Emerson Electric’s $27.6 billion offer for Rockwell Automation is as logical as it was easy to rebuff. The combination would give Emerson heft in what has fast become one of the buzzwords of the industry: process automation, namely making sensors and software that help devices chat to one another, and manufacturers do things better and faster. The trouble is that Emerson is offering too little of the wrong currency. The bid Rockwell’s board publicly rejected on Tuesday would have left its shareholders with just over a quarter of the enlarged group, and a $13.8 billion slug of cash. But to

Ford’s new chief executive is betting his ambitious retool on big cost cuts. Jim Hackett, who jumped into the driver’s seat in May, wants to slash $14 billion of fat by 2022 and switch $7 billion of investment to trucks and SUVs from cars. That should boost earnings, helping speed development of electric and autonomous vehicles. The plan will have to fire on all cylinders, though, to catch up with competitors. The huge changes in costs and capital allocation is a stunning indictment of not just predecessor Mark Fields’ three years running America’s second-largest automaker but Alan Mulally’s reign, too.

Germany’s new electoral landscape promises upheaval for companies as well as politicians. Chancellor Angela Merkel faces tricky coalition negotiations after Sunday’s inconclusive elections. Organising a parliamentary majority requires simultaneous support from the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens. The environmental party’s inclusion would be good news for Germany’s emission-reduction ambitions, but may hurt carbon-guzzling utilities and automakers. Merkel may have persuaded leaders of other rich countries to agree two years ago to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century but has failed to do enough of her own homework. Germany pledged to cut carbon emissions by 40