Many firms such as BASF in Germany are offering to match their staffs' donations, while some European mobile phone companies say they will give up to one euro for every text message sent to a crisis hotline.

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He has formed the "Third Industrial Revolution Roundtable" with 100 leaders from industry - big names such as IBM and BASF are on the list - as well as governments to further promote the idea.

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ExxonMobil is now also pushing against proposed reforms to TSCA contained in the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, a move that, perhaps surprisingly, pits it against several other large chemical manufacturers such as Dow Chemical and BASF Corporation.

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Sherwin Williams sells premium paint that is priced higher than competitors such as Benjamin Moore, Dupont and BASF.

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In Germany, where half the gross domestic product comes from exporting companies such as Siemens, chemical makers like BASF or carmakers like Volkswagen and Porsche, hard-to-find skilled workers with training and certain qualifications are valued over temporary staff.

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Two hundred fifty of that top tier are foreign companies including such well-known firms as Axa, BASF, Deutsche Telecom, Roche and Adidas.

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