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Edwards - Sustainability
Metrics-at-a-glance
Edwards.com
Materiality & stakeholder engagement
Access to healthcare
Patient experience & voice
Product safety & quality
Volunteerism & giving
GRI 102-1, GRI 102-2, GRI 102-3, GRI 102-4, GRI 102-5, GRI 102-6, GRI 102-7, GRI 102-8, GRI 102-41, GRI 102-9, GRI 102-10, GRI 102-13, GRI 103-1, GRI 103-2, GRI 103-3, GRI 201-1
GRI 102-1: Name of the organization
GRI 102-2: Activities, brands, products, and services
GRI 102-3: Location of headquarters
GRI 102-4: Location of operations
GRI 102-5: Ownership and legal form
GRI 102-6: Markets served
GRI 102-7: Scale of the organization
GRI 102-8: Information on employees and other workers
GRI 102-41: Collective bargaining agreements
GRI 102-9: Supply chain
GRI 102-10: Significant changes to the organization and its supply chain
GRI 102-13: Membership of associations
GRI 103-1: Management approach
GRI 201-1: Direct economic value generated and distributed
Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader in patient-focused medical innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. Driven by a passion to help patients, we collaborate with the world's leading clinicians and researchers to address unmet healthcare needs, working to improve outcomes and enhance lives.
Since our establishment as an independent public company in 2000, Edwards has grown to more than $3.8 billion in revenue with product sales in more than 100 countries. We drive the development of minimally invasive technologies that improve both patient outcomes and speed of recovery. Our medical technologies include transcatheter and surgical heart valve therapies and critical care technologies:
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement – Designed to treat heart valve disease using catheter-based approaches, Edwards' transcatheter aortic heart valve replacement technologies are used with certain patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is not optimal.
Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies – Edwards is making significant investments in the development of safe and effective therapy options designed to treat complex mitral and tricuspid valve diseases.
Surgical Structural Heart – Edwards is committed to being the partner of choice for cardiac surgeons and helping transform patients' lives by advancing surgical structural heart innovations. It is the world's leading manufacturer of tissue heart valves and surgical heart valve repair therapies, which are used to treat a patient's diseased heart valve.
Critical Care – Edwards is a world leader in hemodynamic monitoring systems used to measure a patient's heart function and fluid status across care settings. Its complete hemodynamic portfolio helps clinicians make proactive clinical decisions and plays an important role in enhancing patient recovery.
Every year, Edwards Lifesciences creates new products with the power to save lives. In 2018, Edwards Lifesciences received several product approvals for commercialization:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra system which also received CE Mark in 2018 for commercialization in Europe.
The HemoSphere Platform with Acumen HPI and IQ intelligent decision-support tool received U.S. FDA clearance
Received CE Mark for the Edwards Cardioband Tricuspid Valve Reconstruction System, the first transcatheter tricuspid therapy for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation, available in Europe
Received CE Mark for self-expanding CENTERA valve
Edwards has continued our focus on innovation. Please see our Newsroom for updates on our latest innovations and approvals.
Also in 2018, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to acquire $400 million of Edwards' common stock. Upon entering into the agreement, Edwards received 2.5 million shares.
2018 sales by product line
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Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy
Surgical Heart Valve Therapy
2018 sales by geographic region
Edwards is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. We operate major manufacturing facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Singapore. We also have a significant employee presence at regional locations in Europe, Canada and Japan, with an office in Ireland where a manufacturing facility is under construction, expected to open in 2021 and employ approximately 600 people. None of our North American employees are represented by a labor union. In various countries outside of North America, we interact with trade unions and work councils that represent a limited number of employees.
Edwards by the numbers
Total Number of Operations 65 (7 manufacturing locations)
Total Number of Employees as of December 31, 2018
(Including Part-Time and Temporary Employees) 12,823
Global Employees by Gender in 2018 61% Female
Note: In 2018, we announced the planned construction of a new manufacturing facility in Ireland expected to be complete in 2021.
Across the U.S. and international markets, our customers include physicians, medical professionals, hospitals and group purchasing organizations. In 2018, we derived 55 percent of our sales from the U.S. and 45 percent from international markets.
Our primary direct materials suppliers provide:
Extruded tubing and extrusions
Electronic assemblies and cables
Bovine pericardial tissue
Precision machining components
We source about 80 percent of our manufacturing materials spend from preferred and strategic suppliers. We control the addition of new suppliers, which we add only if new technology or capability is required for our business and not already present in our supplier base. In recent years, we added around five to eight new direct materials suppliers per year. Newly added suppliers undergo a thorough due diligence process including screening for adverse conditions or events. We prioritize partnerships with suppliers headquartered in countries that enforce stringent standards and regulations to help reduce risks of non-compliance in our supply chain. For example, we source bovine pericardial tissue exclusively from the U.S. and Australia. Our largest indirect suppliers provide telecommunication services, food and catering services, office supplies, uniforms, lab products and cloud software.
Governance Map
We use Governance Maps to show the process used to establish accountability for each material topic in one overarching, interactive graphic. Our maps illustrate Edwards' internal responsibility structures for managing our material topics. Each section describes who is involved when we set, execute and communicate our strategy. In 2018, we added two new topics to the map: Supply Chain Management and Talent Management.
Ethics &
& Quality
Edwards takes pride in our strong management practices that mitigate risk, ensure accountability and enhance performance on our material topics. Our governance maps illustrate Edwards' internal responsibility structures for managing a selection of our material topics. These maps underscore our commitment to transparency and our Aspiration of Excelling as a Trusted Partner and Global Leader Through the Quality of Our Work.
Please click on any of the five categories to review our governance structures and practices.
How does Edwards decide its strategy?
Strategy Setting
Our Audit and Compensation and Governance Committees, and the Board of Directors as a whole, are responsible for developing Edwards' corporate governance strategy.
Our Corporate Secretary stewards our corporate governance efforts and represents the Board of Directors during engagement calls with stockholders. A representative from the Board of Directors, the Presiding Director, sometimes participates in calls with the shareholders and closely collaborates with the Corporate Secretary in advance of and during the calls. Stockholder feedback informs corporate governance evaluation. The Board of Directors reviews the stockholder feedback reports and incorporates feedback into their considerations when reviewing governance strategy.
On a quarterly basis, the Corporate Secretary reviews current best practices, analyzes the impacts of governance changes on our business and advises the Board of Directors on considerations relating to governance questions, challenges or feedback.
How does Edwards execute its strategy?
The Compensation and Governance Committee and the Audit Committee are the two committees of Edwards' Board of Directors. Their charters can be found on our website. They oversee execution of our corporate governance and sustainability strategy throughout the year.
The office of the Corporate Secretary, Investor Relations, the office of the Chief Responsibility Officer, the Corporate Vice President and General Counsel collaborate to execute Edwards' corporate governance strategy.
Performance Incentives
Edwards evaluates corporate governance personnel using compensation mechanisms such as awarding long-term incentives. To evaluate our Board of Directors, our Compensation Committee submits recommendations to our CEO who evaluates individuals based on their performance management objectives. Additionally, we view our stock performance as a way in which our strategy is being evaluated by shareholders.
Our Board and ELT are incentivized to promote best corporate governance practices through performance management objectives which influence compensation. Additionally, our Board conducts self- and peer-evaluations annually that are prepared for and tailored to each Board member by the General Counsel.
How does Edwards engage and communicate?
Communication Practices
Edwards communicates Corporate Governance efforts through the Annual Proxy Statement and other securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, the Sustainability Council publicly communicates Corporate Governance initiatives through the Sustainability Report.
Edwards educates employees on corporate governance information through the Titanium book.
The Board is presented with the status of stakeholder engagement and feedback received during the engagement in the quarter during which the feedback was obtained. Shareholder outreach on corporate governance, executive compensation and sustainability occurs at least twice a year. The Board reviews feedback, evaluates best responses, discusses reasonable approaches, and responds appropriately on behalf of the company. The 2018 Proxy Statement details how the Board has responded to stockholder feedback over the year and has changed our governance profile.
Stakeholders can communicate governance concerns by contacting investor relations or the office of the Corporate Secretary and raising concerns during one of the semi-annual outreach campaigns. Our CEO, our CFO and VP, Investor Relations, members of our Executive Leadership Team, reach out to shareholders quarterly in addition to regular institutional stakeholder engagements. Our Investor Relations team and Corporate Secretary collaborate when feedback is received. During some of the engagement sessions, our Presiding Director participates after receiving training.
Members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Corporate EHS team (CEHS team) collaborate to develop Edwards' EHS strategy which is subject to approval by the CFO and CEO.
The Senior Director of EHS and Sustainability, a member of the CEHS team, re-evaluates the strategy annually and produces an annual EHS report. This report is shared with the business unit leaders and the CFO who provides critical updates to the CEO. Our CEO shares updates on EHS performance with the Board of Directors annually and as needed if issues arise.
Every five years, the Vice President, Corporate Services and Members of the CEHS team create new EHS strategies that are based on benchmarking, industry standards and leading sustainability frameworks. Edwards aligns our EHS strategy and disclosures to the Global Reporting Initiative, Dow Jones Sustainability Index survey, Carbon Disclosure Project (Climate), and the Task Force for Climate-Related Disclosures.
Regional Strategies
The Corporate EHS function develops EHS policies and procedures appropriate for Edwards' global operations. These include global policies on EHS risk management, reducing accidents and preventing pollution. The Senior Director of EHS and Sustainability, a member of the Corporate EHS team, then develops plant strategies based on EHS performance, reviewed by the CFO and CEO. Each Operating Unit EHS function develops additional tailored policies and procedures appropriate to its activities and local regulations, needs and cultural attributes.
Executive Leadership and representatives from the CEHS team approve plant-level requirements. The Facility EHS teams and the plant managers are responsible for ensuring that the EHS policy is followed at each facility.
Removing Conflicts of Interest
The Corporate and Operating Unit EHS programs are governed as separate entities to ensure objectivity during internal audits. Each team reports audit results, injuries and environmental findings to its respective management teams.
Corporate EHS:
Focuses on compliance, risks and opportunities, EHS due diligence, pollution prevention and reduction of injuries for both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing entities
Reports to the Corporate Vice President of Finance, The Vice President of Corporate Services, the CFO and the CEO
Monitors and reports EHS performance, including compliance, reduction of injuries and pollution prevention, on an ongoing basis to site and corporate management teams of each Operating Unit
Operating Unit EHS:
Facilitates and assesses EHS performance, including EHS headcount, EHS employee development, ongoing expenses and projects aimed at reducing injuries and preventing pollution
Report to the Business Unit Leaders through the supply chain management leadership, Corporate VP, Global Supply Chain
Individual Operating Units deploy and monitor the EHS Management System, including manufacturing sites and regional offices, who are directly accountable to their corresponding Business Units or corporate divisions
Our CEO is evaluated annually for his role in achieving our strategic long-term Aspirations; EHS is as an integral part of Edwards' Aspiration to excel as a Trusted Partner with our stakeholders and community. The Senior Director of EHS/Sustainability and the VP of Corporate Services' bonuses are based upon policy execution. Edwards includes EHS criteria in performance reviews for relevant employees and incentivizes performance using recognition, rewards and compensation.
Feedback Mechanisms
Through our "Ask Mike" Channel, the Corporate Services team receives employee and vendor EHS feedback and questions for our CEO. CEHS team leadership and Corporate Services draft answers to these inquiries that the CEO reviews before publishing all questions and answers on Edwards' internal website.
Any employee may report a grievance related to EHS practices anonymously through Edwards' Speak-Up program and Integrity Hotline. All grievances made through the Global Integrity Program are reported through Edwards' Chief Responsibility Officer (CRO). External persons may submit EHS-related concerns through Edwards' Global Integrity Program. If Edwards receives feedback, the CRO reviews it and directs it to CEHS leadership who investigate, document findings, and return it to the CRO who then determines whether further action is needed.
Edwards uses several methods to engage and communicate EHS information and progress with stakeholders: public reporting, our "Ask Mike" channel, grievance mechanisms and employee training.
Edwards communicates its EHS progress via our annual Sustainability Report and supplemental EHS report. Additionally, our Environmental Health & Safety policy and performance commitments are included in Edwards' Titanium Book of Global Business Practice Standards.
Please see our EHS report for details on our EHS-specific employee training. Every plant conducts employee and contractor orientation that contains EHS information and safety training for their position.
Setting Our Strategy
Our CEO and Chief Responsibility Officer (CRO) collaborate to set Edwards' Ethics & Compliance and Corruption & Bribery strategy; as our leader, the CEO sets the tone while the CRO drives the strategy. They both oversee fostering a strong ethical culture and advancing a best-in-class compliance program. The Board of Directors approves and oversees the program.
Our CRO oversees our Global and Regional Ethics and Compliance Teams, is a member of our Senior Leadership Team and has primary responsibility for Ethics & Compliance and Corruption & Bribery. Our CRO reports to the CEO and the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.
Our cross-functional compliance committees discuss, review and approve all regional and global policies and procedures: The Regional Compliance Committees (RCC) include regional senior leaders and are chaired by a regional compliance officer while our Corporate Compliance Committee (CCC), chaired by the CRO, is comprised of executive team members, including business unit leads and functional heads. The Global Ethics and Compliance team proposes corporate compliance goals which are discussed with and approved by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). Progress to goals are discussed by the CRO with the ELT and Audit Committee of the Board, and by regional compliance officers (RCOs), who support the compliance committees and ethics teams, with the RCCs.
Performance and Monitoring
Our Global Business Practice Standards, known as the "Titanium Book," are publicly available on our website. Any changes to the Titanium Book must be approved by the CCC, ELT and the Board. The CRO and the Ethics and Compliance Teams perform bi-annual compliance risk assessments which drive future strategies.
To continually improve our Ethics & Compliance and anti-Corruption & Bribery program, the CRO and regional compliance officers work closely with global and regional medical device industry associations and legal consultants to stay abreast of, engage with and incorporate any new developments such as industry codes of conduct, working guidelines or best practices. The Ethics and Compliance Teams monitor publicly available information about the Ethics & Compliance and anti-Corruption & Bribery performance of our peers and the CRO reports to the CCC, ELT and the Audit Committee of the Board.
Our Ethics and Compliance Teams measure our performance through many channels. One channel is the assessment of Edwards' culture through our compliance survey which measures trust, fear of retaliation and willingness to speak up. Our Ethics and Compliance Teams communicate with regional and corporate leadership and the CRO if any issues surface.
Implementing Our Strategy
Our Chief Responsibility Officer (CRO) oversees daily implementation and reports monthly to our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and quarterly to the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. Our Corporate Compliance Committee provides support and guidance to the CRO. The Committee meets quarterly to discuss progress. In addition, our regional compliance officers chair RCCs that oversee compliance at a local level.
The Ethics and Compliance Teams monitor compliance policies and procedures and drive changes through system upgrades, training and education.
We require all employees and distributors to receive training on and certify their commitment to the Titanium Book, while the Audit Committee of our Board members receive education on the Book and our policies. Please see the Management Approach section of Ethics & Compliance and Corruption & Bribery for more detail.
Strategic Incentives
Our CEO and CRO share a specific performance management objective (PMO) to "foster a strong ethical culture and advance a best-in-class compliance program"; this directly impacts their bonus compensation.
Edwards' Aspirations include "Excelling as a Trusted Partner and Global Leader Through the Quality of Our Work". Edwards expects all employees to practice our core competencies and this is codified as a criterion in our performance reviews. Our Ethics and Compliance Teams work with Human Resources to establish integrity-related performance criteria. Any violations or misconduct are communicated to both the offending employee and their manager for review and may be considered during the employees' performance evaluation.
The Ethics and Compliance Teams provide awards to employees for courageous ethical behavior, as well as for speaking up about improvement opportunities. Employees receive Heart Awards, recognition and financial compensation for promoting ethics and compliance and preventing corruption and bribery.
How does Edwards engage and communicate with our stakeholders?
Communicating Our Progress
We communicate progress to all our stakeholders in our annual sustainability report.
The Regional Ethics and Compliance Teams educate our employees through in-person training, online training on our learning management system, compliance newsletters, email communications, meetings and calls.
Incorporating Feedback
In conjunction with Titanium Book certification, we survey professional employees annually on topics such as fear of retaliation and whether they have reported misconduct. In addition, the Ethics and Compliance Teams gather internal feedback through our Integrity Helpline, investigations, monitoring findings and bi-annual risk assessments, and the RCC and general employee communications.
The Ethics and Compliance Teams conduct a direct, personal follow up with all deviant survey responses and periodically follows up with all misconduct reporters until investigations conclude. They provide global and regional risk assessment results to the RCC and CCC and collaborate to develop risk-mediating action.
To track program effectiveness, the Ethics and Compliance Teams, in collaboration with ELT, develop metrics and compliance goals each year. Regional compliance officers gather data to measure these metrics and goals and send it to the Global Ethics and Compliance Team who aggregate and share findings with the RCCs and other leadership teams. The CRO also presents findings to the CCC, ELT and Audit Committee of the Board.
Setting Strategy
With guidance from the Board of Directors, the CEO and the Corporate Vice President of Quality (CVP of Quality) set Edwards' Product Quality and Safety strategy, policies and targets. The CVP of Quality is responsible for evaluating company performance and aligning our strategy to relevant product safety regulations. Our CVP of Quality assesses product quality and safety data through a company-wide dashboard and provides quarterly updates to the Board of Directors and executive leadership.
The Vice Presidents of Quality for the Business Units and Regions (VPs of Quality) and VP of Quality Strategy and Execution who report directly to the CVP of Quality, support the strategy development process. The quality team develops a centralized corporate quality strategy that focuses on quality control measures and global regulatory compliance. The VPs of Quality in the business units are responsible for product-level specifications to ensure compliance with applicable regulations.
As a medical technology company, Edwards must comply with strict regulations regarding the design, development, manufacturing and distribution of our products and services. We must comply with regulations set by regulatory bodies all around the world, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Competent Authorities in the European Union, and various international organizations.
Our Corporate VP of Quality (CVP) is responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of our Quality System.
The CVP conducts quarterly reviews with the CEO, the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors to inform them of significant quality issues. The reviews address opportunities to improve Edwards' Quality System, policy and objectives. These ongoing assessment activities empower Edwards' Vice Presidents of Quality, Business Units and Regions to implement changes and mandate corrective action. The Edwards Management Representatives, who report to the VPs of Quality for the Business Units and Regions, help communicate and disseminate the strategy to employees throughout the company.
Our Corporate Vice President of Quality, our Vice President of Quality Strategy and Execution, and other Vice Presidents of Quality collaborate to establish a performance dashboard comprised of 6-7 specific components. All Quality and Global Supply Chain personnel are evaluated based on the dashboard's performance and achievement of the dashboard goals. All employees who report to the Vice Presidents of Quality are responsible for and evaluated by 6-7 specific criteria aligned to the dashboard.
Corrective Action Process
If a product fails to meet safety or regulatory requirements, a cross-functional team performs an in-depth assessment to determine whether a Field Corrective Action is needed. In the case of a product issue, the Field Corrective Action Team will reclaim the distributed product or contact the affected customer. This team includes the Corporate VP of Quality, Regulatory and Clinical; Vice President of Product Safety (a former cardiothoracic surgeon); head of Quality Compliance; and the Quality Management Representative of the relevant business unit.
Employee Product Quality and Safety Training
Edwards requires every employee, regardless of department, to complete detailed quality training programs during our onboarding process. Beyond the fundamentals, training content and employee performance expectations are specifically defined for each role. Edwards also requires employees to undergo mandatory training on or to review pertinent procedural updates.
The Product Quality Teams, collaborates with our Research & Development departments and manufacturing team to monitor post-market product performance and manage a feedback loop to continually make product improvements. Additionally, physicians provide feedback on how we can develop our products to best meet their needs.
Edwards communicates our progress and engages our stakeholders through our sustainability report and our website. Additionally, we report to all major regulatory bodies around the world, including the National Competent Authorities. Complete information on recalls is available through the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) publicly available database for medical device recalls.
How does the Edwards Foundation decide its strategy?
The Edwards Lifesciences Foundation is structurally independent from Edwards Lifesciences' business and plays a key role in Edwards Lifesciences' philanthropic giving strategy. The strategic importance of giving back to the community through the Foundation's work is set by the Foundation's Chairman of the Board and Edwards' CEO, Mike Mussallem.
The Foundation's Board of Directors sets the philanthropic strategy. The Board includes eight senior leaders at Edwards:
Corporate vice president of Public Affairs
Corporate Vice President of Quality, Regulatory
Clinical Corporate Vice President of Human Resources
Corporate Vice President of Critical Care
Vice President and Association General Counsel
The Foundation Board reviews the strategic plan annually to ensure that our philanthropic contributions leverage maximum global impact. The Executive Director of ELF develops the Foundation's strategy with the Global Corporate Giving Team with counsel and ultimate approval from the Foundation Board. The Foundation's Officers and members of the Administrative Steering Committee (ASC), comprised of 20 Edwards employees from around the world, also help set the philanthropy strategy.
The Board also annually evaluates the Foundation's cash grant giving goals and the impact of cash grants for the Foundation's signature philanthropic initiative, Every Heartbeat Matters (EHM). EHM comprises ~70% of the Foundation's annual cash grant budget. Every Q1, the Foundation Executive Director and the Global Corporate Giving team evaluate the prior year, gathering feedback from the Foundation Board of Directors, all ASC members, and non-profit partners and make necessary changes to the applications and grant cycle process to improve operations for the following year.
To solicit feedback, evaluate our EHM performance and ensure we are on target to achieve our goals, the Executive Director of the Foundation and the Global Corporate Giving team receives robust impact reporting from our partner non-profit organizations at the end of every year. The Global Corporate Giving team also conducts rigorous reviews, analysis and audits of at least 10% of our EHM partners' impact on an annual basis.
Our Foundation work aligns with UN SDG number 3 and number 10.
How does the Edwards Foundation execute its strategy?
The Executive Director of the Foundation is responsible for the implementation of the philanthropic strategy. The Executive Director oversees both the Global Corporate Giving team, who is accountable for target achievement, and the Administrative Steering Committee, who help to execute the philanthropic strategy by partnering with and supporting charitable organizations across the world.
The Administrative Steering Committee and the Strengthen Our Community Committees, comprised of employees from different team and regions across the globe, works with the Global Corporate Giving team to encourage employees to engage with our global non-profit partners. All employees are responsible for maintaining our culture of volunteerism and giving. With support and leadership from Strengthen Our Communities committees, and the Global Corporate Giving team, employees volunteer with community organizations, donate dollars or skills to a charity and encourage organizations to apply to the annual grant cycle of the ELF.
At select annual regional employee events, the Chairman, Foundation Executive Director and the Global Corporate Giving team recognize outstanding Edwards employee volunteers. They are granted a 'gift for giving' — donating $1000 to the charity of their choice.
How does the Edwards Foundation engage and communicate?
Transparency is key to our Foundation — we disclose extensive philanthropy data on our website. The Foundation communicates our progress through our annual sustainability reports as well as our philanthropy reports. Both are posted on our website and placed in lobbies and gathering locations throughout Edwards' buildings. We also provide the reports to each Foundation partner and new Edwards U.S. employees during orientation. All new employee orientations include information on the Foundation, the Strengthen Our Community volunteer programs and how to get involved.
The Global Corporate Giving team, the Administrative Steering Committee and the Board of Directors of the Foundation communicate Edwards' philanthropic strategy and commitment through regular All Employee Meetings, external conferences and community events, and at annual recognition events for the Foundation's non-profit partners.
Additionally, the Chairman of the Board presents Foundation information during the business' annual shareholder meeting. The Global Corporate Giving team also discusses our philanthropic strategy with interested stakeholders at the annual shareholder meeting.
Feedback and Engagement Mechanisms
The Global Corporate Giving team uses internal communication platforms, social media platforms and external-facing public websites to both gather feedback from the public and employees and share information with the community. The Global Corporate Giving team responds to all email, phone or online inquiries received by the Edward Lifesciences Foundation. The Executive Director and Global Corporate Giving team share compiled feedback and other material information with the Board during quarterly meetings.
The Global Corporate Giving team supports the Foundation Officers in conducting collaborative summits that convene our non-profit partners of the Every Heartbeat Matters initiative, with the goal of furthering philanthropic impact by providing platforms for networking and encouraging collaborative programming. The Global Corporate Giving team also participates in industry surveys to share data and help our peers conduct benchmarking.
At Edwards, talent management encompasses the topics of Employee Attraction, Recruitment, Engagement, Development, Retention and Diversity and Inclusion.
Edwards' leadership understands that our greatest assets are our employees and the unique knowledge and skills they bring to our work. Attracting, developing and retaining talent is fundamental to the success of Edwards. Edwards's practice is to employ, develop and retain employees on the basis of merit, qualifications, potential and competence, without regard to an employee's gender, race or any other protected characteristic. The Board of Directors, CEO and Executive Leadership Team help determine the company's fair and equitable pay policy.
Edwards' talent management strategy begins at the top of our organization: our CEO has measurable and reportable Performance Management Objectives (PMOs) around talent management, increasing diversity and building an inclusive culture. The Board updates the CEO's PMOs annually and the CEO is accountable to the Board of Directors for making progress toward the goals. Every year, the Edwards Executive Leadership Team (ELT) establishes key operating drivers (KODs) that steer the company toward short, medium and long-term goals. The ELT then works together to identify strategic talent related imperatives that are critical in driving KOD success. Each strategic talent imperative is owned by an ELT member and an HR leader.
For Diversity and Inclusion, ELT leaders set and oversee the strategy and support for our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Each ERG has an ELT sponsor and is led by Edwards employees. The Corporate Vice President of Human Resources and the Corporate Vice President of Quality and Regulatory lead the new Executive Steering Committee, which also includes other ELT ERG Sponsors. The Director of Talent Management leads the Edwards Diversity Council, which includes the employees that manage the ERGs. The Executive Steering Committee nominates and approves the employee leaders of the ERGs. We aspire to continue to expand the ERG network. These groups include the Network of Women, MultiCultural, Friends of Veterans Network, Generations, Rainbow Alliance and enable.
Edwards demonstrates our commitment to employees by ensuring equitable and fair pay practices and by providing a work environment that recognizes each individual as an important member of a culturally diverse, global Edwards team. We aspire to be an employer of choice and do so through our culture, educational opportunities, competitive pay, benefits and other efforts.
Based on the KODs, cascaded from the company and CEO PMOs, the ELT and respective HR owners develop and execute initiatives for each strategic talent imperative. Initiative owners determine project direction, including resources involved, goals setting and milestones for success. The HR PMO office manages all strategic talent initiatives and goals to ensure alignment with business objectives and annual progress. The Corporate Vice President of Human Resources reviews strategic talent imperatives every quarter. The HR PMO office tracks the strategic talent imperatives as well as talent-related projects and global initiatives that incorporate two or more cross-functional teams.
The HR PMO office reviews all projects using the same criteria. A resource dashboard collects and relays information and updates on each of the key projects so that the HR Advisory Board and project teams can stay in close communication regarding direction and progress. The HR Leadership Team (HRLT) and additional members make up the Advisory Board and they measure success of completed projects against the initial timeline and deliverables. The Advisory Board reviews the status of all critical talent-related projects every two to three weeks depending on the activity. The Advisory Board also reviews a sampling of projects each meeting.
Edwards supports several professional development practices and programs for employees, including:
· The Edwards Talent Development Review (TDR) assesses the strategic talent needs of the organization, measures current talent capabilities and provides support to employees in reaching their professional goals. Line managers conduct TDRs for their direct reports to connect with employees, identify professional growth priorities and understand the best way to support the needs of their function and the team members. Line managers relay information up through their team lead. The CEO and Chief Human Resources Officer conduct a TDR with each ELT leader on their respective organization annually. Information from the TDR informs managers on discussions with their employees on areas such as strengths/development needs, stakeholder feedback, succession and potential career paths.
· Edwards understands the value of mentoring, and we continually work to expand our mentorship programs. We currently offer a variety of programs including traditional, paired mentoring, mentoring specific functional populations, global mentoring and flash mentoring.
To attract and recruit top talent, Edwards provides competitive compensation and benefits packages. With the support and involvement of our Board, the executive team and external consultants, we regularly review our pay practices and compensation structure for potential pay disparities across gender and race. Through this process, we can identify statistically significant pay disparities and determine a course of action on how they can be addressed.
Our Global Career Framework (GCF) provides role alignment, career pathways and ensures equitable pay. Through the GCF, all Edwards employees are slotted by job function and level into career bands based on duties and responsibilities. We follow the GCF to ensure internal equity and to align with external benchmarks to remain competitive in both individual contributor and leadership tracks. We annually benchmark global job grades and salary structures against similar positions in the market.
We assign every employee a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP). Employees can reach out to their corresponding HRBP for support and insight into the resources we offer and opportunities available.
To communicate our Talent Management strategy and engage employees, Edwards uses several different methods.
To provide context around talent goals and explain global strategy to HR employees, our Corporate Vice President of Human Resources holds a quarterly virtual meeting. For employees at the senior manager level and above, we hold an annual HR Summit at our headquarters in Irvine, California. At the HR Summit, the Global HR leadership team reviews strategy updates and key projects. Our Corporate Vice President of HR also hosts hours where she is available for questions and discussions through our internal chat function. During these chat hours, HR employees can ask talent management questions. We also send out a worldwide Human Resources newsletter that covers different programs and updates at the company, such as diversity and inclusion efforts.
For all Edwards employees, we conduct an Employee Survey approximately every 18 months to measure employee satisfaction across a variety of dimensions, including quality, trust, empowerment, involvement, engagement, retention and charitable activities. Edwards distributes the survey in multiple languages. This feedback helps us sustain and protect what we do well and respond to opportunities as they arise. Our Executive Leadership Team reviews survey results selects priority areas for development and implements action plans at both the corporate and functional levels.
Additionally, Edwards hosts ERGs to support and engage our employees. ERGs focus on employee inclusion and awareness, as well as networking and outreach. Each group hosts learning opportunities and events to strengthen the Edwards community and underscore our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Edwards also maintains internal webpages to communicate our talent management strategy. Edwards' intranet site contains employee resources and, specifically, a Diversity and Inclusion site that includes tools and resources for our employees. The site provides an ERG launch kit for new ERG leaders.
Employees also have the opportunity to submit questions to our CEO through our Ask Mike channel and Speak Up helpline.
Edwards' Global Supply Chain (GSC) is responsible for the plan, source, make and deliver functions of our business, ensuring that our products effectively reach providers and patients. Our Global Supply Chain (GSC) strategy is an overarching, multi-year strategy with five pillars that guides our GSC and Quality work. We revisit and update our strategy annually and determine a strategy for each of the five pillars. The five pillars of the strategy are 1. Enable growth, 2. Invest in quality and reliability, 3. Drive efficiency and asset effectiveness, 4. Transform the supply chain through innovation and 5. Build talent and organization. The approach to each pillar includes actions for Edwards employees at all levels. As part of the initial process of setting this strategy, the Global Supply Chain Leadership Team and Corporate VP of Global Supply Chain identified future aspirations that guide our metrics, strategies and initiatives. The Corporate Vice President of GSC drives the process of determining and updating our strategies, and the Senior Director of GSC Strategy and Analytics conducts the annual review and refresh of the goals and pillars supporting our strategy.
Strategy Alignment
The GSC and Quality Leadership Teams conduct an annual strategic plan review. The group's strategic plan looks across a 7-year horizon and assesses specific questions, capabilities and aspirations to ensure that we are prepared to meet the company's long-term needs. The group also works very closely with the four product lines to ensure alignment with goals, strategies, and plans for growth. During the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) process, our team refreshes the GSC initiatives and resourcing approach in accordance with the business plan. The AOP focuses on the resourcing needs and goals for the upcoming operating year. The GSC team has a designated Strategy Process Champion, who sets policy deployment and meeting agendas and works with project teams to get information in front of the GSC team for review.
To execute our GSC and Quality strategies, we ensure alignment on goals and the availability of resources with input from the Global Supply Chain Leadership Team (GSCLT). During this process, the GSCLT identifies and secures the resources needed to reach the goals for that year and reviews progress. The members of the GSCLT align their PMOs with those of the CEO, to ensure support of the broader direction of the business.
The GSCLT assigns a project lead to be responsible for each GSC initiative and drive it across the business. Each initiative has a sponsor from the GSCLT who reviews updates and ensures that the right team is in place to reach the objective.
To execute the strategy at the local level, supervisors/managers at all Edwards plants hold daily production meetings to review performance metrics from the previous day and week. This practice ensures leaders in all plants understand the overarching strategy and that they are active in executing daily changes necessary to reach goals.
To align strategy across Edwards, the GSC team has one GSCLT member in each business unit. Additionally, PMO Leads sit on the GSCLT and is primarily responsible for strategy development and execution for the GSC.
The Edwards GSC works closely with our Quality team in setting and checking progress against goals. We also have a team that works directly with company Research and Development teams to ensure manufacturability of products and the successful integration into our supply chain at launch.
Monitoring External Suppliers
We have policies to monitor external suppliers, and processes for engaging our partners in the greater Edwards supply chain strategy. Within the Strategic Sourcing Team, there is an Advanced Sourcing Team and a Category Leadership Team. All Research and Development teams have Advanced Sourcing Team representatives to ensure Edwards selects the right suppliers during the product innovation process. Experts and category leads who own relationships with our external suppliers comprise our Category Leadership Team.
Internal Communication Practices
To align all Edwards supply chain employees on the goals and direction of the group, we post visuals of the aspirations and strategies at all manufacturing sites. Every plant has an individual scorecard that tracks progress toward site-specific goals. Plant leadership updates the scorecards regularly to update all employees regarding performance and conduct regular Town Hall reviews to share key information.
Edwards hosts an annual two-day summit with all of the GSC directors to discuss the updated strategies. Each function of the supply chain holds a series of town hall meetings throughout the year, during which leaders roll out new projects or provide updates on existing projects. Managers conduct ongoing reviews of individual employee PMOs to monitor progress and alignment with overarching goals. Every employee has an individualized PMO outlining their role in contributing to the company strategy.
External Communication Practices
We rely on our suppliers to help us create industry-leading therapies for cardiovascular disease. Our Responsible Supply Chain Policy outlines our expectations for suppliers, which include fair labor practices, environmental responsibility, workplace health and safety, ethical practices, protection of human rights, socially responsible behavior and legal compliance. We integrate supplier input in the design and manufacturing of new products by including supply chain employees on most research and development product teams.
We hold supplier summits with our strategic suppliers, distribute key elements of the GSC vision and strategies, run a supplier portal and provide a scorecard to update suppliers on their performance against our expectations to engage employees and external suppliers in our strategic plan. A Change Management Group within GSC develops and publishes a quarterly newsletter that goes out across the global supply chain in both English and Spanish. The Change Management Group reports up through the GSC Head of Human Resources/Change Management. Edwards plans to integrate sustainability considerations into our procurement practices.
© 2020 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. All rights reserved.


President Donald Trump could face bother in Florida throughout his re-election bid, a state he simply barely received over in 2016, as a majority of voters now say that they won't help him once more in 2020.
According to a brand new Quinnipiac University poll, 51 p.c of Floridians say they "definitely won't" be voting for Trump once more if he's the Republican Party's nominee within the 2020 election. Another 31 p.c say they "definitely would" solid a poll for the president and 14 p.c say they'd think about voting for Trump.
Overall, solely 40 p.c of Florida voters had a good opinion of President Trump, whereas a majority didn't.
In 2016, Trump simply barely edged out Hillary Clinton for the Sunshine State's 29 electoral votes. He ended up with 48.6 p.c of the poll, with Clinton trailing by about 120,000 votes. In 2012, the state went to Barack Obama by lower than one share level.
As the Democratic main discipline continues to develop, with Texas's Beto O'Rourke being the newest candidate to throw his hat into the ring for the get together's nomination, Trump has remained assured that he can be elected to a second time period.
"We're going to do it again in 2020, and the numbers, I think, are going to be even bigger," Trump instructed the group throughout his two-hour CPAC speech earlier this month.
But a number of stories declare that the president's marketing campaign advisers are fearful about his waning recognition amongst feminine and suburban voters. The Washington Post reported final week that advisers are significantly nervous about Trump's lack of favor among the many two voting blocs in Pennsylvania, the Upper Midwest and Florida.
Quinnipiac's survey reveals that Trump is already considered unfavorably amongst girls voters in Florida. Just 26 p.c stated that they'd positively vote for him in 2020, whereas 57 p.c stated they'd positively not vote for him.
Meanwhile, the survey confirmed promise for some Democratic candidates. Joe Biden, who has not but introduced his candidacy, is already polling at a 49 p.c favorability ranking. Only 35 p.c of voters had an unfavorable view of the previous vp.
Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris are the subsequent hottest Democrats behind Biden, although neither candidate has damaged the 40 p.c mark by way of favorability (Sanders is at 37 p.c and Harris at 23 p.c).
But Trump's strategy to 2020 Democratic candidates, up to now, has been to assault them as "full-blown" socialists. This is even though not one of the candidates within the operating for the get together's nomination establish as such.


Veteran actress Asha Parekh feels that Gujarati filmmakers should make more use of Gujarati literature to make content oriented films.
Asha Parekh was interacting with the media at the special screening of Gujarati film 'Kachindo' on Thursday in Mumbai.
Asha Parekh has featured in few films in her mother tongue Gujarati like 'Akhanda Saubhagyavati' and 'Maa Na Aansu'. She also did few Gujarati television soaps like 'Jyoti' and 'Nari Tu Na Hari'.


Rödental 02/06/2015: With technical top-class performances in electrical engineering, the Wöhner group has been shaping the future of energy distribution and control energy for over 80 years. With 10 subsidiaries, a joint venture and an extensive network of representatives in Germany and abroad, expert contact persons are available on-site in almost 80 countries. At the start of the year, the CMS module from crossbase was used to relaunch the online catalog with a new, contemporary layout.
The Wöhner online catalog uses direct access to the mirrored PIM database so there is no need for any interfaces. The customer-specific requirements of the product information to be displayed on the various selection and information pages in the form of attributes, image and text categories, downloads and product relationships can be flexibly configured in the PIM on the basis of the existing data structures. Comprehensive product information is clearly displayed under headings, e.g. product photos, dimensional sketches, descriptive texts, invitations to tender, approvals, electrical and mechanical features, material properties, installation instructions and CAD models.
What's more, with just one click all product information can be transferred into a "Product description" PDF data sheet and made available offline. Another style sheet for PDF output is provided for this purpose and formats the layout and content accordingly.
Using guided, dynamic selection lists or the full-text search or in an application-related context (tools), the user is able to filter the desired products in the online catalog range and select them in lists of results.
For the relaunch, not only did Wöhner want to improve the look but also the display and functionality on the various display devices currently available. The entire template structure and layout information was therefore produced with responsive technology to ensure optimum display on smartphones and tablets.
The Tools area contains various wizards, which can be used to quickly and easily find products. Here it is possible to calculate the current-carrying capacity and short-circuit withstand of an item, for example. Such calculations are based on the dynamic search bar structure integrated in the PIM. Wöhner can flexibly modify the filters in the PIM system without programming. This is most useful when new items are being added to the range or navigation / branching in a wizard is changed / extended.


Consider the way that patrons are using your library now, but also consider other ways people might use the space. Make it as flexible as possible, with modular furniture and movable stacks.
Get as much natural light as you can. This includes basement levels (children's and teen departments are often downstairs, as are meeting rooms, and staff work space).
When choosing an architect, make sure they have designed libraries before. Talk to staff – not just directors, but all staff, from circ to reference to children's – to see what they like and dislike, what works and what could be improved. Staff on the "front lines" have a lot of valuable knowledge that an architect should consider: the importance of sight lines between desks, the location of bathrooms, the varying temperature zones in different areas of the library.
Have places for people to meet: large meeting and program rooms, smaller study rooms, open areas with tables for group work. Study rooms are in demand at most public libraries, and larger rooms can be used (for free or for a fee, depending on library policy) by community groups, which may lead to partnerships between those groups and the library.
Make the space welcoming. Natural light, comfortable furniture, perhaps some bright colors or a particular visual element – like a mural in the children's area – encourage people to come in and stay for a while.
And if you give a mouse a place to stay for a while…he's probably going to ask for milk and cookies. Do you have (or can you add) a coffee shop or cafe? At the very least, consider scrapping policies against food and drink in the library, at least in some areas.
Who uses the library? Are you missing certain demographics (age, income, race)? How do you encourage those people to use the library?
Where are the teenagers? Talk to teen librarians. In my experience, they are some of the most enthusiastic and creative librarians in the profession, bubbling over with outside-the-box ideas, and they have incredible problem-solving skills. How can you support them to make the teen space inviting, either in terms of furniture, materials, technology, or programming? Teen space in the library should be distinct from children's space and adult space.
Is there a good library in the middle school and high school? Support your teen librarian's efforts to connect to teachers and school librarians. Consider offering programs that are more fun than educational – games, arts and crafts, movies.
Get buy-in from library staff, library users, and people in the community who don't use the library. (Why don't they come in? What could you offer that would attract them?) Not everyone will be excited about change, but if you can get a few "early adopters" on board, they will bring others with them. Bottom-up change is usually more successful than top-down change, so get input from every level.
Design for flexibility. We can't see the future, but we can safely assume it will be different from the present. Make your space as flexible as possible so that you can make changes to meet unforeseen needs and wants: renovations and new furniture are expensive, so make them count. And remember to prioritize accessibility, not simply to fulfill ADA compliance, but because the library should be welcoming and easy to use for everyone.
Do you work in a library? Are you a library user? What do you think are the most important things to keep in mind when planning for the future of a library?


text:
HIRINGS
Chase Capital Preservation
NEW YORK - The $29.2 million Chase Capital Preservation Fund named Dwight Asset Management as a subadviser. The GIC alternative fund for defined contribution plan sponsors had been run in-house.
Chase also named Regis Retirement Plan Services to market and distribute the fund. Both Dwight and Regis are United Asset Management affiliates.
CHICAGO - The $40 million Crain Communications Inc. profit-sharing plan will begin allowing employees to direct their own investments. Crain selected Comerica Bank to provide administration, daily valuation, record keeping, employee communication and education, according to Bill Morrow, executive vice president.
The plan will offer five investment options: the AIM Balanced Fund; AIM Constellation fund; Fidelity Advisors Growth Opportunity Fund/A; Comerica 500 fund, a Standard & Poor's stock index fund; and an investment contract fund.
Previously, all of the assets had been invested in guaranteed investment contracts and synthetic GICs. Administration had been handled internally.
Initially, $30 million of the plan's $40 million - from GICs that matured in September and October - will be eligible for self-direction by employees. The rest of the plan's stable value investments - due to mature in 1997 and 2000 - will be categorized as "the Crain Fixed Account."
The search was conducted in-house.
Crain Communications is the parent of Pensions & Investments.
Crown Vantage Inc.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Crown Vantage Inc., Oakland, Calif., hired Frank Russell Trust Co. to manage its entire $200 million pension plan. Plan assets are invested in Russell's Equity I, Equity II, Fixed Income I and International funds. Crown Vantage is a new company that was spun off from James River Corp. last year, a Crown spokeswoman said.
Equitable Capital
BOSTON - Equitable Capital has named Robertson Stephens Investment Management to subadvise two annuity funds. The funds are clones of Robertson Stephens' retail mutual funds: Value+Growth and Growth & Income.
Farm Credit Bank
AUSTIN, Texas - Farm Credit Bank of Texas hired Fidelity to provide a brokerage option for its $47 million 401(k) plan, effective July 1, said Pat Garrison, benefits manager. The addition is being made in response to requests by participants, who want to trade individual stocks and bonds themselves, she said. The plan's existing seven investment portfolio options will be unaffected.
Fortis Series Funds
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Fortis Series Funds hired Dreyfus as subadviser for a new S&P 500 index fund portfolio and T. Rowe Price for a blue-chip stock portfolio. Both are in Fortis' variable annuity program.
Hoechst Marion Roussel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hoechst Marion Roussel Inc. formerly Marion Merrell Dow, hired T. Rowe Price Associates to provide bundled services for its 6,000-participant 401(k) plan. Seven T. Rowe Price investment options are offered. T. Rowe Price also is providing daily valued record keeping, administrative and participant education and communication services.
The plan previously was unbundled, using monthly valued record keeping from Hewitt Associates and five investment options from different managers, said Helen Heffner, a spokeswoman for Hoechst Marion Roussel. She would not give the size of the fund.
Injured Workers' Insurance
TOWSON, Md. - The nearly $800 million Injured Workers' Insurance Fund hired two small-cap managers, said CIO Robert E. Merritt. T. Rowe Price Associates and Brown Capital Management each will run $20 million in emerging growth-type portfolios, he said. Assets will come from a reduction in an S&P 500 index fund managed by Bankers Trust. Wilshire assisted.
PASADENA, Calif. - The $18.7 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association picked incumbent Coopers & Lybrand as its auditor following a search. Finalists were Peat Marwick and Deloitte & Touche. The contract is for five years.
MILWAUKEE - Officials for the $1.2 billion Milwaukee County Employees' Retirement System hired their third international equity manager, and may conduct a search for a hometown fixed-income manager, said Jac R. Amerell, director.
In international, Rowe Price-Fleming received a $10 million assignment, Mr. Amerell said. He also said the board will decide on a search for a Milwaukee-based manager this month or next.
The board also will decide whether to rebalance its asset mix or adjust its investment policy, he said. That's because its equity allocation has gone three or four percentage points above its 50% target. A rebalancing would shuffle assets among existing managers, he noted.
Separately, the board is taking a look at indexing part of its portfolio, and possibly increasing its use of commission recapture, although those actions are very preliminary, and no decisions have been made, he said.
Navy-Marine Corps Relief
ARLINGTON, Va. - The $134.2 million Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society hired Columbia Partners to manage $5 million in core domestic equities, confirmed retired Lt. Col. George F. Warren, the fund's treasurer. Funding came from reducing the allocation to convertible securities, managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Oaktree now will manage about $12 million.
"We think convertibles is not the right place for us right now," Mr. Warren said. The fund, which has no foreign investments, also "will keep our eyes open to do an overseas investment," he said.
New York State & Local
ALBANY, N.Y. - The $74 billion New York State & Local Retirement Systems allocated an additional $50 million to Progress Investment Management's pooled fund, bringing the total to $116 million. Funding came from cash flow.
In turn, Progress, a manager of managers, allocated $19 million each to Tanaka Capital Management and Fortaleza Asset Management for midcap growth portfolios.
The remaining $12 million will be split among the four existing managers in Progress' pooled fund: Paradigm Asset, Brown Capital, New Amsterdam Partners and Valenzuela Capital Management.
Northern Telecom
NASHVILLE - The $900 million U.S. 401(k) plans of Northern Telecom Inc. added four investment options. Delaware Management will run an international equity commingled fund. Three mutual funds were added: Baron Asset Fund, a small-cap fund run by Baron Capital Management; Mutual Qualified Fund, a growth and income fund run by Heine Securities; and DFA 6-10, a passive small-cap fund run by Dimensional Fund Advisors.
Four existing options are managed by Bankers Trust; the fund also has a company stock option.
Oklahoma Teachers
OKLAHOMA CITY - The $3.4 billion Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System allocated an additional $100 million to Liberty Investment Management, according to Tommy C. Beavers, executive director. The assets were transferred from a terminated manager whom Mr. Beavers declined to identify. The additional allocation brings Liberty's total under management for Oklahoma Teachers to $500 million.
Pioneer Group
BOSTON - The Pioneer Group picked Boston Financial Securities as subadviser to the $27 million open-end Pioneer Real Estate Shares, a mutual fund that invests primarily in equity securities of REITs and other real estate industry companies. While Boston Financial will be providing advice on investments, the fund will continue to be managed in-house by Pioneer.
Robeco Group
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands - Mutual fund giant Robeco Group hired Midland Securities Services to serve as custodian for 700 million (U.S. $1.07 billion) in U.K. bond and equity funds. Midland also will provide stock-lending services.
Robeco's decision to review its custodial arrangements for its U.K. assets was partially motivated by the sale of its previous custodian, NatWest Investment Services, to Lloyds Bank last year.
Frank Russell Co.
TACOMA, Wash. - Frank Russell Co. added Johnson Sterling Paul Securities to its Frank Russell Investment Management Co. manager-of-managers program. The firm will offer pension consulting services to defined contribution plans using Frank Russell's managers.
JSP Securities specializes in consulting to defined contribution plans of medical groups, law firms and academic medical centers throughout the eastern United States. It advises $300 million in assets, mainly from 403(b) plans.
The firm now plans to expand its client base into privately held corporations, engineering firms, accounting firms and others under the arrangement with Frank Russell, said JSP partner Sam Johnson.
CAROL STREAM, Ill. - The $69 million Local No. 265 of the Sheet Metal Workers Union hired Columbia Partners to manage $4 million in small-cap domestic stocks, said George Slater, business manager. The move resulted from an asset allocation study conducted last year by The Marco Consulting Group. Funding is coming from equal reductions in allocations to two large-cap managers, Chicago Asset Management and IDS Advisory Group, Mr. Slater said.
Taunton Contributory
TAUNTON, Mass. - The $60 million-plus Taunton Contributory Retirement System picked INVESCO Realty and Fidelity Management Trust to manage $1.5 million each in real estate, said Paul J. Slivinski, executive secretary. INVESCO will manage its portion in a publicly traded REIT; Fidelity, in a private REIT and commercial mortgage-backed securities. The money is coming from contributions.
Fund officials decided on the search because their current real estate investment is in a closed-end commingled fund that doesn't allow reinvestment of dividends.
Teledyne Inc.
LOS ANGELES - Teledyne Inc., Los Angeles, hired BZW Barclays Global Investors to provide bundled services for its $100 million 401(k) plan. The plan will move to daily valuation from quarterly in April, offering 11 investment options, including company stock and 10 diversified options, all managed by BZW. The firm also will provide record keeping, trust and administration and employee communications and education.
Teledyne previously offered four investment options managed by Bankers Trust. W.F. Corroon was the record keeper.
Threadneedle
LONDON - Threadneedle Asset Management appointed Chase Manhattan Bank as its sole custodian. Threadneedle had used seven other firms as well as Chase for custody of its $44 billion in assets under management. The seven firms are J.P. Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyd's Bank, Citibank, Chemical Bank, Midland Bank and Bank International Luxembourg.
USAA Investment Management
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - USAA Investment Management picked Bankers Trust to provide an S&P 500 index fund to be marketed to its 3 million members as well as the general public. The index fund will be offered alongside USAA's 32 other no-load funds.
Jack White & Co.
SAN DIEGO - Jack White & Co. has selected several subadvisers for its new Value Advantage Plus variable annuity product.
Alliance Capital Management will manage money market, international and aggressive stock funds; Federated Investors will run growth and income, utility and corporate bond funds; Lexington Management Corp. will run a natural resources stock fund and an emerging markets stock fund; Massachusetts Financial Services will run emerging growth, high yield and global bond funds; Montgomery Asset Management will run a growth stock fund and emerging markets stock funds; Strong Advisory Services will run a growth fund, a government bond fund and a total return bond fund and an international stock fund; Twentieth Century will run a balanced fund and a growth fund; and Van Eck Global will run a gold and natural resources fund and a worldwide bond fund.
Williamsburg Investment
RICHMOND, Va. - The Williamsburg Investment Trust, a mutual fund family advised by three companies, selected Oechsle International Advisors to run a new international equity fund as a subadviser. The advisers in the fund family are: Lowe, Brockenbrough & Tattersall; Flippin, Bruce and Porter; and T. Leavell & Associates. They share a single administrator -Midwest Group of Funds - and offer the funds to clients and associates. The funds are not marketed to outside investors.
Read the print edition of P&I
How low is low? Projections say it's not low enough
FINRA honors Wharton's Olivia Mitchell with Ketchum Prize

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Got my package today,thanks for the trade and looking forward to other trades.
Just wanted to be the first to give a great feedback to this one. I got my items in as described condition, and quickly too. Hope everyone takes to oppertunity to do some dealing. I hope to trade again with this Jawa trader.
thank you brianakarobin for getting me these figs at cost if not cheaper.
Figures shipped as described and arrived quickly. Highly recommended.
A great guy to deal with. Thanks for a great trade Brian.
Prompt responses, great to deal with as always.
Just finished a transaction with Brianakarobin. Recieved the figs in good shape. Wouldn't hesitate doing bussiness again.
Brian is a great trader.
The figs were in great shape and he is a very courtous trader.
Smooth one here, no probs at all. Would deal with again.
Another smooth trade here, would deal with again, an asset to the Snowtroopers forum.
just finished a smooth transaction with brian.
Super fast payment & emails.
Just completed my second deal with him...no problemsat all.
Kudos to this patient and most excellent Snowtrooper!
Brian has the BHT stamp of approval!
Thanks again for a "swift" deal.
Thanks Brian for picking up those clearance speeders for me I really appreciate it.
They came in good condition.
Add me to the list of people brianakarobin has helped out in a big way. Thank you kindly sir!!!!
Just made a trade with Brian a great guy to deal with and I look forward to trading with him again.
Great to deal with Brian again, will look forward to future transactions!
Another Flawless transaction, this guy is great to deal with!
Thanks for your order, much appreciated!
We are not dealers, we enjoy the hobby as much as you do...if not more!
Everybody is entitled to MY opinion !
Another great transaction with this superb buyer.
Founding Member of the "Imperial Chatters"
Excellent guy and helped me out alot. Would deal again with no worries!
great guy to deal with...would trade anytime..
Brianakarobin AKA Snowtroopers top trader!!!
Reliable, trustworthy, helpful and offers quick correspondace. You will not find another trader of higher caliber.
"The Force Can Have A Strong Influence On The Weak Minded"
Just wanted to say thanks for the figs I won in the trivia. Arrived today look awesome. Thanks Brian.
Received the parcel a few days ago but too busy to leave a feedback..
it's nice to trade with you. LMK if you 've got yours. Thanks.
Hey, your username is misspelled?
Anyway, quick like a bunny payment, always a pleasure to deal with.
Anger is a living thing. Feed it and it will grow.
just finished a trade with brianakarobin and the items are in perfect condition like he said.....thanx again and please tell me when you get the package.
Just got my free Lucas family pack from winning in the EU contest. Item come here in perfect condition, very fast shipping and great communication.
PLMK if you have any.
too bad we can't buy these figure cases in CANADA...ugh!
We have about a Ewok chance in a Rancor pit.
Formely Darth2002 from thee ancient boards Power of the Northside.
Who's the more foolish...The fool or the fool who follow's him.
A big thumbs up to Brian for obtaining CIV figures for fellow snowtroopers, in my case a Luke. A pleasure to deal with.
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How reminders of love can get others to do what you want.
Over the years, I have shared several influence and persuasion techniques that can help individuals in romantic relationships. For example, we have discussed how touch can be persuasive and attractive, as well as how a small request can make a potential partner more agreeable to a date. Further, we have explored techniques to tap into a lover's existing motivations overall and guide them to your way of thinking.
Deep down, however, all of these techniques work because they change how other people feel. Some techniques help others to see you as more attractive, feel more committed to you, or even be more grateful for your efforts. Nevertheless, each technique ultimately helps to build some type of loving and attracted feelings within a relationship.
Given all that, I wondered whether simply getting a partner to think about love and loving feelings in general would have some kind of persuasive effect. For example, does playing a romantic song really make a potential partner more agreeable? Can reminding your spouse of a past time of intense romance get them to do a favor for you today? In short, can an appeal or reminder of love really get others to do what you want?
When I dug into the research, I found a whole series of articles by Nicolas Guéguen and associates on the effects of thoughts of love on agreement to requests. Essentially, the researchers got people to think about love in different ways (a technique called priming) and then measured whether they complied more as a result. For example, one study by Guéguen, Jacob, and Lamy (2010) played either romantic or neutral songs in a waiting room while female study participants waited for the experiment to begin. After five minutes, each woman then interacted with a male research assistant, who eventually asked for her phone number. Responses showed that women who had heard the romantic music were significantly more likely to share their phone number than those who had heard neutral music.
Other experiments showed that when men on the street had been asked to remember a love episode from their past, they were more likely to later agree to a woman's request for money (Lamy, Fischer-Lokou, & Guéguen, 2008), or to help her pick up a stack of dropped compact discs (Lamy, Fischer-Lokou, & Guéguen, 2008). Men asked to complete a survey on love and romantic behavior were also more likely to comply with a donation request to help prevent domestic violence (Guéguen, 2014). Both men and women were also more likely to donate blood to a solicitor wearing a t-shirt reading, Loving = Helping than to a solicitor wearing a shirt reading Donating = Helping (Charles-Sire, Guéguen, & Pascual, 2012). The same t-shirt designs (Loving = Helping) also elicited more donations of money to a charitable cause (Guéguen, Jacob, & Charles-Sire, 2011).
Given the research above, it seems that the idea of love itself can be very persuasive. This agrees with a lot of common influencing behaviors in loving relationships. After all, many individuals try to "butter up" a partner with something romantic or loving before hitting them up with a big request. Partners may also covertly or overtly link loving feelings to demands for specific behaviors—"If you really love me, you would do it."
Nevertheless, the research suggests that more subtle tactics might work just as well, or better. Rather than arranging a full romantic dinner, simply playing a partner's favorite love song might be enough to prime the right emotions. Similarly, rather than making a heavy-handed "If you love me..." demand, simply try to gently reminisce with your partner and remember some loving times you've shared. Even a small note or sign containing the word Love might provide the persuasive effect you need.
Overall, then, getting people to think about love in various ways appears to make them more agreeable to your requests. This effect holds whether they are inspired by a romantic song, recall a loving memory, or just see the word Love printed on a t-shirt. In any case, such thoughts of love are indeed persuasive.
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Charles-Sire, V., Guéguen, N., & Pascual, A. (2012). Words as environmental cues: the effect of the word "Loving" on compliance to a blood donation request. The Journal of Psychology , 146, 455-470.
Lamy, L., Fischer-Lokou, J., & Guéguen, N. (2008). Semantically induced memories of love and helping behavior. Psychological Reports, 102, 418-424.
Lamy, L., Fischer-Lokou, J., & Guéguen, N. (2009). Induced reminiscence of love and chivalous helping. Current Psychology, 28, 202-209.
Guéguen, N. (2014). Inducing the concept of love among men and their compliance to a donation request for an association against domestic violence toward women. Psychological Reports: Relationships & Communications, 115, 884-887.
Guéguen, N., Jacob, C., & Charles-Sire, V. (2011). The effect of the word " Loving" on compliance to a fundraising request: Evidence from a French field study. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 16, 371-380.
Guéguen, N., Jacob, C., & Lamy, L. (2010). 'Love is in the air': Effects of songs with romantic lyrics on compliance with a courtship request. Psychology of Music, 38, 303-307.
How Do You Best Persuade Conservatives and Liberals?


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Bitcoin Users Being Spied On? NSA Report Leaked by Snowden Reveals 'Extensive' Tracking Operation
Georgi Georgiev | Mar 21, 2018 | 11:30
Classified US NSA documents made public by whistleblower Edward Snowden go on to expose that the agency was keeping tabs on users of Bitcoin and Liberty Reserve. The activity seems to go back to as far as 2013 according to the reports.
Project "Oakstar"
Recently reported classified documents, leaked by none other but Edward Snowden, suggest that the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) was, in fact, eyeing on bitcoin users worldwide. The report has surfaced back in March 2013 and, as if it's taken out of a classic spy movie, contains code names, numbers, blacked-out lines and all the "James Bond" goodies.
SSG11 Analysts have found value in the MONKEYROCKET access to help track down senders and receivers of Bitcoins (a decentralized digital currency system, wherein the units are known as Bitcoins or BTC.) (SNM)
That's how a top-secret NSA entry looks like if you've ever wondered. More importantly, the NSA has collected personal information such as some Bitcoin users' internet activity, password and username information and MAC address as outlined in a memo from March 29, 2013.
Complete Network Access
While one of the main and fundamental functionalities of the blockchain is to serve as decentralized, distributed public ledger, these principles seem to elude the NSA. It seems that its ability to obtain highly sensitive information such as personal private passwords and usernames are consequential of their ability to siphon traffic from the Internet itself.
As per the reports leaked on project "Oakstar", the agency was enabled to monitor communications by harvesting internet data transferred along fiber optic cables.
And while Bitcoin seems to have been the priority target of the NSA, Liberty Reserve didn't go unnoticed either. Even though it was officially headquartered in Costa Rica, the website was charged with running a "laundering" scheme worth $6 billion, resulting in 20-year incarceration conviction for its founder from Ukraine. It happened just 2 months after the dates cited in the March 2013 NSA report leaked by Snowden.
And while the dates might be a simple coincidence, the leaked documents suggest that the government is trying to tighten its grips on the overall blockchain movement. Yet, the cryptocurrency community seems incentivized actions of the kind to further distance themselves from currently existing centralized financial systems.
Do you justify the NSA using its unparalleled capabilities for spying on cryptocurrency users? Or do you think it's an unnecessary involvement in your privacy, directly contradicting the core fundaments of the blockchain?
Images courtesy of Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons, DeepDotWeb
Tags: bitcoin, Edward Snowden, Liberty Reserve, NSA Snooping
Bitcoin Community Cringes as Federal Reserve & the Treasury Look to Crack Down
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Why Bitcoin Just Surged to $13K in Belarus Amid Massive Protests
Belarus has become a hot ground of the great Bitcoin experiment as the country dwells into one of its most disturbing civil crisis. Ask prices for the world's leading...
Bitcoin Poised to Retest $12K After FOMC Minutes, Data Shows
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Be sure to head down to House of Fraser in Glasgow to check out the new Scottish designers pop up. Glasgow's chicest department store will be stocking from 21 November (that's tomorrow, people). Designers include Rebecca Torres, Joanne McGillivray and Saunt & Sinner.
Rebecca Torres had a collection on ASOS and has been featured in Vogue, Grazia, Vice and Cosmopolitan. Joanne McGillivray was awarded Graduate of the Year by the Scottish Style Awards. Saunt & Sinner started out at Christopher Kane. Not bad. Plus, they are committed to designing and manufacturing in the UK.
The new collections will be available at House of Fraser as part of their House of Fraser Presents pop up shop (on level 2). Each designer will be featured for two weeks in the run up to Christmas. There will also be one-off press samples, special pop up prices, and seasonal offers to help you get your hands on the top, trousers, dress or scarf of your dreams.


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Updated on : 8 July 2015, 12:34 PM IST
3 of 4 Companies Adulterating, Misbranding Food Go Unpunished
By Prasanth Menon
Three of every four companies found guilty of misbranding or selling adulterated food products get away without any punishment, according to health ministry records, even as Nestle India and the instant-noodle industry continue to suffer what now appears to have been an exaggerated scare over contaminants.
Canada, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have all found Maggi two-minute noodles to be safe, as have many Indian states, and while legal proceedings continue, the controversy is a reflection of how food-safety procedures unfold in India.
Source: Boomlive.in
Over the past seven years, about 25% of 53,406 companies against whom prosecution was launched for violating food safety laws were convicted. As many as 72,861 companies were found guilty of misbranding and adulteration during the period.
As many as 72,200 samples of foodstuff, such as dal, ghee and sugar, were collected from across India last year. Of these, 13,571 (about 18%) were found adulterated and substandard.
Experts say that the low conviction rate is one of the primary reasons for the rise of adulterated food in market during the past five years. The percentage of adulterated food tested by government has risen from 8% in 2008 to about 18% in 2014.
Adulterated food can cause cancer, insomnia and other neurological problems, and adulteration is a growing concern across India, as IndiaSpend previously reported.
Who will analyse suspect food?
Officials blame the low conviction rates on a shortage of food analysts. Last year, as thisTimes Of India report said, Rajasthan closed seven public-health laboratories because it could not find such analysts.
"There are only about 200 food analysts in the country, so it becomes really difficult to prove charges in the court," an official with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told IndiaSpend. He spoke on condition of anonymity, since he is not authorised to speak to the media.
There are many states that are yet to establish appellate tribunals, as mandated in the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006), to quickly conclude cases where the adjudicating officer has already passed orders, thus leading to trial delays, said the official. Indeed, the 45% conviction rate in 2014-15 is an improvement from 16% in 2008-09. The spike in conviction rate is mainly because of the establishment of the FSSAI in August 2011.
The food-safety act replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, and multiple regulations. Its implementation is the responsibility of state governments.
Stiff punishment, lax enforcement
Punishments for mislabeling, adulterating or sale of unsafe food can range from six months in jail to life imprisonment, and fines up to Rs 10 lakh. Over the past three years, the government has collects about Rs 17 crore in fines.
State food-safety officers pick random samples and send them to government laboratories for testing, a process monitored and regulated by the FSSAI. A scrutiny of the past three years' records show that except for a few state authorities, such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, none of them have convicted offenders. Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana are among the worst performers. Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were among the states where every third sample tested was found below standards.
(Gangadhar S Patil is a New Delhi-based freelance journalist. He has worked with The Economic Times,DNA and The New Indian Express.)
FSSAI
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Nestle India
Adulteration
Food Safety and Standards Act
Adulterated food
Misbranding
neurological problems
Maggi ban
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act


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Towards a revision of the genus Parastenocaris Kessler, 1913: establishment of Simplicaris gen. n. from groundwaters in Central Italy and review of the brevipes-group (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Parastenocarididae)
A new genus Simplicaris (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Parastenocarididae) is established to accommodate two species collected from deep groundwater in Italy, S. lethaea sp. nov. and S. veneris (Cottarelli & Maiolini, 1980) comb. nov. Parastenocaris hippuris Hertzog, 1938 and P. aedes Hertzog, 1938 are ranked as incertae sedis within the genus. Members display complete absence of leg 5 in both sexes and an unusual elongation of the first exopodal segments of legs 1–4, in which exp-1 is distinctly longer than exp-2 or -3, or as long as exp-2 and -3 combined. As the systematic status of the family Parastenocarididae and of the type genus Parastenocaris is still in flux, a list of phylogenetically informative characters is proposed, along with a discussion of their various states in representative members of the family. The genus Parastenocaris sensu stricto is redefined to comprise only the brevipes-group. The remaining members of the genus are considered Parastenocaris sensu lato pending a thorough revision of the family.
Titolo: Towards a revision of the genus Parastenocaris Kessler, 1913: establishment of Simplicaris gen. n. from groundwaters in Central Italy and review of the brevipes-group (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Parastenocarididae)
GALASSI, Diana Maria Paola
P. DE LAURENTIIS
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
Abstract: A new genus Simplicaris (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Parastenocarididae) is established to accommodate two species collected from deep groundwater in Italy, S. lethaea sp. nov. and S. veneris (Cottarelli & Maiolini, 1980) comb. nov. Parastenocaris hippuris Hertzog, 1938 and P. aedes Hertzog, 1938 are ranked as incertae sedis within the genus. Members display complete absence of leg 5 in both sexes and an unusual elongation of the first exopodal segments of legs 1–4, in which exp-1 is distinctly longer than exp-2 or -3, or as long as exp-2 and -3 combined. As the systematic status of the family Parastenocarididae and of the type genus Parastenocaris is still in flux, a list of phylogenetically informative characters is proposed, along with a discussion of their various states in representative members of the family. The genus Parastenocaris sensu stricto is redefined to comprise only the brevipes-group. The remaining members of the genus are considered Parastenocaris sensu lato pending a thorough revision of the family.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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These shamrock clip on earrings are green and set in a silvertone setting. Perfect to celebrate St. Patrick's Day or wear all year long. Silver plated half ball style clip on earrings. Measures ½ inch wide and ½ inch long.


Since the original chapter on entrepreneurial motivation by Carsrud et al. (2009), we have seen dozens of citations to the work and to a follow-up article (Carsrud and Brännback 2011) in various conference papers and published research articles. We are gratified to see the motivation of entrepreneurs regaining some of the attention of researchers (Shepherd et al. 2015). In this update to the chapter, we are going to focus on some of the work, which we feel has the most promise of influencing the future direction of research on entrepreneurial motivation. We also have discussed motivations in an earlier update in this volume on a contextual model for entrepreneurial intentions. These specifically focused on our views on the role of motivations and goal setting with respect to intentions. In this update, we will expand on that and other issues, which we feel deserve attention.


Summary: After moving into their new home, a teenage girl and her mother learn that a double homicide took place in the house next door.
Summary: Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is fragile. When a British college student falls for her American classmate, they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated by circumstances beyond their control. Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart.
Summary: Katy finds a wild horse, a beautiful black mustang, and against her fathers wishes she does all she can to keep and tame this horse that she names Flicka.