125 before Oct. 29, and $150 after that. Register= separately for the MiniTec by visiting www.spesouthern.org/minitec.htm onl= ine.=20 The SPE event also is timed to allow interested parties to attend both the = MiniTec on Tuesday, and the separate-admission Compuplast International ext= rusion troubleshooting and training seminar for machine operators and super= visors on Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This seminar will a= lso have an extended lunch break from 12 to 1:30 p.m. to allow participants= to visit the show floor.=20 This seminar, taught by former long-time Brampton Engineering official John= Perdikoulias, is designed to show attendees how to analyze, design and tro= ubleshoot all extrusion processes through a better understanding of the beh= avior of the polymer within the equipment. This hands-on, two-day simulatio= n seminar costs just $100. Preregister by clicking the Training Seminars bu= tton at www.plasticsencounter.com/atlanta online or by calling (888) 368-72= 29. Paid subscribers to Plastics News receive a 10% discount.=20 Plastics Encounter Atlanta is co-sponsored by Enron, Fast Heat, GE Polymerl= and, Gefran, JSW Plastics Machinery, Maag Pump Systems, Mold Base Industrie= s, Progressive Components, SPE Southern Section and Extrusion Division, and= Ultrasonics For Less.=20 INDIA: India states may face blackout as Enron unit idles. By Sriram Ramakrishnan 09/28/2001 Reuters English News Service=20 (C) Reuters Limited 2001.=20 BOMBAY, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Five Indian states, including two of the most p= rosperous, face the prospect of a blackout even as U.S. energy giant Enron = Corp's plant on the west coast lies idle, a senior government official warn= ed on Friday.=20 "There is every chance of a total grid collapse in the western region, whic= h means there will be no electricity anywhere - in hospitals, railway track= s, offices," the official told Reuters. India's western region, comprising the five states of Maharashtra, Goa, Guj= arat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, consumes an average of around 25,000 = MW of electricity per day, the most in the country.=20 Maharashtra and Gujarat are two of India's most prosperous states and Bomba= y, the capital of Maharashtra, is the country's financial capital. Several = key factories of multinational companies such as the BG Group Plc , Royal D= utch Shell and Hindustan Lever Ltd are based there.=20 In January this year, the northern grid buckled, plunging most of northern = India, including the capital New Delhi, into darkness for hours. The offici= al fears a similar collapse could occur in the western region.=20 Patchy rains in some parts of the western region and maintenance shutdowns = by thermal plants have affected supplies, the official told Reuters.=20 India's western region has a capacity of 30,548 MW a day of which about 3,0= 00 MW comes from hydro-electric power plants.=20 During peak hours the shortfall is about an average 4,500 MW, and about 2,5= 00 MW during off-peak hours, the official said.=20 "Rainfall this year has been low, particularly in Gujarat and Madhya Prades= h," he said. "Availability is down as hydro reservoirs have not been able t= o accumulate water."=20 About 6,000 MW of thermal capacity has also been hit as these plants are sh= ut for annual maintenance. This has resulted in a generation of 19,000 MW, = versus a demand of over 22,000 MW, the official said.=20 CRISIS SECTOR=20 "We are in crisis," he said. "Load-shedding to reduce demand has to be done= on an hourly basis." Load shedding is cutting off electricity for short pe= riods in a day, to prevent excess demand from straining the grid.=20 A blackout, the official said, would disrupt industrial production and norm= al services. It would also turn the spotlight on the country's beleaguered = power sector, dominated by loss-making state utilities.=20 It could also hasten efforts to end a dispute between Dabhol Power Company = and the Maharastra State Electricity Board (MSEB) over payment defaults and= high tariffs.=20 Enron's 740 MW plant, built by its Indian unit Dabhol Power Company, has be= en lying idle after its sole buyer, a loss-making state utility, stopped bu= ying power in June.=20 The official said Dabhol's power would be welcome now, but said they have n= ot proposed to MSEB that it resume purchases from the plant.=20 Many Indian utilities have little money to invest in new capacity or to buy= power from private units, thereby choking private investment. South Korea'= s Daewoo's Corp, Electricite de France and Cogentrix of the United States h= ave already exited the country.=20 Demand is growing at the same time. Government estimates show India needs t= o add around 100,000 MW per day by 2012, but with stagnant capacity, most g= rids are under pressure during times of peak demand, the official said. Zurich authorities okay EWZ, Enron JV. 09/28/2001 Neue Z?rcher Zeitung=20 (C) Copyright 2001.=20 The Zurich municipal authorities in Switzerland have approved plans for the= establishment of a joint venture electricity trading company by municipal = power utility Elektrizitaetswerk der Stadt Zuerich (EWZ) and the US-based E= nron group. The joint venture will be headquartered in Zurich and will be e= quipped with share capital of SwFr 2m. It will employ around ten staff.=20 The new company aims to play a leading role in wholesale electricity distri= bution in Switzerland and neighbouring countries. The city council will ret= ain ownership of EWZ's power stations and will retain responsibility for su= pplying customers in Zurich. The joint venture, which represents a strengthening of existing cooperation= between the two partners, forms part of the city council's efforts to boos= t EWZ's competitiveness in preparation for deregulation of the Swiss electr= icity market. Cooperation with Enron has already enabled EWZ substantially = to increase the volume of electricity traded and to improve the marketing o= f electricity from its own generating stations.=20 [Original article approx 300 words]=20 Visit the website of Switzerland's leading international newspaper Neue Zue= rcher Zeitung at http://www.nzz.com Financial Post Investing Commodities Crude oil rises on possible OPEC cuts Bloomberg News 09/28/2001 National Post=20 National IN02 © National Post 2001. All Rights Reserved.=20 NEW YORK - Crude oil rose yesterday on speculation that OPEC might cut prod= uction at a November meeting if prices don't rally in the weeks ahead.=20 The producers, meeting yesterday in Vienna, left their output targets uncha= nged, though they've trimmed them by 3.5% this year as demand slipped from = a sagging economy. Saudi Arabia is urging members to meet their quotas, which they exceeded by= an estimated 3% in August. OPEC still may reduce production if prices stay= low, Iran's oil minister said.=20 "The focus on compliance is an intermediate step between a cut and doing no= thing," said Matt Anderson, an analyst at Enron Corp. in Houston. "They wan= t credibility as guardians of oil price stability and don't want to be seen= hurting the global economy."=20 In other markets, gold and soybean futures fell. The Bridge- Commodity Rese= arch Bureau index rose 0.61 to 191.18, while the energy-weighted Goldman Sa= chs Commodity Index rose 0.95 to 180.03.=20 Crude oil for November delivery rose US36 cents, or 1.6%, to US$22.74 a bar= rel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices yesterday fell to US$20.30 = a barrel, their lowest level since August, 1999. Oil has dropped 18% since = terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11.=20 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has an informal accord to= cut supply if its price index stays below US$22 for 10 consecutive days, t= hough Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister, Ali al-Naimi, has indicated the group ma= y not use that method for boosting prices.=20 Mr. Al-Naimi said yesterday OPEC members would seek to improve compliance w= ith existing output targets as a means of boosting prices.=20 Gold futures fell for the first time in three sessions as some investors wh= o had purchased the metal after terrorist attacks loaned it out, adding sup= plies to the market.=20 Soybeans fell to a three-month low on signs that overseas demand for U.S. s= upplies is weakening just as Midwest farmers accelerate the harvest of a re= cord crop. Dry weather in the Midwest is expected to speed harvesting of th= e crop.=20 "Exports are weak and we've got new supplies coming on with the harvest," s= aid Curt Kimmel, an analyst with Grain Field Marketing in Normal, Illinois.= =20 Soybeans for delivery in November, after the harvest, fell 3.25 cents, or 0= .7%, to US$4.6175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the lowest closin= g price since June 28. Soybean prices have fallen in three of the past four= sessions and are down 7% from a year ago.=20 Overseas buyers arranged to purchase 416,300 metric tons of soybeans last w= eek, down from 568,800 tons a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agricult= ure said before trading opened. The drop was bigger than analysts expected.= =20 Exporters shipped 505,200 tons of soybeans between Sept. 1 and Sept. 20, do= wn from 1.01 million tons during the same period a year earlier, the USDA s= aid.=20 China, the No. 1 importer of U.S. soybeans last year, has arranged to buy 9= 23,500 tons of beans since Sept. 1, a 66% increase from a year ago. Still, = Chinese importers have yet to take delivery of any of those soybeans becaus= e of a dispute with the government over new rules for handling gene-altered= commodities.=20 India: Vijaynagar power project likely to hit roadblock C. Shivkumar 09/28/2001 Business Line (The Hindu)=20 Fin. Times Info Ltd-Asia Africa Intel Wire. Business Line (The Hindu) Copyr= ight (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. All Rights Res'd=20 BANGALORE, Sept. 27. THE proposed Vijaynagar power project is headed for tr= ouble at the nascent stage itself with the joint venture (JV) partner Larse= n & Toubro (L&T) imposing conditions as a prerequisite to participation.=20 L&T is the shortlisted partner in the 500-MW project along with Karnataka P= ower Corporation Ltd (KPCL). Sources said here that one of the major conditions of L&T for participation= in the joint venture is award of the engineering procurement and construct= ion (EPC) contract to the company. In such a situation L&T had offered to i= ncrease its equity stake in the project.=20 However, KPCL has rejected the conditions put forward by L&T. Instead KPCL = has indicated that it would abide by the guidelines of the Electricity Regu= latory Commission (ERC) which entail that EPC contractors be chosen entirel= y through the competitive bidding route. This was to ensure compliance with= the least cost principle of the ERC. Power producers, the sources said, we= re expected to comply with these guidelines.=20 Accordingly, one of the alternatives put forward is that L&T should be give= n the first right of refusal where competitive bidding process was adopted = for selection of EPC contractors. The sources said, that this proposal was = also not acceptable to KPCL. Instead, KPCL had suggested that L&T also part= icipate in the competitive bidding process for the EPC contract. The source= s said that giving the first right of refusal to L&T would not allow the Vi= jaynagar project to obtain the benefits of the competitive bidding process,= they added. Since none of the proposals were acceptable to KPCL, L&T had s= ought more time in finalising a decision to participate in the Vijaynagar p= roject.=20 However, KPCL has already made it clear that it was prepared to implement t= he project. "We are prepared to implement the project on our own," the sour= ces said. But any project implementation would have to be done through the = special purpose vehicle route. This is because the current balance sheet of= KPCL is unlikely to allow the company to leverage for the debt funds for t= he new project.=20 KPCL had originally short listed Powergen International and Enron along wit= h the L&T as the joint venture partners for the project.=20 But both Enron and Powergen had pulled out of the financial bids, leaving L= &T as the lone bidder for the power project. The original proposal had envi= saged a 25 per cent stake for the partner, with 26 per cent with the KPCL a= nd the remaining equity funds to be raised through the participation of Fin= ancial Institutions, banks, equipment suppliers and the public.=20 The project cost has already been revised upwards. The new cost per MW is e= stimated at Rs 4.62 crore. This is in line with the estimates made for two = of the 1000-MW stations - CLP- Tata, and Nagarjuna Power - proposed in the = State. The original cost estimate was Rs 2,099 crore or Rs 4.1 crore per MW= . The revised project cost is now about Rs 2,400 crore. This is to be funde= d through a 70:30 debt equity ratio implying that the equity component woul= d comprise about Rs 692 crore.=20 KPCL has also obtained a fuel linkage with Talcher. The coal requirement fo= r the project is estimated to be in the region of 2.8 million tonnes per an= num assuming a plant load factor of 80 per cent and a calorific value of 30= 00 kilo calories per kilogram. This coal is to be brought by sea to the new= ly corporatised port of Ennore and evacuated by the Railways to Vijaynagar. India: Tata Power, IDBI discuss Dabhol 09/28/2001 Business Line (The Hindu)=20 Fin. Times Info Ltd-Asia Africa Intel Wire. Business Line (The Hindu) Copyr= ight (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. All Rights Res'd=20 MUMBAI, Sept. 27. TATA Power officials, along with advisors J.M. Morgan Sta= nley, are understood to have met senior officials of the Industrial Develop= ment Bank of India on Thursday to discuss the details of Tata's proposal to= buy Enron's Dabhol Power Company (DPC).=20 Officials said these were "preliminary discussions" before going in for ser= ious negotiations. The Tata's had sent a letter of interest to the Centre expressing their int= erest in buying out Enron's stake in the controversial Dabhol Power Company= .=20 When contacted, Mr Adi Engineer, Managing Director, Tata Power, said there = had been "no development worth mentioning."=20 - Our Bureau India: SCI in a spot over LNG tanker project P. Manoj 09/28/2001 Business Line (The Hindu)=20 Fin. Times Info Ltd-Asia Africa Intel Wire. Business Line (The Hindu) Copyr= ight (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. All Rights Res'd=20 NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. SHIPPING Corporation of India (SCI) is faced with a Ho= bson's choice on the 137,000-cubic metre capacity LNG Laxmi, the tanker pro= ject it is developing jointly with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Atlantic Commerc= ial Inc. (an affiliate of Enron) for Dabhol Power Company (DPC).=20 A meeting of SCI board slated for Friday will have to decide whether to go = ahead with the project or call it quits. "Both are difficult choices to mak= e", Government sources told Business Line. With the lenders to the project led by ANZ Investment Bank declining to rel= ease the last tranche of the project loan worth $55 million out of a total = loan commitment of $165 million, the project promoters will have to chip in= with the remaining project cost for taking possession of the vessel at the= scheduled delivery date of November 15.=20 If the promoters sink in the remaining project cost according to their equi= ty holding, take delivery of the vessel and deploy it elsewhere, it is felt= that the viability of the project will not work out due to uncertainty ove= r charter hire rates.=20 The SCI-Mitsui-Atlantic Commercial Inc joint venture has signed a time char= ter party agreement with DPC to charter out LNG Laxmi for a hire rate of $9= 8,600 per day for 10 years to bring gas from Oman for the plant.=20 With the DPC project in trouble, there is a view that the joint venture wil= l not get $98,600 per day as charter hire even if the vessel is deployed el= sewhere on spot basis.=20 "Forget about getting $98,600 per day. It is difficult to get $68,900 per d= ay which was the rate at which SCI- MOL-NYK-K Line consortium had bagged th= e LNG shipping project for Petronet LNG Ltd. The time charter hire rates ar= e expected to go down even further to about $50,000 per day", the sources s= aid.=20 Besides, there is a perception now that the contracted price of the LNG ves= sel of $220 million was $18,000-20,000 higher than the market price prevail= ing at the time when the tanker was ordered on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries = Yard.=20 "The price paid for the vessel is so high that even if the promoters abstai= n from pumping in the remaining project cost, and given the uncertainty ove= r charter hire rates, the viability of the project will not work", the sour= ces said. INDIAN STATE POWER GIANT SAYS NO TO DISINVESTMENT, ENRON STAKE 09/28/2001 Asia Pulse=20 © Copyright 2001 Asia Pulse PTE Ltd.=20 NEW DELHI, Sept 28 Asia Pulse - At a time when Indian government is going a= head aggressively with the disinvestment of PSUs, state-owned National Ther= mal Power Corporation (NTPC) said this was not the right time for disinvest= ment in NTPC.=20 "We feel that government should go for disinvestment in NTPC only after com= pletion of power sector reform to get better value for its equity in the co= rporation," NTPC chairman and managing director C P Jain told reporters Thu= rsday. Government has invested about Rs 240 billion (US$5 billion) in the corporat= ion, Jain said, adding with the power sector reform the returns and dividen= d to government should go up substantially and then it would be the right t= ime to think of disinvestment. Meanwhile, Jain clarified that corporation w= as not interested in buying equity in the Enron promoted Dabhol Power Corpo= ration, saying that "the corporation does not think that the option was com= mercially viable."=20 He, however, refused to comment on the issue and said NTPC had to clarify i= ts position to government as some of the financial institutions had suggest= ed NTPC buying equity in the disputed DPC project for resolving the matter.= =20 (PTI) 28-09 1026 DPC braces to serve MSEB asset-transfer notice Our City Editor Mumbai 09/28/2001 Business Standard=20 2 Copyright © Business Standard=20 Offshore lenders to the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company today gave it t= he go-ahead to serve an asset-transfer notice to the Maharashtra State Elec= tricity Board. This marks the beginning of the last phase of the DPC imbrog= lio which is expected to culminate in the serving of the final termination = notice around mid-November.=20 The serving of the asset-transfer notice by DPC will be followed by the val= uation of its assets. Technically, if MSEB does not contest the notice, it = will be required to pay $1.86 billion worth of liabilities to the lenders -= Enron's investment in the project and the next 20 years' projected return = on investment. The assets will, of course, be transferred to MSEB. BA Asia, the facility agent of DPC, sought the permission of the lenders to= serve the transfer notice early this week. This was put to vote yesterday = where the State Bank of India, which has a substantial foreign currency exp= osure in the 2,184-mw project, opposed the move.=20 "The majority of the foreign lenders voted in favour of the transfer notice= . The company may serve it over the next few days," said a source in the le= nding community.=20 Enron holds a 65 per cent stake in DPC, General Electric and Bechtel 10 per= cent each and MSEB a 15 per cent stake.=20 "Armed with the lenders' consent, DPC will start the valuation process next= month after serving the asset-transfer notice. When the lenders consented = to serving the preliminary termination notice (PTN) in May, they had refuse= d to give the go-ahead for the asset-transfer notice," sources said.=20 DPC served PTN on May 19 under Section 17 of the power purchase agreement. = It was "forced" to resort to this move as the state government and MSEB sho= wed their unwillingness to "honour their offtake commitments for the entire= power station". On April 25, the DPC board authorised Enron India managing= director K Wade Cline to take a decision on serving PTN. Global lenders demand their inclusion in talks S Ravindran Mumbai 09/28/2001 Business Standard=20 2 Copyright © Business Standard=20 Global lenders to the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company have warned the U= nion government that no solution can be found to the problem without their = consent and have demanded their inclusion in the subsequent discussions.=20 The global lenders, with a direct exposure of about $590 million in the 2,1= 84-mw project, have stated this in a letter to the finance ministry yesterd= ay. The letter has been written by the steering committee of the global lenders= , comprising Bank of America, Citibank, Credit Suisse First Boston, ABN Amr= o and ANZ Investment Bank, sources in the lenders consortium told Business = Standard.=20 The foreign lenders are miffed as the government, so far, had sidelined the= m in its attempts to find a solution to the problem, and had instead, entru= sted the task to the domestic financial institutions.=20 "We have pointed out to the finance ministry that under the loan covenants,= any final solution, like selling the stake of Enron in DPC, will have to b= e approved by us and have asked them to involve us in future discussions. W= e have also sought a meeting with senior finance ministry officials to put = across our point of view," sources in the lenders consortium added.=20 Recently, the Union government mandated the domestic financial institutions= to find a solution to the issue.=20 The institutions, led by the Industrial Development Bank of India, had sugg= ested major sacrifices on the part of Enron and its two US-based partners, = General Electric and Bechtel, which together hold a 85 per cent stake in th= e company.=20 They had said that the three companies should sell their stake for $400 mil= lion. Enron Corporation chairman Kenneth Lay had summarily rejected the sug= gestion.=20 In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lay had said that the e= quity should be bought at about $1.2 billion. ONGC not keen on Enron's liquefied natural gas facility Our Energy Editor New Delhi 09/28/2001 Business Standard=20 2 Copyright © Business Standard=20 The upstream major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) today ruled out t= aking over liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and regassification = facilities of the Dabhol Power Company.=20 "We are not keen on taking over Enron's LNG facility," ONGC chairman and ma= naging director Subir Raha told reporters here today. As of now, he said, t= he corporation would like to stick to its core business. The corporation wo= uld invest Rs 5,000 crore in oil and gas exploration to double its reserve = base to 12 billion tonne oil equivalent by 2020, he said. "We have finalised an elaborate plan for enhancing reserve base and product= ion. We expect to increase oil production by 20 per cent in five to seven y= ears," Raha said. During the current fiscal, ONGC is targeting 25 million t= onne oil production.=20 ONGC has planned a two-pronged strategy to increase output from the existin= g fields by putting the fields on improved oil recovery and enhanced oil re= covery schemes. Nineteen schemes in 15 fields have been identified for the = purpose. Of the 19 schemes, 13 projects have been approved which would yiel= d an additional oil equivalent of more than 61 million tonne in 20 years, t= he chairman said.=20 Outlining the company's financial performance, Raha said, ONGC made the hig= hest-ever net profit of Rs 5,229 crore in 2000-01. The company has proposed= a dividend of Rs 1,728 crore, which is 110 per cent of equity and also the= highest ever dividend paid by any corporate.=20 ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the corporation's overseas arm, is expected to earn = first revenue overseas with the Vietnam offshore gas project going onstream= in 2002. OVL has 45 per cent interest in the Vietnam offshore gas project.= =20 The corporation will trim its employee strength by 10 per cent to less than= 40,000 personnel through a voluntary retirement scheme, he said. Report on Business Magazine rethinking the office Say goodbye to the Dilbert cubicle and hello to a new= breed of...cubicle. Make that "workstation." The difference is better desi= gn, stylish layouts and the thing most offices lack: fun. So long to the ol= d workplace hierarchy Gerald Levitch 09/28/2001 The Globe and Mail=20 Metro 62 "All material Copyright © Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. and its licenso= rs. All rights reserved."=20 A year ago, New York's Museum of Modern Art commissioned Palo Alto, Calif.-= based IDEO, one of the world's leading industrial design firms, to create a= workplace design for the future. IDEO responded with a metaphorical fantas= y.=20 For an exhibit called Workspheres, the company invented two tools that woul= d "send a visible personal message to the rest of the office." One was a ch= air that changes colour; a small, built-in camera takes an image of the sit= ter's back and reproduces it on the exterior back of the chair, using a liq= uid-crystal display. The idea was to personalize the object, like draping a= jacket over your office chair to indicate possession. The other "worktool" consisted of a miniature projector showing images of s= kies. "If you want to change your space," says IDEO designer Craig Syverson= , "you could dial up the sky of your choice."=20 You won't see either of these fantasies in today's head offices, but the sa= me principles are at play among the most forward-thinking. IDEO's headquart= ers, for instance, blur the distinction between home and the office-the ide= a being that the more comfortable a staff member is in their space, the mor= e productive.=20 To that end, say hello to Bailey, a friendly mutt who wags his tail and pus= hes his nose through the wire fence that serves as the door to his enclosur= e. Bailey's owner, Ana Chang, is an IDEO mechanical engineer, and she keeps= Bailey in a disused storage area just behind her workstation. Next door is= a black Labrador named Roxy, who belongs to another engineer. And then the= re are Chang's pet turtles, who live in the aquarium just across the aisle.= The nice thing about turtles is that, even when they get excited, they don= 't make any noise.=20 None of this bothers IDEO's management, or their extensive client list, whi= ch includes Ford, Cisco Systems, Apple and Pepsi. Nobody breaks a sweat whe= n visitors arrive. After all, what the clients see is a work environment th= at's at once bohemian and fully functional. In this way, the IDEO space wor= ks as a perfect promotional tool for the company's services. And it's all b= y design.=20 For the past 20 years, IDEO has developed office environments in which "any= thing goes," according to general manager Tom Kelley. Rules are flexible, a= s long as no one disturbs anyone else.=20 The company has 400 employees globally; in the Palo Alto area, eight separa= te IDEO locations house about 200 people, with each space designed as the w= orking equivalent of a neighbourhood. In other, conventional corporations, = says Kelley, "space is entirely in the hands of the facility manager. Offic= e space is viewed as a utility." At IDEO, "there's no sense of, 'Well, we'v= e got to take to what the corporate people give us.'" None of the corporate= studios is the same. "We let people create and personalize the spaces they= wanted."=20 Given that freedom, one woman has hung dozens of strands of beads over the = doorway to her workstation. Others suspend patio umbrellas from the ceiling= to reduce computer glare from the skylights. To save space, some employees= hoist their bicycles overhead on pulleys.=20 Kelley likes to tell the story of two neighbouring workers who wanted to co= llaborate more closely, so they brought a sledgehammer to the office over a= weekend and reduced the drywall between them to rubble. No one said a word= . "Thank God there was nothing electrical in that part of the wall," says K= elley.=20 Of course, IDEO also has formal conference rooms, war rooms dedicated to pr= oject teams in the throes of a deadline, casual public spaces for employees= to meet and talk, as well as "enclaves"-the company term for private rooms= geared to heads-down concentration.=20 Altogether, it creates what Kelley calls the "greenhouse effect," in which = the workspace provides all of the basic infrastructure within a nurturing e= nvironment. "It's about culture and morale but, ultimately, it's about comp= etitiveness," he says.=20 Potential new employees are always given a tour. "Many of them say, 'This s= eems like a place where I'd enjoy working.'" Which, of course, is the point= . "Everybody accepts our offers," says Kelley, "and nobody leaves." He's ex= aggerating, but IDEO has a churn rate of less than 4% a year.=20 So what looks like chaos isn't. Despite Kelley's claims that there are no r= ules, IDEO's offices embody a new set of principles that are common to just= about every important new office design.=20 You may not find Bailey the dog at other companies, but certain ideas are b= ecoming universal: a greater interest in the changing nature of work, a wil= lingness to accommodate shifting demographics in the workforce, and a smoot= her incorporation of new technologies into buildings. Companies are learnin= g how to use office space as a competitive tool. The new offices being buil= t today are, in fact, the offices of the future-designed to last for 10, 15= , 20 years.=20 Certainly, one change that seems inevitable is that growth will outstrip ex= pectations. Recent labour statistics show that the number of office workers= in North America has increased by 15% since 1981, from roughly 74 million = to more than 85 million, and is projected to approach 100 million by 2010.= =20 Offices have become the new factories, whose end products are fresh ideas. = The old model-squeezing maximum productivity from the largest number of emp= loyees in the smallest possible space-won't work any more. Across North Ame= rica, companies that once left the layout and furniture of their offices to= lowly facilities managers are now sending their CEOs to meet with the head= s of the leading office design firms-such as Herman Miller and Steelcase.= =20 "The work environment is moving up the strategic food chain," says Michael = Volkema, president and CEO of Holland, Mich.,-based Herman Miller Inc. "And= some senior executives are starting to expect their work environment to do= more than serve as a production tool."=20 Among Volkema's recent visitors are executive VPs of BMW of North America, = the CEO of Enron (the Houston-based electricity company) and a delegation f= rom the Seattle-based biopharmaceutical firm Immunex. "I tell them to think= about their space, first and foremost, as a communications tool," he expla= ins. "Offices make a statement about how employees are expected to work tog= ether, about the company's vision and aspirations. All of that can be embod= ied in the physical environment."=20 Volkema also stresses the changing relationship between management and work= ers. The goal of flattening management hierarchies and improving interactio= n between staff and bosses isn't new; what's new is using workplace design = to achieve it. As a result, hierarchical layouts are going out of style. Yo= u know these well: Step out of an elevator at most Old Economy firms, and y= ou will see a posh reception area, behind which is an open-style maze of dr= ab cubicles. The senior management typically hog the corner offices with th= eir luxurious square footage, doors and windows, and splendiferous views.= =20 Come the revolution, those barriers won't exist. Just look at the desk of J= im Mitchell, president of the suburban Toronto-based office designer and eq= uipment-maker Steelcase Canada Ltd.-it's an open workstation no different f= rom those of other employees. Mitchell works in the middle of an area that = was previously a manufacturing floor. To reach his desk, he has to pass thr= ough rows of employees, and they see him, seated near his CFO and various d= ivisional vice-presidents, at the centre of an accessible executive hub.=20 "I don't look at my desk and see an 8'x10' area," says Mitchell. "I come in= here and say, 'I've got 70,000 square feet. I happen to share it with hund= reds of people. And I use the space that way.=20 "If you followed me for a day, you'd find that what you call my office, I'd= call my process area. This is where I take calls and do computer work, rea= d and correspond. If I want to write a report without interruption, I can g= o to an enclosed environment."=20 Mitchell notes that most senior managers are so caught up in their day-to-d= ay business that they don't give much thought to their workspace. "They loo= k at it as cost, not as a strategic opportunity." But that's beginning to c= hange.=20 "A CEO came to me and said, 'I need to change the culture of my company. He= re's what I see happening today. Teams don't talk to each other, department= s are remote from each other. It's just taking too long to get things done.= '"=20 Mitchell's solution is to design spaces to support the process of work. Ste= elcase uses its open-plan headquarters as a demonstration tool for clients-= a model of how to reorganize an office.=20 And yes, people collaborate better in open environments. But not every open= concept works. The most notorious example is ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day's ma= keover in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s. Management at Chiat eliminated both= the private office and the individual cubicle, gave employees a locker for= their private belongings, and told them to wander through what looked like= a sci-fi movie set. They had to find a different place to sit every day. I= n a 1994 interview, Jay Chiat said, "We're trying to structure things more = like a university, rather than like an elementary school. Most businesses a= re run like elementary schools-you go to work and you only leave your offic= e to go to the bathroom."=20 All the same, the staff hated it and fled home to work. "It was a really in= teresting space that was painful to work in," says Tom Kelley of IDEO. In p= articular, it didn't give the workers a private place to think, and it fail= ed to acknowledge one of the basic needs of human beings, which is to be te= rritorial.=20 That lesson hasn't been lost on today's office designers, who recognize tha= t people want private space-no matter how small. New forms of environments = have been created, such as enclosed meeting areas or rooms for taking confi= dential phone calls. But the greater emphasis is on shared spaces. A certai= n amount of variety is crucial, says Kelley. "It's kind of like Club Med, w= here the rooms are deliberately spare, practically bleak. That's because th= e whole Club Med experience doesn't want you to stay in your room. They wan= t you out at the pool. If you can't afford a lot of private spaces, you nee= d some other places for the workers to go."=20 Making the most of small spaces has become a new art form for office equipm= ent designers. Says Mark Harris, media relations director for Toronto-based= designer Teknion: "We had a client in Silicon Valley whose workstations we= re so tiny that they couldn't spare the extra space for a visitor's chair. = So we invented a new product." It's simply a low-profile file pedestal on w= heels with a padded seat cushion, and it can be stored under any desk or wo= rk surface.=20 Meanwhile, it's out with the old coffee klatch in the Xerox room. People ne= ed better ways to interact, and management needs a place to rub shoulders w= ith the hoi polloi. This has given way to "back yards" and "front yards"-th= e common spaces between workstations-plus Zen gardens, on-site fitness cent= res and rec rooms containing such 21st-century office cliches as video game= s.=20 Of course, having toys on the premises appeals most to the younger demograp= hic. Workers in their 20s and 30s are further catered to by new floor plans= . "The kids at schools today sit around the teacher in circles," says Trish= Clarry, a workplace strategist at Steelcase Canada. "They don't sit in nea= t rows of desks facing the teacher at the front of the room-which is how of= fices used to be laid out. Gen-Y employees start working together collabora= tively in teams at school, and they're bringing these new work habits and m= indset into the workplace."=20 Likewise, workers are being given what Volkema calls "more user control." I= nstead of the old, cell-like cubicle nested in a "six-pack" or egg-crate co= nfiguration, the new offices change in shape and landscape. In the past, yo= u had no choice: The only thing that moved was your chair. Now, you can shi= ft the walls of your work area, arrange shelves, desktops, chairs, work sur= faces and storage areas to suit needs and tastes.=20 In offices equipped with the latest wireless or wire-line networks, employe= es can simply work wherever they please. One example is Steelcase's employe= e cafeteria, called "The Hub"-a 7,000-square-foot, marche-style food court = where people eat, socialize and have office-wide meetings. Some staff membe= rs plug in their laptops, forward calls to their cellphones, and work in a = sunny spot under a skylight.=20 One of the more radical designs in office furniture is Herman Miller's Reso= lve system, introduced in 2000. Designer Ayse Birsel looked at honeycombs, = bubbles and even molecules and found what she calls "nature's favourite ang= le," which is 120 degrees. Unlike a traditional cubicle's right angles, the= divider walls of Resolve open out at 120 degrees, letting in light and air= . The system consists of a range of components-desk space (which can be adj= usted for height), filing boxes on wheels, erasable boards, shelving, and s= o on. Birsel applied fabric screens and graceful canopies to hang over it a= ll, defining the space and offering a measure of privacy.=20 TransCanada PipeLines' new headquarters in Calgary is the first major Canad= ian user of Resolve-650 workstations dispersed throughout the corporate hea= dquarters. The rest of the 5,000 staff now occupy private offices or refurb= ished workstations, all within one million square feet of a just-completed = $225-million, 36-storey TransCanada tower in Calgary.=20 When TransCanada merged with Nova Corp. a few years back, Nova had its own = building (since sold), and TransCanada was split into five locations. "With= hindsight," says TransCanada executive vice-president Al Bellstedt, "I sup= pose we could have squeezed everyone into the old Nova building." What chan= ged those circumstances was a series of reorganizations, rationalizations, = selloffs and layoffs.=20 A new building helped smooth the rough edges of the Nova merger. TransCanad= a wanted to improve morale while fusing two distinct corporate cultures. No= va had had a much softer public image. Says Al Bellstedt, "it was like G.I.= Joe merging with the Care Bears." The old TransCanada executive offices co= ntained imposing dark-wood panelling; at Nova, they had contemporary art on= the walls. "But both were quite opulent," says Bellstedt.=20 Eventually, the new company chose an unusual design-an elongated rectangula= r shape with more window exposure and a reduced central core. The layout al= lowed management to reduce the number of enclosed offices. Employees were g= iven a choice between one of a limited number of standard-sized enclosed of= fices or a larger, open-concept desk with window views. In the end, 40% wou= nd up with open-plan workstations.=20 And instead of the traditional top-floor executive department sitting on to= p of the ant heap, TransCanada executives now occupy the third level, with = the other employees housed on the floors above them. "It's an optics thing,= no more complicated than that," says Bellstedt. It's also an effective sym= bol of change. TransCanada employees now occupy a space that "doesn't have = the old company logos," says Bellstedt. "It doesn't look like the old space= s in either layout or colour. It's fresh and clean. Everything works." Even= after a few months, "the effect on morale has been terrific."=20 Meanwhile in Toronto, IBM wanted a new building to consolidate workers from= three locations around the city, accommodating a total of 2,500 people. Th= e older IBM buildings, some dating back to 1970, had proved barely adequate= for the company's needs-which included a 10 mbps desktop voice-and-data pi= pe capable of streaming live video. Not only would it have been incredibly = expensive to install this in the old facilities, "but it would have been hu= gely disruptive," says Harold Quinton, director of real estate and site ope= rations for IBM Canada.=20 And because so much of software development is a product of teamwork, it wa= s important to bring departments together under one roof. Given the opportu= nity to start from scratch, IBM began with detailed surveys asking employee= s what they wanted in a new facility. At the same time, they commissioned T= oronto interior design firm Marshall Cummings to research how to meet the c= ompany's long-term needs.=20 The end result, in what will eventually be part of a new town centre in Mar= kham, Ont., is a campus consisting of low-rise, four-storey buildings, arra= nged in a four-pod pattern, all linked together by roads. There are three s= paces between the buildings-called "links." "It's at those points," Quinton= says, "that we created different themed oases-a Muskoka-like library, a mi= ni-South Sea island-to encourage interaction among co-workers."=20 Often, the most productive communication occurs, not in structured environm= ents, but in informal ones. In the past, such spaces were accidental. As Qu= inton notes, "they did exist, but in very small and localized areas, in wha= tever space was left over from an office." Today, they're planned. As well,= IBM provided a gym and a day-care centre-a first for the company in Canada= .=20 And not everything in the office is aggressively high-tech. The company dis= covered that many of its most youthful employees have a paradoxically conse= rvative streak. Accordingly, IBM installed a reading room that wouldn't be = out of place in a 19th-century gentlemen's private club.=20 The new facility factored in a lot of disparate needs, retaining enclosed e= nvironments because software developers need privacy as much as they need t= o collaborate in the open.=20 As the project developed, says Quinton, "the need for the quiet space took = greater importance, so we put more emphasis on acoustics-how to provide bot= h acoustic privacy and visual privacy. People need to cocoon at times. So l= ow-level dividers would not be satisfactory. We experimented with different= heights, with different structures of walls."=20 IBM hired designers at Teknion to develop a customized workstation. It has = fairly high dividers, but also a 15" glazed glass panel along the top, to a= llow natural light from the windows. It comes with a sliding door made with= a white-board surface on both sides-if you want people to stay away, write= a message on the door.=20 The biggest lesson that Quinton learned was "to be adaptable to the specifi= c needs of every individual employee." Times have changed: "People are meas= ured on their productivity, not their face time. The goal is to design a pl= ace that allows them to be productive, that attracts the brightest and the = best, and retains them."=20 It's remarkable, the way a new common wisdom develops. All at once, it seem= s as if everybody in the office design business has started to think alike.= And this tendency will certainly have an enormous impact on the $13.3-bill= ion (U.S.) North American office furniture industry.=20 President and CEO of Herman Miller since 1995, Michael Volkema is trim and = fit at 45, and could easily pass for someone 10 years younger. Herman Mille= r employs 10,000 people globally. It was Volkema's decision to move the fir= m's executive offices to the "design yard" in Holland, Mich., which houses = the company's creative and development arms. The yard is a rustic, farmlike= complex, complete with round, silo-like structures. Colonial windows look = out over a pond, and there's a beekeeping area on the premises.=20 The leadership team, which had been dispersed across several locations in M= ichigan, were brought here in early 2000. In the past, says Volkema, there = had been dry periods in the creative life of the company, and he believes "= that wouldn't have happened if our leaders were sitting right on top of the= development process." He also wanted to have a living demonstration "of ou= r team space." Customers are suitably impressed.=20 Herman Miller was founded in 1923 by D.J. DePree. Formerly the Star Furnitu= re Company, it was renamed after DePree's father-in-law, who became the chi= ef shareholder in the new company. Herman Miller achieved international pro= minence through its association with the husband-and-wife industrial design= ers Charles and Ray Eames (the Eames lounge chair, etc.), who worked for th= e company from 1946 to 1978.=20 For Volkema, the future success of the company depends upon a correct readi= ng of how the workplace will evolve. "In a nutshell," he says, "we are goin= g to see a new social dynamic."=20 Volkema recalls a session with management guru Peter Drucker a few years ag= o. ("We just listened to him talk for three days," Volkema notes. "It was o= ne of those times when you realize that God gave somebody else a lot more m= arbles to play with than you.") Drucker reminded the company's executives t= hat every developed country will hit a crisis-a competition for the best av= ailable knowledge workers.=20 To successfully compete for talent, even in a softening economy, Volkema no= tes that "more and more employers will have to satisfy the wants and needs = of the people who show up for work, or they're not going to want to work fo= r you.=20 "We'll have to create work environments that don't feel like production fac= ilities. They'll have a radical, much more residential flavour. There will = be much more ability to do all of the
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