College of Business Administration

1) When is efficiency truly economical, and when does it push an organization into patterns of action that lead to deception and harm?

2) Do you believe an eco-tax would be effective in internalizing corporate costs? Why or why not?

3) Hawken contends that the market does not reflect the true costs of products and services. “When prices are artificially low, people don’t need to think about waste, frugality, product life cycles or product substitution.”

What are some examples of products that create external costs borne by society?

4) “The freedom of the outsized global marketplace means that corporations are even free to break the law, especially when the penalties and litigation fees are far outstripped by the material advantages gained by illegal practices.” (Hawken)

What are some examples of this behavior? What mechanisms might be put in place to mitiagate the problem of negative externalities?
What freedoms have WE lost by giving an immense amount of freedom to corporate capitalism?
When, and with what justification, should the government step in to resolve the problem of negative externalities?

5) Some argue that current overconsumption by industrialized nations is plundering resources from future generations and less developed countries to fuel inflated needs and desires. Do you agree with this statement? If so, where does the 'blame' lie? Consumers? Corporations? Government?

6) Hawken states, “We have created a common global value system that is measured in monetary terms alone, one that has little or nothing to do with the search for a sustainable future that will support human civilization.”

Welford states, “Development and growth are quite different things… We need broader indicators than economic growth to measure development by.”

In order to obtain a sustainable future, what other indicator(s) should be measured instead of profit alone? Are these values measurable? How?

7) “By invoking the First Amendment privilege to protect their speech, corporations achieve precisely what the Bill of Rights was intended to prevent: domination of public thought and discourse.” (Hawken)

Provide specific examples of the variety of ways in which corporations manipulate the political/social systems in America.

8) We depend upon corporations for most of what we buy, as well as for jobs and security. This makes it easy for us to dismiss corporate misconduct, especially with the effectiveness of corporate advertising and public relations campaigns.

Provide at least one example of a corporation which is successful at these types of campaigns.

9) For every right we assume, there is a corresponding responsibility. What rights has society given to business and what should the corresponding responsibilities be?

10) “The overall environment in the nation’s capital isolates the movers and shakers of our political and corporate culture from the daily experiences of the people they supposedly represent and employ.” (Hawken)

Are government and business tools of society or have people become means to government and business ends?

11) “Competition for the consumer or between business is impractical, wasteful, expensive, and degrading to all involved” (Hawken).

If competition is so inefficient, why do we continue to treat it as the cornerstone of our economic perspective? Do the benefits of a free market economy justify its costs?