University of The Cumberlands Chapter 9 Sustainability & Global Problems Discussion Questions attached PPT from: Lawrence, A. & Weber, J. (2020).Business

University of The Cumberlands Chapter 9 Sustainability & Global Problems Discussion Questions attached PPT from:

Lawrence, A. & Weber, J. (2020).Business Society:Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy, 16th ed.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:McGraw Hill.

Your initial post should be at least 450+ words and in APA format (including Times New Roman with font size 12 and double spaced). Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook should be a source listed in your reference section and cited within the body of the text.

Reflect on the assigned readings for the week. Identify what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/or any other thing that you felt was worthy of your understanding.

Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

Identify and compare the four reasons why governments turn to regulation as a way to solve their problems.

Prepare a strong argument in favor of and in opposition to businesses being involved in the political process.

Briefly describe the public policy process of a foreign country and its implication on the business political activity in that country. Chapter 9
Sustainable Development and
Global Business
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McGraw-Hill
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Ch. 9: Key Learning Objectives
9-1 Understanding how business and society interact within
the natural environment.
9-2 Defining sustainable development.
9-3 Recognizing the ways in which population growth and
economic development interact with the world’s ecological
crisis.
9-4 Examining common environmental issues, including
climate change, that are shared by all nations and
businesses.
9-5 Analyzing the steps both large and small businesses can
take globally to reduce ecological damage and promote
sustainable development.
9-6 Describing the leading global codes of environmental
conduct.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-2
Business and Society in the Natural Environment
Business and society operate within constraints of the planet
and its resources.
Natural Capital: World’s stocks of natural assets, including its
geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
• For human society to survive over time it must operate sustainably, so that
natural resources are preserved for future generations.
Preserving our common ecosystem is an urgent imperative
for governments, business, and society.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-3
Business, Society and the Natural Environment:
An Interactive System
Figure 9.1
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9-4
Sustainable Development
Development that “meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainable development requires that human
society use natural resources at a rate that can
be continued over an indefinite period.
Sustainable development is about fairness. The
benefits and burdens of the use of natural
resources must be distributed equitably:
• Between developed and developing countries.
• Between present and future generations.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-5
Threats to the Earth’s Ecosystem
Humanity has entered a new era, called the
Anthropocene, in which human activity has
become the dominant influence on climate
and the environment.
Businesses now face:
• Limited supplies of critical resources.
• Unpredictable weather changes.
• Increased political risk.
But business also have great opportunities:
• Established firms and innovative entrepreneurs who
can figure out how to address environmental
challenges can both help society and enjoy great
commercial success.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-6
Forces of Change
Accelerating Ecological Crisis
Two critical factors have combined to
accelerate the ecological crisis facing the
world community and to make
sustainable development more difficult:
•
•
The population explosion.
Economic development.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-7
Population Explosion
A major driver of environmental degradation is the
exponential growth of the world’s population.
Many more people would be added during the second
50 years than during the first, even though the rate of
growth would stay the same.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-8
Economic Development
Another source of pressure on the Earth’s
resource base is the rapid industrialization
of many countries.
Advantages:
• Reducing poverty and slowing population growth.
• Development is often accompanied by rising
incomes.
Disadvantages:
• Economic development has also contributed to
the growing ecological crisis.
• Rising incomes bring higher rates of consumption
and waste.
• In many instances, environmental regulations have
lagged the pace of development.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-9
Population of the World and Major Areas
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Figure 9.2
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9-10
The Earth’s Carrying Capacity
The Earth’s resource base is essentially finite, or
bounded.
If human societies use up resources faster than they
can be replenished, and create waste faster than it
can be dispersed, environmental devastation will be
the inevitable result.
Human society is already overshooting the carrying
capacity of the Earth’s ecosystem.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-11
Ecological Footprint
A method to measure the Earth’s carrying
capacity and how far human society has
overshot it.
It refers to the amount of land and water a
human population needs to produce the
resources it consumes and to absorb its
wastes, given prevailing technology.
• Society is now using resources and producing waste
at greater than one and a half times what the
ecosystem can sustainably support.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-12
How can human society restore balance between
Earth’s carrying capacity and society’s demands?
Technological innovation: Develop new
technologies to produce energy, food, and other
necessities of human life more efficiently and with
less waste.
Changing patters of consumption: Individuals and
organizations concerned about environmental
impact could decide to consume less or choose less
harmful products and services.
“Getting the prices right”: Some economists have
called for public policies that impose taxes on
environmentally harmful products or activities.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-13
Global Environmental Issues
Commons: a shared resource, such as land, air,
or water that a group of people use collectively.
• Paradox of the commons: if all individuals attempt to
maximize their own private advantage in the short term,
the commons may be destroyed, and all users, present
and future, lose.
• The only solution is restraint, either voluntary or through
mutual agreement.
Tragedy of the commons: freedom in a
commons brings ruin to all.
→ Example: Fishing grounds.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-14
Five Global Problems:
1. Climate Change
Climate Change: Changes in the Earth’s climate
caused by increasing concentrations of carbon
dioxide and other pollutants produced by human
activity.
Causes include:
• Burning of fossil fuels.
• Increased emissions of nitrous oxides.
• Black carbon.
• Deforestation.
• Beef production.
The Convention on Climate Change is an international treaty that
limits emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-15
Global Warming
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Figure 9.3
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9-16
Five Global Problems:
2. Ozone Depletion
Ozone: bluish gas, composed of three bonded
oxygen atoms, that floats in a thin layer in the
stratosphere between 9 and 28 miles above the
planet.
Causes: chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
manufactured chemicals formerly widely used
as refrigerants, insulation, solvents, and
propellants in spray cans.
In 1987, world leaders negotiated the Montreal
Protocol, agreeing to cut CFC production.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-17
Five Global Problems:
3. Resource Scarcity
Fresh Water
• Only about one-tenth of 1 percent of the Earth’s
water is in lakes, rivers, and accessible
underground supplies, and thus available for
human use.
• Fresh water is renewable.
• By the early 2010s, water shortages had already
caused the decline of local economies and in
some cases had contributed to regional conflicts.
Arable Land
• World’s arable land is threatened with decline
from soil erosion, loss of nutrients, water scarcity,
salinization, and poor drainage.
→Example: Loss of arable land can lead to
migration and civil unrest.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-18
Five Global Problems:
4. Decline of Biodiversity
Biodiversity: the number and variety of species and the
range of their genetic makeup.
Scientists estimate that species extinction is occurring at
100 to 1,000 times the normal, background rate due to
pollution and habitat destruction.
Genetic diversity is vital to each species’ ability to adapt
and survive and has many benefits for human society as
well.
A leading cause: Destruction of rain forests, particularly
in the tropics.
• The reasons for destruction of rain forests include commercial
logging, cattle ranching, and conversion of forest to plantations to
produce cash crops.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-19
The Convention on Biological Diversity
By 2018 it had been ratified by all U.N. members
except the United States.
Commits these countries:
• To draw up national strategies for conservation.
• To protect ecosystems and individual species.
• To take steps to restore degraded areas.
It also allows countries to share in the profits from
sales of products derived from their biological
resources.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-20
Five Global Problems:
5. Threats to Marine Ecosystems
Marine Ecosystems: oceans, salt marshes,
lagoons, and tidal zones that border
them, as well as diverse communities of
life they support.
• Salt water covers 70 percent of the earth’s
surface and supports many species.
Key threats to these ecosystems:
• Exploitation of fish populations.
• Decline of coral reefs.
• Coastal development in ecologically fragile areas.
• Ocean acidification.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-21
Response of the International
Business Community
The international business community plays a
critical role in addressing the ecological
challenges.
Numerous voluntary initiatives are being
undertaken by companies around the world to
put the principle of sustainable development
into practice.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-22
Voluntary Business Initiatives
1
Life cycle analysis
• Involves collecting information on the
lifelong environmental impact of a product,
from extraction of raw material to
manufacturing to its distribution, use, and
ultimate disposal.
Industrial ecology
• Refers to designing factories and distribution
systems as if they were self-contained
ecosystems.
Extended product responsibility
• Occurs when companies take continuing
responsibility for the environmental impact
of the products and services, even after they
are sold.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-23
Voluntary Business Initiatives
2
Carbon neutrality
• An organization or individual produces net zero
emission of greenhouse gases; this is usually
accomplished by a combination of energy
efficiencies and carbon offsets.
Technology cooperation
• Sustainable development through long-term
partnerships between companies in developed and
developing countries to transfer environmental
technologies.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-24
Codes of Environmental Conduct
Some of the leading universal codes include the
following:
• Business Charter for Sustainable Development – developed by
the International Chamber of Commerce.
• CERES Principles – developed by the Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies.
• ISO 14000 – a series of voluntary standards developed by the
ISO, an international group based in Switzerland.
• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol – to help businesses measure
and manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
Many executives are championing the idea that
corporations have moral obligations to future
generations.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
9-25
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Chapter 8
Influencing the Political
Environment
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©2020
McGraw-Hill
Education.
written
consent
of McGraw-Hill
Education.
Ch. 8: Key Learning Objectives
8-1 Understanding the arguments for and against
business participation in the political process.
8-2 Knowing the types of corporate political strategies
and the influences on an organization’s development
of a particular strategy.
8-3 Assessing the tactics businesses can use to be
involved in the political process.
8-4 Examining the role of the public affairs department
and its staff.
8-5 Recognizing the challenges business faces in
managing business–government relations in
different countries.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-2
Business as a Political Participant
This debate involves the question of whether, and to
what extent, business should legitimately participate in
the political process.
This justice and fairness argument becomes even
stronger when one considers the significant financial
consequences that government actions may have on
business.
Businesses see themselves as countervailing forces in
the political arena.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-3
The Arguments for and
Against Political Involvement by Business
From Figure 8.1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Why Business Should Be Involved
Why Business Should Not Be
Involved
A pluralistic system invites many
participants.
Managers are not qualified to engage in
political debate.
Economic stakes are high for firms.
Business is too big, too powerful—an
elephant dancing among chickens.
Business counterbalances other social
interests
Business is too selfish to care about the
common good.
Business is a vital stakeholder of
government.
Business risks its credibility by engaging
in partisan politics.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-4
Corporate Political Strategy
Involves the activities taken by organizations to
acquire, develop, and use power to obtain an
advantage
• To further a firm’s economic survival or growth.
May target limiting a competitor’s progress or
ability to compete.
May exercise the business’s right to a voice in
government affairs
• Such as participation in the presidential advisory council.
Companies develop an ongoing political strategy.
→ Example: Technology firms supporting the Honest Ads Act.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-5
Types of Corporate Political Strategy
Three strategic types:
Information strategy
• Businesses seek to provide government
policymakers with information to
influence their actions.
Financial-incentives strategy
• Businesses provide incentives to
influence government policymakers to act
in a certain way.
Constituency-building strategy
• Businesses seek to gain support from
other affected organizations to better
influence government policymakers to act
in a way that helps them.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-6
Business Strategies for Influencing Government
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Figure 8.2
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8-7
Promoting an Information Strategy:
Lobbying
1
Lobbying: direct contact with a government official
to influence the thinking/actions of that person on
an issue or public policy.
Lobbyists role:
• Communicate with and try to persuade others to support
an organization’s interest.
Revolving door: when businesses hire former
government officials as lobbyists and political
advisors.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-8
Promoting an Information Strategy:
Lobbying
2
Under U.S. law and EU directive, lobbying activities are
severely limited and disclosed publicly.
Lobbying firms and organizations employing in-house
lobbyists must:
• Register with the government.
• Must file regular reports on their earnings or expenses.
• Indicate the issues and legislation that were the focus of their
efforts.
These rules are to guarantee that politicians are free
from undue influence and represent the public
interest.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-9
Total Federal Lobbying Spending and
Number of Lobbyists, 1998 to 2017
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Figure 8.3
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8-10
Promoting an Information Strategy:
Direct Communications
Businesses invite officials to
participate in activities that
will improve government
officials’ understanding of
management and employee
concerns.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-11
The Business Roundtable
Organization of CEOs of leading
corporations (founded in 1972).
Promote direct communication
between business and
policymakers.
Studies various public policy
issues.
Advocates for laws it believes
“foster vigorous economic
growth and a dynamic global
economy.”
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-12
Promoting an Information Strategy:
Expert Witness Testimony
Businesses provide facts,
anecdotes, or data:
• to educate or influence
government leaders at public
forums like congressional
hearings.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-13
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Political Action Committees
Independently incorporated organizations.
Solicit contributions and channel those
funds to candidates seeking political
office.
Active in industries that are highly
regulated.
→ Example: financial services and health care
industries.
Disadvantage:
• Contributions are capped at fairly low levels.
• Companies cannot give money directly to their
affiliated PACs.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-14
Political Action Committee Activity
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Figure 8.4
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8-15
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Super-PACs
As long as PACs did not contribute
directly to other bodies, they
could accept unlimited
contributions from individuals/
unions/ corporations.
To support particular candidates
or parties.
→Example: the Senate Majority PAC and
the Congressional Leadership Fund.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-16
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Tax-exempt Organizations
Tax-exempt Organizations: a third
mechanism businesses can use to direct
money to election campaigns.
• Dark money: contributions made to the
organizations where the donors’ names and
amount of their contributions were not reported
to the Federal Election Commission.
• Have no contribution or spending limits.
Soft money: unlimited contributions to political
parties by individuals or organizations for partybuilding activities was prohibited in 2002.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-17
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Direct Contribution by Corporations
Citizens United v. the Federal
Election Commission
• Decision allowed companies for the
first time to contribute directly to
political campaigns.
• Critics said it would “corrupt
democracy.”
McCutcheon v. Federal Election
Commission
• Abolished all limits on election
spending by corporations as well as
unions.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-18
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Executive and Employee Personal Contributions
Encourage their executives/
employees to make personal
contributions to the campaigns of
candidates whom they are
interested in.
Individuals are able to significantly
influence the political process if
they have money.
→ Example: Fewer than 400 families
contributed almost half of the money for
candidates in the 2016 presidential
campaign.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-19
Promoting a Financial Incentive Strategy:
Economic leverage
When a business uses its
economic power to
threaten to leave a city,
state, or country unless a
desired political action is
taken.
To persuade a government
body to act in a certain way
that would favor the
business.
©2020 McGraw-Hill Education.
8-20
Promoting a Constituency Building Strategy
1
Often called a Grassroots
Strategy
• Objective is to shape policy by…
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