Like a thief in the office: stealing stationery and supplies

It’s the kind of thing that goes mostly unnoticed – an express-post envelope here, a couple of highlighters or a glue stick there. But is the stealing of office stationery really stealing?

In a survey of 2000 employees conducted several years ago by Kelly Services, one in four Australians admitted taking home and keeping minor stuff that belonged to their employer. It’s not as chronic as other parts of the world, such as the United States, where three in four people honestly declare their dishonesty. Apparently, the worst offenders are men with tertiary qualifications.

In a poll released last year by an office design firm in the UK, respondents said pens are the most common item they steal, followed by paper, postage stamps, mugs, toilet paper seriously, and staplers. Other workers had stolen pot plants, filing cabinets, desks, chairs, and even – somehow – floor tiles.

Earlier this year, a 69-year-old man in Germany was arrested because he had nicked truckloads of office supplies from a range of workplaces – 25,000 kilograms’ worth, actually – much of which he kept stored in his basement and attic.

It seems many employers are cracking down on it. I recall first joining the corporate workforce 15 years ago and marveling at the fully stocked stationery cupboard open and available for any employee to use. These days, every workplace I visit has the cupboard locked, with the keys restricted to the reliable hands of only a couple of people.

The other question to ponder is this: what precisely constitutes stealing? Some would say a pen, worth only a few cents, is no big deal – but stealing a box of them is a crime. Likewise, a thin pad of post-it notes might be OK, but a thick wad is probably wrong. Is stealing ‘stealing’ no matter the quantity?

via Like a thief in the office: stealing stationery and supplies.

Strange Random Stealing Quote:

“The thief, as will become apparent, was a special type of thief. This thief was an artist of theft. Other thieves merely stole everything that was not nailed down, but this thief stole the nails as well.” ― Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

Related articles

• Tea Gardens Thief (theinsightlopedia.wordpress.com)
• Janitor steals 25 tonnes of stationery (thelocal.de)
• Thief takes, returns same car twice (upi.com)
• Thief steals US flag from man in chicken suit (sfgate.com)
• Thief fails to dress for the occasion (nzherald.co.nz)
• Police In Manalapan Hunt For Car Thief With Strange MO (newyork.cbslocal.com)

14 employees lose jobs over orange shirts – UPI.com

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., March 17 UPI — Fourteen employees of a Deerfield Beach, Fla., law firm say they found themselves out of jobs after management mistook their orange shirts for a protest.

The employees told the South Florida Sun Sentinel they all wore orange on payday Fridays so they would look like a group when they went out for happy hour later. After a few months of this ritual, management called all of them into a conference room Friday.

An executive at the law firm told the employees he understood the orange shirts to constitute a protest and anyone participating in this protest would be fired. The executive told anyone wearing orange for an innocent reason to speak up, and one person stood up to explain the happy hour ritual. The management left the room to discuss the matter.

All 14 employees were still fired.

via 14 employees lose jobs over orange shirts – UPI.com.

Strange Random Firing Quote:

“Well sometimes you just don’t like somebody.” – Henry Ford II (1919–1987), US automobile manufacturer and CEO of Ford Motor Company.
Referring to his reasons for firing Lee Iacocca, then president of Ford, in 1978.

Related articles

• I’ve been fired – Should I sue? (justbeenfired.wordpress.com)
• Mayor: Fire Schools Official Who Allegedly Took Free Meals, Packers Tickets (chicago.cbslocal.com)
• Kevin Rudd has his Lee Iacocca moment (wellthisiswhatithink.wordpress.com)
• Boss fired over tractor drift racing (upi.com)
• How Soon is ‘Too Soon’? – On Replacing Recent Hires With ‘Better’ Ones (smallbusiness.uprinting.com)
• AOL Patch Will Fire 200 People Next Week, Employee Claims (AOL) (businessinsider.com)
• How to handle being fired (techwag.com)

Dubai Brokers Choose Sandwiches Over Stocks – Bloomberg

Nabil Rantisi, who sold stocks during the United Arab Emirates’ boom, now oversees orders of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding wraps from crowds including former clients.

“Business was getting too slow, and at some point you have to decide where time would be spent in a more valuable way,” said Rantisi, who quit his job as the senior vice president of brokerage at Rasmala Investment Bank Ltd. in Dubai in June to help start a deli named 1762. The 34-year-old now works a few hundred meters from where he used to fulfill share orders.

Three years after the Dubai bubble burst, its financial industry is still in decline and shows little sign of recovery. While the emirate successfully restructured debt and invested in transport and tourism, the number of employees in the Dubai International Financial Centre fell to 11,331 in July of last year from 11,436 in 2009.

via Dubai Brokers Choose Sandwiches Over Stocks – Bloomberg.

Strange Random Stocks Quote:

“October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.” – Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

 

Related articles

• Dubai Shares Retreat Most in Two Weeks Before Full-Year Earnings (businessweek.com)
• Long weekend Dubai (ebookers.com)
• Dubai (leggotunglei808.wordpress.com)
• CHART OF THE DAY: Dubai Stock Market Lurches To Its Lowest Close In 7 Years (businessinsider.com)
• Dubai, Fujairah Ports Busy as Usual Amid Hormuz Passage Threat (businessweek.com)

Sales up but Aussie online commerce still e-volving – Business Australian Broadcasting Corporation

An Australian online retailer is warning the traditional retail model will change in the next decade as a new report finds nearly three out of five Australian adults are shopping online.

The Australian Communication and Media Authority’s ACMA e-commerce report released this week said 59 per cent of adults bought goods or services online in the six months to April 2011, up from 53 per cent from two years ago.

It also found that while people are still mainly buying from Australian websites, overseas-based sites are gaining in popularity – a move that is threatening traditional retailers.

A total of 53 per cent of people surveyed by the report said they bought most often from Australian websites; a drop of 15 per cent from 2009.

ABC News Online asked readers on Twitter why they bought goods online, with most naming price, availability and convenience as reasons to snub traditional retailers.

Online retailer Kogan is warning e-commerce “is still only in its infancy” in Australia and still has five to 10 years of growth left till it reaches the levels of maturity seen in US and UK markets.

via Sales up but Aussie online commerce still e-volving – Business Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Strange Random Online Shopping Quote:

There’s nothing better than online shopping in your PJ’s with a glass of wine with the kids asleep! – Helen Wilson

Related articles

• E-commerce’s Next Wave: How Your Facebook Wall Could Become a Online Mall (dailyfinance.com)
• Infographic: Online Holiday Shopping (marketingtechblog.com)
• Akron Hardware Brings Commercial Door Hardware Business Online with InsiteCommerce, Launches Online Product Configurator (prweb.com)
• Australian digital marketing: 25 killer statistics (econsultancy.com)
• Online shopping boom ‘here to stay’ (bobbyt1960.wordpress.com)
• Retailers trying to rekindle the impulse buy (msnbc.msn.com)
• Online Shopping Boom a Boon for Smart Retailers (bobbyt1960.wordpress.com)
• How To Run An Efficient E-commerce Business (blazingminds.co.uk)
• Aussies have got it good – retail mogul (heraldsun.com.au)
• Shoppers opt for clicks over bricks (theage.com.au)
• Why E-Commerce Will Weather A Down Economy (forbes.com)

Business and Financial News – The New York Times

Netflix declared that it had moved too fast when it tried to spin off the old-fashioned DVD service into a new company.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Business and Financial News – The New York Times, posted with vodpod

Strange Random Movie Quote:

It’s the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it. – Andy Warhol

Related articles

• Netflix abandoning Qwickster DVD rental idea (bizjournals.com)
• Netflix Drops Qwikster DVD Service, Game Rentals “to be Determined” (1up.com)
• You can’t say “hell” in the New York Times? (chicagoreader.com)
• Christmas in September? Business news – msnbc.com (exitbusiness.wordpress.com)
• US journalists launch campaign for ‘op-ed transparency’ (guardian.co.uk)
• The Financial Landscape: Post-Recession Blues; Netflix Kills Qwikster (dailyfinance.com)