College of Business Administration

Business Management and the Natural Environment

Discussion Questions Week 6

Preliminary question: How do we know what is 'true'? What 'counts' as good evidence when we are trying to assess the state of the environment? If we are to err in our assessment of the 'soundness' of the environment, what are the risks of erring on the side of 'conservatism' in our judgements? On the side of 'liberalism'?
What is knowledge? Where does it come from? What are the consequences (with respect to our search for a definitive source of knowledge) of out amazing financial and technological successes? How might we incorporate an enlightened perspective on the nature of knowledge into our role as managers?

"'Growth for the sake of growth,' notes environmental writer Edward Abbey, 'is the ideology of the cancer cell. Just as continuously growing cancer eventually destroys its life support systems by destroying its host, a continually expanding global economy is slowly destroying its host - the Earth's ecosystem.'" - State of the World 1998 - Pg. 4

1) Is this a fair assessment of how individuals are affecting the planet?

2) Is this a fair assessment of how corporations are affecting the planet?

3) What can we do to improve the state of the environment while sustaining growth and 'maximize shareholder value' at the same time?

"People who were unable to buy enough food to keep their families alive would hold their governments responsible. They would likely take to the streets, creating unprecedented political instability in the Third World cities. At this point political instability could affect economic progress. This, in turn would affect the earnings of multinationals, the performance of stock markets, and the earnings of pension funds. The stability of the international monetary system would be at risk." - State of the World, 1998 Page 17.

4) Do you agree with this logic?

5) What can we as future managers do to avoid such worldwide turmoil?

6) What role should business play in avoiding this turmoil?

7) As industrialized countries, is there a role we can play to assist emerging nations control their ecological devastation while sustaining economic growth?

8) Does this method need to include leading by example?

9) Are the answers to the Earth's ecological devastation in

· Science?
· Change in personal consumption?
· Governmental regulations?
· A combination of all three?

10) In the article "Losing Strands in the Web of Life" the author states that at least 1000 species are now lost each year.
How should, as managers, this concern us? What, if anything, should we do? Is this really a matter for the private sector, or should an issue this large be placed in the hands of the world's governments?

11) The passage of NAFTA in 1993 opened up the manufacturing borders within North America, specifically in Northern Mexico. The region is now home to nearly 2000 foreign-owned manufacturing plants, a.k.a. maquiladoras. Lax environmental regulations are a major factor for many companies operating in this region.
Do you think it is wrong for developing nations to get "a leg up" in the development process by allowing foreign investors to take advantage of their environment? If you were a Mexican worker employed by a maquiladora, would you feel differently?

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