College of Business Administration

If technologies are, then, a combination of things, human skills and organized knowledge, they involve an intimate intermingling of the physical world and the social world. To repeat the point: technological evolution is not an autonomous affair of technologies forcing themselves on to society; and technology does not determine what society can do.
-Welford and Starkey, p. 105

1) Theodore Kazinsky, aka The Unibomber, believed that technology was responsible for the degradation of mankind.
Do you agree at all with his logic? Is the conspiracy theory genre of today (Matrix, T2, and 'Big brother') a realistic outcome from the technological revolution?

2) Is technology responsible for environmental degradation?
Do the benefits technological advance outweigh the costs to the environment?

3) In other countries the price of gasoline is two to three times higher than in the US.
Should the government raise the price of fuel to reflect its full cost, including environmental cost? What adjustments, if any, would this action force you to make?

4) Would you currently be willing to pay more for energy efficient cars, homes, appliances etc.? Why or why not? If yes, on a percentage basis how much more would you be willing to pay? And if not, what catalyst would spark a willingness to change?

5) The biggest polluters are the industrialized nations, but the developing nations are quickly taking over this dubious distinction.
How ought countries like the US to treat the issue of technology transfer with these developing countries? Should we just wait and let their economies run their course and as they become more developed hope that they buy better technology to reduce pollution? Or, should we just give them the latest clean energy technology now with no regard to traditional market principles?

6) Solar energy can be produced at 8 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 3 cents for fossil fuels.
Would you personally be willing to pay almost 3 times as much for clean energy?

7) Ben and Jerry's coined a new concept "linked prosperity," which emphasizes the interconnection among products, economic well-being, and social factors (including environmental factors.
How important is it to include enviormental policy in the corporate mission, and is it necessary to have social issues go hand in hand with financial objectives?

8) If a company develops a special task force to handle environmental objectives ('the green team'), how much autonomy should the team have and who in the organization should oversee the team?

9) If you were a manager in a production facility, would you opt for a short-term clean-up technology, rather than a long-term more expensive clean technology? Which is a more effective managerial style with respect to the two types of technologies- fire fighting with clean-up technology, or prevention with clean technology?

10) In the article The call of the Wild the author criticizes the "resource environmentalism, because under this doctrine, environmental politics are designed to maximize human satisfaction or minimize human harms."
Is it human nature to not care about environmental issues unless they directly affect our well-being?

11) From chapter nine--"Clean technology depends at least as much on rethinking commercial and social habits as on introducing technological developments."
What would it take for people to change their current habits? Do you think people will be resistant to change under the ought for an is philosophy (e.g. changing to electric car from a high performance sports car or S.U.V.)?

12) Fleming, in the article "Beyond the Technical Fix," Concludes that "the new generation of technology, which will address the critical nexus of economics, societal stability and environmental sustainability, will not be in the form of a technical fix, but of cultural change."
Do you think this is true? Is cultural change possible? What are some possible ways to bring about a change in cultural thinking in the common person form a consumption to preservation mind set (e.g. the culture of Singapore)?

13) Is a sustainable future possible without the use of clean technology? Is it an all-or-nothing equation? In other words, must there be a planet-wide paradigm shift to achieve change, or can individuals make a difference?

14) Should humanity stay out of the equation with regard to fixing nature? Should we not build wild animal parks, for example? How is this harmful to nature?

15) Andrea Asch was hired as the director of Natural Resource Management at Ben and Jerry's.
Should every company have this type of position? Is it as important as Human Resource Management? Just as humans have more value than as merely a company resource, so too the environment should be treated as more than a mere resource. Doesn't it deserve its own dedicated department within a company?

16) The author David Fleming states that "The improvement in environmental impact has to come from a fall in output: advances in eco-efficiency are no longer making their contribution."
Do you agree with this pessimistic view that we will soon reach our technological limits, or will technology advance toward sustainable eco-effeciency?

17) Do you think a model based on Gaviotas is a realistic possibility for other communities? What are the parameters that are necessary for success? What limitations exist that counteract this as a feasible solution for our society?

See: http://www.chelseagreen.com/Gaviotas/topia.htm#teeter

"...clean technology involves a change in the technological regime prevailing in a firm. A long-term improvement in the environment-friendliness of products and processes requires that many more firms approach the latter end of the continuum. This is, arguably, itself a precondition for continuing economic growth. Growing output without such continuous improvement is liable to impose high costs on the environment."
-Welford and Starkey, p. 141