Business sectors

The BIOTOL series of texts are designed to provide a self-study resource concerning the principles, practices and applications of biotechnology. This text is designed to explain how biotechnology may be applied to solve problems encountered in the production and use of organic chemicals in a wide range of business sectors. 

In a survey [68] of the use of 93 neural computing applications in 75 UK companies covering all business sectors, the major benefits identified were improved quality, improved response times, and increased productivity. Eighty-four percent of users were satisfied or very satisfied with their systems, with only three percent expressing dissatisfaction. Business benefits specifically for the domain of product formulation (albeit for nonpharmaceuticals) have been given as [15]... 

Furthermore, the instrumentation of the RoHS Directive has to be considered in this context. The Directive is targeting a clearly structured business sector with very few clear substance bans (or more precisely limits). For the regulated pollutants in turn very unique risk considerations are possible. Without an extension of the instrumentation to a more sophisticated control system, the complex (chemical) process cannot be reproduced in other sectors. 

It should also be remembered that a major incident may also force a company to literary withdrawn from that portion of the business sector where public indignation, prejudice or stigma towards the company strongly develops because of the loss of life suffered. The availability of 24 hour news transmissions through worldwide satellite networks virtually guarantees a significant incident in the hydrocarbon industry will be known worldwide very shortly after it occurs, resulting in immediate public reaction. 

This opens up applications in at least three major business sectors that will be profoundly impacted by the technology ... 

Energy is an essential input driving economic development. Therefore, in developed economies energy policies constitute an important component of overall regulatory frameworks shaping the improving overall competitiveness and market integration of the private business sector. Overall competitiveness includes liberalization of the... 

The cost of prescriptions has risen dramatically in the last several decades. The average price for a single prescription in the USA in 2003 was more than 50.00. This rise is occasioned by new technology, marketing costs, and stockholder expectations. The pharmaceutical industry typically posts double-digit profits annually while the retail business sector shows a 3% profit. The cost to the patient for many new drugs like "statins" exceeds 1000 per year. Pharmaceuticals are the highest out-of-pocket health-related cost for the health sector because many other health care services are covered by health insurance whereas prescriptions are often not. 

Specifically for medical devices, the Medical Device Software Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has taken on the task of developing a standard4 for use in the medical device business sector based upon the framework established in ISO12207. 

Thomas Schreckenbach is a general partner and member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany. He is responsible for the Chemicals business sector, some Asian countries, and the Chemicals business in North America. He graduated from the University of Munich with a doctoral thesis in biochemistry. Since 1992 he has held a professorship in biochemistry at the Technical University of Darmstadt, and he has an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton. 

The search by the business sector for new sources of technology and the avidity of universities for new sources of funding have started to give a new face to some academic environments. Academic-business relations take many forms investment of companies in complete projects or parts of projects, licensing for exploitation of patents, among others. 

Though the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is welcomed by the stakeholders, there is a point of contention amongst them as to its eventual effectiveness since it is a non-legally binding policy framework. Its implications on trade are also important and need to be monitored closely by states and the business sector. 

The examples above demonstrate how the business sector and the industry can be active movers for change, through a participatory, or as in the case of BASTA, a self-driven process. It is therefore important to understand how these and other tools may be tailored to the needs of the Asian region. 

The focus on the chemical industry is made because of the prominence of its role in the global economy and in society. The impact of the chemical industry is felt in every area of commerce, as chemicals are ubiquitous in all value chains and affect all ecosystems, no matter how seemingly pristine, on the planet. The lessons presented here, then, can extend to other business sectors. 

In response to this pressure from the business sector, Parliament passed the Wool Actin 1699 which essentially deprived the colonists of the right to import wool. To circumvent this restriction, the colonists made more and more use of hemp and flax fibers. In 1708, Calib Heathcote, a New York colonist seeking a contract from the British Board of Trade to supply naval stores to England, wrote that his neighbors "were already so far advanced that three fourths of the linen and woolen used, was made amongst them... and if some speedy and effectual ways are not found to put a stop to it, they will carry it on a great deal further..."... 

Relief programs for the unemployed were a related issue. During the 1920s, the Mexican population in Los Angeles alone increased by 226 percent. By 1930, there were over 97,000 Mexicans in the city. When these immigrants lost their jobs and went on relief, the business sector, which had once regarded them as an exploitable asset, now began to view them as an intolerable burden. 

In addition to the Law and Regulations, there are also opinions issued by the Advertising Council, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Health, the academic and scientific communities, the business sector, the media and consumer groups. 

For Solvay after World War n, see Derdak, ed.. International Directory, vol. 1 (1988), p. 395 Moody s International Manual (1995), pp. 4763 764, lists the product lines for each of Solvay s business sectors. See Bower, When Markets Quake, pp. 128, 148 for the move into PVC. 

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