DETROIT — General Motors Co. Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr. urged the troubled automaker's employees to forget their old bureaucratic culture, telling them yesterday not to fear being fired for taking risks.

Whitacre, who also announced key management changes, wants to speed up the automaker's shift to an entrepreneurial culture where decisions are made quickly.

In a 45-minute presentation that was broadcast to employees on internal television networks and over the Internet, Whitacre also unveiled a mission statement to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles.

DRUGMAKERS TARGET PAINKILLER ABUSE

WASHINGTON — Phar-maceutical executives laid out plans yesterday to prevent the misuse of prescription painkillers, under pressure from regulators trying to stop hundreds of fatal overdoses each year.

But Food and Drug Administration officials said the industry's proposals were short on specifics and that more work is needed before any measures are put in place.

Johnson & Johnson, King Pharmaceuticals and other drugmakers proposed using patient medication guides, letters to doctors and additional physician training to curb inappropriate use and prescribing of painkillers.

FACTORY ORDERS UP 0.6% IN OCTOBER

WASHINGTON — Orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in October, the sixth gain in the past seven months. It was further evidence that the manufacturing sector is beginning to recover, which will help support the overall economy.

Orders rose 0.6 percent in October, the Commerce Department said yesterday, much better than the flat reading that economists had expected.

KRAFT AIMS CADBURY BID AT SHAREHOLDERS

PORTLAND, Ore. — Kraft Foods Inc. took its $16.3 billion hostile takeover offer for Cadbury PLC straight to shareholders of the British candy company yesterday.

The deal is nearly unchanged from an earlier offer that was rejected by Cadbury. But by putting it directly in shareholder hands, Kraft starts the clock on a series of regulatory deadlines to get the majority support it needs and may flush out rival bids.

Kraft announced in September that it proposed a takeover of Cadbury and formally issued the bid in November.