As far back as 1984, IEA member countries understood that a disruption of a much smaller scale than 7% could cause significant economic damage, and thus they adopted more flexible response measures.

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Because of the change ahead for family structures, services would have to be more flexible in response.

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"In combating cybercrime, with its borderless nature and huge ability for the criminals to hide, we need a flexible and adequate response, " Mr Oerting said in a statement.

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The other keys to fast response time are a very flexible index which can be built when the data is imported or later.

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Chrysler, meanwhile, is in some ways ahead of Ford and GM in reducing costs and complexity by sharing underbodies and parts between different vehicles and brands, and by building vehicles in flexible factories that can build different models in response to demand.

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The lack of job cuts so far may disappoint those new-economy theorists who reckon that today's information systems and flexible labour market should have led to a speedy response.

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While the NRC deliberates, the nuclear industry has stepped into the breach with the "Diverse and Flexible Coping Capability" program, or FLEX, designed as the foundation of its Fukushima response.

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