BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT ESSAY
2ND WRITTEN EXAM
Topic: What responsibilities, if any, do businesses have in building a sustainable and convivial future?
We, as humans tend to believe that we can “kill our planet and live on it too”. However, that is not the case. After the discovery of fossil fuel, a new era began where muscle power was replaced by fuel fed machinery. People have used their intelligence to extract more and more energy from the Earth and the 20th century was all about increasing the oil production until the peak oil was reached. For the first time in the 21st century, the oil reserves have started decreasing, which created a major and crucial problem for humanity. Since the oil reserves will eventually come to an end, companies should be prepared to leave their habits of consuming non-renewable energy sources and start searching for new renewable sources to use. However, it is almost impossible to abandon all the significant technological progresses the human kind has made since the 20th century. Even if that is done, the oil reserves might disappear before other sources are found. In addition, some ethical concerns surround countries that are responsible for the investment in research and development of a new solution. No matter what, it is certain that in order to be able to create a convivial future, companies should remodify their technologies that consume fossil fuel and find new ways to extract energy before its too late.
In order to create a environment-friendly and convivial future, governments should establish laws that give permits to the usage of fossil fuels. Companies should only be allowed to use a specific amount of fossil fuel and be able to trade these usage permits amongst themselves. For instance, companies that need the fossil fuel less should be able to sell their fossil fuel usage rights to other companies that need it more. This way, there will be a balance and the usage of fossil fuels can be diminished and eventually minimized.
Moreover, companies that might have ethical concerns about this issue should be determined. Since the third world countries cannot be held responsible for the shortage in oil reserves due to their minimal usage, industrialized nations that are major users of fossil fuel should take the lead and make major investments in Research and Development Departments to find new renewable energy sources and go green. Companies should minimize their fossil fuel needs by remodifying all their technologies that require fossil fuels and transform them into technologies that can function with renewable energy forms. These companies should act in accordance with the fossil fuel permits that the government has specified. Additionally, all the companies should gather and select a control committee, which will supervise whether the companies are obeying the permits of fossil fuels, whether they really are investing money in the R&D and going green. This commission should also encourage the companies by telling them that they will increase their sales and gain customer confidence when they become environment-friendly.
Admitting the validity of the argument and solutions to save the future, it could also be argued whether abandoning all the technologies that have made significant developments in the world is a good idea. Even if continuing the consumption of fossil fuel reveals what awaits humanity in the future, no one can guarantee that finding new energy sources will rescue people from such a disaster. First of all, there is a problem of time constraint. Fossil fuel has reached the peak and began decreasing. The time spent in finding new renewable energy sources, inventing technologies that work with those sources and adapting the whole humanity to such a system will most likely exceed the time fossil fuels are expected to disappear from Earth. So this solution might not succeed. However, despite the obstacles, this disaster is most likely to be avoided if certain guidelines are followed. In addition to all the suggestions stated, companies must also be committed to their Corporate Social Responsibilities and not use “going green” to manipulate the public but to really contribute to the environment. Also, each company should realize that their STEEPLE is going to change tremendously if they keep on consuming non-renewable energy. For instance, the external social and economical factors are going to change since turning back to muscle power will diminish the available amount of food. Also, since agriculture depends on machines that use up fossil fuel, when the amount of fossil fuel decreases, the prices of both the oil and the food will go up and cause starvation and deaths.
We, as humans are used to living with the “fossil fuel” shock that occurred in the 20th century, when people encountered with an enormous “unlimited” energy source. It has just hit us that it actually has limits that can lead to terrible disasters in the future. If companies do not change their internal functions, policies and gather under one roof to produce solutions such as finding new energy sources, the future does not seem so bright for humanity whose life depends on machines that work with fossil fuels. Still, there are limitations and further questions to be asked in order to really understand what the future is going to look like: We do not know whether there are other energy sources that can replace fossil fuels or whether it is possible to make fossil fuel renewable. We cannot cognize how much time it will take to find a new energy source and conduct it to the present technologies. We cannot foresee whether people will embrace these technological changes or whether there will be chaos because people would want to stick with their former way of life.
