College of Business Administration

1) It is claimed that industrial corporations of the world must change to meet the world's needs, not the other way around. Is this realistic?

2) Hawken discussed the industrial ecology as a business philosophy that "entails using waste so that it no longer is waste at all." He gives the example of Kalundborg, Denmark, where a dozen businesses cooperated to exchange and recycle waste materials. The cooperation was not preplanned or mandated, and proved to be an economic success.
Can the USA facilitate similar cooperation?

3) Would "products of service" be able to improve technology even though they are limited to being interchangeable with past versions?

4) Describe how each of the aspects in Figure 1, on the Closing the Loop page, relates to automobiles.

5) Identify the analogies between the evolution of assembly lines and what you anticipate will happen with the evolution of disassembly lines. Highlight commonalties and differences. What is going to be the next step in disassembly line evolution?

6) German auto manufacturers are designing their vehicles so that they can be brought back to a disassembly plant to be recycled. The Japanese manufacturers are also heading in that direction.
Will this provide any competitive advantage in the United State, similar to that of the fuel-efficient models that were introduced in 1970s? If so, will it be significant enough to persuade The Big 3 U.S. auto manufacturers to adopt a similar process?

7) In Germany's "intelligent product system" (pg. 67), manufacturers are responsible for the product at the end of it's life cycle, forcing companies to consider the value of the product when it is returned. This rewards companies that design products which have maximum recyclibility...
Is this the solution for this form of waste? Would "products of service" such as cars, refrigerators, and computers be able to improve technologically even though they are limited to being interchangeable with past versions?

8) At the Vehicle Dismantling Center in Detroit, efforts are undertaken into the recovery and recycling of automobile fluids (oil, antifreeze, etc.). Why would they do that?

9) Do businesses take advantage of the EPA's "buy-recycled" program? Should they? Why

10) Is Nike on the right track with respect to their environmental philosophy?

11) Why would Nike have deviated from the mission statement of 1999?

11) Under what circumstances is cradle-to-cradle product design feasible?

The following questions relate to "Why I Am Not An Environmentalist" (Landsburg)

13) Landsburg argues against the "preserve for future generations" theme by bringing up the question, " Do we have any reason to think that future generations will prefer inheriting the wilderness to inheriting the profits from the parking lot?" Is there any validity to Landsburg's position? Discuss...

14) The author makes the point that "recycling paper eliminates the incentive for paper companies to plant more trees and can cause forest to shrink. If you want large forest, you best strategy might be to use paper as wastefully as possible."
Is there any truth to this statement? What about some of the other statements such as a ban on carcinogenic pesticides can lead to an increase in cancer?

15) This article places environmentalists in the same category as religious fanatics. While there are instances where he may be right (Earth First! comes to mind), what about those of us who hold a strong belief in recycling, mass transit, and free range chicken? Is he right that once we try to "convert" someone into our way of thinking we are stepping over the line?

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