College of Business Administration

The following questions relate to Welford & Starkey, Ch. 14:

1) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is described as the "next step" in creating a sustainable environment, focusing on auditing products and processes rather than emphasizing the audit of management systems as prescribed by EMS. Discuss your view of how LCA can be incorporated into the existing culture of a corporation. Is it feasible? What principles/components would be necessary to introduce and maintain LCA within a corporation?

2) Below are the web pages concerning a few companies which have adapted LCA techniques to develop environmentally improved products. Now, think about your job and describe how you can redesign your product.

http://www.mmm.com/profile/envt/3p.html
http://www.car.volvo.se/environment/recycling/scrapping.html

3) Describe some of the benefits to companies that actively engage in LCA. From a marketing and sales perspective, how can LCA a) sell more product and b) create a benchmark for other companies.

4)What are the downsides of LCA? Considering the fact that any design change which is made today on automobiles will not cause an immediate change for 10 to 15 years, how do you assess the effectiveness of LCA techniques?

5) Welford and Starkey state that "for many products, e.g. cars and washing machines, the major area of environmental damage occurs in their usage (coupled, of course, with the public authority's failure to tackle the root causes, such as the absence of public transport)". Discuss the interdependenc of LCA and public policy. Does one need to come before the other? How can companies continue to profit from changes in public policy that support the "less is more" theory, such as carpooling and an increase in the availability and access of public transportation.

The following questions relate to an in-class video and its companion book, Global Dumping Ground: The International Traffic in Hazardous Waste, 1990, Center for Investigative Reporting and Bill Moyers

The following questions relate to Chapter 5, Loopholes in the Law

6) After listening to/reading the case regarding the recycling of used batteries, give your opinion on the interdependence of individual motivation and government policy. What is the point of "dutifully recycling" batteries if a U.S. EPA loophole classifies intact batteries that are exported as non-hazardous waste? How can we "think global, act local" when the implications of that action are negative, reinforced by our government? Discuss our responsibility as the "largest consumer" in the world to not only resolve our own problems with scrap metal and other types of recycling but also avoid having a negative impact on global economies. If the exportation of waste were banned, what implications would it have to the U.S. economy? To global economies?

7) How can one justify his action of dumping his garbage to his neighbor's garden? How can another justify his action of intervening the situation if both of the neighbours are pleased with the situation?

The following questions relate to Chapter 7, Rethinking the Future

8) As Hirschhorn articulates in this chapter, "If the rest of the world aspires to our way of life...we'll bury ourselves in waste. There is literally no escape from pollution, and a global society that tolerates pollution is a global society that is threatening its own survival." Discuss your opinion as to how the U.S. can set the example for the rest of the world in terms of waste reduction. What can we learn from our past and current consumption patterns?

see also "Where Do Computers Go When They Die?", Carey Goldberg, The New York Times, March 12, 1998 (http://www.ce.cmu.edu/GreenDesign/comprec/nytimes98/12die.html)

9) As Americans, and humans, we have an insatiable need to "own" things property, assets and material things, even when they are no longer usable or antiquated. Knowing this, can we live with the notion of returning an item to a its original manufacturer (i.e. computer) once its useful life has ended? How would this impact our idea of "property ownership" and the economic and personal value we place on material items? What would the affects be to the economy as a whole if we operated on this type of continual "leasing" system?

10) a Green product is defined as"one that maximizes the intended product and minimizes the unintended product, thereby conserving corporate fiscal and human resources." According to the process outlined in "Design for the environment", how can this be achieved? What are the "bottom line" benefits to corporations that choose to pursue LCA? Can a corporation realistically fulfill its "social contract" with customers, as stated by Raymond Coates, or is continued regulatory pressue needed to affect a change?

11) What tone or overlying themes do the Hanover principles convey in comparison to the CERES principles and the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development? In your opinion which would be the most applicable to a long-term approach to sustainable development?

12) A "Matrix of Sustainability" is outlined using one of two approaches: product oriented design vs system-oriented design. Apply both of these design approaches to a a corporation such as BMW that is designing automobile components and ultimately cars that could be recycled and returned by the consumer after its usable life has expired.

In-class exercise:
13) Using the considerations outlined in Section 5 of Design for the Environment, apply these to the Compact Disk Case Study and take a shot at "Greening" the manufacture of CDs. Record your suggestions prior to class and be prepared to share them within your groups and to the class.

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