1.
Sustainable Development
–
The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. As the concept developed, it has shifted to more on economic development, social development. The concept of development has been — and still is — subject to criticism. What, exactly, is to be sustained in sustainable development, Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable development, there is an additional focus on the present generations responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future generations. Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which were developed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a mining administrator in the service of Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony published Sylvicultura oeconomica. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his work influenced others, including Alexander von Humboldt and Georg Ludwig Hartig, eventually leading to the development of a science of forestry. Two years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles of conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged. In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report Our Common Future, the report included what is now one of the most widely recognised definitions of sustainable development. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the Earth Charter, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable and it emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. Broadly defined, sustainable development is an approach to growth and development and to manage natural, produced. A2013 study concluded that sustainability reporting should be reframed through the lens of four interconnected domains, ecology, economics, politics, the goals are to be implemented and achieved in every country from the year 2016 to 2030. Sustainable development, or sustainability, has described in terms of three spheres, dimensions, domains or pillars, i. e. the environment, the economy. The three-sphere framework was proposed by the economist René Passet in 1979. It has also been worded as economic, environmental and social or ecology, economy and this has been expanded by some authors to include a fourth pillar of culture, institutions or governance. The ecological stability of human settlements is part of the relationship between humans and their natural, social and built environments, also termed human ecology, this broadens the focus of sustainable development to include the domain of human health
2.
Geneva, Switzerland
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
3.
Slogan
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The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a slogan as a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising. A slogan usually has the attributes of being memorable, very concise and these attributes are necessary in a slogan, as it is only a short phrase. Therefore, it is necessary for slogans to be memorable, as well as concise in what the organisation or brand is trying to say, the word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic and Irish sluagh-ghairm. Slogans vary from the written and the visual to the chanted and their simple rhetorical nature usually leaves little room for detail and a chanted slogan may serve more as social expression of unified purpose than as communication to an intended audience. George E. Shankels research states that, English-speaking people began using the term by 1704, the term at that time meant the distinctive note, phrase or cry of any person or body of persons. Slogans were common throughout the European continent during the Middle Ages, crimmins research suggests that brands are an extremely valuable corporate asset, and can make up a lot of a businesss total value. With this in mind, if we take into consideration Kellers research and these include, name, logo and slogan. Brands names and logos both can be changed by the way the receiver interprets them, therefore, the slogan has a large job in portraying the brand. Therefore, the slogan should create a sense of likability in order for the name to be likable. Dass, Kumar, Kohli, & Thomas research suggests there are certain factors that make up the likability of a slogan. The clarity of the message the brand is trying to encode within the slogan, the slogan emphasizes the benefit of the product or service it is portraying. The creativity of a slogan is another factor that had an effect on the likability of a slogan. Lastly, leaving the name out of the slogan will have a positive effect on the likability of the brand itself. The original usage refers to the usage as a clan motto among Highland clans, marketing slogans are often called taglines in the United States or straplines in the United Kingdom. Europeans use the terms baselines, signatures, claims or pay-offs, sloganeering is a mostly derogatory term for activity which degrades discourse to the level of slogans. Slogans are used to convey a message about the product, service or cause that it is representing and it can have a musical tone to it or written as a song. Slogans are often used to capture the attention of the audience it is trying to reach, if the slogan is used for commercial purposes, often it is written to be memorable/catchy in order for a consumer to associate the slogan with the product it is representing. A slogan is part of the aspect that helps create an image for the product
4.
Advocacy group
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Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and/or policy. They have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems. Groups vary considerably in size, influence, and motive, some have wide-ranging long term social purposes, motives for action may be based on a shared political, religious, moral, health or commercial position. Groups use varied methods to try to achieve their aims including lobbying, media campaigns, publicity stunts, polls, research, and policy briefings. Some groups are supported or backed by business or political interests and exert considerable influence on the political process. Some have developed into important social, political institutions or social movements, Some groups, generally ones with less financial resources, may use direct action and civil disobedience and in some cases are accused of being a threat to the social order or domestic extremists. Research is beginning to explore how advocacy groups use media to facilitate civic engagement. An advocacy group is a group or an organization tries to influence the government. The first mass social movement catalyzed around the political figure. Charged with seditious libel, Wilkes was arrested after the issue of a general warrant, as a result of this episode, Wilkes became a figurehead to the growing movement for popular sovereignty among the middle classes – people began chanting, Wilkes and Liberty in the streets. After a later period of exile, brought about by further charges of libel and obscenity, Wilkes stood for the Parliamentary seat at Middlesex, where most of his support was located. When Wilkes was imprisoned in the Kings Bench Prison on 10 May 1768 and this was the first ever sustained social advocacy group, —it involved public meetings, demonstrations, the distribution of pamphlets on an unprecedented scale and the mass petition march. The force and influence of this social movement on the streets of London compelled the authorities to concede to the movements demands. Wilkes was returned to Parliament, general warrants were declared as unconstitutional, another important advocacy group that emerged in the late 18th century was the British abolitionist movement against slavery. Starting with an organised sugar boycott in 1791, it led the great petition drive of 1806. In the opinion of Eugene Black. association made possible the extension of the politically effective public, modern extra parliamentary political organization is a product of the late eighteenth century the history of the age of reform cannot be written without it. From 1815, Britain after victory in the Napoleonic Wars entered a period of social upheaval characterised by the maturity of the use of social movements. Chartism was the first mass movement of the growing working-class in the world and they led, among other things, to the formation of green parties and organisations influenced by the new left
5.
Sustainable development
–
The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. As the concept developed, it has shifted to more on economic development, social development. The concept of development has been — and still is — subject to criticism. What, exactly, is to be sustained in sustainable development, Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable development, there is an additional focus on the present generations responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future generations. Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which were developed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a mining administrator in the service of Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony published Sylvicultura oeconomica. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his work influenced others, including Alexander von Humboldt and Georg Ludwig Hartig, eventually leading to the development of a science of forestry. Two years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles of conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged. In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report Our Common Future, the report included what is now one of the most widely recognised definitions of sustainable development. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the Earth Charter, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable and it emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. Broadly defined, sustainable development is an approach to growth and development and to manage natural, produced. A2013 study concluded that sustainability reporting should be reframed through the lens of four interconnected domains, ecology, economics, politics, the goals are to be implemented and achieved in every country from the year 2016 to 2030. Sustainable development, or sustainability, has described in terms of three spheres, dimensions, domains or pillars, i. e. the environment, the economy. The three-sphere framework was proposed by the economist René Passet in 1979. It has also been worded as economic, environmental and social or ecology, economy and this has been expanded by some authors to include a fourth pillar of culture, institutions or governance. The ecological stability of human settlements is part of the relationship between humans and their natural, social and built environments, also termed human ecology, this broadens the focus of sustainable development to include the domain of human health
6.
Earth Summit
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In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development was also held in Rio, and is also commonly called Rio+20 or Rio Earth Summit 2012. It was held from 13 to 22 June,172 governments participated, with 116 sending their heads of state or government. Some 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations attended, with 17,000 people at the parallel NGO Global Forum, another agreement was to not to carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous peoples that would cause environmental degradation or that would be culturally inappropriate. Twelve cities were also honoured by the Local Government Honours Award for innovative local environmental programs, critics point out that many of the agreements made in Rio have not been realized regarding such fundamental issues as fighting poverty and cleaning up the environment. Green Cross International was founded to build upon the work of the Summit, the first edition of Water Quality Assessments, published by WHO/Chapman & Hall, was launched at the Rio Global Forum. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Documents from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Archived 19 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Rio+20 on India Environment Portal Water Quality Assessments pdf
7.
Eco-efficiency
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Over the years, as countries and regions around the world began to develop, it slowly became evident that industrialization and economic growth come hand in hand with environmental degradation. Eco-Efficiency has been proposed as one of the tools to promote a transformation from unsustainable development to one of sustainable development. It is based on the concept of creating more goods and services while using resources and creating less waste. “It is measured as the ratio between the value of what has produced and the environment impacts of the product or service. Ergo the term has become synonymous with a management philosophy geared towards sustainability, combing ecological, although eco-efficiency is a rather new method, the idea is not. In the early 1970s Paul R. Ehrlich and John Holdren developed the lettering formula I = PAT to describe the impact of activity on the environment. ”The major drivers in the early phase of eco-efficiency’s development were the “forward-looking managers and thinkers in 3M. The results of the WBCSD’s work creating the “linkage between environmental performance and the line was published in 1997 in its report Environmental Performance. It works by implementing 4 main types of ratios, “The first two are environmental productivity and its inverse, environmental intensity of production, referring to the realm of production. The second pair, environmental improvement cost and its inverse, environmental cost-effectiveness, are defined from an environmental improvements measures point-of-view. ”The ratios may be applied to any unit comprising economic activities because such activities always relate to cost and value, “and having some physical substrate, always influence the environment. ”Furthermore, there are two different levels upon which to orchestrate the ratios, ‘’micro’’ and ‘’macro’’. There are three different methods to determine eco-efficiency at the micro-level. First, ‘’incremental eco-efficiency’’, which “specifies the effects of the value of a product system or sector and its total concomitant environmental effects. ”Second, an analysis method nicknamed ‘’win-win’’. Now the macro-level is much less defined and has less accurate results. However, “the ultimate aim of eco-efficiency analysis is to help move micro-level decision making into macro-level optimality. ”The main goal in years to come is to create headline indicators to carry out macro-level analysis at a country/world scale. There are two life-cycle assessment -based calculation systems on eco-efficiency, the Analysis Method of BASF, and the method of the Eco-costs value ratio of the Delft University of Technology. The reduction in ecological impacts translates into an increase in resource productivity, the emphasis is on firms designing new products, shifting to new production processes, and investing in R&D, etc. more than on the retailer or the consumer, let alone the citizen. Trust in markets, “Growthphilia”, there is nothing wrong with growth as such, moreover, with “cradle-to-cradle”, growth is conducive to sustainability per se. This broader concept is called ‘’Sustainable Production and Consumption’’ and it has be proven to heighten market values for firms, serve as an effective management tool for governments, benefit civil society, and increase quality of life. “It does this by changing processes, creating new products and changing and influencing markets with new ideas and with new rules. ”More people aim to get more value for their money in the market, while also enjoying a better environment. ”And is also being implemented as marketing advantages where, “eco-efficient choices are always preferred
8.
Maison de la paix
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The Maison de la paix is a building owned by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The building was designed by Eric Ott of Neuchâtels IPAS firm and it is the main element of the Campus de la paix. The Maison de la paix is constructed as a series of interconnected divisions, when seen from above, each division resembles a flower petal. Thus, each section of the building is known as a numbered petal, the petal design allows for maximum use of light within the structure. Natural light is used to light and heat the building, petals one through three have large, open atriums that use skylights to pull sunlight from the roof through the center of each petal. These, and other features, help make the Maison de la paix one of the greenest buildings in Suisse Romande, the first two petals were inaugurated in September 2013 with the annual Opening Lecture given by Kofi Annan, one of the Institutes most well-known former students. Classes for the Graduate Institute concurrently commenced in the Maison de la paix, the Maison de la paix houses the classroom space for all of the Graduate Institutes masters and PhD programme courses as well as the office space for its professors and administration. The Maison de la paix is home to the Davis Library, named after alumna and benefactor Kathryn Wasserman Davis, the library hosts 350,000 physical volumes dedicated to the Graduate Institutes areas of study in international and development studies
9.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
10.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
11.
Cement
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A cement is a binder, a substance used in construction that sets, hardens and adheres to other materials, binding them together. Cement is seldom used solely, but is used to bind sand, Cement is used with fine aggregate to produce mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel aggregates to produce concrete. Non-hydraulic cement will not set in wet conditions or underwater, rather, it sets as it dries and it is resistant to attack by chemicals after setting. Hydraulic cements set and become adhesive due to a reaction between the dry ingredients and water. The chemical reaction results in mineral hydrates that are not very water-soluble and so are quite durable in water and this allows setting in wet condition or underwater and further protects the hardened material from chemical attack. The chemical process for hydraulic cement found by ancient Romans used volcanic ash with added lime, the word cement can be traced back to the Roman term opus caementicium, used to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as binder. The volcanic ash and pulverized brick supplements that were added to the burnt lime, to obtain a hydraulic binder, were referred to as cementum, cimentum, cäment. In modern times, organic polymers are used as cements in concrete. Non-hydraulic cement, such as slaked lime, hardens by carbonation in the presence of carbon dioxide which is present in the air. The carbonation reaction requires the dry cement to be exposed to air and this whole process is called the lime cycle. Conversely, hydraulic cement hardens by hydration when water is added, Hydraulic cements are made of a mixture of silicates and oxides, the four main components being, Belite, Alite, Tricalcium aluminate, Brownmillerite. The chemistry of the above listed reactions is not completely clear and is still the object of research, Cement, chemically speaking, is a product that includes lime as the primary curing ingredient, but is far from the first material used for cementation. The Babylonians and Assyrians used bitumen to bind together burnt brick or alabaster slabs, in Egypt stone blocks were cemented together with a mortar made of sand and roughly burnt gypsum, which often contained calcium carbonate. Lime was used on Crete and by the ancient Greeks, there is evidence that the Minoans of Crete used crushed potshards as an artificial pozzolan for hydraulic cement. A kind of powder which from natural causes produces astonishing results and it is found in the neighborhood of Baiae and in the country belonging to the towns round about Mt. Vesuvius. This substance when mixed with lime and rubble not only lends strength to buildings of other kinds, the Greeks used volcanic tuff from the island of Thera as their pozzolan and the Romans used crushed volcanic ash with lime. This mixture was able to set under water increasing its resistance, the material was called pozzolana from the town of Pozzuoli, west of Naples where volcanic ash was extracted. In the absence of ash, the Romans used powdered brick or pottery as a substitute
12.
Urban infrastructure
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Infrastructure refers to the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function. The word was imported from French, where it means subgrade, the word is a combination of the Latin prefix infra, meaning below, and structure. The military use of the term achieved currency in the United States after the formation of NATO in the 1940s and this crisis discussion contributed to an increase in infrastructure asset management and maintenance planning in the US. Public-policy discussions have been hampered by lack of a definition for infrastructure. A1987 US National Research Council panel adopted the public works infrastructure. The OECD also classifies communications as a part of infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers has not defined the term, though issuing a US Infrastructure Report Card every 2-4 years. Hard infrastructure refers to the physical networks necessary for the functioning of an industrial nation. The term critical infrastructure distinguishes those infrastructure elements that, if damaged or destroyed. Similarly, a booking system might be critical infrastructure for an airline. These elements of infrastructure are the focus of efforts in the aftermath of natural disasters. The term infrastructure may be confused with the following overlapping or related concepts, service connections to municipal service and public utility networks would also be considered land improvements, not infrastructure. The term public works includes government-owned and operated infrastructure as well as buildings, such as schools. Public works generally refers to physical assets needed to deliver public services, public services include both infrastructure and services generally provided by government. Infrastructure may be owned and managed by governments or by private companies, generally, most roads, major ports and airports, water distribution systems and sewage networks are publicly owned, whereas most energy and telecommunications networks are privately owned. Publicly owned infrastructure may be paid for taxes, tolls, or metered user fees. Major investment projects are financed by the issuance of long-term bonds. Government owned and operated infrastructure may be developed and operated in the sector or in public-private partnerships. As of 2008 in the United States for example, public spending on infrastructure has varied between 2. 3% and 3. 6% of GDP since 1950, many financial institutions invest in infrastructure
13.
Efficient energy use
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Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve, installing fluorescent lights, LED lights or natural skylights reduces the amount of energy required to attain the same level of illumination compared with using traditional incandescent light bulbs. Improvements in energy efficiency are generally achieved by adopting an efficient technology or production process or by application of commonly accepted methods to reduce energy losses. There are many motivations to improve energy efficiency, reducing energy use reduces energy costs and may result in a financial cost saving to consumers if the energy savings offset any additional costs of implementing an energy efficient technology. Reducing energy use is seen as a solution to the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be the pillars of sustainable energy policy and are high priorities in the sustainable energy hierarchy. Energy efficiency has proved to be a strategy for building economies without necessarily increasing energy consumption. For example, the state of California began implementing energy-efficiency measures in the mid-1970s, including building code, during the following years, Californias energy consumption has remained approximately flat on a per capita basis while national US consumption doubled. In general, up to 75% of the electricity used in the US today could be saved with efficiency measures that cost less than the electricity itself. The same holds true for this is home and there is 78% of electricity uses D in your home-owners, in fact, researchers at the US Department of Energy and their consortium, Residential Energy Efficient Distribution Systems have found that duct efficiency may be as low as 50–70%. The US Department of Energy has stated there is potential for energy saving in the magnitude of 90 Billion kWh by increasing home energy efficiency. Other studies have emphasized this.2 percent average growth anticipated through 2020 in a business-as-usual scenario, international standards ISO17743 and ISO17742 provide a documented methodology for calculating and reporting on energy savings and energy efficiency for countries and cities. Modern appliances, such as, freezers, ovens, stoves, dishwashers, installing a clothesline will significantly reduce ones energy consumption as their dryer will be used less. Current energy efficient refrigerators, for example, use 40 percent less energy than conventional models did in 2001, in the US, the corresponding figures would be 17 billion kWh of electricity and 27,000,000,000 lb CO2. According to a 2009 study from McKinsey & Company the replacement of old appliances is one of the most efficient global measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Modern power management systems also reduce energy usage by idle appliances by turning them off or putting them into a low-energy mode after a certain time, many countries identify energy-efficient appliances using energy input labeling. The impact of energy efficiency on peak demand depends on when the appliance is used, for example, an air conditioner uses more energy during the afternoon when it is hot. Therefore, an efficient air conditioner will have a larger impact on peak demand than off-peak demand
14.
Developing nation
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Also, the general term less-developed country should not be confused with the specific least developed country. The term developing describes a currently observed situation and not a dynamic or expected direction of progress, since the late 1990s developing countries tended to demonstrate higher growth rates than the developed ones. There is criticism of the use of the developing country. The term implies inferiority of a country or undeveloped country compared with a developed country. It assumes a desire to develop along the traditional Western model of development which a few countries, such as Cuba and Bhutan. An alternative measurement that has suggested is that of gross national happiness. Countries on the boundary between developed and developing are often categorized under the newly industrialized countries. In the 2016 edition of its World Development Indicators, the World Bank made a decision to no longer distinguish between “developed” and “developing” countries in the presentation of its data, nobody has ever agreed on a definition for these terms in the first place. Various terms are used for whatever is not a developed country, terms used include less developed country or less economically developed country, and for the more extreme, least developed country or least economically developed country. But according to the United Nations Statistics Division, There is no established convention for the designation of developed, the World Bank classifies countries into four income groups. These are set each year on July 1, economies were divided according to 2016 GNI per capita using the following ranges of income, Low income countries had GNI per capita of US$1,025 or less. Lower middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$1,026 and US$4,035, upper middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$4,036 and US$12,475. High income countries had GNI per capita above US$12,476 and this may be by absolute numbers or country ranking. The UN has developed the Human Development Index, an indicator of the above statistics. The UN sets Millennium Development Goals from a blueprint developed by all of the countries and leading development institutions. There is an association between low income and high population growth. The terms utilized when discussing developing countries refer to the intent, other terms sometimes used are less developed countries, least economically developed countries, underdeveloped nations or Third World nations, and non-industrialized nations. Conversely, developed countries, most economically developed countries, First World nations and that is, LEDCs are the poorest subset of LDCs
15.
World Bank
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The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, the World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system. The World Banks stated official goal is the reduction of poverty, the president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D. C. and work closely with each other, although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations. Before 1974 the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small, the Banks staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria, the first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Banks president at the time, John McCloy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile, the loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed, the French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government - the so-called tripartisme. Within hours, the loan to France was approved, when the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries, in 1960, the International Development Association was formed, providing soft loans to developing countries. From 1974 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and these changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara, who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara implored bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the banks that had been the primary sources of funding. Rotberg used the bond market to increase the capital available to the bank. One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rise of third world debt. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an annual rate of 20%
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International Finance Corporation
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The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D. C. Since 2009, the IFC has focused on a set of development goals that its projects are expected to target, the IFC is owned and governed by its member countries, but has its own executive leadership and staff that conduct its normal business operations. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and it offers an array of debt and equity financing services and helps companies face their risk exposures, while refraining from participating in a management capacity. The corporation also offers advice to companies on making decisions, evaluating their impact on the environment and society and it advises governments on building infrastructure and partnerships to further support private sector development. The corporation is assessed by an independent evaluator each year, the corporations total investments in 2011 amounted to $18.66 billion. It committed $820 million to advisory services for 642 projects in 2011, the IFC is in good financial standing and received the highest ratings from two independent credit rating agencies in 2010 and 2011. IFC comes under frequent criticism from NGOs that it is not able to track its money because of its use of financial intermediaries. Robert L. Garner joined the World Bank in 1947 as a senior executive, in 1950, Garner and his colleagues proposed establishing a new institution for the purpose of making private investments in the developing countries served by the Bank. In 1956 the International Finance Corporation became operational under the leadership of Garner and it initially had 12 staff members and $100 million in capital. The corporation made its investment in 1957 by making a $2 million loan to a Brazil-based affiliate of Siemens & Halske. In 2007, IFC bought 18% stake in the Indian Financial firm, in December 2015 IFC supported Greek banks with 150 million euros by buying shares in four of them, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece. The IFC is governed by its Board of Governors which meets annually, each member typically appoints one governor and also one alternate. The IFCs Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors who meet regularly and work at the IFCs headquarters, the executive directors collectively represent all 184 member countries. The IFCs Executive Vice President and CEO oversees its overall direction, as of October 2012, Jin-Yong Cai serves as the Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC. President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim appointed Jin-Yong Cai to serve as the new Executive Vice President, Cai is a Chinese citizen who formerly served as a managing director for Goldman Sachs and has over 20 years of financial sector experience. The corporation operates with a staff of over 3,400 employees, in its fiscal year 2010, the IFC invested $12.7 billion in 528 projects across 103 countries. Of that total investment commitment, approximately 39% was invested into 255 projects across 58 member nations of the World Banks International Development Association, the IFC makes loans to businesses and private projects generally with maturities of seven to twelve years. It determines a suitable repayment schedule and grace period for each individually to meet borrowers currency
17.
Globescan
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GlobeScan is a public opinion research consultancy that does reputation, brand, sustainability, engagement, and trends research. GlobeScans evidence-based approach generally relies on polling amongst the general public, since July 2004, GlobeScan has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and is certified to the ISO9001,2008 standard. GlobeScan adheres to the opinion research standards of ESOMAR in all its research assignments. GlobeScan has offices in London, San Francisco, and Toronto, according to the firms Chairman and CEO, Doug Miller, its methodology is based on the principles in James Surowieckis 2004 book The Wisdom of Crowds. The project is sponsored in part by BMW, SC Johnson, DuPont, Pfizer, Interface, a major component of the project is a series of sustainability pioneer interviews, dubbed The Ray Anderson Memorial Interviews. It is a series of interviews with 20 sustainable development Pioneers from business, government and civil society, in April 2012, GlobeScan worked with Unilever to deliver a 24-hour, online conference around the launch of Unilevers Sustainable Living Plan. The project looked at 14, 000+ consumers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and it also used 27 international experts in sustainability. In all three years it ran the United States placed dead last with Canada next to last, the poll found strong margins in favor of Obama. However, about 4 in 10 surveyed did not express an opinion, Doug Miller has said that arge numbers of people around the world clearly like what Barack Obama represents. He also commented that Americas international image was mostly negative at that time, the survey was partially sponsored by United Kingdom taxpayers through the BBC at around £55,000 or more, which attracted criticism. The Daily Mail called the survey worthless given that non-Americans could not vote in the election, tory MP Philip Davies stated that I think this is an appalling waste of taxpayers money, which has no bearing on anything. The BBC responded in a statement that he fact that the results are reflected in great detail by other news sources around the world, bringing credit to Britain. According to their website, GlobeScans list of clients includes, GlobeScan Website
18.
Ethisphere Institute
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The company publishes Ethisphere Magazine and announces its Worlds Most Ethical Companies awards once a year. The company also offers services for corporate ethics under such names as Ethics Inside Certification. It sponsors the Global Ethics Summit every March in New York City and manages a community of compliance, ethics and legal professionals known as BELA, the Executive Chairman of Ethisphere, Alex Brigham, created the institute in 2007 as part of Corpedia, a compliance training company. In 2010, Corpedia was sold but Ethispheres ownership was retained by Brigham, a 2010 Slate article raised the issue of the difficult balance between granting ethics awards while operating as a for-profit business. In 2016,131 companies were honored including 14 ten-time honorees and 13 first-time honorees, Ethispheres framework for measuring standards is known as the Ethics Quotient. In 2016, the EQ consists of over 160 questions in 5 major categories, Companies are measured not only absolutely but also in relation to others in their industry. The EQ is updated annually and informed by a Methodology Advisory Panel whose members are publicly listed
19.
Business
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A business is an organizational entity involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers. Businesses may also be social non-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises operated by governments with specific social, a business owned by multiple private individuals may form as an incorporated company or jointly organise as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the business entities. The word business can refer to an organization or to an entire market sector or to the sum of all economic activity. Compound forms such as agribusiness represent subsets of the broader meaning. Businesses aim to maximize sales to have their income exceed their expenditures, resulting in a profit, the owner operates the business alone and may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, partnership, A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business, the three most prevalent types of for-profit partnerships are, general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships. Corporation, The owners of a corporation have limited liability and the business has a legal personality from its owners. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned and they can organize either for profit or as nonprofit organizations. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by its shareholders, a privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held by a small group of individuals, or publicly held, with publicly traded shares listed on a stock exchange. Cooperative, Often referred to as a co-op, a cooperative is a limited-liability business that can organize as for-profit or not-for-profit, a cooperative differs from a corporation in that it has members, not shareholders, and they share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives, cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy. In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are not as protected. Franchises, A franchise is a system in which entrepreneurs purchase the rights to open, franchising in the United States is widespread and is a major economic powerhouse. One out of retail businesses in the United States are franchised and 8 million people are employed in a franchised business. Real estate businesses sell, invest, construct and develop properties – including land, residential homes, retailers, wholesalers, and distributors act as middlemen and get goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumers, they make their profits by marking up their prices. Most stores and catalog companies are distributors or retailers, transportation businesses such as railways, airlines, shipping companies that deliver goods and individuals to their destinations for a fee
20.
Poverty
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Poverty is general scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a concept, which includes social, economic. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the lack of necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing. Absolute poverty is meant to be about the independent of location. After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made producing goods increasingly less expensive, of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide enough yield to feed the population. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, economic freedoms, Poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. The World Bank forecasts that 702.1 million people, down from 1.75 billion in 1990, of these, about 347.1 million people lived in Sub-Saharan Africa and 231.3 million lived in South Asia. According to the World Bank, between 1990 and 2015, the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty fell from 37. 1% to 9. 6%. Nevertheless, given the current economic model, built on GDP, extreme poverty is a global challenge, it is observed in all parts of the world, including developed economies. UNICEF estimates half the children live in poverty. It has been argued by some academics that the policies promoted by global financial institutions such as the IMF. Another estimate places the true scale of poverty much higher than the World Bank, with an estimated 4.3 billion people living with less than $5 a day and unable to meet basic needs adequately. In 2012 it is estimated that, given a poverty line of $1.25 a day 1.2 billion people lived in poverty, the word poverty comes from old French poverté, from Latin paupertās from pauper. The English word poverty via Anglo-Norman povert, there are several definitions of poverty depending on the context of the situation it is placed in, and the views of the person giving the definition. Income Poverty, a familys income fails to meet a federally established threshold that differs across countries, United Nations, Fundamentally, poverty is the inability of having choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of capacity to participate effectively in society. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and it means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. World Bank, Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions and it includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity
21.
Innovation
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Innovation can be defined simply as a new idea, device or method. However, innovation is also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs. This is accomplished through more-effective products, processes, services, technologies, or business models that are available to markets, governments. The term innovation can be defined as something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new and it is related to, but not the same as, invention. Innovation is often manifested via the engineering process, the opposite of innovation is exnovation. In industrial economics, innovations are created and found empirically from services to meet the consumer demand. A2013 survey of literature on innovation found over 40 definitions and it is both a process and an outcome. In business and economics, innovation can be a catalyst to growth and he famously asserted that creative destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. One prime example was the boom of Silicon Valley startups out of the Stanford Industrial Park. In 1957, dissatisfied employees of Shockley Semiconductor, the company of Nobel laureate and co-inventor of the transistor William Shockley, left to form an independent firm, after several years, Fairchild developed into a formidable presence in the sector. Eventually, these founders left to start their own based on their own, unique, latest ideas. Over the next 20 years, this snowball process launched the momentous startup company explosion of technology firms. Essentially, Silicon Valley began as 65 new enterprises born out of Shockley’s eight former employees, since then, hubs of innovation have sprung up globally with similar metonyms, including Silicon Alley encompassing New York City. In the organizational context, innovation may be linked to changes in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitiveness. However, recent research findings highlight the role of organizational culture in enabling organizations to translate innovative activity into tangible performance improvements. Organizations can also improve profits and performance by providing work groups opportunities and resources to innovate and it is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth. –Drucker According to Clayton Christensen, disruptive innovation is the key to success in business. The organisation requires a structure in order to retain competitive advantage
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Technology development
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Research and development, also known in Europe as research and technical development, is a general term for activities in connection with corporate or governmental innovation. Research and development is situated at the front end of the life cycle. R&D differs from the vast majority of activities in that it is not intended to yield immediate profit, and generally carries greater risk. New product design and development is more often not a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In an industry that is changing fast, firms must continually revise their design and this is necessary due to continuous technology change and development as well as other competitors and the changing preference of customers. Without an R&D program, a firm must rely on strategic alliances, acquisitions, a system driven by marketing is one that puts the customer needs first, and produces goods that are known to sell. Market research is carried out, which establishes what is needed, if the development is technology driven R&D is directed toward developing products to meet the unmet need. Statistics on organizations devoted to R&D may express the state of an industry, some common measures include, budgets, numbers of patents or on rates of peer-reviewed publications. Bank ratios are one of the best measures, because they are maintained, public. In the United States, a ratio of research and development for an industrial company is about 3. 5% of revenues. A high technolog company, such as a manufacturer, might spend 7% or a pharmaceutical companies such as Merck & Co.14. 1% or Novartis 15. 1%. That is, gross profits will be as much as 90% of the sales cost, with manufacturing costing only 10% of the product price, most industrial companies get 40% revenues only. On a technical level, high tech organizations explore ways to re-purpose and they often reuse advanced manufacturing processes, expensive safety certifications, specialized embedded software, computer-aided design software, electronic designs and mechanical subsystems. Research from 2000 has shown that firms with a persistent R&D strategy outperform those with an irregular or no R&D investment program. Research and development are very difficult to manage, since the feature of research is that the researchers do not know in advance exactly how to accomplish the desired result. As a result, higher R&D spending does not guarantee more creativity, research is the most risky financing area because both the development of an invention and its successful realization carries uncertainty including the profitability of the invention. One way of reducing the uncertainty of researching know-hows is to obtain already researched know-hows, president Barack Obama requested $147.696 billion for research & development in FY2012. Much of this spending was devoted to research on the mechanisms of disease
23.
General Motors Corporation
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With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
24.
DuPont
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In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, Corfam, and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon for the refrigerant industry, and later more environmentally friendly refrigerants and it also developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair. In 2014, DuPont was the fourth largest chemical company based on market capitalization. Its stock price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DuPont was founded in 1802 by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. It began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, as du Pont noticed that the industry in North America was lagging behind Europe, the Eleutherian Mills site is now a museum and a National Historic Landmark. DuPont continued to expand, moving into the production of dynamite, in 1902, DuPonts president, Eugene du Pont, died, and the surviving partners sold the company to three great-grandsons of the original founder. Charles Lee Reese was appointed as director and the company began centralizing their research departments, the company subsequently purchased several smaller chemical companies, and in 1912 these actions gave rise to government scrutiny under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The courts declared that the dominance of the explosives business constituted a monopoly. The court ruling resulted in the creation of the Hercules Powder Company, at the time of divestment, DuPont retained the single base nitrocellulose powders, while Hercules held the double base powders combining nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. DuPont subsequently developed the Improved Military Rifle line of smokeless powders, in 1910, DuPont published a brochure entitled Farming with Dynamite. DuPont also established two of the first industrial laboratories in the United States, where began the work on cellulose chemistry, lacquers. DuPont Central Research was established at the DuPont Experimental Station, across the Brandywine Creek from the powder mills. In 1914, Pierre S. du Pont invested in the automobile industry. The following year he was invited to sit on GMs board of directors, the DuPont company would assist the struggling automobile company further with a $25 million purchase of GM stock. In 1920, Pierre S. du Pont was elected president of General Motors, under du Ponts guidance, GM became the number one automobile company in the world. However, in 1957, because of DuPonts influence within GM, in the 1920s, DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, hiring Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. Carothers invented neoprene, a rubber, the first polyester superpolymer. The invention of Teflon followed a few years later, DuPont introduced phenothiazine as an insecticide in 1935
25.
3M
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The 3M Company, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. 3M has operations in more than 65 countries including 29 international companies with manufacturing operations and 35 companies with laboratories, 3M products are available for purchase through distributors and retailers, and online directly from the company. Five businessmen founded 3M in Two Harbors, Minnesota, in 1902, originally a mining venture, the goal was to mine corundum, but this failed because the mines mineral holdings were anorthosite, which had no commercial value. Co-founder John Dwan solicited funds in exchange for stock and Edgar Ober, the company moved to Duluth and began research and producing sandpaper products. William L. McKnight, later a key executive, joined the company in 1907, 3M finally became financially stable in 1916 and was able to pay dividends. The company moved to St. Paul in 1910, where it remained for 52 years before outgrowing the campus and moving to its current headquarters at 3M Center in Maplewood, Minnesota in 1962. The new Maplewood campus is 475 acres and has over 50 buildings, the company began by mining stone from quarries for use in grinding wheels. Struggling with quality and marketing of its products, management supported its workers to innovate and develop new products, twelve years after its inception, 3M developed its first exclusive product, Three-M-ite cloth. Other innovations in this era included masking tape, waterproof sandpaper, by 1929, 3M had made its first moves toward international expansion by forming Durex to conduct business in Europe. The same year, the stock was first traded over the counter. The company is currently a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the founders original plan was to sell the mineral corundum to manufacturers in the East for making grinding wheels. In reality, however, Dwan and his associates were not selling what they thought, failing to make sandpaper with the anorthosite, the founders decided to import minerals like Spanish garnet, after which sale of sandpapers grew. In 1914, customers complained that the garnet was falling off the paper, the founders discovered that the stones had traveled across the Atlantic Ocean packed near olive oil, and the oil had penetrated the stones. Unable to take the loss of selling expensive inventory, they roasted the stones over fire to remove the olive oil, the companys late innovations include waterproof sandpaper and masking tape, as well as cellophane Scotch Tape and sound-deadening materials for cars. In 1947, 3M began producing PFOA by electrochemical fluorination, during the 1950s, the company expanded worldwide with operations in Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom in large part by Clarence Sampair. DuPont referred to PFOA as C8, in 1951, international sales were approximately $20 million. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, 3M published a line of board games and these games were marketed to adults and sold through department stores, with easily learned simple rules but complex game play and depth and with uniformly high-quality components. As such, they are the ancestors of the German Eurogames, the games covered a variety of topics, from business and sports simulations to word and abstract strategy games
26.
BP
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BP P. L. C. also referred to by its former name, British Petroleum, is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It also has renewable energy interests in biofuels and wind power, the company has around 17,200 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America in the United States, in Russia BP owns a 19. 75% stake in Rosneft, the worlds largest publicly traded oil and gas company by hydrocarbon reserves and production. BP has a listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has secondary listings on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, BPs origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1908, established as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran. In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954 British Petroleum, in 1959, the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and it was one of the the first companies to strike oil in the North Sea. British Petroleum acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio in 1978, formerly majority state-owned, the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. British Petroleum merged with Amoco in 1998, becoming BP Amoco plc, from 2003 to 2013, BP was a partner in the TNK-BP joint venture in Russia. BP has been involved in several major environmental and safety incidents. 1.8 million gallons of Corexit oil dispersant were used in the cleanup response, legal proceedings continued into January 2015 which determined payouts and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. BP appealed the ruling, which raised concerns about BPs future and they settled in July 2015 in the amount of $19 billion plus the original amount. In May 1908 a group of British geologists discovered a large amount of oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman in Mohammerah and it was the first commercially significant find of oil in the Middle East. William Knox DArcy, by contract with the Emir of Mohammerah, Sheikh Khazal Khan al-Kaabi and this event changed the history of the Middle East. The oil discovery led to petrochemical industry development and also the establishment of industries that depended on oil. On 14 April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company, some of the shares were sold to the public. The first chairman and minority shareholder of the company became Lord Strathcona, the refinery was built and began operating in 1912. In 1913, the British Government acquired a controlling interest in the company and at the suggestion of Winston Churchill, the Royal Navy, which projected British power all over the world, came to be run 100% on oil from Iran. In 1919, the became a shale-oil producer by establishing a subsidiary named Scottish Oils which merged remaining Scottish oil-shale industries
27.
Jain Irrigation Systems
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Jain Irrigation Systems, often known as Jain Irrigation, JISL, or simply Jains, is a multinational organisation based in Jalgaon, India. JISL also processes dehydrated vegetables, concentrated and frozen fruits or pulp, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. emerged as one big company after merging with various Jain Group Companies, such as Jain Plastic & Chemicals Ltd. Jain Rahan Biotech Ltd, Jain Brothers Industries, Anubhuti School, Jain continued acquiring companies to expand its business penetration. After some big acquisitions it has currently second-largest irrigation company and third-largest dehydrated onion producer in the world, JISL then acquired Tera Agro Technologies and the mango-processing division of Parle-Bisleri Pvt. Ltd. both located in India. After this and similar other acquisitions, JISL became the largest processor of fruits & vegetables within India,2006, JISL acquired Chapin Watermatic, Pioneer of Drip Irrigation Systems concept in United States. 2006, JISL acquired NuCedar Mills, a US company in the homebuilding market. December 2006 – JISL acquired a majority stake in the US-based Cascade Specialties, Inc. which specialises in natural low-bacteria onion products, with this acquisition, Jain Irrigation became the third-largest dehydrated onion producer in the world, with a combined capacity in excess of 25,000 MTS. February 2007 – By acquiring the US-based Aquarius Brands for $21,5 million in an all-cash deal, Jain Irrigation became the second-largest drip irrigation company in the world. June 2007 – Jain Irrigation Acquired 50, following the transaction, which includes a US$30 million investment, NaanDan and Jain intend to become the largest irrigation company worldwide within the next few years. May 2012 – Jain acquired the remaining 50% of NaanDanJain Ltd. from Kibbutz Naan in Israel for an estimated $35 million and they started farming as a means of livelihood. In 1963, selling kerosene from a pushcart, a law graduate Bhavarlal Jain. The family formed a partnership with ₹7,000, a savings of three generations, as capital. Soon, agencies for two wheelers, auto vehicles, and automobile accessories were established, 1963–1978, Bhavarlal Jain added a dealership of tractors, sprinkler systems, PVC pipes, and other farm equipment. In order to broad-base the business, agencies for farm inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, sales grew from ₹1 million in 1963 to ₹110 million in 1978. 1978, Jain took over a 14-year-old sick banana powder plant in April 1978 at an auction price of ₹3 million while only ₹0. The plant was modified for the production of papain from papaya latex, in December 1978, the founder traveled to New York in search of customers for Jain papain. The competition for purchase of raw materials at home and for sale of papain abroad was stiff, however, Jain developed purified papain through ceaseless in-house R&D and emerged as the number-one supplier of the highest purity refined papain. 1980, Manufacturing of PVC Pipe commenced with an annual capacity of 300 MTs which was increased to over 35,600 MTs per annum by 1997
28.
Royal Dutch Shell
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Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is one of the six oil and gas supermajors and the fifth-largest company in the world measured by 2015/16 revenues. Shell was first in the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies and it also has renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels and wind. Shell has operations in over 70 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide, as of 31 December 2014 Shell had total proved reserves of 13.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses. Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Cosan, which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues, Shell was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. Shell first entered the industry in 1929. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it sold in 1994. In recent decades gas exploration and production has become an important part of Shells business. Shell acquired BG Group in 2016, making it the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange, as of January 2013, Shells largest shareholder was Capital Research Global Investors with 9. 85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6. 89%. Shells logo, known as the pecten, is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world and it was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil. The Shell Transport and Trading Company was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel. Their father had owned a company in Houndsditch, London. For various reasons, the new firm operated as a company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent ownership of the new group to the Dutch arm and 40 percent to the British, national patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies. The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production, the British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products. During the First World War, Shell was the supplier of fuel to the British Expeditionary Force
29.
Monsanto
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Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Greater St. Louis, Monsanto is a leading producer of genetically engineered seed and Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide. Notable achievements by Monsanto include research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and the first mass-produced light emitting diodes in addition to its work on genetic engineering, Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants, and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops. Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, in this business model, companies recoup R&D expenses by exploiting biological patents. Monsantos roles in agricultural changes, biotechnology products and lobbying of government agencies, the company once manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange and recombinant bovine growth hormone. Its seed patenting model was criticized as biopiracy and a threat to biodiversity, in September 2016 Monsanto agreed to accept Bayers offer to purchase the company for $66 billion, pending regulatory approval. In 1901 Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, the founder was John Francis Queeny, a 30‑year veteran of the nascent pharmaceutical industry. He funded the firm with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor and he used his wifes maiden name for the company. The companys first products were commodity food additives, such as the sweetener saccharin, caffeine. Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graessers Chemical Works at Cefn Mawr, the venture produced vanillin, aspirin and its raw ingredient salicylic acid and later rubber processing chemicals. In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals such as sulfuric acid, queenys son Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over the company in 1928. In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in Illinois and it was formed to provide minimal regulation and low taxes for Monsanto plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules. It was renamed in honor of Leo Sauget, its first village president, in 1935, Monsanto bought the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama, and thereby entered the business of producing PCBs. In 1936, Monsanto acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, to acquire the expertise of Charles Allen Thomas, the acquisition became Monsantos Central Research Department. Thomas spent the rest of his career at Monsanto, serving as President and they urged Thomas to become co-director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos with Robert Oppenheimer, but Thomas was reluctant to leave Dayton and Monsanto. He joined the NDRC, and Monsantos Central Research Department began to conduct related research, to that end, Monsanto operated the Dayton Project, and later Mound Laboratories, and assisted in the development of the first nuclear weapons. In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed All laundry detergent, which sold to Lever Brothers in 1957. In 1947, its factory was destroyed in the Texas City Disaster
30.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
31.
ISO 26000
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ISO26000 Guidance on social responsibility is launched from ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. Is an International Standard providing guidelines for social responsibility named ISO26000 or simply ISO SR and it was released on 1 November 2010. This standard was developed by ISO/TMBG Technical Management Board - groups, ISO26000 was published for the first time in November 2010. The ISO26000 adopts the structure in the breakdown,1. Recognizing social responsibility and engaging stakeholders 6, Guidance on social responsibility core subjects 7. Guidance on integrating social responsibility throughout an organization, ISO26000 offers guidance on socially responsible behavior and possible actions. 1) ISO26000 is a voluntary guidance standard- that is, it not contain requirements such as those used when a standard is offered for certification. There is a learning curve associated with using ISO26000. ISO recommends that users say, for example, that they have used ISO26000 as a guide to social responsibility into our values and practices. 2) ISO26000 is designed for use by all organizations, not only businesses, organizations, such as hospitals and schools, charities, etc. are also included. Approximately five hundred delegates participated in this process, drawn from six groups, Industry, Government, NGO, Labour, Consumer. Leadership of various groups and committees was twinned between developing and developed countries, to ensure viewpoints from different economic and cultural contexts. ISO26000 is available for sale by National Standards Bodies in many countries, prices are set by the different National Standards Bodies, and vary widely. ISO26000 is copyrighted by ISO, see the ISO webpage at http, //www. iso. org for more information. There is a number of user guides, many of which are significantly less expensive than the standard itself. Quality and applicability of these guides will vary widely, an assessment tool has been worked out e. g. by The Royal Norwegian Society for Development, supported by the Asociatia Pentru Implementarea Democratiei. The ISO26000 Scope states This International Standard is not a management system standard and it is not intended or appropriate for certification purposes or regulatory or contractual use. Any offer to certify, or claims to be certified, to ISO26000 would be a misrepresentation of the intent and purpose, as this International Standard does not contain requirements, any such certification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this International Standard
32.
Corporate social responsibility
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Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards. The binary choice between complying with the law and going beyond the law must be qualified with some nuance, weak law must not be confused with soft law. CSR strategies encourage the company to make a impact on the environment and stakeholders including consumers, employees, investors, communities. Proponents argue that corporations increase long-term profits by operating with a CSR perspective, political sociologists became interested in CSR in the context of theories of globalization, neoliberalism and late capitalism. CSR is titled to aid an organizations mission as well as serve as a guide to what the company represents for its consumers, Business ethics is the part of applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. ISO26000 is the international standard for CSR. Public sector organizations adhere to the bottom line. It is widely accepted that CSR adheres to principles. The term corporate social responsibility became popular in the 1960s and has remained a term used indiscriminately by many to cover legal and moral responsibility more narrowly construed, Business Dictionary defines CSR as A company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment in which it operates. Companies express this citizenship through their waste and pollution reduction processes, by contributing educational and social programs, a broader definition expands from a focus on stakeholders to include philanthropy and volunteering. Most consumers agree that while achieving business targets, companies should do CSR at the same time, most consumers believe companies doing charity will receive a positive response. Somerville also found that consumers are loyal and willing to spend more on retailers that support charity, consumers also believe that retailers selling local products will gain loyalty. Smith shares the belief that marketing local products will gain consumer trust, however, environmental efforts are receiving negative views given the belief that this would affect customer service. Oppewal et al. found that not all CSR activities are attractive to consumers and they recommended that retailers focus on one activity. Becker-Olsen found that if the social initiative done by the company is not aligned with other company goals it will have a negative impact, mohr et al. and Groza et al. also emphasise the importance of reaching the consumer. Some commentators have identified a difference between the Canadian, the Continental European and the Anglo-Saxon approaches to CSR, and even within Europe the discussion about CSR is very heterogeneous. A more common approach to CSR is corporate philanthropy and this includes monetary donations and aid given to nonprofit organizations and communities
33.
Egil Myklebust
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Egil Myklebust is a Norwegian businessperson and lawyer. Since 2001 he has been chairman of the board of SAS Group, born in Kvinnherad, Myklebust took a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1967, before starting work with the Norwegian Welfare Services. After that he worked at Norsk Hydro from 1971 to 2001, after he retired of CEO of Norsk Hydro he took over as chairman of the board of Norsk Hydro and SAS Group, as well as deputy board chairman of Norske Skog. He was also CEO of the Norwegian Employers Confederation from 1987 to 1989 and he is a former member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group. He is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences
34.
Norsk Hydro
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Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide and it has operations in some 50 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state owns 43. 8% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, a further 6. 5% is owned by Folketrygdfond, which administers the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Norsk Hydro employs approximately 12,500 people, Svein Richard Brandtzæg has been the CEO since 2009. The company had a significant presence in the oil and gas industry until October 2007, the technology had been developed by the Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland. The method is known as the Birkeland–Eyde process. The process required large amounts of energy, and for this. Later also Rjukan Falls was developed and its power harnessed, in the establishing the city of Rjukan. Hydros first factory was built at Notodden followed up another at Rjukan. Then in 1912 production is established at Glomfjord in Nordland, in 1930 Norsk Hydro opened a plant at Herøya outside Porsgrunn. To begin with it was to function as a port for the fertilizer as well as a point to import limestone. From 1936 Hydro also started producing fertilizer at Herøya, there was also opened a railway, Rjukanbanen, connecting Rjukan with Hærøy. The railway opened in 1909 and consisted of a ferry across Lake Tinn, railway again with the Tinnoset Line. The canal was superseded by the Bratsberg Line in 1916, by 1945, IG Farben had become a majority shareholder in Norsk Hydro. The plant at Herøya was a result of no longer being dependent on immediate proximity to the power sources. This provided the advantage of being able to have the plants, the first steps towards light metal production came in 1940 when Hydro started construction of a magnesium carbonate plant at Herøya, but the German invasion of Norway stopped the plans. In 1941 the Oslo Consortium invested money equivalent to year 2014 Norwegian kroner 172 million, collaboration with the Nazi-German regime, did not result in any company employees being convicted after the war. During the Second World War Norsk Hydro collaborated with IG Farben, the construction was however ended on July 24,1943 when an allied bombardment completely destroyed the facilities, killing 55 construction workers
35.
Charles O. Holliday
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He is chairman emeritus of the U. S. Council on Competitiveness and chairman of the Business Roundtables Task Force for Environment, Technology, Holliday is also a founding member of the International Business Council and serves on the board of advisors of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. In October 2014, it was announced that he would succeed Jorma Ollila as chairman of Royal Dutch Shell from May 2015, Holliday was born in 1948 and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from John Overton High, where he met his future wife, Holliday earned his B. S. in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1970. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity Zeta chapter, Holliday started at DuPont in the summer of 1970 at DuPonts Old Hickory site. He then turned a summer job at DuPont into a position as an engineer. He advanced through manufacturing and supervisory positions around the world until he was named CEO in 1998, Holliday was the 18th CEO of DuPont in more than 200 years of DuPont history. Under Hollidays leadership, DuPont established a goal of achieving sustainable growth – increasing shareholder, as a result, DuPont has shifted from being a chemical company to being a science-based products and services company. On 30 October 2009, DuPont announced that Holliday would retire as chairman with effect from December 31,2009, Holliday currently serves as the chairman of Council on Competitiveness and the Business Roundtables Task Force for Environment, Technology and Economy. Holliday has previously served as chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and he served as chairman of The Business Council in 2003 and 2004. He is also a member of the International Business Council. On September 21,2009, Holliday was elected to the board of directors of Bank of America Corporation, Holliday holds an honorary doctorate from Polytechnic University, and is a licensed professional engineer. Holliday has co-written a book titled Walking the Talk, which details the case for sustainable development. Biography at Bank of America website Biography at Compete. org
36.
Philip Watts
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Sir Philip Beverley Watts KCMG is a former chairman of the multinational energy company Shell and a priest in the Church of England. Watts was born on 25 June 1945 in Leicester and grew up in the Midlands where his father worked in the textile industry and he attended Wyggeston Boys and Dixie grammar schools in Leicestershire and the University of Leeds where he studied physics, graduating as BSc in 1968. After university he taught briefly in Sierra Leone before returning to Leeds to study for a degree in geophysics. In 1969 Watts joined Shell for whom he worked until 2004, in October 2012, he was appointed priest-in-charge of Waltham St Lawrence parish church. The conflict with the Ogonis eventually culminated in the execution by the Nigerian regime of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Watts succeeded Sir Mark Moody-Stuart in mid-2001 as chairman of Shells Committee of Managing Directors. Within Shell this appointment was greeted with surprise as the seemingly abrasive Watts was a contrast with his patrician predecessor. This unpopularity was reflected inside Shell where many were critical of his aggressive form of management. His devotion to Shell could not be faulted and he wore a ring on his hand which had been engraved with the Shell symbol. Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the Shell Centre for Sustainability at Houstons Rice University in March 2003, later that year he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to British business and to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which he served as chairman. On 9 January 2004, Shell announced that it was cutting its estimate of oil and gas reserves by roughly 3.9 billion barrels. Investors began calling for Watts to resign, reports surfaced of internal memoranda addressed to many of Shells senior executives months earlier discussing the possibility that the companys proven reserves had been overestimated. Watts had stated that he had not been informed that there might be a need to restate reserves until late in 2003, in April 2004, the US law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell released a report on its review of Shells reserves overbooking crisis. The report alleged that top company executives, including Watts, had known about the reserves shortfall since early 2002, as a result of the Davis Polk Report, the Board asked Watts to resign. Watts was investigated by the UK Financial Services Authority about his role in relation to the recategorisation of the hydrocarbon reserves. In November 2005 the FSA announced that it had closed its inquiries when its Regulatory Decisions Committee, Watts was also investigated by the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading the stock market by allowing the overstated reserves figures to stand. These investigations are now closed with no case to answer, Watts and his wife live at Binfield, Berkshire, where he served as a curate after his ordination as a priest in 2011. Mr Philip Watts Sir Philip Watts KCMG The Revd Sir Philip Watts KCMG
37.
Lafarge (company)
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Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in three major products, cement, construction aggregates, and concrete. On 10 July 2015 Lafarge merged with Holcim, a Swiss cement company, on 15 July the new company was officially launched around the globe under the name of LafargeHolcim, creating a new leader in the Building Materials sector. Lafarge was founded in 1833 by Joseph-Auguste Pavin de Lafarge in Le Teil, the limestone is white and argillaceous, and yielded an eminently hydraulic lime. In 1864 Lafarge signed its first international contract for the delivery of 110,000 tonnes of lime to the Suez Canal construction project, in 1980 Lafarge joined with the Belgian coal, coke and fertilizer company Coppée to become SA Lafarge Coppée. Lafarge purchased a plant from the National Gypsum in early-1987, ten years later, it bought Redland plc, a leading British quarry operator. In 1999, Lafarge acquired 100% shareholding in Hima Cement Limited, previously the Group had owned 53% of LNA shares. In 2007, it divested its roofing division, selling it to an equity group in a deal that resulted in Lafarge retaining a 35% equity stake. On 15 May 2008 Lafarge acquired Larsen & Toubro Ready Mix-Concrete business in India for $349 million, in 2010, Lafarge strengthened its presence in Brazil. In 2011, Lafarge SA announced it would build a cement plant in Langkat, North Sumatra, Lafarge launched three plants in Hungary, Syria and Nigeria and created a joint-venture with Anglo American in the United Kingdom. The Group sold most of its European, South American, Asian and Australian gypsum operations, in April 2013 Lafarge adopted a new brand baseline Building better cities. It reflects the Group’s ambition to contribute to the improvement of cities by developing innovative products, solutions. In September 2013, Lafarge agreed to the sale of its 53.3 per cent stake in its Honduras subsidiary Lafarge Cementos SA de CV to Cementos Argos for €232m, on 7 April 2014 Lafarge and Holcim announced they had agreed to terms on a merger of equals. The exchange ratio will be based on 9 Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares, Lafarge Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont and Holcims Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle will be co-Chairmen of the new Group. Eric Olsen, current Lafarge Executive Vice-President, in charge of Operations will be the future CEO of the new Group, executives from both companies said the deal would save the new company 1.4 billion euros annually and create the most advanced group in the building materials industry. The deal will face significant regulatory obstacles, as 15 different jurisdictions could potentially raise objections, the cement market in Europe is already tightly consolidated and antitrust scrutiny of deals has been commonplace since the 1970s. To meet regulatory concerns, Holcim and Lafarge plan to sell or spinoff assets that generated about 5 billion euros of revenue in 2013 in areas of overlap between the two companies. Lafont said the merger was aimed at rebalancing operations, not cutting costs and he said overlapping businesses would be sold, not closed, so industry job losses would be minimal. Others said the deal could lead to further mergers within the industry, most analysts surveyed by Reuters felt the merger would be approved in the end
38.
Alcan
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The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous United States to Alaska across Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, completed in 1942 at a length of approximately 1,700 miles, as of 2012 it is 1,387 mi long. The difference in distance is due to constant reconstruction of the highway, the highway was opened to the public in 1948. Legendary over many decades for being a rough, challenging drive and it is at this point that the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which continues 96 mi to the city of Fairbanks. This is often regarded, though unofficially, as the portion of the Alaska Highway. Mileposts on this stretch of highway are measured from Valdez, rather than the Alaska Highway, the Alaska Highway is popularly considered part of the Pan-American Highway, which extends south to Argentina. Proposals for a highway to Alaska originated in the 1920s, thomas MacDonald, director of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, dreamed of an international highway spanning the United States and Canada. In order to promote the highway, Slim Williams originally traveled the route by dogsled. Since much of the route would pass through Canada, support from the Canadian government was crucial, however, some route consideration was given. The preferred route would pass through the Rocky Mountain Trench from Prince George, British Columbia to Dawson City before turning west to Fairbanks, in 1929 the British Columbia government proposed a highway to Alaska to encourage economic development and tourism. American President Herbert Hoover appointed a board with American and three Canadian members to evaluate the idea, when the United States approached Canada again in February 1936, the Canadian government refused to commit to spending money on a road connecting the United States. The Canadians also worried about the implications, fearing that in a war between Japan and North America, the United States would use the road to prevent Canadian neutrality. Roosevelt became the first American to publicly discuss the benefits of a highway in an August speech in Chautauqua. Roosevelt remained a supporter of the highway, telling Cordell Hull in August 1937 that he wanted a road built as soon as possible. Canada agreed to construction as long as the United States bore the full cost. During construction the road was nicknamed the oil can highway by the crews due to the large number of discarded oil cans. The needs of war dictated the route, intended to link the airfields of the Northwest Staging Route that conveyed lend-lease aircraft from the United States to the Soviet Union. Thus the long, impractical route over difficult terrain was chosen, the road was originally built mostly by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers as a supply route during World War II
39.
PwC
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PricewaterhouseCoopers is a multinational professional services network headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the second largest professional services firm in the world, vault Accounting 50 has ranked PwC as the most prestigious accounting firm in the world for seven consecutive years, as well as the top firm to work for in North America for three consecutive years. PwC is a network of firms in 157 countries,756 locations, as of 2015, 22% of the workforce worked in Asia, 26% in North America and Caribbean and 32% in Western Europe. The companys global revenues were $35.9 billion in FY2016, of which $15.2 billion was generated by its Assurance practice, $9.1 billion by its Tax practice, the firm was formed in 1998 by a merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a rebranding, as of 2016, PwC is the 5th-largest privately owned company in the United States. The firm was created in 1998 when Coopers & Lybrand merged with Price Waterhouse, both firms had histories dating back to the 19th century. In 1854 William Cooper founded a practice in London, which became Cooper Brothers seven years later when his three brothers joined. In 1898, Robert H. Montgomery, William M. Lybrand, Adam A. Ross Jr. and his brother T. Edward Ross formed Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery in the United States. In 1957 Cooper Brothers, Lybrand, Ross Bros & Montgomery, in 1973 the three member firms in the UK, US and Canada changed their names to Coopers & Lybrand. Then in 1980 Coopers & Lybrand expanded its expertise in insolvency substantially by acquiring Cork Gully, in 1990 in certain countries including the UK, Coopers & Lybrand merged with Deloitte Haskins & Sells to become Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, in 1992 they reverted to Coopers & Lybrand. Samuel Lowell Price, an accountant, founded a practice in London in 1849. In 1865 Price went into partnership with William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse, Holyland left shortly afterwards to work alone in accountancy and the firm was known from 1874 as Price, Waterhouse & Co. The original partnership agreement, signed by Price, Holyland and Waterhouse could be found in Southwark Towers, by the late 19th century, Price Waterhouse had gained significant recognition as an accounting firm. As a result of growing trade between the United Kingdom and the United States, Price Waterhouse opened an office in New York in 1890, and the American firm itself soon expanded rapidly. It was said by those involved with the merger that at the end of the discussion, the partners at the table realized they had different views of business. In 1998, Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, after the merger the firm had a large professional consulting branch, as did other major accountancy firms, generating much of its fees. Management Consulting Services was the fastest growing and often most profitable area of the practice, the major cause for growth in the 1990s was the implementation of complex integrated ERP systems for multi-national companies. PwC came under increasing pressure to avoid conflicts of interests by not providing some consulting services, particularly financial systems design and implementation, since it audited a large proportion of the worlds largest companies, this was beginning to limit its consulting market
40.
Paul Polman
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Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman is a Dutch businessman. After a long-term tenure with Procter & Gamble, he joined the board of Nestlé in 2006, since 2009 he has been the chief executive officer of the British–Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. Polman has received awards for business leadership related to sustainable development. Polman was born and grew up in the Dutch city of Enschede, Polman had hoped to become a doctor, but medical school places were allocated by lottery and he was not chosen. From the University of Groningen he gained a BBA/BA in 1977, from the University of Cincinnati he gained an MA in Economics and an MBA in Finance and International Marketing in 1979. Polman then joined Nestlé in 2006 as chief officer and head of the Americas. On 1 January 2009, Polman succeeded Patrick Cescau as chief officer of Unilever. Under Polmans leadership, Unilever has set a target to double its size while reducing its environmental footprint. Polman has argued that, in a world of finite resources, running a business sustainably is vital for long-term growth in emerging markets and it also mitigates risk. Polman, who scrapped short term targets at the company, has argued that the failure to meet targets is a result of currency fluctuations. He has set a target of increasing the sales in emerging markets from the current 57% to 80% of turnover. Procter & Gamble by contrast make only 37% of sales in emerging markets, after sales rose 2. 8% in the first quarter of 2015, Polman commented positively on the effect of past actions on future growth. In 2015, Unilever exceeded its sales targets for the first three quarters, with growth in emerging markets and ice cream, in 2014, Polmans total compensation was £6.9 million including a basic salary of £865,000 and other benefits. Polman is chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and sits on the board of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum and he is also on the board of the UN Global Compact. At the invitation of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Polman served as one of the 27 members of the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. At the invitation of former Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, Polman served on the International Council of the Global Commission on the Economy and he has co-authored a report published be the International Food Policy Research Institute that criticizes the efforts of the SDGs as not ambitious enough. Polman co-founded the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, led by former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and he was co-chairman of the World Economic Forum 2012. He is a counsellor of One Young World and trustee of the Leverhulme Trust, Polman was co-chair of the B-20 Food Security Taskforce
