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发帖数: 548 | 1 12月10日 可能的历史
前一天夜晚我一夜没睡，因为那一天晚上有人被扔下下水道了，我不知道是不是我的孩
子。因为前一天孩子上学前要一张小时候的照片，我想也许他想留个纪念。照片一直都
放在女儿房间储藏室，所以，我搬了椅子上去拿他的相册，儿子的照片有两本，我拿的
是那本我和先生共同给他建立的那一本，给了他在我肚子里的一张照片。 很可能他们
没有如愿离开。我不知道发生了什么，我在楼下听儿子说照片是他拿的 （他怕他们伤
害我？主动承担责任？）。然后他房屋的门被锁上，我担心我的儿子被他们害了。我很
长时间都没有去看那些照片，因为我曾经浏览过，都是过去的照片。而最新的照片都被
他们偷走了，特别是关于女儿的照片偷的一干二净。我没事，就把相册都抱下来再次查
看，发现很多东西被篡改或擦掉了，就连合影也是被合成的。为了防止所有的照片被销
毁，我就把他们都收起来了。其实，很多时候，我不是不知道某个人不是我的丈夫，而
是我不希望每一个人遇害，所以我沉默。我是不知道我先生如果还活着，如果一个被折
磨的人，会变成怎样？ 我无法知晓。但过去的他，即使没有照片，我也逐步忆起。有
一些人，我会有困惑，但有一些人，我一看，就知道不是。我沉默，因为我关心每一个
生命。我非常伤心的是，当我好意告诉他们我把照片都收起来的时候，那个人勃然大怒
，冲下来，要把我先生的照片抢走，还把我的帽子都扔掉，如果不是我身份特殊，他一
拳打死我都可能，还说了很多恶毒的话。我那么关心每一个人的生命，即使那些来害我
的人，他如此待我，是真的伤了我的心。我并没有怪他，我知道他太恐惧，他想毁掉照
片，他希望有幸存的机会。我只是为他叹息。一个人只有在最苦难的时刻，最艰难的时
刻才可以显露自己的品质。
我想，历史的真相很可能这座城市就是一个集中营，是美军的一个人体实验中心。所以
房子底下都有暗道相通，房子也有各个暗门。他们还建设了发射塔。然后屋里只要安置
信号接受装置，就可以无线接受电磁波的攻击。来到这座城市里的人都沦为了奴隶，被
他们奴役，然后这些人又分为不同帮派，彼此厮杀，抢夺地盘和房屋。当然，现在不清
楚的是在美国，这样的集中营，这样的人体实验中心有多少。德国，意大利，日本是二
战的战败国，很多人都被抓进了集中营，深受折磨，所以很多人心里聚集着仇恨，他们
一定也有各种复仇手段。英法，还有其他国家是战胜国或者是战后被解放，独立的国家
，所以他们就应该是这些人的目标。而战后，又分为美苏两大集团，共产主义和资本主
义两大阵营。那么东欧，苏联，中国又成为他们的敌对势力。由于斯大林和毛泽东没有
正确地实施社会主义政策，犯下了严重的错误，导致社会主义阵营土崩瓦解。而东欧纷
纷脱离苏联的控制，让本来是盟友的国家成为了敌对势力，最讨厌俄罗斯的很可能是这
些曾经在他统治下的国家。美国就是世界，世界上所有重要的势力都在美国存在，所有
的污秽也在美国存在。这里是先进和落后交织，文明和野蛮交织的国家。
由于国民党和共产党的历史恩怨，大陆和台湾的历史恩怨，所以台湾在美国的黑社会组
织，情报组织往往是最反华，最伤害大陆人的一支力量，甚至不惜充当日本人的走狗。
我和我先生，两个无辜的平民，一个美好的四口之家，在毫不洞察历史的情况下，误入
了美国的集中营，人体实验中心。在这里的人，要不沦为奴隶，成为帮凶，要不被屠杀
，伤害。日本本来是集中营的受害者，但他们没有接受历史的教训，成为了更加残忍，
有过之而无不及伤害人类的一种力量。这应该就是简单的历史背景，至于种族之间，白
人黑人之间，富人和贫困人口之间，居民和非法移民之间就更增加了历史的复杂性。中
国，经历了毛泽东的社会改造，其实发生了翻天覆地的改变，虽然有过错，有失误，但
也有进步，也消灭了很多丑陋的社会现实。在中国闭关这30年里，年轻的一代忘记了历
史。他们也不知道，虽然他们改变了，但世界并没有改变，敌对中国的势力也没有改变
。改革开放以后，各种势力都进入了中国，所有被消灭的丑陋现象又沉渣泛起。
当我们误入了这里，由于我的无知单纯，使我们一家在也没有逃离这里的可能。我的先
生和孩子们，即使没有死，也肯定失去了自由。是不是受到了残忍的伤害，就更不得知
。刚开始进入我家的人，应该是美军，日本台湾势力，他们绑架了我先生，然后冒充他
，对我和孩子进行实验和伤害。然后我受惊以后，每天大呼小叫的就引起了更多势力的
关注，然后各种势力都陆续地跑到我家来探个究竟。而由于我的单纯，善良，感化了很
多台湾人，华人，说起来他们也是奴隶，受害者，然后这些受害者都希望成为我的先生
，或许在我的家能让他们的境遇会更好一点？ 后来，我的先生很可能被他们释放了。
但因为各种势力都进入我家，他们都必须顶替我的先生和孩子们才能进入我的家。这里
有保护我的，有来害我的，所以一场残酷的争夺战，厮杀战就上演了。在这场争夺战，
最危险的还不是我，而是我的先生和孩子们。这各种势力杀红了眼，把争夺，仇恨都聚
集到了这里，而我的先生和孩子们会被各种势力所伤害。我非常痛恨这些人的一点就是
，他们曾经遭遇过苦难，就希望天下人都遭遇他们所经历过的痛苦，他们曾经家破人亡
，就希望天下人都家破人亡。他们百般折磨我，伤害我，让我家破人亡，孤苦无依，就
是希望我坠入魔界，仇恨这个世界，变成他们手中的一个工具，一把枪，一个复仇工具。
我本来是一个任性的孩子，我行我素，很少考虑别人的感受。但一路走来，我一言一行
，都死伤无数。每天都有无辜的生命死在我的面前。我在也任性不起来。只是我心中对
人类的怜悯，对无辜生命的怜爱从没有半分削减，我看见他们眼中的泪，心中的苦，恐
惧和无奈，看见一个个被折磨的灵魂，看见那些孩子痛苦辗转。我记得他们如何折磨我
的两个孩子，并利用他们来接近我，伤害我。我的女儿才三，四岁就被他们逼着夜里开
门，他们好进屋来伤害我。落入他们手里的孩子，即使不死，也很难成为独立的人。都
是工具。对于他们，我没有仇恨，即使是用来对付我的，他们也同样是受害者，是可怜
人，如果可以选择，他们不会要这样的生活，他们不是垃圾，他们是受害者，他们都是
这个制度的受害者。所有的生命都应该值得珍惜。我们要建立的制度，是要最大限度地
抑制人性丑恶的一面，残忍的一面，最大限度发扬人类善良，友爱的一面。如果一个社
会里，都是丑恶，丑陋，那一定是这个社会的制度，系统有问题。
从昨天中午，我就一直昏睡，直到6点半左右听见敲门声，被电话惊醒，我才起来给他
们开门。但我还是混混沉沉的，我知道他们是有办法进我房间的。即使进不来，也会有
各种小洞伤害我的。无论我住那里，他们都会想办法靠近我的。所以我不清楚是因为自
己太累的原因，还是因为受了暗算的原因，才昏昏沉沉的。我知道日本人又打进来了，
又一个孩子可能受到伤害，家里的人又可能被屠杀。但我没有力气，他们又撒了药，我
只想睡觉，我救不了他们，所以我又关门睡觉了，可能又很多人死了或遭到不幸了。夜
里12点的时候，我又惊醒了一次，听见水声。我又接着睡去了，直到凌晨两点，我才清
醒了。起身，吃了一点东西，才恢复思维。往外看的时候，发现817的灯亮着，车库门
大开，也不知道是不是遇到危险。快6点半的时候，818的小黑车又开着灯，机器启动，
一个人走进818，我怕他们又潜入我家来伤害孩子，我就坐在孩子门口直到818的黑车走
了。往外看 815又亮了两只灯。818，815，817又不知道出了什么变故。这些人每天晚
上都折腾，这需要多大的精力，人力才能对抗这些人每天的攻打。当然，我是看不出谁
在攻，谁在守，谁又占领了那里。但我的立场是站在人民的一方，站在所有受苦受难的
人民一方，所有和我理念相同的人都欢迎加入我的队伍。我不管历史的纠结，历史的仇
恨，历史的谁是谁非，我要所有的人忘掉历史，从新开始，从新选择。如果你坚持仇恨
，坚持屠杀，坚持延续过去的错误和残忍，坚持对我的攻击，你就是我的敌人。
刚才在网上看到两则消息，一个是日本计划在空间站消除太空垃圾，这应该是一个屠杀
计划。另一个是这个城市的 BILO 商店，把屠杀我家的计划都写在商品袋子上了。看看
其广告用语。100s of Prices Down and STAYING DOWN. Please support our
recycling efforts by returning this bag, made of 20% recycled materials, to
any BI-LO store. This recycling program is part of our commitment to help
preserve the environment. Patents: 5,188,235 , 4,759,639 , 5, 335,788
标字是 三角形里边有个2字，底下是 HDPE. 更有甚者，那天我去他们商店买东西，
一个胖女人，管理层样，不是普通的出纳，在我周围撒了药，但我带着口罩，虽然闻到
药味，但没有太大影响。显然，这个商店是控制在这个组织里的。
刚才皮啦啪啦一阵响，我没有及时上去，孩子又开始洗澡了，门又被关上了。我的心又
提到心口，希望今天不会有人在遇害。先简单写到这里吧。我知道我要离开这里，走出
这里不容易，如果我不得不留在这里，我不会屈服的。抛掉历史的恩怨，你们是加入保
护我的阵营，还是扼杀我的阵营，这是你们的选择。你们是要作为我的朋友，还是成为
我的敌人，也是你们的选择。
所以今天我给你们一次机会去从新选择，让所有人抛掉历史，抛掉仇恨，抛掉恩怨从新
思考，从新选择。你们是要这样顽固，不止不休，你杀我杀进行一辈子的厮杀，还是从
新开始，抛弃过去，让过去的血腥成为历史，建立一种新的理念，公平的理念，大家一
起携手建立一种更有希望，更充满爱，更公平的社会，而不是强盗的社会，弱肉强食的
社会。我给你们一次选择的机会，选择成为我的朋友或者敌人的机会。
附录：
日本在鹿儿岛县种子岛宇宙中心用H2B火箭成功发射了一艘"鹳"号货运飞船，用于向国
际空间站运送各类物资。
本次发射由日本宇宙航空研究开发机构和三菱重工业公司共同负责。
发射约15分钟后，"鹳"号货运飞船与火箭成功分离，进入预定轨道，预计将于13日
夜间至14日清晨与国际空间站对接。
"鹳"号货运飞船将为国际空间站带去食品、水、实验器材、大型锂电池以及7个超
小型卫星等。
除了运送物资外，"鹳"号飞船此次还肩负着另外一项重任——开展清理太空垃圾的
实验。
"鹳"号货运飞船将在距地球380公里的太空进行清除太空垃圾的试验。
研究表明，目前从地面追寻监测的太空垃圾中，大于10厘米的约有2万个，1厘米以
上的多达50万个。
这些垃圾在低轨道速度惊人，秒速高达7公里，约90分钟绕地球一圈，与人造卫星
和太空站相撞的可能性不可轻视。
届时，"鹳"号货运飞船将释放出一条金属导索，使其吸附到太空垃圾的表面，通过
金属导索向其放电，利用物体在磁场中通电后会发生运动的原理，让其减速。在低于围
绕地球旋转所需的速度后，坠入大气层，与大气层摩擦烧毁。
$$$$$$$$$$$$$
BI-LO is a supermarket chain owned by Southeastern Grocers. As of October
2015, the company operates 180 supermarkets under the BI-LO brand in South
Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.[1] The BI-LO headquarters were
previously located in Mauldin, South Carolina, near Greenville.;[2][3]
however, they merged into Southeastern Grocers headquarters which is
headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, United States currently.
Contents
1History
1.1Acquisition of Winn-Dixie
2References
3External links
History[edit]
BI-LO was founded in 1961 by Frank L. Outlaw. The original name was Wrenn &
Outlaw. The company was officially named BI-LO in 1963 after Outlaw
conducted an employee store-naming contest to develop the "brand." His
secretary, Edna Plumblee, won the contest by submitting the name "BI-LO."
BI-LO was sold to Ahold, a Dutch retail food conglomerate, in 1977. In 1994,
Ahold purchased Red Food Stores, Inc. and merged its locations (around 55
of them) in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee into BI-LO the following year.[4
][5] In 2001, Ahold purchased the Birmingham, Alabama based Bruno's
Supermarkets chain and combined its operations with BI-LO.
In 1998, the company sponsored the construction of the Bon Secours Wellness
Arena (formerly the BI-LO Center) in Greenville, South Carolina.
In June 2001, BI-LO debuted their discount grocery format, FoodSmart in
Camden, South Carolina. A month later, BI-LO purchased eight Harris Teeter
grocery stores in South Carolina and converted those stores to either BI-LO
or the FoodSmart formats.[6]
In 2003, BI-LO invested in redesigning its store layout to attract high end
customers. The result was the new Super BI-LO concept of a larger store
layout featuring a greater selection of healthier foods, specialty foods and
organic foods. Since then the company has opened new Super BI-LO branded
stores as well as remodeled older stores in affluent neighborhoods.[7]
Throughout late 2004 and 2005, the company gradually phased out its private
label "BI-LO" brand for its store products and replaced them with new
packaging and a new name, "Southern Home." In 2005, Ahold sold BI-LO/Bruno's
to Lone Star Funds.[8] In order to concentrate on renovating older stores,
building new ones, and investing in newer information technology, the new
owners sold off 104 BI-LO, FoodSmart, Bruno's, Food Fair, and Food World
stores in areas where the chain did not have significant market penetration.
They also sold off three BI-LO/Bruno's distribution centers to grocery
wholesaler, C&S Wholesale Grocerswho converted some of the stores to
Southern Family Markets.[9][10] Included in the sell-off were all stores in
the Knoxville, TN area which nearly all were immediately occupied by Food
City stores. As of 2010, one location in the area has not been leased to any
business in five years, in part due to Food City already owning a former
Winn-Dixie location just a short walk away.
On March 21, 2007, Lone Star Funds announced that they were spinning off the
67 Bruno's Supermarkets and Food World stores from BI-LO LLC into a
separate company to be based out of Birmingham.[11] On April 16, 2007, Lone
Star announced that they were putting the 230-store BI-LO chain up for sale.
Soon after, C&S announced that it was closing the Chattanooga distribution
center that served the BI-LOs in the Chattanooga area and portions of North
Georgia.[12]
On March 23, 2009, the company announced that it had filed chapter 11
bankruptcy and intends to use the court-supervised process to address "an
upcoming debt maturity." The move was largely due to the current credit
crisis. The company said to expect its stores and regular operations to
continue to operate as usual during the process. The company secured a $100
million loan from GE Capital in order to continue paying wages, salaries,
benefits, suppliers, and vendors.[13] In October 2009, Delhaize Group,
headquartered in Belgium and owner of competing chain Food Lion, announced
that it entered a preliminary, non-binding agreement to purchase $425
million worth of assets from the chain.[14] Shortly after, in November 2009,
the company filed plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to restructure, with
parent company Lone Star Funds providing a $350 million cash infusion, and
Delhaize Group and Food Lion left out of the plans. Lone Star Funds said
that it was possible that BI-LO could emerge from bankruptcy in the first
quarter of 2010.[15]
On May 12, 2010, the company officially emerged from bankruptcy protection,
under a plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of South
Carolina.[16] BI-LO, a Supermarket News Top 75 Retailer for 2010, remains
under ownership of Lone Star Funds after restructuring.[17][18] BI-LO was
reportedly put up for sale in August 2010; Kroger and Publix were said to be
interested in acquiring the chain,[19] but they never developed anything
from these rumors.
In September 2013, BI-LO agreed to buy 22 Piggly Wiggly stores in South
Carolina and Georgia from Piggly Wiggly Carolina. The following day, BI-LO
agreed to sell seven BI-LO locations in the Charlotte, North Carolina region
to Publix.[20][21]
In July 2015, Southeastern Grocers announced the sale of its 21 BI-LO
locations in the Chattanooga market as well as eight BI-LO locations in
NorthernGeorgia to K-VA-T Food Stores, which would rebrand the stores under
its Food City banner. The two companies said that stores would begin
transitioning August 30 and would be completed by October 5, 2015.
Southeastern Grocers would likely use proceeds from the deal to reduce debt.
This effectively ends BI-LOs presence in the Tennessee market.[22]
Acquisition of Winn-Dixie[edit]
On December 19, 2011 it was announced that BI-LO and Winn-Dixie would merge
to create an organization with some 690 grocery stores and 63,000 employees
in eight states throughout the southeastern United States.[23] BI-LO will
purchase Winn-Dixie for USD$530 million, and operate Winn-Dixie as a
subsidiary with its stores maintaining the Winn-Dixie name. It was later
announced that the merged company would be based at Winn-Dixie's former
headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.[24] In early 2013, BI-LO phased out
its own private label soft drinks in its BI-LO stores in favor of the "Chek"
brand used by Winn-Dixie.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Southeastern Grocers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southeastern Grocers LLC
Formerly called
Bi-Lo Holdings
Type
Private
Industry Retail (Grocery)
Founded 2011
Headquarters Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Number of locations
750
Area served
Alabama, Florida, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South
Carolina
Key people
Ian McLeod, President and CEO
Products Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat,
pharmacy, produce, seafood,snacks, liquor
Revenue $11.5 billion USD (2014)[1]
Owner Lone Star Funds
Number of employees
72,000 (as of December 2014)[2]
Website segrocers.com
Southeastern Grocers LLC (formerly Bi-Lo Holdings) is a supermarket
portfolio headquartered inJacksonville, Florida, United States. The
portfolio was created by Lone Star Funds in September 2013 as the new parent
company for BI-LO, Harveys, Winn-Dixie, and the now recently opened banner
known as Fresco y Más. Southeastern Grocers was rated #31 in Forbes 2015
ranking on America's Largest Private Companies.[3]
Contents
1History
2Mergers and Acquisitions
2.1Winn-Dixie
2.2Delhaize Group
2.3Piggly Wiggly Carolina Stores
3Banners
4References
5External links
History[edit]
On March 21, 2007, Lone Star Funds announced that they were spinning off the
67 Bruno's Supermarkets and Food World stores from BI-LO LLC into a
separate company to be based out of Birmingham.[4] On April 16, 2007, Lone
Star announced that they were putting the 230-store BI-LO chain up for sale.
Soon after, C&S announced that it was closing the Chattanooga distribution
center that served the BI-LOs in the Chattanooga area and portions of North
Georgia.[5]
On March 23, 2009, the company announced that it had filed chapter 11
bankruptcy and intended to use the court-supervised process to address "an
upcoming debt maturity." The company said that expects its stores and
regular operations to continue to operate as usual during the process. The
company secured a $100 million loan from GE Capital in order to continue
paying wages, salaries, benefits, suppliers, and vendors.[6][7] In October
2009, Delhaize Group, headquartered in Belgium and owner of competing chain
Food Lion, announced that it entered a preliminary, non-binding agreement to
purchase $425 million worth of assets from the chain.[8] Shortly after, in
November 2009, the company filed plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to
restructure, with parent company Lone Star Funds providing a $350 million
cash infusion, and Delhaize Group and Food Lion left out of the plans. Lone
Star Funds said that it was possible that BI-LO could emerge from bankruptcy
in the first quarter of 2010.[9]
On May 12, 2010, the company emerged from bankruptcy protection, under a
plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of South Carolina.[10]
BI-LO, a Supermarket News Top 75 Retailer for 2010, remains under ownership
of Lone Star Funds after restructuring.[11][12] BI-LO was reportedly put up
for sale in August 2010; Kroger and Publix were said to be interested in
acquiring the chain,[13] but nothing ever developed from these rumors.
In September 2013, Southeastern Grocers Inc. was created by Lone Star Funds
as the new parent company for BI-LO, Harveys, and Winn-Dixie. The new parent
company then filed to raise as much as $500 million in an U.S. initial
public offering and list its common stock under the "SEG" symbol.[14][15] On
August 19, 2014 Southeastern Grocers withdrew their IPO filing with the SEC
, aborting the process of listing the stock for public sale.[16]
In July 2015, Southeastern Grocers announced the sale of its 21 BI-LO
locations in the Chattanooga, Tennessee market as well as eight BI-LO
locations in Northern Georgia to K-VA-T Food Stores, which would rebrand the
stores under its Food City banner. Southeastern Grocers would likely use
proceeds from the deal to reduce debt. This effectively ends Southeastern
Grocers' presence in the Tennessee market.[17]
In October 2015, Southeastern Grocers laid off 250 workers at its support
offices in a move said to improve efficiency and invest in service and value
for customers. The cuts took place at Southeastern’s Jacksonville, Florida
headquarters and regional support centers. Store employees were not
affected.[18]
In June 2016, Southeastern Grocers converted a Winn-Dixie location in
Hialeah, Florida to their new Hispanic banner, Fresco y Más, which features
an expanded Hispanic product assortment, a full-service Latin butcher shop,
and Cocina.[19] In December 2016, Southeastern Grocers converted five
additional South Florida Winn-Dixie locations in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach
counties to the Fresco y Más banner.[20]
Mergers and Acquisitions[edit]
Winn-Dixie[edit]
On December 19, 2011 it was announced that BI-LO and Winn-Dixie would merge
to create an organization with some 690 grocery stores and 63,000 employees
in eight states throughout the southeastern United States.[21] BI-LO will
purchase Winn-Dixie for USD$530 million, and operate Winn-Dixie as a
subsidiary with its stores maintaining the Winn-Dixie name. It was later
announced that the merged company would be based at Winn-Dixie's former
headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.[22] In early 2013, BI-LO phased out
its own private label soft drinks in its BI-LO stores in favor of the "Chek"
brand used by Winn-Dixie. The merged company operated out of Winn-Dixie's
former headquarters in Jacksonville.
Delhaize Group[edit]
On May 28, 2013 it was announced that BI-LO was acquiring the Harveys,
Sweetbay, and Reid's banners from Delhaize Group for USD$265 million.[23]
Upon completion of the transaction, BI-LO rebranded all Sweetbay stores as
Winn-Dixie stores, and all Reid's stores as BI-LO stores, while keeping the
Harveys name for those stores.
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Stores[edit]
In September 2013, Bi-Lo Holdings, LLC announced an agreement to buy 22
supermarkets in South Carolina and Georgia from the Piggly Wiggly Carolina
Co. Inc. for $35 million.[24] One Piggly Wiggly store in Lexington, South
Carolina was closed due to close proximity to other BI-LO stores.[25]
That same month, BI-LO announced they entered into an agreement to sell
seven BI-LO branded stores in the Charlotte market to Publix: the stores are
located in Charlotte, NC, Huntersville, NC, Matthews, NC, Lake Wylie, SC,
and Rock Hill, SC.[26]
Banners[edit]
Winn Dixie (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi)
BI-LO (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina)
Harveys (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina)
Fresco y Más (Florida)
State Winn-Dixie BI-LO Harveys Fresco y Más
Alabama 60
Florida 370 5 6
Georgia 17 19 51
Louisiana 47
Mississippi 14
North Carolina 27 1
South Carolina 133 1 | w*********9
发帖数: 548 | 2 Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
Census-designated place
Boardwalk at Bass Hole
Location in Barnstable County and the state ofMassachusetts.
Coordinates: 41°42′17″N 70°13′15″WCoordinates: 41°42′17″N 70°13′
15″W
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Barnstable
Town Yarmouth
Area
• Total 6.47 sq mi (16.76 km2)
• Land 6.04 sq mi (15.65 km2)
• Water 0.43 sq mi (1.11 km2)
Elevation 52 ft (16 m)
Population (2010)
• Total 5,320
• Density 884/sq mi (341.2/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02675
Area code(s) 508/774
FIPS code 25-82595
GNIS feature ID 0615805
Yarmouth Port is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Yarmouth in
Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,320 at
the 2010 census.[1]
Yarmouth Port was home to the original Christmas Tree Shops until its
closing in 2007. The town is home to the international headquarters of IFAW.
Contents
[hide]
1Geography
2Demographics
3Notable residents
4References
Geography[edit]
Yarmouth Port is located in the northern part of the town of Yarmouth at 41
°42′17″N 70°13′15″W (41.704633, -70.220923).[2] It is bordered to the
north by Cape Cod Bay, to the east by the town of Dennis, and to the west by
the town of Barnstable. U.S. Route 6, the Mid-Cape Highway, is to the south
, beyond which are the CDPs of South Yarmouth and West Yarmouth.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Yarmouth Port CDP has a
total area of 6.47 square miles (16.76 km2). 6.04 square miles (15.65 km2)
of it is land, and 0.43 square miles (1.11 km2) of it (6.86%) is water.[1]
Demographics[edit]
See also: List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 5,395 people, 2,546 households, and
1,642 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 344.9/km2 (
892.7/mi2). There were 3,104 housing units at an average density of 198.4/
km2 (513.6/mi2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.46% White, 0.26%
African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander
, 0.19% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.
There were 2,546 households out of which 17.0% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 56.2% were married couplesliving together, 6.8% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 30.
8% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.8% had someone
living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.61.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 15.8% under the age of 18, 3.0
% from 18 to 24, 18.7% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 34.7% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53 years. For every 100
females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 80.7 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $47,576, and the median
income for a family was $57,841. Males had a median income of $41,029 versus
$30,171 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $30,418. About 2
.2% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.
Notable residents[edit]
Elephant House MA, Edward Gorey's home on Cape Cod (2006)
Edward Gorey (1925–2000), artist and writer[4]
References[edit]
^ Jump up to:a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (
G001): Yarmouth Port CDP, Massachusetts". U.S. Census Bureau, American
Factfinder. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
Jump up^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census
Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
Jump up^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-
01-31.
Jump up^ Edward Gorey House, Yarmouth Port
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International Fund for Animal Welfare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of
its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible
overview of all important aspects of the article. Please discuss this issue
on the article's talk page. (July 2015)
The International Fund for Animal Welfare - IFAW
Type Non-profit Organisation
Industry Conservation
Founded 1969, New Brunswick, Canada
Headquarters Yarmouth Port, Cape CodMassachusetts United States
Key people Azzedine Downes, Kathleen Savesky
Products Landmark & framework legislation, research, activism.
Revenue $97,079,000 USD (2013 Annual Report)
Number of employees 250+ (worldwide)
Website ifaw.org
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is one of the largest
animal welfare and conservation charities in the world.
The group's declared mission is to "rescue and protect animals around the
world."[1]
Contents
[hide]
1History
2Activities
3Controversy and criticism
4See also
5References
6External links
History[edit]
In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, animal rescue efforts continue
throughout eastern North Carolina as volunteers care for hundreds of lost
and abandoned pets. Shirley Minshew of the International Fund for Animal
Welfare carries empty pet carriers to the animal shelter in Tarboro, North
Carolina.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was founded by a small
group of people in 1969, to stop the commercial hunt for seal pups in Canada
. One of IFAW's founders, and possibly its most well known member, is Brian
Davies.
With offices in over a dozen countries, and projects in more than 40[2] IFAW
is one of the largest animal welfare organisations in the world.
Activities[edit]
Rescuing and releasing whales, dolphins and porpoises that have stranded or
been entangled in nets and fishing gear.
Promoting whale watching, as an alternative to whale hunting.
IFAW aims to protect the last 400 critically endangered North Atlantic right
whales, and have developed acoustic detection systems, and collaborate with
lobstermen, commercial fishers and shipping industries to prevent
collisions with ships and gear entanglements.
Through the Animal Action Education, IFAW educates children worldwide about
animal welfare and wildlife conservation issues.
Through their Community-Linked Animal Welfare (CLAW) projects, the IFAW aims
to help companion animals in underserved communities around the world.
IFAW has training for or trained customs officers and game wardens in many
countries to prevent the killing of endangered species.
IFAW protects elephants by protecting critical elephant habitats, managing
human-elephant conflict, preventing poaching, ending illegal ivory trade and
rescuing orphan and injured elephants.
Carrying out legislative and educational campaigns across the globe. This is
an effort to try to prevent cruelty to animals, preserve endangered species
, and protect wildlife habitats.
IFAW is best known for its leading role in the campaigns to end the
commercial seal hunt in Canada[3] and end commercial whaling,[4] as well as
its work to help dogs and cats in impoverished communities,[5] protect
elephants,[6] end illegal ivory trade,[7] rescue and release of wild animals
such orphan rhinos[8] and rescue of animals in the wake of disasters such
as hurricane Katrina in the US.[9]
Controversy and criticism[edit]
A financial manager of the Brian Davies Foundation, IFAW invested IFAW's
money in organizations that carried out animal experiments, such as Bausch &
Lomb, US Surgicals, Glaxo, Merck, Abbot, Upjohn, Philip Morris and McDonald
's. When the investment was drawn to the attention of IFAW’s trustees, the
shares were sold immediately and the financial manager dismissed.[10]
When Davies retired from IFAW in 1997 to start Network For Animals, IFAW
wanted to use his name and image for fundraising and campaigns. In return,
he was to receive $2.5 million over seven years. The contract was important
for the continued level of success that IFAW achieved with Davies’
leadership, according to research on successful animal welfare organizations
”.[11] Davies had the following to say about it: “I signed an agreement
with IFAW which was conceived by the trustees. I was opposed to the idea of
receiving remuneration from two animal welfare organisations; this solution
allowed me to run Network For Animals without pay for seven years.”[10]
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Bausch & Lomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bausch + Lomb
Type Subsidiary
Industry Medical instruments, Pharmaceuticals & Supplies
Founded Rochester, New York, U.S.
(1853; 163 years ago)
Founder John Jacob Bausch
Henry Lomb
Headquarters Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA
Key people Dan Wechsler, Executive VP and Company Group Chairman
Products Contact lenses, Eye-care products, Rx and Surgical IOLs and
equipment
Revenue $1.51 Billion USD (2007)
Net income $200 Million USD (2007)
Number of employees 1,103 (2015) [1]
Parent Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Website www.bausch.com
Bausch + Lomb, an American company founded in Rochester, New York, is one of
the world's largest suppliers of eye health products, including contact
lenses, lens care products, medicines and implants for eye diseases. The
company was founded in 1853 by an optician, John Jacob Bausch, and a
financier, Henry Lomb.[2] Its Ray-Ban brand of sunglasses was sold in 1999
to the ItalianLuxottica Group. Bausch + Lomb was a public company listed on
the NYSE until it was acquired by the private equity firm Warburg Pincus PLC
in 2007. In May 2013, Valeant Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy Bausch + Lomb
from Warburg Pincus LLC for $8.57 billion in cash. The deal, which was
approved by share holders, included $4.2 billion earmarked to pay down
Bausch + Lomb debt, and closed on August 5, 2013.[3] Today, the company is
headquartered[4] in Bridgewater, New Jersey,[5] and employs about 13,000
people in 36 countries.
Contents
[hide]
1Company history
1.1Early years
1.2Early growth of the company
1.3Expansion of production at the beginning of the 20th century
1.4The First and Second World Wars
1.5Period after 1945
1.6Company developments in recent years
2Business areas
2.1PureVision
2.2ReNu product recalls
2.3Diversity
3See also
4References
5External links
Company history[edit]
Early years[edit]
New York headquarters of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company in 1891
Bausch + Lomb was founded in 1853 by John Jacob Bausch and Henry C. Lomb
both German immigrants, in Rochester, New York.[6][7] A trained optician,
Bausch found in Lomb the financier and partner he needed for a small but
ambitious workshop producing monocles. In 1861, the company manufactured
Vulcanite rubber eyeglass frames and other precision vision products.[8]
Early growth of the company[edit]
During the American Civil War, the Union blockade caused the price of gold
and European horn to rise dramatically. This resulted in a growing demand
for the Bausch & Lomb spectacles made from Vulcanite.[citation needed]
In 1876, the company began manufacturing microscopes. Later that year, the
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company won a distinction at the Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition. The company also produced photographic lenses (1883),
spectacle lenses (1889),microtomes (1890), binoculars and telescopes (1893)
.[9] From 1892 in cooperation with Zeiss in Germany, the company produced
optical lenses. In this manner, at the end of the 19th century, the product
range included eyeglasses, microscopes and binoculars, as well as projectors
, camera lenses and camera diaphragms.
Microscope 1883
Universal Microscope, Bausch and Lomb, c. 1890
Bausch & Lomb Convertible Balopticon projector, circa 1913
Expansion of production at the beginning of the 20th century[edit]
With the growth of the US army, under President Theodore Roosevelt and the
buildup of the naval fleet, Bausch & Lomb received the commission, through
the supplierSaegmuller, to manufacture high-precision lenses for optical
measurement and founded a joint venture with Saegmuller. At the same time as
this new expansion, a research department with five members was started to
develop new products and improve old ones. A new alliance with the Zeiss
company in Germany ensured competitive advantages for the three participants
, Bausch & Lomb, Saegmuller and Zeiss, in terms of patent use and opening
new markets. In 1902, William Bausch, the son of the founder, developed a
process to create the desired lens shape directly by casting molten glass.
Previously, the glass parts for the lenses had to be separated, ground and
polished in a complicated process, and this brought significant savings in
time and materials.
The company produced the first optical-quality glass in America during the
early to mid-1900s. By the year 1903 the company began manufacturing
microscopes, binoculars, and camera shutters.
The First and Second World Wars[edit]
The further development of the firm was affected by political events.
Because of the World Wars and the consequent need for optical instruments
such as field glasses, target finders, camera lenses, binocular telescopes,
searchlight mirrors, torpedo tube sights, and periscopes, the product range
could be considerably broadened. Until World War I, optical glass and the
instruments made from it (including many military instruments) were often
imported into most European and North American countries from Germany. The
same was also true of chemical products and laboratory equipment. The
outbreak of the war, with Germany's new enemy status, created a scramble to
rapidly enhance the domestic industries.[10] In 1933, Bausch+Lomb started to
honor outstanding high school science students with the Bausch+Lomb
Honorary Science Award. In the 1930s, military products represented 70% of
total production. The Ray-Ban brand of sunglasses was developed for pilots
in 1936.
Period after 1945[edit]
Bausch & Lomb Place, the company's former headquarters inRochester, New York
After the Second World War, the photography and eyeglass sectors were
strengthened and production in these sectors, at least in part, was
completely restructured. In addition, production facilities were opened in
Canada, Brazil and Argentina.
At a time when the cinema was being superseded by television, Bausch & Lomb
developed the CinemaScope lens. For the first time, the new lens made the "
wide screen" effect possible, enabling cinemas to double screen width.
After three years of development work, two years for the medical approval by
the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and an investment of
three million USD, Bausch + Lomb brought the first contact lenses made of
Poly-HEMA on the market in 1971. In contrast to the contact lenses available
up to that time, made of glass and Lucite (acrylic glass),[11] the new
lenses were softer, and were marketed with the brand name "Soflens".
In the 1970s, Bausch + Lomb became a major producer of spectrophotometers
for the dye and chemical business.
A massive restructuring of the company began in the mid-80s. What had been
the core divisions, the production of lenses for various purposes, were sold
off. The sunglasses division was continued, since Ray-Ban glasses kept
selling very well due to effective product placement. By the planned
acquisition of other firms, such as Polymer Technology Corporation and Dr.
Mann Pharma, existing business areas, for example contact lens production,
were strengthened and new ones were opened up. Finally in 1997, as a result
of a series of company acquisitions, the division for the production of
surgical products was established.
Company developments in recent years[edit]
Logo in use from 2004 until January 2010
Since then, Bausch & Lomb has developed into a globally operating company
which is one of the largest producers of contact lenses. Today, about 13,000
employees in 36 countries work for the firm. Total turnover for the year
2006 was estimated[by whom?] at 2.29 billion USD.[citation needed] The
company's competitors in the international health-care services market are
Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, Allergan,MSD-Chibret and Ciba Vision (Novartis).
Chief executives
Name Title Tenure
John Jacob Bausch President 1885–1926
Edward Bausch President 1926–1935
M. Herbert Eisenhart President 1935 – December 1950
Joseph F. Taylor President January 1951 – November 1954
Carl S. Hallauer President November 1954 – March 1959
William W. McQuilkin President March 1959 – May 1971
Jack D. Harby President May 1971 –
Daniel G. Schuman CEO – April 1981
Daniel E. Gill CEO April 1981 – December 1995
William M. Carpenter CEO 1996 – June 1998
Ron Zarella CEO 2001 – 2008[12]
Gerald Ostrov CEO 2008 – March 2010 [13]
Brent Saunders CEO March 2010 –
Business areas[edit]
The Global Eye Health Center inRochester, New York
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Basically, the business areas are divided into three large divisions:
Vision Care: contact lenses and eye-care products
Pharmaceuticals: medicines for various eye diseases and irritations
Surgery: aids and implants
Although in the last few years several business areas in the Vision Care
division have been developed in the framework of product diversification,
the manufacture of contact lenses still accounted for 28% of turnover in
2001 and was thus its main business activity. Besides the simplest "SofLens
One Day" soft contact lens range, which have to be changed every day, the
product assortment also includes higher quality lenses, such as the "SofLens
Comfort" or "Seequence" lenses which can be changed after two weeks. The "
SofLens66 Toric" were specially designed for people with astigmatism. Lenses
from the "Boston" range have a higher oxygen permeability and thus are more
suited for people with sensitive or dry eyes. The newest and most advanced
lens range is called "PureVision". These lenses are so oxygen-permeable that
they can remain in the eye up to 30 days without being taken out at night.
The second largest business, at 25%, is the manufacture of lens-care
products. As well as simple combination cleaning and disinfectant solutions
for both soft and hard lenses, pH neutral solutions are available for people
with particularly sensitive eyes.
The Pharmaceuticals division manufactures pharmaceutical eye products, which
account for 21% of turnover. This range covers prescription medicines for
eye irritation, allergic reactions or high eye pressure. A further
breakthrough is expected from the new Envision TD product range. This
represents a new process for the precisely located dispensing of active
substances to the eye. This is achieved by medical implants behind the eye.
Due to the body's absorption process, the implant slowly decomposes and in
so doing releases the desired active substance directly to the eye over a
long period. Additionally, vitamins can be dispensed to counteract bacterial
infection and allergic reactions, thus reducing loss of vision with
advancing age. The development of this division was speeded up by take-overs
of other firms.
The Surgicals division is divided into Refractive Surgery with 8% of
turnover and Cataract Vitreotinal Surgery with 18%. The latter division is
concerned with products for operations on glaucoma and cataracts and on the
cornea, as well as implantable, interocular lenses. The Refractive Surgery
division comprises mainly medical analysis devices and lasers required for
eye surgery. In order to strengthen this division, the competing, market-
leader companies Storz and Chiron were acquired.
PureVision[edit]
Bausch + Lomb was in a lawsuit with Novartis which claimed to have patents
on a Bausch + Lomb product called PureVision. On June 26, 2002, a federal
judge ruled that Bausch & Lomb did infringe on Ciba Vision (a subsidiary of
Alcon) patents.[14]
On July 2, 2004, the company announced that it had licensed the intellectual
property of Novartis.[15] Bausch & Lomb will pay the Ciba Vision unit of
Novartis a royalty on net U.S. sales of its PureVision brand contact lenses
until 2014 and on net sales outside the U.S. until 2016. But as of now, the
brand FreshLook comes under Bausch and Lomb and Ciba manufacturers it.[15]
ReNu product recalls[edit]
Main article: ReNu
On April 11, 2006, Bausch & Lomb stopped shipments of its ReNu with
MoistureLoc contact lens solution when the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) announced there was a high correlation between use of the
product and cases of suspected fungal keratitis.[16] The Centers for Disease
Control found that "nearly all of the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc eye
care products were linked to severe fungal eye infections".[17] Two class
action lawsuits have been filed against Bausch & Lomb in relation to the eye
fungus problems.[18]
Diversity[edit]
Bausch & Lomb received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index
released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2003, the second year of
the report.[19]
See also[edit]
Biotech and pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey
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GlaxoSmithKline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Glaxo)
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK's head office, Isleworth , London TW8
Type Public limited company
Traded as LSE: GSK
NYSE: GSK
Industry Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology
Consumer goods
Predecessor Glaxo plc
Wellcome plc
Beecham Group plc
Kline & French
Beckman Companies
Smith plc
Founded December 2000; 16 years ago
Headquarters Isleworth, London, England,U.K.
Key people
Sir Philip Hampton
(Chairman)
Andrew Witty
(CEO)
Products Pharmaceuticals, vaccines, oral healthcare, nutritional products
, over-the-counter medicines
Revenue ￡23.923 billion (2015)[1]
Operating income ￡10.322 billion (2015)[1]
Net income ￡8.372 billion (2015)[1]
Number of employees 96,575 (2015)[2]
Subsidiaries Stiefel Laboratories
Website www.gsk.com
GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) is a British pharmaceutical company headquartered
in Brentford, London. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and
SmithKline Beecham, GSK was the world's sixth largest pharmaceutical company
as of 2015, afterPfizer, Novartis, Merck, Hoffmann-La Roche and Sanofi.[n 1
][3] Andrew Witty has been the chief executive officer since 2008.[4]
The company has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a
constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of August 2016 it had a market
capitalisation of ￡81 billion (around $107 billion), the fourth largest on
the London Stock Exchange.[5] It has a secondary listing on the New York
Stock Exchange.
GSK's drugs and vaccines earned ￡21.3 billion in 2013.[6] Its top-selling
products that year were Advair, Avodart, Flovent,Augmentin, Lovaza and
Lamictal. GSK's consumer products, which earned ￡5.2 billion in 2013,
include Sensodyne and Aquafreshtoothpaste, the malted-milk drink Horlicks,
Abreva for cold sores, Breathe Right nasal strips, Nicoderm and Nicorette
nicotine replacements, and Night Nurse, a cold remedy.[7] The company
developed the first malaria vaccine, RTS,S, which it said in 2014 it would
make available for five percent above cost.[8] Legacy products developed at
GSK include several listed in the World Health Organization Model List of
Essential Medicines, such as amoxicillin, mercaptopurine, pyrimethamine and
zidovudine.
In 2012 GSK pleaded guilty to promotion of drugs for unapproved uses,
failure to report safety data, and kickbacks to physicians, in the United
States and agreed to pay a $3 billion (￡1.9bn) settlement the largest
settlement in the country by a drug company.[9]
Contents
[hide]
1History
1.1Glaxo Wellcome
1.2SmithKline Beecham
1.3GlaxoSmithKline
2Research, products
2.1Pharmaceuticals
2.2Malaria vaccine
2.3Consumer healthcare
2.4Facilities
2.5Scientific recognition
3Operations and acquisitions since 2001
3.12001–2010
3.22011–present
4Philanthropy and social responsibility
52012 criminal and civil settlement
5.1Overview
5.2Rosiglitazone (Avandia)
5.3Paroxetine (Paxil/Seroxat)
5.4Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
6Other controversies
6.1Antitrust case over griseofulvin
6.2Ribena
6.3SB Pharmco Puerto Rico
6.4China
6.5Market manipulation in the UK
6.6Miscellaneous
7Diagram of acquisition history
8See also
9Notes
10References
11External links
History[edit]
Glaxo Wellcome[edit]
The historic Glaxo factory in Bunnythorpe, New Zealand, with the Glaxo
Laboratories sign still visible
Glaxo was founded in the 1850s as a general trading company in Bunnythorpe,
New Zealand, by a Londoner, Joseph Edward Nathan.[10] In 1904 it began
producing dried-milk baby food, first known as Defiance, then as Glaxo (from
lacto), under the slogan "Glaxo builds bonny babies."[11][12]:306[13] The
Glaxo Laboratories sign is still visible (right) on what is now a car repair
shop on the main street of Bunnythorpe. The company's first pharmaceutical
product, produced in 1920, was vitamin D.[12]:306
Glaxo Laboratories opened new units in London in 1935. The company bought
two companies, Joseph Nathan and Allen & Hanburys in 1947 and 1958
respectively. The Scottish pharmacologist David Jack was working for Allen &
Hanbury's when Glaxo took it over; he went on lead the company's R&D until
1987.[12]:306 After the company bought Meyer Laboratories in 1978, it began
to play an important role in the US market. In 1983 the American arm, Glaxo
Inc., moved to Research Triangle Park (US headquarters/research) and Zebulon
(US manufacturing) in North Carolina.[13]
Burroughs Wellcome & Company was founded in 1880 in London by the American
pharmacists Henry Wellcome and Silas Burroughs. The Wellcome Tropical
Research Laboratories opened in 1902. In the 1920s Burroughs Wellcome
established research and manufacturing facilities in Tuckahoe, New York,[14]
:18[15][16] which served as the US headquarters until the company moved to
Research Triangle Park in North Carolina in 1971.[17] The Nobel Prize
winning scientists Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings worked there
and invented drugs still used many years later, such as mercaptopurine.[18]
In 1959 the Wellcome Company bought Cooper, McDougall & Robertson Inc to
become more active in animal health.[13] Glaxo and Burroughs Wellcome merged
in 1995 to form Glaxo Wellcome.[19][12]:309 Glaxo restructured its R&D
operation that year, cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide, closing its R&D facility
in Beckenham, Kent, and opening a Medicines Research Centre in Stevenage,
Hertfordshire.[20][21][22] Also that year, Glaxo Wellcome acquired the
California-based Affymax, a leader in the field of combinatorial chemistry.[
23]
By 1999 Glaxo Wellcome had become the world's third-largest pharmaceutical
company by revenues (behind Novartis and Merck), with a global market share
of around 4 per cent.[24] Its products included Imigran (for the treatment
of migraine), salbutamol (Ventolin) (for the treatment of asthma), Zovirax (
for the treatment of coldsores), and Retrovirand Epivir (for the treatment
of AIDS). In 1999 the company was the world's largest manufacturer of drugs
for the treatment of asthma and HIV/AIDS.[25] It employed 59,000 people,
including 13,400 in the UK, had 76 operating companies and 50 manufacturing
facilities worldwide, and seven of its products were among the world's top
50 best-selling pharmaceuticals. The company had R&D facilities in
Hertfordshire, Kent and London, and manufacturing plants in Scotland and the
north of England. It had R&D centres in the US and Japan, and production
facilities in the US, Europe and the Far East.[26]
SmithKline Beecham[edit]
Beecham's Clock Tower, constructed 1877, part of the Beecham's factory, St
Helens
In 1843 Thomas Beecham launched his Beecham's Pills laxative in England,
giving birth to the Beecham Group. In 1859 Beecham opened its first factory
in St Helens, Lancashire. By the 1960s Beecham was extensively involved in
pharmaceuticals.[13]
John K. Smith opened his first pharmacy in Philadelphia in 1830. In 1865
Mahlon Kline joined the business, which 10 years later became Smith, Kline &
Co. In 1891 it merged with French, Richard and Company, and in 1929 changed
its name toSmith Kline & French Laboratories as it focused more on research
. Years later it bought Norden Laboratories, a business doing research into
animal health, and Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques in Belgium in 1963
to focus on vaccines. The company began to expand globally, buying seven
laboratories in Canada and the United States in 1969. In 1982 it
boughtAllergan, a manufacturer of eye and skincare products.[13]
SmithKline & French merged with Beckman Inc. in 1982 and changed its name to
SmithKline Beckman. In 1988 it bought its biggest competitor, International
Clinical Laboratories, and in 1989 merged with Beecham to form SmithKline
Beecham plc. The headquarters moved from the United States to England. To
expand R&D in the United States, the company bought a new research center in
1995; another opened in 1997 in England at New Frontiers Science Park,
Harlow.[13]
GlaxoSmithKline[edit]
Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham announced their intention to merge in
January 2000. The merger was completed in December that year, forming
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).[27][28] The company's global headquarters are at GSK
House,Brentford, London, officially opened in 2002 by then-Prime Minister
Tony Blair. The building was erected at a cost of ￡300 million and as of
2002 was home to 3,000 administrative staff.[29] Andrew Witty took over as
CEO in May 2008. Witty joined Glaxo in 1985 and had been president of GSK's
Pharmaceuticals Europe since 2003.[30] Chris Gent, previously CEO of
Vodafone, was the chair between 2005 and 2015.[31] On 20 September 2016 the
company announced that his successor, a management professional originally
from Lancashire, with a background in marketing, Emma Walmsley, would take
over the position on Witty's retirement, scheduled for 31 March 2017.[32]
Philip Hampton, at that time chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland, replaced
Gent as GSK chairman in September 2015.[33]
Research, products[edit]
Further information: List of GlaxoSmithKline products
Pharmaceuticals[edit]
GSK manufactures products for major disease areas such as asthma, cancer,
infections, diabetes and mental health. Its biggest-selling in 2013 were
Advair, Avodart, Flovent,Augmentin, Lovaza, and Lamictal; its drugs and
vaccines earned ￡21.3 billion that year. Other top-selling products include
its asthma/COPD inhalers Advair, Ventolin, and Flovent; its diphtheria/
tetanus/pertussis vaccine Infanrix and its hepatitis B vaccine; the epilepsy
drug Lamictal, and the antibacterial Augmentin.[6]:220
Medicines historically discovered or developed at GSK and its legacy
companies and now sold as generics include amoxicillin[34] and amoxicillin-
clavulanate,[35] ticarcillin-clavulanate,[36] mupirocin,[37] and ceftazidime
[38] for bacterial infections, zidovudine for HIV infection, valacyclovir
for herpes virus infections, albendazole for parasitic infections,
sumatriptan for migraine, lamotrigine for epilepsy, bupropion and paroxetine
for major depressive disorder, cimetidine and ranitidine for
gastroesophageal reflux disorder,mercaptopurine[39] and thioguanine[40] for
the treatment of leukemia, allopurinol for gout,[41] pyrimethamine for
malaria,[42] and the antibacterial trimethoprim.[40]
Among these, albendazole, amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, allopurinol,
mercaptopurine, mupriocin, pyrimethamine, ranitidine, thioguanine,
trimethoprim and zidovudine are listed on the World Health Organization's
list of essential medications.[43]
Malaria vaccine[edit]
In 2014 GSK applied for regulatory approval for the first malaria vaccine.[
44] Malaria is responsible for over 650,000 deaths annually, mainly in
Africa.[45] Known as RTS,S, the vaccine was developed as a joint project
with the PATH vaccines initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The company has committed to making the vaccine available in developing
countries for five percent above the cost of production.[8]
As of 2013 RTS,S, which uses GSK's proprietary AS01 adjuvant, was being
examined in a Phase 3 trial in eight African countries. PATH reported that "
[i]n the 12-month period following vaccination, RTS,S conferred
approximately 50% protection from clinical Plasmodium falciparum disease in
children aged 5-17 months, and approximately 30% protection in children aged
6-12 weeks when administered in conjunction with Expanded Program for
Immunization (EPI) vaccines."[46] In 2014 Glaxo said it had spent more than
$350 million and expected to spend an additional $260 million before seeking
regulatory approval.[47][48] A second generation malaria vaccine is being
evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials.[49]
Consumer healthcare[edit]
GSK's consumer healthcare division, which earned ￡5.2 billion in 2013,
sells oral healthcare, including Aquafresh, Maclean's and Sensodyne
toothpastes; and drinks such asHorlicks, Boost, a chocolate-flavoured malt
drink sold in India, and formerly Lucozade and Ribena, sold in 2013 to
Suntory for ￡1.35bn.[50] Other products include Abreva to treat cold sores;
Night Nurse, a cold remedy; Breathe Right nasal strips; and Nicoderm and
Nicorette nicotine replacements.[51] In March 2014 it recalled Alli, an over
-the-counter weight-loss drug, in the United States and Puerto Rico because
of possible tampering, following customer complaints.[52]
Facilities[edit]
As of 2013 GSK had offices in over 115 countries and employed over 99,000
people, 12,500 in R&D. The company's single largest market is the United
States. Its US headquarters are in The Navy Yard, Philadelphia, and Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina; its consumer-products division is in Moon
Township, Pennsylvania.[6]:7[53]Company facilities include:
R&D sites: England (Stevenage, Stockley Park, Ware), the US (Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Collegeville, Pennsylvania), Canada,
China, Croatia, France and India. GSK is also planning to open a R&D centre
in partnership with McLaren Technology Group at the McLaren Technology
Campus.
Centres for biopharmaceutical products: the US (Marietta, Pennsylvania, and
Hamilton, Montana), Belgium, Canada, Germany and Hungary.
Manufacturing sites for prescription products: (Scotland (Irvine and
Montrose), England (Ware, Barnard Castle, Worthing and Ulverston), Ireland (
Cork), the US (Bristol, Tennessee; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Zebulon,
North Carolina), as well as Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, Malaysia,
Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania and Singapore.
Manufacturing sites for consumer products: England (Maidenhead), Ireland (
Dungarvan), the US (Aiken, South Carolina; Oak Hill, New York; St. Louis,
Missouri), Brazil, Canada and Kenya.
Scientific recognition[edit]
Four GlaxoSmithKline scientists have been recognized by the Nobel Committee
for their contributions to basic medical science and/or therapeutics
development.
Henry Dale, a former student of Paul Ehrlich, received the 1936 Nobel Prize
in Medicine for his work on the chemical transmission of neural impulses.
Dale served as a pharmacologist and then as Director of the Wellcome
Physiological Research Laboratories from 1904 to 1914, and later served as
Trustee and Chairman of the Board of theWellcome Trust.[54]
John Vane of Wellcome Research Laboratories shared the 1982 Nobel Prize for
Medicine for his work on prostaglandin biology and the discovery of
prostacyclin. Vane served as Group Research and Development Director for The
Wellcome Foundation from 1973 to 1985.[55]
Gertrude B. Elion and George Hitchings, both of the Wellcome Research
Laboratories, shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Sir James W.
Black ""for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment"."
Elliot and Hitchings were responsible for the discovery of a plethora of
important drugs, including mercaptopurine[39]and thioguanine[40] for the
treatment of leukemia, the immunosuppressant azothioprine,[56] allopurinol
for gout,[41] pyrimethamine for malaria,[42] the antibacterial trimethoprim,
[40] acyclovir for herpes virus infection,[57] and nelarabine for cancer
treatment.[58]
Operations and acquisitions since 2001[edit]
2001–2010[edit]
Andrew Witty, GSK's CEO since May 2008
GSK completed the acquisition of New Jersey-based Block Drug in 2001 for US$
1.24 billion.[59] In 2006 GSK acquired the US-based consumer healthcare
company CNS Inc., whose products included Breathe Right nasal strips and
FiberChoice dietary supplements, for US$566 million in cash.[60] GSK opened
its first R&D centre in China in 2007, in Shanghai, initially focused on
neurodegenerative diseases.[61]
In 2009 GSK acquired Stiefel Laboratories, then the world's largest
independent dermatology drug company, for US$3.6bn.[62] In November the FDA
approved GSK's vaccine for 2009 H1N1 influenza protection, manufactured by
the company's ID Biomedical Corp in Canada.[63] Also in November 2009 GSK
formed a joint venture with Pfizer to create ViiV Healthcare, which
specializes in HIV research.[64] In 2010 the company acquired Laboratorios
Phoenix, an Argentine pharmaceutical company, for US$253m,[65] and the UK-
based sports nutrition company Maxinutrition for ￡162 million (US$256
million).[66]
2011–present[edit]
In 2011, in a $660-million deal, Prestige Brands Holdings took over 17 GSK
brands with sales of $210 million, including BC Powder, Beano, Ecotrin,
Fiber Choice, Goody's Powder, Sominex and Tagamet.[67] In 2012 the company
announced that it would invest ￡500 million in manufacturing facilities in
Ulverston, northern England, designating it as the site for a previously
announced biotech plant.[68] In May that year it acquired CellZome, a German
biotech company, for US$98 million,[69] and in June worldwide rights
toalitretinoin (Toctino), an eczema drug, for $302 million.[70] In 2013 GSK
acquired Human Genome Sciences (HGS) for $3 billion; the companies had
collaborated on developing the lupus drug Belimumab (Benlysta), albiglutide
for type 2 diabetes, and darapladib for atherosclerosis.[71]
In March 2014 GSK paid $1 billion to raise its stake in its Indian
pharmaceutical unit, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, to 75 percent as part
of a move to focus on emerging markets.[72] In April 2014 Novartis and Glaxo
agreed on more than $20 billion in deals, with Novartis selling its vaccine
business to GSK and buying GSK's cancer business.[73][74]In February 2015
GSK announced that it would acquire GlycoVaxyn, a Swiss pharmaceutical
company, for $190 million,[75] and in June that year that it would sell two
meningitisdrugs to Pfizer, Nimenrix and Mencevax for around $130 million.[76]
Philanthropy and social responsibility[edit]
GlaxoSmithKline, Center City, Philadelphia
Since 2010 GlaxoSmithKline has several times ranked first among
pharmaceutical companies on the Global Access to Medicines Index, which is
funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[77] In 2014 the Human
Rights Campaign, anLGBT-rights advocacy group gave GSK a score of 100
percent in its Corporate Equality Index.[78]
GSK has been active, with the World Health Organization (WHO), in the Global
Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF). Around 120 million
people globally are believed to be infected with lymphatic filariasis.[79]
In 2012 the company endorsed the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical
Diseases; it agreed to donate 400 million albendazole tablets to the WHO
each year to fight soil-transmitted helminthiasis and to provide 600 million
albendazole tablets every year for lymphatic filariasis until the disease
is eradicated.[80] As of 2014 over 5 billion treatments had been delivered,
and 18 of 73 countries in which the disease is considered endemic had
progressed to the surveillance stage.[81]
In 2009 the company said it would cut drug prices by 25 percent in 50 of the
poorest nations, release intellectual property rights for substances and
processes relevant to neglected disease into a patent pool to encourage new
drug development, and invest 20 percent of profits from the least-developed
countries in medical infrastructure for those countries.[82][83]Médecins
Sans Frontières welcomed the decision, but criticized GSK for failing to
include HIV patents in its patent pool and for not including middle-income
countries in the initiative.[84]
In 2013 GSK licensed its HIV portfolio to the Medicines Patent Pool for use
in children, and agreed to negotiate a license for dolutegravir, an
integrase inhibitor then in clinical development.[85] In 2014 this license
was extended to include dolutegravir and adults with HIV. The licenses
include countries in which 93 percent of adults and 99 percent of children
with HIV live.[86] Also in 2013 GSK joined AllTrials, a British campaign to
ensure that all clinical trials are registered and the results reported. The
company said it would make its past clinical-trial reports available and
future ones within a year of the studies' end.[87]
2012 criminal and civil settlement[edit]
Overview[edit]
In July 2012 GSK pleaded guilty in the United States to criminal charges,
and agreed to pay $3 billion, in what was the largest settlement until then
between the Justice Department and a drug company. The $3 billion included a
criminal fine of $956,814,400 and forfeiture of $43,185,600. The remaining
$2 billion covered a civil settlement with the government under the False
Claims Act. The investigation was launched largely on the basis of
information from four whistleblowers who filed qui tam (whistleblower)
lawsuits against the company under the False Claims Act.[9]
The charges stemmed from GSK's promotion of the anti-depressants Paxil (
paroxetine) and Wellbutrin (bupropion) for unapproved uses from 1998–2003,
specifically as suitable for patients under the age of 18, and from its
failure to report safety data about Avandia (rosiglitazone), both in
violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Other drugs promoted
for unapproved uses were two inhalers, Advair (fluticasone/salmeterol) and
Flovent (fluticasone propionate), as well as Zofran (ondansetron), Imitrex (
sumatriptan), Lotronex (alosetron) and Valtrex (valaciclovir).[9]
The settlement also covered reporting false best prices and underpaying
rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, and kickbacks to
physicians to prescribe GSK's drugs. There were all-expenses-paid spa
treatments and hunting trips for doctors and their spouses, speakers' fees
at conferences, and payment for articles ghostwrittenby the company and
placed by physicians in medical journals.[9] The company set up a
ghostwriting programme called CASPPER, initially to produce articles about
Paxil but which was extended to cover Avandia.[88]
As part of the settlement GSK signed a five-year Corporate Integrity
Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, which obliged
the company to make major changes in the way it did business, including
changing its compensation programmes for its sales force and executives, and
to implement and maintain transparency in its research practices and
publication policies.[9] It announced in 2013 that it would no longer pay
doctors to promote its drugs or attend medical conferences, and that its
sales staff would no longer have prescription targets.[89]
Rosiglitazone (Avandia)[edit]
Further information: Rosiglitazone § Adverse effects, and Rosiglitazone §
Lawsuits
Rosiglitazone
The 2012 settlement included a criminal fine of $242,612,800 for failing to
report safety data to the FDA about Avandia (rosiglitazone), adiabetes drug
approved in 1999, and a civil settlement of $657 million for making false
claims about it. The Justice Department said GSK had promoted rosiglitazone
to physicians with misleading information, including that it conferred
cardiovascular benefits despite an FDA-mandated label warning of
cardiovascular risks.[9]
In 1999 John Buse, a diabetes specialist, told medical conferences that
rosiglitazone might carry an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. GSK
threatened to sue him, called his university head of department, and
persuaded him to sign a retraction.[90] GSK raised questions internally
about the drug's safety in 2000, and in 2002 the company ghostwrote an
article in Circulation describing a GSK-funded clinical trial that suggested
rosiglitazone might have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular risk.[91]
From 2001 reports began to link the thiazolidinediones (the class of drugs
to which rosiglitazone belongs) to heart failure.[92] In April that year GSK
began a six-year,open-label, randomized trial, known as RECORD, to examine
rosiglitazone and cardiovascular events.[93] Two GSK meta-analyses in 2005
and 2006 showed an increased risk of cardiovascular problems with
rosiglitazone; the information was passed to the FDA and posted on the
company website, but not otherwise published. By December 2006 rosiglitazone
had become the top-selling diabetes drug, with annual sales of US$3.3
billion.[92]
In June 2007 the New England Journal of Medicine published a meta-analysis
that associated the drug with an increased risk of heart attack.[94] GSK had
reportedly tried to persuade one of the authors, Steven Nissen, not to
publish it, after receiving an advance copy from one of the journal's peer
reviewers, a GSK consultant.[95] In July 2007 FDA scientists suggested that
rosiglitazone had caused 83,000 excess heart attacks between 1999 and 2007.[
96]:4[97] The FDA placed restrictions on the drug, including adding aboxed
warning, but did not withdraw it.[98] (In 2013 the FDA rejected that the
drug had caused excess heart attacks.)[99] A Senate Finance Committee
inquiry concluded in 2010 that GSK had sought to intimidate scientists who
had concerns about rosiglitazone.[96] In February that year the company
tried to halt publication of an editorial about the controversy by Nissen in
the European Heart Journal.[100]
The results of GSK's RECORD trial were published in June 2009. It confirmed
an association between rosiglitazone and an increased risk of heart failure
and fractures, but not of heart attack, and concluded that it "does not
increase the risk of overall cardiovascular morbidity or mortality compared
with standard glucose-lowering drugs."[93] Steven Nissan and Kathy Wolkski
argued that the study's low event rates reduced its statistical power.[101]
In September 2009 rosiglitazone was suspended in Europe.[102] The results of
the RECORD study were confirmed in 2013 by the Duke Clinical Research
Institute, in an independent review required by the FDA.[103] In November
that year the FDA lifted the restrictions it had placed on the drug.[104]
The boxed warning about heart attack was removed; the warning about heart
failure remained in place.[99]
Paroxetine (Paxil/Seroxat)[edit]
Main article: Study 329
Paroxetine, known as Paxil and Seroxat
GSK was fined for promoting Paxil/Seroxat (paroxetine) for treating
depression in the under-18s, although the drug had not been approved for
pediatric use.[9] Paxil had $4.97 billion worldwide sales in 2003.[105] The
company conducted nine clinical trials between 1994 and 2002, none of which
showed that Paxil helped children with depression.[106] From 1998 to 2003 it
promoted the drug for the under-18s, paying physicians to go on all-
expenses paid trips, five-star hotels and spas.[9] From 2004 Paxil's label,
along with those of similar drugs, included an FDA-mandated boxed warning
that it might increase the risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour in
patients under 18.[9]
An internal SmithKline Beecham document said in 1998, about withheld data
from two GSK studies: "It would be commercially unacceptable to include a
statement that [pediatric] efficacy had not been demonstrated, as this would
undermine the profile of paroxetine."[105][107] The company ghostwrote an
article, published in 2001 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, that misreported the results of one of its
clinical trials, Study 329.[9][108] The article concluded that Paxil was "
generally well tolerated and effective for major depression in adolescents."
[109] The suppression of the research findings is the subject ofSide Effects
(2008) by Alison Bass.[110]
For 10 years GSK marketed Paxil as non-habit forming. In 2001 35 patients
filed a class-action suit alleging they had suffered withdrawal symptoms,
and in 2002, a Los Angeles court issued an injunction preventing GSK from
advertising that the drug was not habit forming.[111] The court withdrew the
injunction after the FDA objected that the court had no jurisdiction over
drug marketing that the FDA had approved.[112] In 2003, a World Health
Organization committee reported that Paxil was among the top 30 drugs, and
top three antidepressants, for which dependence had been reported.[113][n 2]
Bupropion (Wellbutrin)[edit]
The company was also fined for promoting Wellbutrin (bupropion) – approved
at the time for major depressive disorder and also sold as a smoking-
cessation aid, Zyban – for weight loss and the treatment of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, sexual dysfunction and substance addiction.
GSK paid doctors to promote these off-label uses, and set up supposedly
independent advisory boards and Continuing Medical Education programmes.[9]
Other controversies[edit]
Antitrust case over griseofulvin[edit]
In the 1960s Glaxo Group Ltd. (Glaxo) and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)
each owned patents covering various aspects of the antifungal drug
griseofulvin.[114]:54, nn. 1–2[115]They created a patent pool by cross-
licensing their patents, subject to express licensing restrictions that the
chemical from which the "finished" form of the drug (tablets and capsules)
was made must not be resold in bulk form, and they licensed other drug
companies to sell the drug in finished form and subject to similar
restrictions.[114]:54–55[115] The effect and intent of the bulk-sale
restriction was to keep the drug chemical out of the hands of small
companies that might act as price-cutters, and the effect was to maintain
stable, uniform prices.[116][117][118]
The United States brought an antitrust suit against the two companies—
United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd.—charging them with violation of the
Sherman Act and also seeking to have the patents declared invalid.[114]:55[
115] The trial court found that the defendants had engaged in several
unlawful conspiracies, but dismissed the part of the suit seeking
invalidation of patents and refused to grant as relief mandatory sales of
the bulk drug chemical and compulsory licensing of the patents.[114]:56[115]
The government appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed, in United
States v. Glaxo Group Ltd., 410 U.S. 52 (1973).[115]
Ribena[edit]
Old Ribena bottle, year unknown, made by Beecham Products, Brentford,
Middlesex; the label states: "widely used in hospitals and clinics."
There were concerns in the 2000s about the sugar and vitamin content of
Ribena, a blackcurrant-based syrup and soft drink owned by GSK until 2013.
Produced in England by H.W. Carter & Co from the 1930s, the company's
unbranded syrup was distributed to children as a source of vitamin C during
World War II, which gave the drink a reputation as good for health. Beecham
bought H. W. Carter in 1955.[119]
In 2001 the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) required GSK to
withdraw its claim that Ribena Toothkind, a lower-sugar variety, did not
encourage tooth decay. A company poster showed bottles of Toothkind in place
of the bristles on a toothbrush. The ASA's ruling was upheld by the High
Court.[120] In 2007 GSK was fined $217,000 in New Zealand over its claim
that ready-to-drink Ribena contained high levels of vitamin C, after it was
found to contain no detectable vitamin C.[121] In 2013 GSK sold Ribena and
another drink, Lucozade, to the Japanese multinational Suntory for ￡1.35
billion.[50]
SB Pharmco Puerto Rico[edit]
In 2010 the US Department of Justice announced that GSK would pay a $150
million criminal fine and forfeiture, and a civil settlement of $600 million
under the False Claims Act. The fines stemmed from production of improperly
made and adulterated drugs from 2001 to 2005 at GSK's subsidiary, SB
Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., in Cidra, Puerto Rico, which at the time produced
$5.5 billion of products each year. The drugs involved were Kytril, an
antiemetic; Bactroban, used to treat skin infections; Paxil, the anti-
depressant; and Avandamet, a diabetes drug.[122] GSK closed the factory in
2009.[123]
According to the New York Times, the case began in 2002 when GSK sent
experts to fix problems cited by the FDA. The lead inspector recommended
recalls of defective products, but they were not authorized; she was fired
in 2003 and filed a whistleblower lawsuit. In 2005 federal marshals seized $
2 billion worth of products, the largest such seizure in history. In the
2010 settlement SB Pharmco pleaded guilty to criminal charges, and agreed to
pay $150 million in a criminal fine and forfeiture, at that time the
largest such payment ever by a manufacturer of adulterated drugs, and $600
million in civil penalties to settle the civil lawsuit.[123]
China[edit]
In 2013 Chinese authorities announced that, since 2007, GSK had funnelled HK
$3.8 billion in kickbacks to GSK managers, doctors, hospitals and others who
prescribed their drugs, using over 700 travel agencies and consulting firms
.[124] Chinese authorities arrested four GSK executives as part of a four-
month investigation into claims that doctors were bribed with cash and
sexual favours.[125] In 2014 a Chinese court found the company guilty of
bribery and imposed a fine of $490 million. Mark Reilly, the British head of
GSK's Chinese operations, received a three-year suspended prison sentence
after a one-day trial held in secret.[126] Reilly was reportedly deported
from China and dismissed by the company.[127]
Market manipulation in the UK[edit]
In February 2016 the company was fined more than ￡37 million by the
Competition and Markets Authority for paying Generics UK, Alpharma and
Norton Healthcare more than ￡50m between 2001 and 2004, in order to keep
generic varieties of Paroxetine out of the NHS market. The generics
companies were fined a further ￡8 million. At the end of 2003 when generics
were available in the UK the price of Paroxetine dropped 70%.[128]
Miscellaneous[edit]
Italian police sought bribery charges in May 2004 against 4,400 doctors and
273 GSK employees. GSK and its predecessor were accused of having spent ￡
152m on physicians, pharmacists and others, giving them cameras, computers,
holidays and cash. Doctors were alleged to have received cash based on the
number of patients they treated with a cancer drug, topotecan (Hycamtin).[
129] The following month prosecutors in Munich accused 70–100 doctors of
having accepted bribes from SmithKline Beecham between 1997 and 1999. The
inquiry was opened over allegations that the company had given over 4,000
hospital doctors money and free trips.[130] All charges were dismissed by
the Verona court in January 2009.[131]
In 2006 in the United States GSK settled the largest tax dispute in IRS
history, agreeing to pay $3.1 billion. At issue were Zantac and other
products sold in 1989–2005. The case revolved around intracompany transfer
pricing—determining the share of profit attributable to the US subsidiaries
of GSK and subject to tax by the IRS.[132]
The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a criminal inquiry in 2014 into
GSK's sales practices, using powers granted by the Bribery Act 2010.[133]
The SFO said it was collaborating with Chinese authorities to investigate
bringing charges in the UK related to GSK's activities in China, Europe and
the Middle East.[134] Also as of 2014 the US Department of Justice was
investigating GSK with reference to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.[135]
Diagram of acquisition history[edit]
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and
acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):
GlaxoSmithKline
SmithKline Beecham plc
(renamed 1989)
SmithKline Beckman
(renamed 1982)
SmithKline-RIT
(renamed 1968)
Smith, Kline & French
(reorganized 1929 into
Smith Kline and French Laboratories)
French, Richards and Company
(Acq 1891)
Smith, Kline and Company
(Founded 1830)
Lever Brothers
(Angio-seal div. Acq 1900
Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques
(Acq 1968)
Beckman Instruments, Inc.
(Merged 1982, Sold 1989)
Specialized Instruments Corp.
(Acq 1954)
Offner Electronics
(Acq 1961)
Allergan
(Acq 1982, Sold 1989)
International Clinical Laboratories
(Acq 1989)
Reckitt & Colman
(Acq 1999)
Stiefel Laboratories
(Acq 2000 by SmithKline Beckman)
Sanofi-Synthelabo
(Acq 2001)
Beecham Group Plc
(merged 1989)
Norcliff Thayer
(Acq 1986)
Beecham Group Ltd
S. E. Massengill Company
(Acq 1971)
Beecham Group Ltd
(Renamed 1945)
C.L. Bencard
(Acq 1953)
County Chemicals
(Acq 1929)
Glaxo Wellcome
(Renamed 1995)
Glaxo
(Merged 1995)
Glaxo
(Founded 1850)
Joseph Nathan
(Acq 1947)
Allen & Hanburys
(Founded 1715, Acq 1958)
Margarine Unie
(Angio-seal div, Acq 1924)
Meyer Laboratories
(Acq 1978)
Affymax
(Acq 1995)
Burroughs Wellcome
(Merged 1995)
McDougall & Robertson Inc
(Acq 1959)
Burroughs Wellcome & Company
(Founded 1880)
Block Drug
(Acq 2001)
CNS Inc.
(Acq 2006)
Stiefel Laboratories
(Acq 2009)
Laboratorios Phoenix
(Acq 2010)
Maxinutrition
(Acq 2010)
CellZome
(Acq 2011)
Human Genome Sciences
(Acq 2013)
Novartis
(Vaccine div; Acq 2014)
GSK Cancer division
(Sold 2014 to Novartis)
GlycoVaxyn
(Acq 2015)
See also[edit]
Companies portal
List of toothpaste brands
Index of oral health and dental articles
Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques (R.I.T.)
Galvani Bioelectronics
Notes[edit]
Jump up^ Glaxo Wellcome was formed from Glaxo's 1995 acquisition of
Burroughs Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham from the 1989 merger of the
Beecham Group and the SmithKline Beckman Corporation.
Jump up^ World Health Organization Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, 2003
withdrawal syndrome' ... The representative of Consumers International
reported that a number of patients had experienced difficulty in withdrawing
from SSRIs in general. It was agreed that withdrawal was indeed a problem
in some patients, but there was a difference of opinion on the degree of
dependence that was involved, given the possibility that the need for
treatment of resistant or relapsing disease could make these drugs
indispensable for patient care. The Committee expressed concern about the
possibility of inappropriate prescribing resulting in the risk of problems
of withdrawal outweighing the benefits of treatment with SSRIs."[113]
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
McDonald's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Macdonald (disambiguation).
For technical reasons, "McDonald's #1 Store Museum" redirects here. For the
museum, see McDonald's No. 1 Store Museum.
McDonald's
Type Public
Traded as
NYSE: MCD
DJIA Component
S&P 100 Component
S&P 500 Component
Industry Restaurants
Genre Fast food restaurant
Founded McDonald's: May 15, 1940; 76 years ago
San Bernardino, California
McDonald's Corporation: April 15, 1955; 61 years ago
Des Plaines, Illinois
Founders McDonald's: Richard and Maurice McDonald
McDonald's Corporation: Ray Kroc
Headquarters Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S.(moving to Chicago in 2018)[1]
Number of locations 36,615[2] (September 30, 2016)
Area served Worldwide
Key people
Andrew J. McKenna(Chairman)
Steve Easterbrook (Presidentand CEO)
Products
Hamburgers
chicken
french fries
soft drinks
milkshakes
salads
desserts
coffee
breakfast
Revenue
US$ 25.413 billion (2015)[3]
Operating income
US$ 7.146 billion (2015)[3]
Net income
US$ 4.529 billion (2015)[3]
Total assets
US$ 37.939 billion (2015)[3]
Total equity
US$ 7.088 billion (2015)[3]
Number of employees 420,000 (2015)[3]
Website
corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd.html
www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html
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McDonald's, or sometimes simply McD, is an American hamburger and fast food
restaurant chain. It was founded in 1940 as abarbecue restaurant operated by
Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1948, they reorganized their business as a
hamburger stand, using production line principles. The first McDonald's
franchise opened in Phoenix in 1953 using the arches logo. Businessman Ray
Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955 and subsequently
purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers. Based inOak Brook, Illinois,
McDonald's confirmed plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago by
early 2018.[4][5]
Today, McDonald's is one of the world's largest restaurant chains, serving
approximately 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across
approximately 36,615 outlets.[6] McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers,
cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries,wraps, breakfast items, soft
drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes,
the company has expanded its menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies
and fruit. A McDonald's restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an
affiliate, or the corporation itself. The McDonald's Corporation revenues
come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as
sales in company-operated restaurants. According to a BBC report published
in 2012, McDonald's is the world's second largest private employer (behind
Walmart with 1.9 million employees), 1.5 million of whom work for franchises.
Contents
[hide]
1History
2Corporate overview
2.1Facts and figures
2.2Business model
2.3Headquarters
2.4Board of directors
2.5Global operations
3Products
3.1International menu variations
4Restaurants
4.1Types of restaurants
4.1.1McDrive
4.1.2McCafé
4.1.3Create Your Taste restaurants
4.1.4Other
4.1.5Special diet
4.1.6Playgrounds
4.1.7McDonald's Next
4.22006 redesign
4.3Smoking ban
5Treatment of employees
5.1Automation
5.2Wages
5.2.1Strikes
5.3Working conditions
6Animal welfare standards
7Marketing and advertising
7.1Space exploration
7.2Children's advertising
7.3Sports awards and honors
8Charity
8.1McHappy Day
8.2McDonald's Monopoly donation
8.3McRefugee
9Criticism
9.1Company responses to criticism
9.2Environmental record
9.3Legal cases
9.3.1Asia
9.3.2Australia
9.3.3United Kingdom
9.3.4United States
9.4Use of genetically modified food
10See also
11References
12Further reading
13External links
History
Main article: History of McDonald's
McDonald's corporate logo used from November 18, 1968 to 2006. It still
exists at some restaurants
The oldest operating McDonald'srestaurant was the third one built, opening
in 1953. It is located at 10207 Lakewood Blvd. at Florence Ave. inDowney,
California (at33.9471°N 118.1182°W).
The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by brothers Richard and
Maurice McDonald at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San
Bernardino, California (at 34.1255°N 117.2946°W). Their introduction of
the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 furthered the principles of the modern
fast-food restaurant that the White Castle hamburger chain had already put
into practice more than two decades earlier. The first McDonald's with the
arches opened in Phoenix, Arizona in March 1953. The original mascot of
McDonald's was a man with a chef's hat on top of a hamburger-shaped head
whose name was "Speedee". By 1967, Speedee was eventually replaced with
Ronald McDonald when the company first filed a U.S. trademark on a clown-
like man having puffed-out costume legs.
On May 4, 1961, McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "
McDonald's" with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services", which
continues to be renewed through the end of December 2009. On September 13
that same year, the company filed a logo trademark on an overlapping, double
-arched "M" symbol. By September 6, 1962, this M-symbol was temporarily
disfavored, when a trademark was filed for a single arch, shaped over many
of the early McDonald's restaurants in the early years. Although the "Golden
Arches" logo appeared in various forms, the present version as a letter "M"
did not appear until November 18, 1968, when the company applied for a U.S.
trademark.
The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised
restaurant by businessman Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15,
1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall; this location was demolished
in 1984 after many remodels. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers'
equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion, and the company
became listed on the public stock markets ten years later. Kroc was also
noted for aggressive business practices, compelling the McDonald brothers to
leave the fast-food industry. Kroc and the McDonald brothers all feuded
over control of the business, as documented in both Kroc's autobiography and
in the McDonald brothers' autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was
demolished in 1976 (1971, according to Juan Pollo) and the site was sold to
the Juan Pollo restaurant chain. This area now serves as headquarters for
the Juan Pollo chain, as well as a McDonald's and Route 66 museum.[7] With
the expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has
become a symbol ofglobalization and the spread of the American way of life.
Its prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates about
obesity,corporate ethics and consumer responsibility.
Corporate overview
Facts and figures
By 1993, McDonald's had sold more than 100 billion hamburgers. The once
widespread restaurant signs that boasted the number of sales, such as this
one in Harlem, were left at "99 billion" because there was space for only
two digits.
The McDonald's in Northport, Alabama commemorates U.S. President Ronald
Reagan's visit
McDonald's restaurants are found in 118 countries and territories around the
world and serve 68 million customers each day.[8][9]McDonald's operates 36,
615 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 420,000 people.[6][8] There
are currently a total of 6,056 company-owned locations and 30,559 franchised
locations, which includes 21,456 locations franchised to conventional
franchisees, 5,742 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 3,361
locations licensed to foreign affiliates.[6]
Focusing on its core brand, McDonald's began divesting itself of other
chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake
in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald's fully divested
from Chipotle through a stock exchange.[10][11]Until December 2003, it also
owned Donatos Pizza, and it owned a small share of Aroma Cafe from 1999 to
2001. On August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital
Partners.[12]
Notably, McDonald's has increased shareholder dividends for 25 consecutive
years,[13] making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats.[14][15] In
October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time in nine years.[16]
In 2014, its quarterly sales fell for the first time in seventeen years,
when its sales dropped for the entirety of 1997.[17]
McDonald's plans to close 184 restaurants in the United States in 2015,
which is 59 more than it plans to open.[18][19] This is the first time
McDonald's will have a net decrease in the number of locations in the United
States since 1970.[19]
Business model
McDonald's Corporation earns revenue as an investor in properties, a
franchiser of restaurants, and an operator of restaurants. Approximately 15
percent of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by McDonald's
Corporation directly. The remainder are operated by others through a variety
of franchise agreements and joint ventures.[citation needed]
The McDonald's Corporation's business model is slightly different from that
of most other fast-food chains. In addition to ordinaryfranchise fees and
marketing fees, which are calculated as a percentage of sales, McDonald's
may also collect rent, which may also be calculated on the basis of sales.
As a condition of many franchise agreements, which vary by contract, age,
country, and location, the Corporation may own or lease the properties on
which McDonald's franchises are located. In most, if not all cases, the
franchisee does not own the location of its restaurants.[citation needed]
The company currently owns all of its property – valued at an estimated $16
to $18 billion. However, in recent times, there have been calls to spin off
the company's US holdings into a potential real estate investment trust.
The company earns a significant portion of its revenue from rental payments
from franchisees. These rent payments have risen 26 percent over the past
five years, and currently account for one fifth of the company's total
revenue.[20] The company announced at its investor conference on November 10
, 2015 that it would not spin off its property into a real-estate investment
trust. The CEO, Steve Easterbrook discussed that pursuing the REIT option
would pose too large a risk to the company's business model.[21]
The McDonald's logo painted on the tail of a Crossair McDonnell Douglas MD-
83 in 1999.
The United Kingdom and Ireland business model is different from the U.S, in
that fewer than 30 percent of restaurants are franchised, with the majority
under the ownership of the company. McDonald's trains its franchisees and
management at Hamburger University inOak Brook, Illinois.[22][23]
In other countries, McDonald's restaurants are operated by joint ventures of
McDonald's Corporation and other, local entities or governments.[citation
needed]
As a matter of policy, McDonald's does not make direct sales of food or
materials to franchisees, instead organizing the supply of food and
materials to restaurants through approved third party logistics operators.[
citation needed]
According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight
workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald's. Employees
are encouraged by McDonald's Corp. to maintain their health by singing
along to their favorite songs in order to relieve stress, attending church
services in order to have a lower blood pressure, and taking two vacations
annually in order to reduce risk for myocardial infarction.[24]
Fast Food Nation also states that McDonald's is the largest private operator
of playgrounds in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef
, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats McDonald's uses varies
to some extent based on the culture of the host country.[25]
Headquarters
McDonald's Plaza, located in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the headquarters of
McDonald's
The McDonald's headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza, is located in Oak
Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling
area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook.[26] McDonald's moved into
the Oak Brook facility from an office within theChicago Loop in 1971.[27]
On June 13, 2016, McDonald's confirmed plans to move its global headquarters
to Chicago's West Loop neighborhood in the Near West Side. The 608,000-
square-foot structure will be built on the site of Oprah Winfrey's former
Harpo Studios and open in early 2018.[4][5]
Board of directors
As of November 2014, the Board of Directors had the following members:[28]
Andrew J. McKenna, Chairman
Susan E. Arnold, Operating Executive, Global Consumer & Retail Group of The
Carlyle Group
Robert A. Eckert, Operating Partner of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe
Enrique Hernandez, Jr., President and CEO of Inter-Con Security
Jeanne P. Jackson, President, Product and Merchandising for Nike, Inc.
Richard H. Lenny, Operating Partner of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe
Walter E. Massey, President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Cary D. McMillan, CEO of True Partners Consulting LLC
Sheila A. Penrose, Non-executive Chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle
John W. Rogers, Jr, Chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments
Roger W. Stone, Chairman and CEO of KapStone Paper and Packaging
Don Thompson, President and CEO
Miles D. White, Chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories
On March 1, 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald's and its
former head in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Easterbrook became CEO,
succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on January 28, 2015.
Global operations
See also: List of countries with McDonald's restaurants and International
availability of McDonald's products
Countries with McDonald's restaurants, showing their first year with its
first restaurant
McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as
the "McDonaldization" of society. The Economist newspaper uses the "Big Mac
Index": the comparison of a Big Mac's cost in various world currencies can
be used to informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity.
Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015,
while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India[29][30] (albeit
for a Maharaja Mac—the next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).[31]
Thomas Friedman once said that no country with a McDonald's had gone to war
with another.[32][full citation needed] However, the "Golden Arches Theory
of Conflict Prevention" is not strictly true. Exceptions are the 1989 United
States invasion of Panama, NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006
Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald's suspended operations
in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in
2014.[33] On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and
Russia strained over events in Ukraine, and the resultant U.S. sanctions,
the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald's outlets in
Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since
1990 and at August 2014 had 438 stores across the country.[34] On August 23,
2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any
government move to ban McDonald's and dismissed the notion that the
temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.[35]
McDonald's, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai, India
Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for
increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of
anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East[36] looked at the
impact McDonald's had on East Asia, and Hong Kong in particular. When it
opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the first restaurant to
consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of
other restaurants and institutions. McDonald's has taken to partnering up
with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People's Republic of
China, as it takes advantage of the country's growing use of personal
vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.[37] McDonald's has
opened a McDonald's restaurant and McCafé on the underground premises of
the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.[38]
The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid
-2013.[39] Foreign restaurants are banned in Bermuda, with the exception of
KFC, which was present before the current law was passed. Therefore, there
are no McDonald's in Bermuda.[40]
Products
Main article: List of McDonald's products
A typical "eat-in" McDonald's meal as sold in Hong Kong, consisting ofFrench
fries, a soft drink, and a "main product" - in this case, a McSpicy Chicken
Fillet. Condiments are supplied in small packets; such a packet of tomato
ketchup is seen in the foreground.
McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken
sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, anddesserts.
In most markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and
other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald's offers the McRib
sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal.[41]
Products are offered as either "eat-in" (where the customer opts to eat in
the restaurant) or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food for
consumption off the premises). "Eat-in" meals are provided on a plastic tray
with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are usually
delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald's-branded
brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as
appropriate.
International menu variations
See also: McDonald's products (international)
A McDonald's Ebi Feast meal sold at branches in Singapore, November 2013.
McDonald's is known for tailoring its menus in different markets to cater to
local tastes
Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This
local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the
chain is particularly known, and one which is employed either to abide by
regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption
in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more
familiar (such as the sale of McRice inIndonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in
Singapore and Japan).
In Germany and other Western European countries, McDonald's sells beer. In
New Zealand, McDonald's sells meat pies, after the local affiliate partially
relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996.
In the United States, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald's
plans to offer an all-day breakfast menu whenever its restaurants are open,
although eggs cannot be cooked at the same time on the same equipment as
hamburgers due to different temperature requirements.[citation needed]
Restaurants
The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with the
United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may
improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new
article, as appropriate. (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this
template message)
Types of restaurants
Counter service in a McDonald's restaurant in Dukhan, Qatar
Most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-
through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating.[42] Drive-Thru,
Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or "McDrive" as it is known in many countries,
often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders,
though the latter two steps are frequently combined;[42] it was first
introduced in Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains.
The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in
1986.[43]
McDrive
In some countries, "McDrive" locations near highways offer no counter
service or seating.[44] In contrast, locations in high-density city
neighborhoods often omit drive-through service.[45] There are also a few
locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru"
service in place of Drive-Thru.[46]
McCafé
Main article: McCafé
A Montevideo McCafé
McCafé is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants and is a
concept created by McDonald's Australia (also known, and marketed, as "Macca
's" in Australia), starting with Melbourne in 1993.[47] As of 2016, most
McDonald's in Australia have McCafés located within the existing McDonald's
restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafés in every store, with the rest
of the states quickly following suit.[42] After upgrading to the new McCafé
look and feel, some Australian stores have noticed up to a 60 percent
increase in sales. At the end of 2003 there were over 600 McCafés worldwide.
Create Your Taste restaurants
In 2014, McDonald's began testing a new gourmet burger service/restaurant
concept based on other gourmet restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill'd.
It was rolled out for the first time in Australia during the early months of
2015. It has since expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia, New
Zealand and has ongoing trials in the US market. Using the dedicated Create
Your Taste (CYT) kiosks a person can choose all ingredients including type
of bun and meat along with additional extras. In late 2015 the Australian
CYT service introduced CYT Salads to give more options to health conscious
customers. After a person has ordered their food, McDonald's advises that
wait times are between 10–15 minutes. When the food is ready dedicated crew
specially trained to deliver a higher quality service called 'Hosts' bring
the food to the customer's table. Instead of the traditional packaging one
may expect when visiting a McDonald's restaurant, the CYT food is presented
on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets and Salads in china bowls and metal
cutlery. These services are a slightly higher price due to the gourmet
ingredients and cost of labour. The Create Your Taste concept is being
rolled out in various ways throughout the world, including a concept of a '
Burger Bar' in Australia, 'Taste Crafted' in some US stores, 'McDonald's
Next' in Hong Kong, and the 'Signature Collection' in the United Kingdom.
For the most part however, the standard CYT service is incorporated into
traditional restaurants. In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by
the new Signature Crafted Recipes program.[48]
Other
Some locations are connected to gas stations/convenience stores,[49] while
others called McExpress have limited seating and/or menu or may be located
in a shopping mall. Other McDonald's are located in Walmart stores. McStop
is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services
found at truck stops.[50]
In Sweden, customers who order a happy meal can use the meal's container for
a pair of happy googles.[51] The company created a game for the googles
known as "Slope Stars.[51] " McDonald's predicts happy googles will continue
in other countries.[51]
In the Netherlands, McDonald's has introduced McTrax that doubles as a
recording studio; it reacts to touch.[51] They can create their own beats
with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects.[51]
Special diet
A kosher Express McDonald's outlet in the Malha Mall in Jerusalem
This section needs expansionwith: Details of other McDonald's
restaurants where special dietry requirements are catered for. You can help
by adding to it. (November 2015)
The first kosher McDonald's was established in 1997 at the Abasto de Buenos
Aires mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is in addition to many kosher
branches in Israel.[52][53]
Playgrounds
A McDonald's in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California with a Playplace
designed to promote a family-friendly image
This section needs expansion.You can help by adding to it. (May 2014)
McDonald's playgrounds are called McDonald's PlayPlace. Some McDonald's in
suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor
playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with
ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the USA, with many more being
constructed soon after.
McDonald's Next
McDonald's Next in Admiralty, Hong Kong
McDonald's Next use open-concept design and offer "Create Your Taste"
digital ordering. The concept store also offering free mobile device
charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store open in Hong Kong
in December 2015.[54]
2006 redesign
An American McDonald's in Mount Pleasant, Iowa in June 2008; this is an
example of the "new" look of American McDonald's restaurants
In 2006, McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by redesigning all
of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s.[55][56]
The goal of the redesign is to be more like a coffee shop, similar to
Starbucks. The design includes wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted
colors; the red was muted to terra cotta, the yellow was shifted to golden
for a more "sunny" look, and olive and sage green were also added. To create
a warmer look, the restaurants have less plastic and more brick and wood,
with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Many restaurants now
feature free Wi-Fi and flat screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-
thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and replacing fiber glass
with wood. Also, instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants now
feature "semi-swooshes" (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh
.[57]
Smoking ban
McDonald's began banning smoking in 1994, when it banned smoking within its
1,400 wholly owned restaurants.[58]
Treatment of employees
A McDonald's employee takes an order in the Philippines
Automation
Since the late 1990s, McDonald's has attempted to replace employees with
electronic kiosks which would perform actions such taking orders and
accepting money. In 1999, McDonald's first tested "E-Clerks" in suburban
Chicago, Illinois and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to "
save money on live staffers" and attracting larger purchase amounts than
average employees.[59]
In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades,
there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving to become
automated in fast food establishments.[60] By 2016, McDonald's "Create Your
Taste" electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where
customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in
the late-2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald's
would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals.[61]
Wages
On August 5, 2013, The Guardian revealed that 90 percent of McDonalds' UK
workforce are on zero hour contracts, making it possibly the largest such
private sector employer in the country.[62]
A study released by Fast Food Forward conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove
Research showed that approximately 84 percent of all fast food employees
working in New York Cityin April 2013 had been paid less than their legal
wages by their employers.[63]
From 2007 to 2011, fast food workers in the US drew an average of $7 billion
of public assistance annually resulting from receiving low wages.[64] The
McResource website advised employees to break their food into smaller pieces
to feel fuller, seek refunds for unopened holiday purchases, sell
possessions online for quick cash, and to "quit complaining" as "stress
hormone levels rise by 15 percent after ten minutes of complaining."[65] In
December 2013, McDonald's shut down the McResource website amidst negative
publicity and criticism. McDonald's plans to continue an internal telephone
help line through which its employees can obtain advice on work and life
problems.[66]
Liberal thinktank the Roosevelt Institute accuses some McDonald's
restaurants of actually paying less than the minimum wage to entry positions
due to 'rampant' wage theft.[67]In South Korea, McDonald's pays part-time
employees $5.50 an hour and is accused of paying less with arbitrary
schedules adjustments and pay delays.[68] In late 2015,Anonymous aggregated
data collected by Glassdoor suggests that McDonald's in the United States
pays entry level employees between $7.25 an hour and $11 an hour, with an
average of $8.69 an hour. Shift managers get paid an average of $10.34 an
hour. Assistant managers get paid an average of $11.57 an hour.[69] McDonald
's CEO, Steve Easterbrook, currently earns an annual salary of $1,100,000.[
70]
Strikes
See also: Fast food worker strikes
Fast food workers on strike outside of a McDonald's in St. Paul, Minnesota.
McDonald's workers have on occasions decided to strike over pay, with most
of the employees on strike seeking to be paid $15.00 .[71]When interviewed
about the strikes occurring, former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi stated "It's
cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's
inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries" with Rensi explaining
that increasing employee wages could possibly take away from entry-level
jobs.[72] However, according to current McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook,
increasing wages and benefits for workers saw a 6% increase in customer
satisfaction when comparing 2015's first quarter data to the first quarter
of 2016, with greater returns seen as a result.[72]
Working conditions
In March 2015, McDonald's workers in 19 US cities filed 28 health and safety
complaints with OSHA which allege that low staffing, lack of protective
gear, poor training and pressure to work fast has resulted in injuries. The
complaints also allege that, because of a lack of first aid supplies,
workers were told by management to treat burn injuries with condiments such
as mayonnaise and mustard. The Fight for $15 labor organization aided the
workers in filing the complaints.[73]
Animal welfare standards
In 2015, McDonald's pledged to stop using eggs from battery cage facilities
by 2025. Since McDonald's purchases over 2 billion eggs per year, or 4
percent of eggs produced in the United States, the switch is expected to
have a major impact on the egg industry, and is part of a general trend
toward cage-free eggs driven by consumer concern over the harsh living
conditions of hens.[74][75] The aviary systems from which the new eggs will
be sourced are troubled by much higher mortality rates, as well as
introducing environmental and worker safety problems.[76] The high hen
mortality rate, which is more than double that of battery cage systems, will
require new research to mitigate. The facilities also have higher ammonia
levels due to faeces being kicked up into the air. Producers raised concerns
about the production cost, which is expected to increase by 36 percent.[77]
McDonald's continues to source pork from facilities that use gestation
crates, and in 2012 pledged to phase them out.[78]
Marketing and advertising
Main article: McDonald's advertising
McDonald's has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In
addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company
makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events
ranging from Little League to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games.[79]
McDonald's makes coolers of orange drinkwith its logo available for local
events of all kinds. Nonetheless, television has always played a central
role in the company's advertising strategy.
To date, McDonald's has used 23 different slogans in United States
advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions
.[80] At times, it has run into trouble with its campaigns. McDonald's was
criticized for illegally hanging banners on flag poles and blocking the
bicycle path in South Korea.[68]
McDonald's began operations in India in 1996. It retained Leo Burnett (India
) to provide authentic Indian insights in years of study and planning to
meet local conditions with special concern regarding local favorite items,
religious-based food taboos and India's strong vegetarian tradition. Its
hamburgers are made of lamb or chicken, not beef. It adapted local favorites
into items such as McAloo Tikki, a breaded potato pancake on a bun. It
divided its kitchens in the vegetarian and nonvegetarian zones making sure
that food did not cross the line. Its advertising told Indians that its
bright, inviting restaurants did not mean high prices. Its strategy was
profits through high volume and low prices. Locally it sponsored sports
programs and donations to visible charities.[81]
Space exploration
McDonald's and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a planned mission
to the asteroid 449 Hamburga; however, the spacecraft was eventually
cancelled.[82]
Children's advertising
Main articles: Ronald McDonald and McDonaldland
Sports awards and honors
See also: Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans
McDonald's is the title sponsor of the McDonald's All-American Game, all-
star basketball games played each year for American and Canadian boys' and
girls' high school basketball graduates
Charity
See also: Ronald McDonald House Charities
McHappy Day
A Ronald McDonald House collection box in Framingham, Massachusetts
McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald's, where a percentage of the day'
s sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald
McDonald House Charities.[83]
In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Brazil, Canada, the United States, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary,
England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4
million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8 million.[84]
McDonald's Monopoly donation
In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received an anonymous letter
postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald's
Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied
by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined
the card under a jeweler's eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and
verified it as a winner.[85] Although game rules prohibited the transfer of
prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 annuity
payments, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual
involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's (see
McDonald's Monopoly).
McRefugee
See also: McRefugee
McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan and China who use in McDonald
's 24 hour restaurants as a temporary hostel. One in five of Hong Kong's
population lives below the poverty line. The rise of McRefugees was first
documented by photographer Suraj Katra in 2013.[86]
Criticism
A PETA activist dressed as a chicken confronts the manager of theTimes
Square McDonald's over the company's animal welfare standards
In 1990, activists from a small group known as London Greenpeace (no
connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets
entitled What's wrong with McDonald's?, criticizing its environmental,
health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding they
desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down,
sued them for libel in one of the longest cases in British civil law. A
documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries.[
87]
In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered
a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full page newspaper ads in New
York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald's menu of being a
threat to American health, and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook
their french fries.[citation needed]
Despite the objections of McDonald's, the term "McJob" was added to Merriam-
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in 2003.[88][unreliable source?]The term was
defined as "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little
opportunity for advancement".[89]
In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the
business practices of McDonald's. Among the critiques were allegations that
McDonald's (along with other companies within the fast food industry) uses
its political influence to increase its profits at the expense of people's
health and the social conditions of its workers. The book also brought into
question McDonald's advertisement techniques in which it targets children.
While the book did mention other fast-food chains, it focused primarily on
McDonald's.
In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued
McDonald's for misrepresenting its French fries as vegetarian, when they
contained beef broth.[90]
Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film Super Size Me said that McDonald's
food was contributing to the epidemic of obesity in society, and that the
company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for
its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald's announced that
it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult Happy
Meal.
Screenshot from McDonald's Videogame
In 2006, an unsanctioned McDonald's Videogame was released online. It is
parody of the business practices of the corporate giant, taking the guise of
a tycoon style business simulation game. In the game, the player plays the
role of a McDonald's CEO, choosing whether or not to use controversial
practices like genetically altered cow feed, plowing over rainforests, and
corrupting public officials. McDonald's issued a statement distancing itself
from the game.[91]
In January 2014 it was reported that McDonald's was accused of having used a
series of tax maneuvers to avoid reduce taxes in France. The company
confirmed that tax authorities had visited McDonald's French headquarters in
Paris but insisted that it had not done anything wrong, saying, "McDonald's
firmly denies the accusation made by L'Express according to which McDonald'
s supposedly hid part of its revenue from taxes in France."[92]
Company responses to criticism
In response to public pressure, McDonald's has sought to include more
healthy choices in its menu and has introduced a new slogan to its
recruitment posters: "Not bad for aMcJob".[93] The word McJob, first
attested in the mid-1980s[94] and later popularized by Canadian novelist
Douglas Coupland in his book Generation X, has become a buzz word for low-
paid, unskilled work with few prospects or benefits and little security.
McDonald's disputes this definition of McJob. In 2007, the company launched
an advertising campaign with the slogan "Would you like a career with that?"
on Irish television, asserting that its jobs have good prospects.
In an effort to respond to growing consumer awareness of food provenance,
the fast-food chain changed its supplier of both coffee beans and milk. UK
chief executive Steve Easterbrook said: "British consumers are increasingly
interested in the quality, sourcing and ethics of the food and drink they
buy".[95] In a bid to tap into the ethical consumer market,[96] McDonald's
switched to using coffee beans taken from stocks that are certified by the
Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group. Additionally, in response to
pressure, McDonald's UK started using organic milk supplies for its bottled
milk and hot drinks, although it still uses conventional milk in its
milkshakes, and in all of its dairy products in the United States.[97]
According to a report published by Farmers Weekly in 2007, the quantity of
milk used by McDonald's could have accounted for as much as 5 percent of the
UK's organic milk output.[98]
McDonald's announced on May 22, 2008 that, in the United States and Canada,
it would switch to using cooking oil that contains no trans fats for its
french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked
items, pies and cookies, by year's end.[99][100]
With regard to acquiring chickens from suppliers who use CAK or CAS methods
of slaughter, McDonald's says that it needs to see more research "to help
determine whether any CAS system in current use is optimal from an animal
welfare perspective."[101]
Environmental record
In April 2008, McDonald's announced that 11 of its Sheffield, England
restaurants have been engaged in a biomass trial that had cut its waste and
carbon footprint by half in the area. In this trial, wastes from the
restaurants were collected by Veolia Environmental Services, and were used
to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald's plans to expand this project,
although the lack of biomass power plants in the United States will prevent
this plan from becoming a national standard anytime soon.[102] In addition,
in Europe, McDonald's has been recycling vegetable grease by converting it
to fuel for its diesel trucks.[103]
McDonald's has been using a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for
some of its products. The environmental benefits of this technology are
controversial, with critics noting that biodegradation is slow, produces
greenhouse gases, and that contamination of traditional plastic wastestreams
with bioplastics can complicate recycling efforts.[104]
In 1990 McDonald's worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to stop using
"clam shell" shaped styrofoam food containers to house its food products.[
105] 20 years later McDonald's announced they would try replacing styrofoam
coffee cups with an alternative material.[106]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized McDonald's
continuous effort to reduce solid waste by designing more efficient
packaging and by promoting the use of recycled-content materials.[107]
McDonald's reports that it is committed towards environmental leadership by
effectively managing electric energy, by conserving natural resources
through recycling and reusing materials, and by addressing water management
issues within the restaurant.[108]
In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25 percent in its restaurants,
McDonald's opened a prototype restaurant in Chicago in 2009, with the
intention of using the model in its other restaurants throughout the world.
Building on past efforts, specifically a restaurant it opened in Sweden in
2000 that was the first to intentionally incorporate green ideas, McDonald's
designed the Chicago site to save energy by incorporating old and new ideas
such as managing storm water, using skylights for more natural lighting and
installing some partitions and tabletops made from recycled goods.[109]
When McDonald's received criticism for its environmental policies in the
1970s, it began to make substantial progress in reducing its use of
materials.[110] For instance, an "average meal" in the 1970s—a Big Mac,
fries, and a drink—required 46 grams of packaging; today, it requires only
25 grams, allowing a 46 percent reduction.[111] In addition, McDonald's
eliminated the need for intermediate containers for cola by having a
delivery system that pumps syrup directly from the delivery truck into
storage containers, saving two million pounds (910 tonnes) of packaging
annually.[112] Overall, weight reductions in packaging and products, as well
as the increased usage of bulk packaging ultimately decreased packaging by
twenty-four million pounds (11,000 tonnes) annually.[113]
Legal cases
Main article: McDonald's legal cases
McDonald's has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases,
most of which involved trademark disputes. The company has threatened many
food businesses with legal action unless it drops the Mc or Mac from trading
names.
Asia
On September 8, 2009, McDonald's Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to
prevent another restaurant calling itself McCurry. McDonald's lost in an
appeal to Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court.[114]
Australia
In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald's pleaded guilty to
five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its
outlets and was fined A$8,000.[115]
In 2016 the Australian Taxation Office revealed that McDonald's Asia-Pacific
Consortium had generated $478 million in revenue in 2013–14, but had paid
no tax on those earnings whatsoever.[116]
United Kingdom
McDonald's has defended itself in several cases involving workers' rights.[
citation needed]
The longest running legal action of all time in the UK was the McLibel case
against 2 defendants who criticised a number of aspects of the company. The
trial lasted 10 years and called 130 witnesses. The European Court of Human
Rights deemed that the unequal resources of the litigants breached the
defendants rights to freedom of speech and biased the trial. The result was
widely seen as a "PR disaster."[117]
United States
A famous legal case in the US involving McDonald's was the 1994 decision in
Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants where Stella Liebeck was awarded several
million dollars after she suffered third-degree burns after spilling a
scalding cup of McDonald's coffee on herself.[118]
Use of genetically modified food
In April 2014, it was reported that McDonald's will use, in Europe, chicken
meat that was produced by using genetically modified animal feed. Greenpeace
argues that McDonald's saves less than one Eurocent for each chickenburger
and goes down a path not desired by its customers.[119]
See also
Book: McDonald's
Arcos Dorados Holdings
Burger King—the second largest burger chain
List of hamburger restaurants
List of restaurant chains
The Founder—a 2016 film detailing the creation and controversial business
history of McDonalds, that is also a biopic of Ray Kroc
MaDonal—a restaurant operating in northern Iraq that copies many features
of McDonald's, illicitly
Maxime, McDuff & McDo-documentary film about the unionizing of a McDonald's
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Wendy's—the third largest hamburger chain
Food portal
Companies portal
Chicago portal
Illinois portal
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Altria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Altria Group)
Not to be confused with Altera, Nutria, or Altaria (disambiguation).
Altria Group, Inc.
Type Public
Traded as
NYSE: MO
S&P 100 Component
S&P 500 Component
Industry Tobacco
Founded 1985; 31 years ago
Founder Philip Morris, Kraft Foods Inc,Nabisco Holdings Corporation
Headquarters Henrico County, Virginia, U.S.A
Area served Worldwide
Key people Martin Barrington
(Chairman) & (CEO)
Products Tobacco and wine
Revenue US$ 25.43 billion (2015)
Operating income US$ 8.36 billion (2015) [1]
Net income US$ 5.24 billion (2015)
Total assets US$ 32.46 billion (2015)
Total equity US$ 2.88 billion (2015)
Number of employees 8800 (2015)[1]
Website Altria.com
Altria Group, Inc. (renamed from Philip Morris Companies Inc. on January 27,
2003) is an American corporation, it is one of the world's largest
producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It
operates worldwide corporation and is headquartered in Henrico County,
Virginia, United States of America.
Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, Inc., U.S
. Smokeless Tobacco Company, Inc., Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and
Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Philip Morris International was spun off
in 2008. Altria maintains a 28.7% stake in the UK-based brewer SABMiller
plc. It is a component of the S&P 500 and was a component of the Dow Jones
Industrial Average until February 19, 2008. On January 6, 2009, Altria
acquired UST Inc., a smokeless tobacco manufacturer, which also owned wine
producer Ste Michelle Wine Estates, and is now a subsidiary of Altria.
Contents
[hide]
1History
2Holdings
3Brands
3.1Tobacco
3.2Wine
4Corporate governance
4.1Board of directors
4.2Headquarters
5Political influence
6See also
7References
8External links
History[edit]
Altria emerged from Philip Morris. The onset of "rebranding" of Philip
Morris Companies to Altria took place in 2003 (Philip Morris would later
split, with PM USA remaining Altria's primary and only consistently held
asset). Altria was created because Philip Morris wished to emphasize that
its business portfolio had come to consist of more than Philip Morris USA
and Philip Morris International; at the time, it owned an 84% stake in Kraft
,[2] although that business has since been spun off.[3] The name "Altria" is
claimed to come from the Latin word for "high" and was part of a trend of
companies rebranding to names that previously did not exist, Accenture (
previously Andersen Consulting) and Verizon being notable examples,[4]
though linguistSteven Pinker suggests that in fact the name is an "egregious
example" of phonesthesia — with the company attempting to "switch its
image from bad people who sell addictive carcinogens to a place or state
marked by altruism and other lofty values".[5]
The company's branding consultants, the Wirthlin Group, said: “The name
change alternative offers the possibility of masking the negatives
associated with the tobacco business,” thus enabling the company to improve
its image and raise its profile without sacrificing tobacco profits.[6]
Philip Morris executives thought a name change would insulate the larger
corporation and its other operating companies from the political pressures
on tobacco.[6]
The rebranding took place amidst social, legal and financially troubled
circumstances.[vague][7] In 2003 Altria was ranked Fortune number 11, and
has steadily declined since. In 2010 Altria Group (MO) ranked at Fortune
number 137, whereas its former asset, Philip Morris International, was
ranked 94th.[8]
In 2006, a United States court found that Philip Morris "publicly ...
disputed scientific findings linking smoking and disease knowing their
assertions were false." [9]
On March 30, 2007, Altria's 88.1% stake in Kraft Foods Inc was spun off,
through a distribution of the remaining stake of shares (88.1%) to Altria
shareholders. That same year, Altria began selling all its shares of Philip
Morris International to Altria stockholders, a spin off that was completed
on March 28, 2008. Again in 2007 the company began the acquisition of cigar
manufacturer John Middleton Co. from Bradford Holdings, Inc., which was
complete in 2008. After Philip Morris International spun off, the former
international subsidiaries halted the purchase of tobacco from America,
which was a major factor in the closing of a newly renovated plant in North
Carolina, an approximately 50% reduction in manufacturing, large-scale
layoffs, and induced early retirements.[10]
In 2008, Altria officially moved its headquarters from New York City to
Richmond, Virginia after Philip Morris sold its downtown offices in New York
City a decade earlier. With a few exceptions, all manufacturing, commercial
, and executive employees had long been based in and around Richmond.
Currently the company is headquartered in anunincorporated area within
Henrico County, less than five miles west of the city limits of Richmond and
less than ten miles from its downtown Richmond campus.
Aside from the Philip Morris/Altria headquarters, some of their other
buildings included the Philip Morris Center for Research and Technology in
downtown Richmond, their manufacturing center in South Richmond, and the
adjacent operations center which began shutting down in 2007-2008, as a
result of the loss of demand from PMI member companies. The layoffs
beginning in 2007 affected thousands of Altria, Altria Client Services,
Philip Morris USA, and contracted employees in Richmond and North Carolina.
In 2009, Altria finalized its purchase of UST Inc., whose products included
smokeless tobacco (made by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company) and wine (made by
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates).[11] This ended a short era of competition
between the new Marlboro smokeless tobacco products such as snus, and those
produced by UST Inc.
In 2015 the company was criticized for a number of active and possible
lawsuits with countries such as Uruguay, Australia and Ireland over proposed
changes to their cigarette packaging and anti-smoking laws.[12]
Holdings[edit]
Altria Group, Inc. owns 100 percent of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton,
Inc. and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. It also owns 28.7% SABMiller PLC
, one of the world's largest brewing companies, where it has 3 seats on the
11-person board of directors.
Before the recent restructuring, the net revenue (and operating income) of
Altria Group, Inc. came predominantly from its tobacco business, as is shown
in the following table. Altria's share of SABMiller's revenue and profits
is not included in the table below because its holding are too small to be
consolidated in the group accounts.[13]
Activity Net revenue
in 2006
(millions USD) Net revenue
in 2006
(%) Operating
income
in 2006
(millions USD) Operating
income
in 2006
(%)
USA tobacco 18,474 18.2% 4,812 26.5%
International tobacco 48,260 47.6% 8,458 46.5%
North American food 23,118 22.8% 3,753 20.7%
International food 11,238 11.1% 964 5.3%
Financial services 317 0.3% 176 1.0%
Total 101,407 100% 18,163 100%
Brands[edit]
This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect
recent events or newly available information. (September 2013)
Tobacco[edit]
The corporation's brands include:
Basic
Benson & Hedges (American Version)
Black & Mild
Bond Street
Cambridge
Chesterfield
Copenhagen
English Ovals
f6
Husky
L&M
MarkTen
Marlboro
Merit
Next
Papastratos
Parliament
Players
Red Seal
SG
Skoal
Sampoerna (a brand of Indonesian kreteks)
Virginia Slims
Wine[edit]
Chateau Ste. Michelle
Snoqualmie
Erath
Hawk Crest
Fourteen Hands
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
Villa Maria
Esk Valley
Seven Falls
O Wines
Domaine Ste Michelle
Stag's Leap
Corporate governance[edit]
Board of directors[edit]
Members of the board of directors of Altria Group as/of February 2013 were:[
14]
Elizabeth E. Bailey (1989– ), professor emerita, the Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania
Gerald L. Baliles (2008– ), director, Miller Center of Public Affairs at
University of Virginia; former Virginia governor
Martin J. Barrington — chairman and chief executive officer, Altria Group,
Inc.
John T. Casteen III (2010– ), president emeritus, University of Virginia
Dinyar S. Devitre (2008– ), special advisor, General Atlantic Partners, New
York, NY; former SVP and CFO of Altria
Thomas F. Farrell II (2008– ), chairman, president and CEO, Dominion
Resources, Richmond, VA
Thomas W. Jones (2002– ), senior partner, TWJ Capital LLC, Stamford, CT;
formerly with Citigroup, Travelers and TIAA-CREF
Debra J. Kelly-Ennis (2013– ), former president and CEO of Diageo Canada,
Inc.; also formerly with RJR Nabisco, Inc., Coca-Cola, General Motors and
Grand Metropolitan
W. Leo Kiely III (2011– ), retired CEO, MillerCoors LLC, Golden, CO;
formerly with Frito-Lay
Kathryn B. McQuade (2012– ), retired EVP and CFO, Canadian Pacific Railway
Limited; formerly with Norfolk Southern Corporation
George Muñoz (2004– ), principal, Muñoz Investment Banking Group,
LLC, Washington, DC; Partner, Tobin & Muñoz, Chicago, IL; formerly
Overseas Private Investment Corporation and assistant secretary of the
United States Treasury Department
Nabil Y. Sakkab (2008– ), retired SVP, corporate research and development,
Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH
Headquarters[edit]
Prior to being based in Virginia, Philip Morris had its headquarters in
Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[15] In 2003, Philip Morris announced that
it would move its headquarters to Virginia. The company said that it planned
to keep around 750 employees in its former headquarters. Brendan McCormick,
a spokesperson for Philip Morris, said that the company estimated that the
move would save the company over $60 million each year.[16] The company now
has its head offices in an unincorporated area of Henrico County, Virginia,
in Richmond.[17] In addition, the company has a 450,000-square-foot, $350
million Center for Research and Technology located in downtown Richmond at
the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park that employs approximately 600
scientists, engineers and support staff.
Political influence[edit]
According to the Center for Public Integrity, Altria spent around $101
million on lobbying the United States government between 1998 and 2004,
making it the second most active organization in the nation.[18][19]
Altria also funded The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition which lobbied
against the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change.[20]
Daniel Smith, representing Altria, sits on the Private Enterprise Board of
the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).[21]
See also[edit]
Virginia portal
New York City portal
Companies portal
Philip Morris USA
Tobacco industry
Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
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Upjohn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Upjohn (disambiguation).
The Upjohn Company
Type Merged with Pharmacia, later acquired by Pfizer
Industry Pharmaceutical
Founded 1886; 130 years ago
Headquarters Michigan, United States of America
Logo of Upjohn Pill & Granule, later The Upjohn Company
The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886
in Kalamazoo, Michigan by Dr. William E. Upjohn, an 1875 graduate of the
University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to
make friable pills, which were specifically designed to be easily digested.[
1] These could be "reduced to a powder under the thumb", a strong marketing
argument at the time.
In 1995, Upjohn merged with Pharmacia AB, to form Pharmacia & Upjohn.[2]
Later the company merged with Monsanto and took the name Pharmacia; the
company retained Monsanto's Searle drug unit and spun off the remaining
interests, which became the "new Monsanto". Today the remainder of Upjohn is
owned by Pfizer. Kalamazoo County retains major manufacturing capabilities,
as well as a large stake in Pfizer's former animal health business, Zoetis.
In 1997, Pharmacia & Upjohn sold several brands to Johnson & Johnson,
including Motrin and Cortaid.
Contents
[hide]
1Chemistry
2See also
3References
4External links
Chemistry[edit]
Unicap, amultivitaminproduced by Upjohn.
Upjohn developed a process for the large scale production of cortisone. The
oxygen atom at the 11 position in this steroid is an absolute requirement
for biological activity. There are however no known natural sources for
starting materials that contain that feature. The only method for preparing
this drug prior to 1952 was a lengthy synthesis starting from cholic acid
isolated from bile. In 1952 two Upjohn biochemists, Dury Peterson and Herb
Murray announced that they were able to introduce this crucial oxygen atom
by fermentation of the steroid progesterone with a common mold of the genus
Rhizopus. Over the next several years a group of chemists headed by John
Hogg developed a process for preparing cortisone from the soybean sterol
stigmasterol. The microbiological oxygenation is a key step in this process.
[3]
Subsequently, Upjohn together with Schering biochemically converted
cortisone into the more potent steroid prednisone by a bacterial
fermentation[4][5]In chemical research, the company is best known for the
development of the Upjohn dihydroxylation by V. VanRheenen, R. C. Kelly and
D. Y. Cha in 1976.[6] Upjohn's most well-known drugs before the acquisition
by Pfizer were Xanax, Halcion, Motrin, Lincocin, and Rogaine.
See also[edit]
W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
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Abbot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the term's use in Christianity. For the term's use in
Buddhism, see Abbot (Buddhism). For other uses, see Abbot (disambiguation).
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Western
culture and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may
improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new
article, as appropriate.(September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this
template message)
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t
e
St. Dominic of Silos enthroned as abbot (Hispano-Flemish Gothic 15th century)
Abbot, meaning father, is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of
a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may
also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the
head of a monastery. The female equivalent is abbess.
Contents
[hide]
1Origins
2Monastic history
2.1Early history
2.2Later Middle Ages
2.2.1Appointments
3General information
4Modern practices
5Abbatial hierarchy
6Modern abbots not as superior
7Eastern Christian
8Honorary and other uses of the title
9Abbots in art and literature
10See also
11Notes
12References
13External links
Origins[edit]
The title had its origin in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, spread
through the eastern Mediterranean, and soon became accepted generally in all
languages as the designation of the head of a monastery. The word is
derived from the Aramaic avmeaning "father" or abba, meaning "my father". In
the Septuagint, it was written as "abbas".[1] At first it was employed as a
respectful title for any monk, but it was soon restricted by canon law to
certain priestly superiors. At times it was applied to various priests, e.g.
at the court of the Frankish monarchy the Abbas palatinus ("of the palace"'
) and Abbas castrensis ("of the camp") were chaplains to the Merovingian and
Carolingian sovereigns’ court and army respectively. The title abbot came
into fairly general use in western monastic orders whose members include
priests.[2]
Monastic history[edit]
Coptic icon of St. Pachomius, the founder of cenobitic monasticism.
Carving of St. Benedict of Nursia, holding an abbot's crozier and his Rule
for Monasteries (Münsterschwarzach, Germany).
Cistercian abbot at Bornem Abbey
An abbot (from Old English abbod, abbad, from Latin abbas (“father”), from
Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbas), from Aramaic ܐܒ
ܐ/אבא(’abbā, “father”); confer German Abt;
French abbé) is the head and chief governor of a community of monks, called
also in the Easthegumen or archimandrite.[2] The English version for a
female monastic head is abbess. In Taoism, the highest ranking abbot, who is
only assigned to the most prominent temples (or guan) is known as a
Fangzhang. All Tao guan have low ranking abbots, known as Zhu Chi.[3]
Early history[edit]
In Egypt, the first home of monasticism, the jurisdiction of the abbot, or
archimandrite, was but loosely defined. Sometimes he ruled over only one
community, sometimes over several, each of which had its own abbot as well.
Saint John Cassian speaks of an abbot of theThebaid who had 500 monks under
him. By the Rule of St Benedict, which, until the Cluniac reforms, was the
norm in the West, the abbot has jurisdiction over only one community. The
rule, as was inevitable, was subject to frequent violations; but it was not
until the foundation of the Cluniac Order that the idea of a supreme abbot,
exercising jurisdiction over all the houses of an order, was definitely
recognized.[2]
Monks, as a rule, were laymen, nor at the outset was the abbot any exception
. For the reception of the sacraments, and for other religious offices, the
abbot and his monks were commanded to attend the nearest church. This rule
proved inconvenient when a monastery was situated in a desert or at a
distance from a city, and necessity compelled the ordination of some monks.
This innovation was not introduced without a struggle, ecclesiastical
dignity being regarded as inconsistent with the higher spiritual life, but,
before the close of the 5th century, at least in the East, abbots seem
almost universally to have become deacons, if not priests. The change spread
more slowly in the West, where the office of abbot was commonly filled by
laymen till the end of the 7th century. The ecclesiastical leadership
exercised by abbots despite their frequent lay status is proved by their
attendance and votes at ecclesiastical councils. Thus at the first Council
of Constantinople, AD 448, 23 archimandrites or abbots sign, with 30 bishops
.[2]
The second Council of Nicaea, AD 787, recognized the right of abbots to
ordain their monks to the inferior orders[2] below the diaconate, a power
usually reserved to bishops.
Abbots used to be subject to episcopal jurisdiction, and continued generally
so, in fact, in the West till the 11th century. The Code of Justinian (lib.
i. tit. iii. de Ep. leg. xl.) expressly subordinates the abbot to episcopal
oversight. The first case recorded of the partial exemption of an abbot
from episcopal control is that of Faustus, abbot of Lerins, at the council
of Arles, AD 456; but the exorbitant claims and exactions of bishops, to
which this repugnance to episcopal control is to be traced, far more than to
the arrogance of abbots, rendered it increasingly frequent, and, in the 6th
century, the practice of exempting religious houses partly or altogether
from episcopal control, and making them responsible to the pope alone,
received an impulse from Pope Gregory the Great. These exceptions,
introduced with a good object, had grown into a widespread evil by the 12th
century, virtually creating an imperium in imperio, and depriving the bishop
of all authority over the chief centres of influence in his diocese.[2]
Later Middle Ages[edit]
Main article: Mitres
In the 12th century, the abbots of Fulda claimed precedence of the
archbishop of Cologne. Abbots more and more assumed almost episcopal state,
and in defiance of the prohibition of early councils and the protests of St
Bernard and others, adopted the episcopal insignia of mitre, ring, gloves
and sandals.[2]
It has been maintained that the right to wear mitres was sometimes granted
by the popes to abbots before the 11th century, but the documents on which
this claim is based are not genuine (J. Braun, Liturgische Gewandung, p. 453
). The first undoubted instance is the bull by which Alexander II in 1063
granted the use of the mitre to Egelsinus, abbot of the monastery of St
Augustine at Canterbury. The mitred abbots in England were those of Abingdon
, St Alban's, Bardney, Battle, Bury St Edmunds, St Augustine's Canterbury,
Colchester,Croyland, Evesham, Glastonbury, Gloucester, St Benet's Hulme,
Hyde, Malmesbury, Peterborough, Ramsey, Reading, Selby,Shrewsbury, Tavistock
, Thorney, Westminster, Winchcombe, and St Mary's York.[4] Of these the
precedence was yielded to the abbot of Glastonbury, until in AD 1154 Adrian
IV (Nicholas Breakspear) granted it to the abbot of St Alban's, in which
monastery he had been brought up. Next after the abbot of St Alban's ranked
the abbot of Westminster and then Ramsey.[5] Elsewhere, the mitred abbots
that sat in the Estates of Scotland were of Arbroath, Cambuskenneth, Coupar
Angus, Dunfermline, Holyrood, Iona, Kelso, Kilwinning, Kinloss,Lindores,
Paisley, Melrose, Scone, St Andrews Priory and Sweetheart.[6] To distinguish
abbots from bishops, it was ordained that their mitre should be made of
less costly materials, and should not be ornamented with gold, a rule which
was soon entirely disregarded, and that the crook of their pastoral staff (
the crosier) should turn inwards instead of outwards, indicating that their
jurisdiction was limited to their own house.[2]
The adoption of certain episcopal insignia (pontificalia) by abbots was
followed by an encroachment on episcopal functions, which had to be
specially but ineffectually guarded against by the Lateran council, AD 1123.
In the East abbots, if in priests' orders and with the consent of the
bishop, were, as we have seen, permitted by the second Nicene council, AD
787, to confer the tonsure and admit to the order of reader; but gradually
abbots, in the West also, advanced higher claims, until we find them in AD
1489 permitted by Innocent IV to confer both the subdiaconate and diaconate.
Of course, they always and everywhere had the power of admitting their own
monks and vesting them with the religious habit.[2]
The power of the abbot was paternal but absolute, limited, however, by the
canon law. One of the main goals of monasticism was the purgation of self
and selfishness, and obedience was seen as a path to that perfection. It was
sacred duty to execute the abbot's orders, and even to act without his
orders was sometimes considered a transgression. Examples among the Egyptian
monks of this submission to the commands of the superiors, exalted into a
virtue by those who regarded the entire crushing of the individual will as a
goal, are detailed by Cassian and others, e.g. a monk watering a dry stick,
day after day, for months, or endeavoring to remove a huge rock immensely
exceeding his powers.[2]
Appointments[edit]
When a vacancy occurred, the bishop of the diocese chose the abbot out of
the monks of the convent, but the right of election was transferred by
jurisdiction to the monks themselves, reserving to the bishop the
confirmation of the election and the benediction of the new abbot. In abbeys
exempt from the (arch)bishop's diocesan jurisdiction, the confirmation and
benediction had to be conferred by the pope in person, the house being taxed
with the expenses of the new abbot's journey to Rome. It was necessary that
an abbot should be at least 30 years of age, of legitimate birth, a monk of
the house for at least 10 years,[1] unless it furnished no suitable
candidate, when a liberty was allowed of electing from another convent, well
instructed himself, and able to instruct others, one also who had learned
how to command by having practised obedience.[2] In some exceptional cases
an abbot was allowed to name his own successor. Cassian speaks of an abbot
in Egypt doing this; and in later times we have another example in the case
of St Bruno. Popes and sovereigns gradually encroached on the rights of the
monks, un |
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