In the Diet session that ended on Wednesday he managed to win approval for only one-and-a-half of the four big initiatives he hoped to pass.

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The exciting news that Nordstrom is expanding into Canada with four stores is just one of many initiatives for the company.

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Meanwhile, among the many initiatives on ballots Tuesday, four states -- Utah, Arizona, South Carolina and South Dakota -- approved a measure that will guarantee workers the right to vote by secret ballot on whether they want union representation, according to CNN projections based on exit polling.

CNN: Variety of proposals on ballots in 37 states

That may be a four-letter word, but the two initiatives it encapsulates can lay the foundation for IT advancement among the have-nots.

CNN: Just do it

Environmentalists got four out of seven initiatives passed, though the most ambitious, a clean-air plan in California, was frustrated.

ECONOMIST: Referendums

Four years in, we can see the results of our initiatives to promote positive change.

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Employees at all the chains around the world now attend training four times a year at which customer-service initiatives are hammered home.

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Twenty-four states allow direct initiatives (citizens putting measures directly on the ballot), indirect initiatives (first going through a state's legislature before being put onto the ballot), or both.

CNN: What's At Stake: Ballot Measures