Message Board on Career Development

Career vs. Vacation

adriana12 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:46:33 GMT

Being a college student, I understand the importance of planning ahead, esp. for something as important as your career. However, I can't help but feel daunted by the recent statistics I found out about on savvymiss.com's latest article:

Executives expected to take 50% fewer vacation days in 2003 than they did the previous year

Americans are taking 10% less vacation time this year than they did last year

Nearly 50% of full-time workers say they are too busy to take vacations

Approximately 40% of those surveyed said they canceled or postponed vacation plans because of work

How are people so involved in their jobs that they're willing to sacrifice their health and well-being? Anyway, after the bad stats, it also talks about what we can do for ourselves to be satisfied with our jobs and be fulfilled. I highly recommend it: http://www.savvymiss.com/career-woman/career-advice/9-to-5-grind-archive/article/take-a-break-238/page-browse/1.html

Senior ACS members

NateL — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 19:53:23 GMT

Dear Dr. Cheng,

As we discussed outside of this forum, it is now generally recognized

that the demography of ACS is changing and that a large number of our
members are retired or approaching retirement. This number could be
as high as 30%, according to a C&EN article by Eli Pearce (March 2003)
and other ACS media.

As a significant group of ACS members, we continue to have an important impact

on our science and profession as mentors, consultants, educators and entrepreneurs.

At the same time, this affects how we interact with ACS in terms of our contribution

and our expectation of services in the post-industrial, post-academic phase

of our careers.

In this connection, would it be appropriate to use the Message
Board on Career Development, moderated separately or
as a new topic, as a means of communication and exchange
of ideas on Senior Chemists issues?

Sincerely,

Nathan Lewin

Senior Chemists Committee

California Section

Terms and Conditions of Use

cepa — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:30:46 GMT

Your use of the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs Message Board on Career Development http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/cepa (the Message Board), constitutes your agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions of use. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms and conditions of use, you must immediately terminate your use of the message board.

1. Purpose of Message Board. This message board is a service made available by the service provider Website Tool box (http://www.websitetoolbox.com/index.html). The information in the message board is for educational purposes and is intended to facilitate discussion among ACS members about Career Development issues. It is not intended to be a definitive source of information or guidance about Career Development issues.

2. The message board and Chemistry.org. The message board is operated independently of chemistry.org. The message board is moderated and maintained by the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs with support from the American Chemical Societys Department of Career Services cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com. When using the message board ,the guidelines, terms and conditions of use and privacy policy posted here apply. Users accessing the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs website should note that the guidelines, terms of conditions and use, and privacy policy of chemistry.org apply rather than those of the message board.

3. Monitoring the content of the message board. We shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the message boards to determine compliance with this Agreement and any other operating rules established by us. We shall have the right in our sole discretion to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the message boards. Without limiting the foregoing, we shall have the right to remove any material that we, in our sole discretion, find to be in violation of the provisions hereof, otherwise objectionable or stale. Notwithstanding this right, users shall remain solely responsible for the content of their messages. Each user acknowledges and agrees that neither we nor any third party content provider shall assume or have any liability for any action or inaction by us or any third party content provider with respect to any conduct, communication or posting on the message boards.

4. The content of the message board. We are a distributor of content supplied by users of the message boards. Any opinions, advice, statements or other information or content expressed or made available by any other user of the message boards, are those of the respective author(s) and not of us.

5. Restrictions and Prohibitions on Use. No material protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right shall be uploaded, posted or otherwise made available on the message board without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark or other proprietary right. You shall be solely liable for any damages resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from any uploading, posting or submission.

6. Policy on Unsolicited Commercial Email. ACS does not authorize the use of the message board for purpose of gathering information for or transmitting unsolicited bulk commercial email over the Internet to Listees or other third parties. Internet email sent to or through Providers computer systems or to Listees or other third parties containing invalid or forged headers, invalid or non-existent domain names or other deceptive addressing is deemed counterfeit; the sending or attempt to send counterfeit email to or through the message board is strictly prohibited. Email that is relayed to or through the Providers computer systems from a third partys mail servers without permission of such third party, or which employs a similar device to hide the real source of the email is also strictly prohibited. It is prohibited for anyone to send email to or through the message board that violates these Terms and Conditions of Use. It is prohibited to harvest email addresses from the Web Site for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk commercial email.

7. No Professional Advice. Information contained on or made available through the message board is not intended to and does not constitute professional advice or recommendations under any circumstance. Nothing submitted to this message board is treated as confidential. ACS does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or currency of the information contained in or linked to the Web Site. Your use of information on the message board or materials linked from the message board is entirely at your own risk.

8. Intellectual Property Rights. You hereby grant to us the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, recreate derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any message posted in the message boards (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

9. Electronic Commerce. The content on this message board is for personal use only. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent this message board provides any purchasing opportunities through electronic commerce, such buying opportunities may be made available for group as well as personal purchasing according to the particular terms thereof and so long as you are authorized to make purchases on behalf of such group.

10. No Solicitation. You shall not distribute on or through the message board or to any persons or entities identified via the message board any content or material containing solicitations or advertising of any kind without the express prior written permission of ACS. In interactive forums made available through this Web Site, you may discuss or recommend third-party Web sites, goods or services, so long as you have no financial interest in and receive no direct or indirect benefit from such Web sites, products or services, or the recommendation of such. In no event may any person or entity solicit any Listees.

11. Postings. You agree not to post, publish, upload or distribute in the message board any messages, data, information, text, graphics, links or other material (Postings) which are unlawful or abusive in any way, including but not limited to any Postings that are defamatory, pornographic, obscene, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, inclusive of hate speech, or would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or give rise to liability or violate any local, state, federal or international law, or the regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any securities exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ, either intentionally or unintentionally. Provider may delete your Posting at any time for any reason without permission from you. Participants shall not misrepresent their identity or their affiliation with any person or entity.

12. Registration. This message board requires you to register independent of chemistry.org. You agree to provide accurate and complete registration information. Your registration must be done using your real name and accurate information. It is your responsibility to inform Provider of any changes to that information by emailing the message board moderator at cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com. Each registration is for your personal use only, unless specifically designated otherwise on the registration page. ACS does not permit (a) any other person using the registered sections under your name; or b) access through a single name being made available to multiple users on a network. You are responsible for preventing such unauthorized use. If you believe there has been unauthorized use, you must notify Provider immediately by emailing cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com.

13. Errors and Corrections. ACS does not represent or warrant that the message board will be error-free, free of viruses or other harmful components, or that defects will be corrected. ACS does not warrant or represent that the information available on or through the Web Site will be correct, accurate, timely, or otherwise reliable. ACS may make improvements and/or changes to its features, functionality or content of the Web Site at any time.

14. Third-Party Content. Third-party content may appear in this message board or may be accessible via links from the message board. ACS shall not be responsible for and assumes no liability for any mistakes, misstatements of law, defamation, omissions, falsehood, obscenity, pornography or profanity in the statements, opinions, representations or any other form of content contained in any third-party content appearing on the message board. You understand that the information and opinions in the third-party content represent solely the thoughts of the author and is neither endorsed by nor does it reflect the belief of Provider.

15. Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitation of Liability:
A.EACH USER AGREES THAT USE OF THE MESSAGE BOARDS IS AT HIS OR HER SOLE RISK. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE MESSAGE BOARDS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO WE MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE MESSAGE BOARDS OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE MESSAGE BOARDS.
B.THE DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY CONTAINED IN THIS SECTION APPLIES TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF RECORD, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTUOUS BEHAVIOR, NEGLIGENCE, OR UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION. EACH USER SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER THIRD PARTIES, SUBSCRIBERS, MEMBERS OR OTHER USERS OF THE MESSAGE BOARDS AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH EACH USER.
C.IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR ANY PERSON OR ENTITY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DISTRIBUTING THE ONLINE SERVICES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE MESSAGE BOARDS OR OUT OF THE BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY. EACH USER HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION C SHALL APPLY TO ALL CONTENT ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS.
D.WE NEITHER ENDORSE NOR ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY OPINION, ADVICE OR STATEMENT ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS, NOR FOR ANY OFFENSIVE, DEFAMATORY OR OBSCENE POSTING MADE ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH POSTINGS ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS.
E.EACH USER SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IN NO EVENT WILL WE, OUR, AFFILIATES NOR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF (I) THE USE BY SUCH USER OF ANY BROWSER OWNED OR OPERATED BY ANY PARTY AND/OR (II) THE DOWNLOADING OF ANY SOFTWARE OWNED OR OPERATED BY ANY THIRD PARTY.

16. Unlawful Activity. Provider reserves the right to investigate complaints or reported violations of our Terms and Conditions of Use and to take any action we deem appropriate, including but not limited to, reporting any suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third parties and disclosing any information necessary or appropriate to such persons or entities relating to your profiles, e-mail addresses, usage history, posted materials, IP addresses and traffic information.

17. Indemnification. You are solely liable for any content, messages or other information you transmit, provide or upload to the message board. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ACS from any third party claim, action, demand, loss, or damages (including attorneys fees and costs) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms and Conditions of Use, your use of the Web Site, or your violation of any rights of a third party.

18. Remedies for Violations. ACS reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of these Terms and Conditions of Use.

19. Privacy. Your use of the message board is also subject to the Privacy Policy, which you can find in the message board under the subject heading Privacy Policy.

20. Severability of Provisions. These Terms and Conditions of Use incorporate by reference all notices and disclaimers contained on the Web Site and constitute the entire agreement between you and Provider with respect to access to and use of the Web Site. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions of Use is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the remaining provisions and shall not affect their validity and enforceability.

21. Modifications to Terms of Use. Provider reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions of Use at any time. Updated versions of the Terms and Conditions of Use will appear on this Web Site and are effective immediately. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms and Conditions of Use. Continued use of the Web Site after any such changes constitutes your consent to such changes.

22. Provision of the Terms of Service. The foregoing provisions of these Terms of Service are for our benefit and the benefits of our affiliates, third party content providers and licensors, and each shall have the right to assert and enforce such provisions directly on its own behalf

Privacy Statement

cepa — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:28:16 GMT

Users should be aware the following privacy statement applies solely to the CEPA Message Board on Career Development. Users visiting the CEPA Homepage located on chemistry.org should be aware that a separate privacy policy specific to chemistry.org applies. Chemistry.orgs privacy statement can be accessed at: http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=siteinfo\privacy.html.

We recognize that users may have concerns about privacy issues as they use the CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues. ACS is committed to providing users with a safe, secure environment in which to secure information. We recommend visiting the Federal Trade Commission Website for more information about general privacy issues and "Site Seeing on the Internet."

We will use reasonable efforts to ensure that the information you provide remains private, and is used only for the purposes stated below.

Links to Other Sites

The CEPA Message Board on Career Development issues may contain links to third-party Websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to users and not as an endorsement by ACS of the contents on such third-party Websites. ACS is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and does not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such third-party Websites. Links to third-party Websites are performed at your own risk.

ACS does not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of communications posted by users or endorse any opinions expressed by users. User acknowledges that any reliance on material posted by other users will be at the User's risk.

Children's Guidelines
The CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues meets TRUSTe's Children's program.

Feedback
The CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues encourages visitors to submit feedback. Any feedback that is submitted becomes the property of the message board and we may use this feedback for marketing purposes, or to contact visitors for more information.

Privacy Policy Updates
Any changes to our privacy policy will be posted here so that visitors will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone. If, at any time, you have questions or concerns about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this message board, contact us at:

CEPA Message Board
Department of Career Services
American Chemical Society
1155 16th Street NW

Washington DC 20036

Message Board Guidelines

cepa — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:25:12 GMT

Before you post messages to the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs Message Board on Career Development Issues, please read the following rules to familiarize yourself with the guidelines of this online community.

This message board is intended to allow ACS members to discuss Career Development issues. We hope that you enjoy lively discussion while adhering to the guidelines we have set for this message board.

Before you start, please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or terms and conditions that explain how to use the message board as well as set the ground rules for doing so. Both documents are posted as threads to the message board. Look for the subject line Frequently Asked Questions and Terms and Conditions of Service.

Before you start, you should also know that the message board is operated independently of chemistry.org. When using the message board, the guidelines, terms and conditions of use and privacy policy posted here apply. However, users accessing the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs website should note that the guidelines, terms of conditions and use, and privacy policy of chemistry.org apply rather than those of the message board.

In general, following the basic principles below will help you and others enjoy your participation in this online community:

This message board is NOT for commercial solicitation or advertising.

Dont impersonate, intimidate, or harass others in posts. Please notify the message board moderator at cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com if others are doing so.

Dont spam the message board with repeated posts.

Be cautious when sharing personal information.

Notify the message board moderator at cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com to report message board postings you feel may be inappropriate.

Moderators will be monitoring the message board to ensure that all participants hold to the rules. We reserve the right to remove any posting that, in our judgment does not meet our guidelines. If we decide its a serious offense or if you this is not your first violation of the guidelines, you may be banned from the message board.

By using the message board you agree that you will not post, distribute, facilitate distribution, or directly link to any content including text, communications, software, images, sounds, date, or other information that:

Is considered to be unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, and racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable based on age, disability, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Hate speech is unacceptable anywhere on the message board.

Impedes or otherwise prohibits communication; disrupts the discussion including, without limitation, using screen names in topical boards that are offensive to the topic, repeatedly posting off-topic messages in a topical message board, and spamming a board by posting a message in multiple folders.

Contains highly explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of sexual acts, including but not limited to sexual language of a violent or threatening nature, directed at another individual or group of individuals, particularly when unsolicited.

Depicts violence in a gratuitous manner, without journalistic or artistic merit, primarily intended to agitate or cause emotional distress

Contains vulgarities directed toward another individual or group.

Is intended to victimize, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Hate speech is unacceptable anywhere on the service.

Solicits personal information from a minor (under 18 years old). Personal information includes, but is not limited to, full name, home address, home telephone number, or other identifying information that would enable "offline" contact or perpetuate further inappropriate online contact or harassment.

Contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

Is illegal or incites illegal activity.

Solicits for exchange, sale or purchase of sexually explicit images, and/or material harmful to minors; including, but not limited to, any photograph, film, video, or picture or computer generated image or picture (actual or simulated).

Infringes anyone else's intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, any copyright, trademark, rights of publicity, rights of privacy, or other proprietary rights.

Attempts to harvest or collect member information, including screen names, passwords, and private information.

Impersonates or represents any person or entity in an attempt to deceive, harass or otherwise mislead another member.

Advertises and/or promotes the sale of products or services on the message board, including, without limitation: lotteries, ammunition, firearms, fireworks and other explosive materials, tobacco, alcohol, adult products and services, such as phone sex and escort services, illegal products and services, and other products and services ACS deems inappropriate.

Offers or solicits for payment information online, including credit card or bank information, in return for the purchase of a product or service.

Facilitates distribution of unsolicited bulk e-mail, advertising or any other unauthorized solicitation including chain letters, multi-level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes.

Links to and/or references content not allowed under these guidelines.

Otherwise uses the service in a manner deemed inappropriate by ACS.

CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues FAQ

cepa — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:19:25 GMT

Q. How do I get to the CEPA Message Board on Career Development from chemistry.org?

A. The message board is available from the CEPA web page at http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=committees%5Ccepa%5Cindex.html.

Q. How do I get to CEPAs web page from the message board?

A. A link to CEPAs web page is provided at the top corner of the message board home page. Simply click on the link CEPA Homepage.

Q. Why do I have to register for the message board if Im already registered on chemistry.org?

A. The message board is operated independently of chemistry.org so you need to register separately.

Q. How do I register for the message board?

A. Go to the CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues. On the top right hand corner you will see a link titled register. Click on this link and follow the instructions. Once you have completed the registration form an email will automatically be sent to your email asking you to confirm your email address.

Q. How do I login?

A. If you have registered an account (username), you must login in order to take advantage of the personalization features. To login, look in the upper right-hand corner of your screen for the Login link. This link will take you to a page where you can enter your Username and Password. You will automatically be directed by to the main page.

Q. I posted a reply to a message on the board and was told it was pending approval, why?

A. The CEPA Message Board on Career Development Issues requires approval for all new threads and replies to existing threads so that we can monitor and control the content of the message board in case there are posts that violate our Terms & Conditions of Use, Privacy Policy, or Message Board Guidelines. These documents are posted on the message board as threads for users to review.

Q. I posted a reply to a message on the board and was told it was pending approval, how long will this take?

A. Message board moderators monitor the board daily and will approve your message as soon as possible.

Q. How do I see all of the messages posted to a message board topic?

A. Click on the message subject of the post you would like to read. A new page will come up with the original topic and each reply.

Q. How do I respond to a post?

A. Simply click on the Reply button at the bottom of the post you would like to respond to and then type your message. Your reply will be reviewed by a message board moderator and posted if it meets the guidelines.

Q. How do I start a new discussion topic?

A. Simply click on the new topic link at the bottom of the message board home page. Your new topic will be reviewed by a message board moderator and posted if it meets the guidelines.

Q. What are the buttons below the message subject on the form used to post a message?

A. These buttons allow you to format your text in a number of ways. You can bold, italicize, or underline words as well as insert an email or web link and spell check your document by clicking on any of these buttons. If you hold your mouse pointer over any of the buttons it will describe what it is.

Q. How do I email another member of the message board?

A. If the user has indicated that they will accept emails from other message board users, you can click on their name under the author category of the message board. You can also view the members list which is located at the bottom left hand corner of the main message board page.

Q. How do I send a private message to another member of the message board?

A. If the user has indicated that they will accept private messages from other message board users, you can click on their name under the author category of the message board. You can also view the members list which is located at the bottom left hand corner of the main message board page.

Q. How do I instant message another member of the message board?

A. If the user has indicated that they will accept instant messages from other message board users, you can click on their name under the author category of the message board. You can also view the members list which is located at the bottom left hand corner of the main message board page.

Q. What does it mean if I am registered to indicate I am a private user?

A. If a user checks the private checkbox next to their name, only Administrators or Moderators will be able to see their name. Regular users will see the word private. If a user checks the private checkbox next to their email address, other members will not be able to email the user. Only the Administrator or Moderator will be able to.

Q. Can I change my settings for enabling email, private messaging, and instant messaging after I have completed the registration process?

A. Yes, you should visit the message board, login to your account, and then click the control panel link. You can change your email, private messaging, and instant messaging settings from here.

Q. Can I attach a file to my message?

A. No, file attachment has been turned off for this message board.

Q. Ive reviewed the FAQs and still have a question, who do I contact?

A. Please send an email to cepa_messageboard@yahoo.com with your question.

Ethics - Should the ACS be concerned?

fwblack — Thur, 31 Mar 2005 19:18:33 GMT

There are a number of issues facing the scientific community. While the ACS has taken the first step by forming an ethics committee - there are a number of issues that chemists need to be discussing regarding ethics. I am not talking about a code of ethics nor the normal ethical issues regarding publication, data collection, etc. I am discussing the fact that the technology - for example the nanomaterials, directed evolution, development of bioprocessing of chemicals, fermentations, etc. are surpasing society's ability to have a discussion surrounding the use or misue of the science. This translates to the general issue of globalization - because different cultures have differing stands on these issues. For example the EU discussion on genetic modification - what is it, how is defined, and how are we utilizing it? Sustainability - what does it mean for industry to be sustainable?

How do we address these questions in the cirriculum? In the discussion of business models? In the impact - socially or environmentally? How do we deal with these questions?

As a scientist and futurist - I strongly believe that we as a community need to be asking ourselves these questions before the general public begins to question us. Just some food for thought.

Your input is needed.....

HNCheng — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 15:42:17 GMT

Dear Colleagues:

Do you have any thoughts or comments on globalization, outsourcing, or offshoring? Anything interesting that you heard or read about?

If so, please write a message on this Message Board. (Or reply to this message.) Let's share our information and our ideas.

Perhaps we can come up with something useful or interesting as we exchange information here.

Yours sincerely,

H. N. Cheng
Wilmington, Delaware

Business Perspective on Globalization

JimT — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 12:29:45 GMT

Being employees we tend to look at Globalization as job loss or gain (from an employee perspective) and often feel that companies are driving us in that direction to make a larger profit. I recently heard a presentation and read an article that were more from the business perspective. They weren't even chemical industry oriented, but business in general. In general businesses appear to be responding for survival and not leading this. Here are a few thoughts that I took away from them:

While flying this week, I saw a copy of the December 2004 Harvard Business Review on an airplane. It contained an article on Globalization from the Business (not Employee) perspective. A couple of interesting thoughts that I found in it and jotted down were:

We are in an "era of near total commoditization"

Traditional Competitive Differentiation is becoming unsustainable

The opportunities to create sustainable offerings based on advantages are few and far between - or simply nonexistent

Service jobs are following the path that Manufacturing took

Rapid data processing, communications, transportation, and open boarders appear to be a significant contributing factor

I attended a presentation by an international business executive from the automation industry, Jim Pinto. Here are a few of the thoughts that I picked up:

Productivity is a Global Race between regions and nations

US/Europe have no birth right to productivity, wealth, a strong economy, technology, etc.

Productivity wins

Information is nothing (available all over the world - much on the internet for free)

US/Europe has a legal and bureaucratic system restricting its potential

Knowledge is Power - Unfortunately many do not understand knowledge and confuse it with information and other things

Just some food for thought. It definitely is a changing world

Employment Trends

HNCheng — Thur, 16 Dec 2004 15:10:11 GMT

For most of us, jobs are very important. It is useful to follow the employment trends and see where they are going. The National Science Foundation (NSF) just issued a report on industrial R&D employment that may be of interest. Here is the link to that report:

http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf05302

The report has a wealth of information on a number of topics, e.g., chemical R&D expenditure, domestic and overseas activities, U.S. multinational corporations, and R&D in different countries. Take a look if you are interested.

Thanks are due to Janel Kasper-Wolfe of ACS for bringing this article to my attention.

CEPA Task Force on Globalization Issues

HNCheng — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 18:59:17 GMT

The ACS Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) has an active Task Force on Globalization Issues to "monitor, communicate, coordinate, and cooperate" with others on globalization and how it relates to employment in the chemical industry. Since its formation in April 2004, the task force has been busily engaged in many activities, such as reviewing and managing the literature, disseminating information, organizing symposia, coordinating with other interested groups, carrying out globalization strategic planning, and (above all) soliciting input from ACS members. The task force also includes liaisons from Corporation Associates (CA), International Activities Committee (IAC), Committee on Science (ComSci), Division of Professional Relations (PROF), Division of Business Development and Management (BMGT), and Division of Small Chemical Businesses (SChB).

Some of the activities are given in the following list:

We have set up a web site and a Message Board to facilitate communication.
We have been monitoring the news and the literature on globalization and have set up a web page with a bibliography of selected articles.
CEPA has held a successful brainstorming session on globalization at the Anaheim meeting. The slides of all the presentation have been distributed to all the participants and will soon be posted on the web.
We have held a successful Open Forum in Philadelphia for ACS members to voice their views on globalization issues. The proceedings of the Open Forum have been recorded and are posted on the task force website.
We are coordinating our work with the ongoing activities of CEPA subcommittees.
We have started a strategy planning exercise on offshoring.

Your input is appreciated on all of the above activities. Further details can be found on the CEPA task force website at http://www.chemistry.org/committees/cepa/globalization.html
The bibilography page can be accessed at http://www.chemistry.org/committees/cepa/bibliography.html
Symposia and workshops are summarized at http://www.chemistry.org/committees/cepa/events.html

The task force members are H. N. Cheng (Task Force Chair), John R. Bingham, Martin L. Gorbaty, Marie G. Hankins, N. Bhushan Mandava, Norman W. Standish, David Straus, James F. Tatera, Marinda Li Wu (CEPA Chair), and Janel Kasper-Wolfe, ACS Office of Membership Information

New report on limits of Government Data on Offshoring

JanelK — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 21:10:19 GMT

The US Government Accountability Office released a new report in September, 2004 on "International Trade: Current Government Data Provide Limited Insight into Offshoring of Services." Here is the link: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04932.pdf

I don't think that the basic findings of the report will surprise anyone. Although it's long I suggest reading it, there are some interesting finds and insights. Some of the key findings include:

No commonly accepted definition of "offshoring" exists, and the term has been used to include various international trade and foreign investment activities.
U.S. government data provide some insight into the extent of services offshoring by the private sector, but they do not provide a complete picture of the business transactions that the term offshoring can encompass.
Government data provide limited information about the effects of services offshoring on the U.S. employment levels and the U.S. economy.

My own feeling is that the current ways that the U.S. government measures trade, etc haven't kept up with the complex changes in the global economy and before we can get an accurate picture of what is going on they will need to do some revising.

Along similar lines the GAO report does state that "While we make no recommendations at this time, we observe that the reasons for the growth in offshoring are relatively well understood, but less is known about the extent and the policy consequences of this activity. To assess changes which occur in a dynamic economy, federal statisticians and other researchers use and sometimes modify existing data series and develop new measures to provide further insight into the extent of the phenomena as well as the longer-term implications."

Defining Globalization

JanelK — Thur, 28 Oct 2004 19:08:07 GMT

What is globalization? There are many definitions out there - how are they different? Why does it matter?