Chapter 12

Question 1

What is Sustainability, from a business perspective?

Answer 1

Potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all of the biological entities. Also includes the mutually beneficial interactions between nature and individuals/organizations/business strategies

Question 2

Water issues are the most far reaching and controversial issues

Answer 2

False - atmospheric because it’s the air we breathe

Question 3

True or False: Social responsibility is part of the budget, sustainability is a tool for ethical decision making and financial performance

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Name one reason Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a corporate issue

Answer 4

• CSR’s can create competitive advantages
• Stakeholders have more power with increased access to information
• gives firm opportunity to use differentiate themselves
• Companies can use their brand identity to create social value, quality, and customer loyalty

Question 5

Do businesses have an ethical responsibility to minimize their harmful impact on the land?

Answer 5

Duh

Question 6

(All/Only Water) Businesses must think about water conservation, allocation and purification

Answer 6

All

Question 7

Did the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to address greenhouse gas emissions in 1997, succeed?

Answer 7

No, it failed but led to other initiatives like the recent Doha Gateway agreement

Question 8

What is Acid rain?

Answer 8

occurs when certain elements in air pollution mix with air and water. This creates a new element that falls from the sky as corrosive rain that can corrode paint and deteriorate stone

Question 9

What are the three sources of Air Pollution?

Answer 9

• Stationary (factories and power plants)
• Mobile (autos, planes, and trains)
• Natural (windblown dust and volcanic eruptions)

Question 10

Water pollution not only affects wildlife - true or false?

Answer 10

True - comes with various side effects on humans and contaminates oceans, which compromise human food supplies

Question 11

Some countries have implemented cap-and-trade programs for which form of energy, considered by the book to be the “dirtiest”

Answer 11

Coal Burning

Question 12

See slide 10 for facts about water pollution

Answer 12

slide 10

Question 13

While water quality is important, some countries are also increasingly worried about what else related to water?

Answer 13

The Water Quantity

Question 14

What three events contribute to land pollution, which causes health issues, erosion, habitat destruction, and altered waterways/Poisoned groundwater

Answer 14

Residential/industrial waste

strip Mining

poor forest conservation

Question 15

Define Biodiversity

Answer 15

How, because each species plays a unique role in their ecosystems, the loss of any one may threaten the entire ecosystem

Question 16

Define Urban Sprawl

Answer 16

transformation of US from low-density communities to large-scale suburban developments

Question 17

Companies must take a long-term view on Deforestation. why does this phenomenon keep occuring?

Answer 17

Boom in biofuels, poverty, farming, and short-term profits from lumber sales.

Question 18

The EPA established five strategic goals that reflect their public priorities. What are they?

Answer 18

See slide 15

Question 19

Can the EPA file civil suits against companies that violate environmental laws?

Answer 19

Yes, they enforce environmental legislation.

Question 20

See slide 18 for most recent laws regarding the environment

Answer 20

18

Question 21

Which alternative form of energy is cheaper, Wind or Geothermal?

Answer 21

Wind, 0 it hold’s great promise for the U.S. due to the Great Plains – one of the greatest sources of wind power on the planet.

Geothermal can provide a constant source of heat and it more reliable, but is much more expensive

Question 22

See slide 17 for laws regarding the environment in the 70’s and 90’s

Answer 22

17

Question 23

Solar power is expensive and inefficient. Why is there so much hype around it?

Answer 23

Because it is 100% renewable energy

Question 24

Nuclear power is pollution-free and cost-competitive, but why is it still controversial?

Answer 24

Dangers of meltdown and waste storage complications

Question 25

See slide 16 for laws regarding the environment in the 70’s

Answer 25

16

Question 26

How does bettern environmental performance increase revenue?

Answer 26

By allowing for access to new markets, product differentiation, and sale of air pollution technologies.

Question 27

The largest form of renewable energy considered “alternative” is

Answer 27

Hydropower, but it’s controversial due to its potential habitat destruction

Question 28

How might better environmental performance decrease costs?

Answer 28

By improving risk management/stake-holder relationships, reducing materials and energy used while also reducing labor and capital costs.

Question 29

Which of the following biofuels holds promise - grass, corn, or algae?

Answer 29

Algae and Grass

Question 30

See slide 26 for levels of commitment on implementing an environmental strategy.

Answer 30

Slide 26

Question 31

Define Greenwashing

Answer 31

involves misleading consumers into thrinking a product/service is more environmentally friendly that it truly is. Research indicates that this destroys consumer trust and creates confusion.

Question 32

Define Green marketing

Answer 32

Strategic process involving stakeholder assessment to create long-term relationships with customers while maintaining, supporting, and enhancing the natural environment.

Question 33

How might firms implement green marketing and become sustainability leaders?

Answer 33

Embed sustainablilty into their values, norms, and beliefs

Question 34

No company can satisfy every claim and stakeholders are not equal. True or False

Answer 34

True - Company must identify and prioritize claims. Requires stakeholder assessment - acknowledging and actively monitoring the environmental concerns of all stakeholders

Question 35

See slide 23 for intertwining of environmental and economic performance.

Answer 35

See slide 23

Question 36

Define an environmental audit

Answer 36

Highly committed companies may conduct an audit of their environmental efforts and report results to stakeholders. Benchmarks are global standards, but environmental regulations obviously differ between countries so it;’s difficult to find acceptable solutions on a global scale.

Question 37

Which alternative form of energy is the most controversial form?

Answer 37

Biofuel