1. Archie B. Carroll Ann K. Buchholtz
Business & Society Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management Eighth Edition
Archie B. Carroll
Ann K. Buchholtz
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2. Chapter 15 The Natural Environment as Stakeholder
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Learning Outcomes
Discuss the concept of sustainability.
Describe ten major natural environment issues.
Describe the NIMBY environmental problem.
Discuss the roles that business and government play in environmental issues.
Explain the concept of environmental ethics.
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Chapter Outline
The Sustainability Imperative
A Brief Introduction to the Natural Environment
Impact of Business upon the Natural Environment
Responsibility for Environmental Issues
The Role of Governments in Environmental Issues
Other Environmental Stakeholders
Business Environmentalism
The Future of Business: Greening and/or Growing?
Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions
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5. The Sustainability Imperative
Externalities
Side effects or by-products of actions that are not included in standard cost accounting systems.
Businesses used to label the environment an externality and paid no attention to the damage they caused.
Businesses still pose hazards to the environment, in spite of much effort.
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6. The Sustainability Imperative (continued)
Business that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Focuses on the creation of a good quality of life for both current and future generations of humans and nonhumans.
Know the Six Principles to Sustainable Success.
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7. Introduction to the Natural Environment
Humans are part of their natural environment.
The environment is extremely complex.
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8. Important and Helpful Environmental Terms
Cycle
Carbon Neutral
Threshold
Carrying Capacity
Pollution
Entropy
Irreversibility
Ecosystem
Sustainability
Niche
What are the top 10 environmental issues?
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Climate Change
Climate change
Also known as global warming
Greenhouse effect
The prevention of solar heat absorbed by our atmosphere from returning to space.
Nearly all legitimate scientists fear the possibility of swift and radical climactic changes
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Energy
A major environmental issue is energy inefficiency, wasting nonrenewable sources of energy.
Addressing energy efficiency
Use as little energy as possible
Shift to renewable sources
Solar
Wind
Hydroelectric
Biomass
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Water
Degradation of oceans and waterways
Municipal sewage
Industrial wastes
Urban runoff
Agricultural runoff
Atmospheric fallout
Overharvesting
Dam sedimentation
Deforestation
Overgrazing
Over-irrigation
The world is facing water bankruptcy
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12. Biodiversity and Land Use
The variation of life forms inside an ecosystem.
Because of human activity, biodiversity is being lost at 1,000 times higher than the natural rate.
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Land Use
Land degradation from human use
Desertification
Deforestation
Overgrazing
Salinization
Alkalization
Soil acidification
Urban sprawl
Soil sealing
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14. Chemicals, Toxics and Heavy Metals
Toxic substances
Chemicals or compounds that may present an unreasonable threat to human health and the environment.
Two main problems:
We are not always aware of the effects of exposure to chemicals.
Toxic substances can be associated with industrial accidents, causing unforeseen widespread biological damage.
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Air Pollution
Effects of air pollution
Acid Rain
Global Warming
Smog
Depletion of the ozone layer
Serious respiratory illnesses
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Ozone Depletion
Ozone depletion
Ozone is harmful near the surface of the earth, but vital in the atmosphere.
It blocks dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Decrease in stratospheric ozone comes from human use of CFCs and other chemicals.
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Oceans and Fisheries
Watershed
An area that drains to a common waterway.
Business activities are associated with significant damage to a number of coastal ecosystems, including salt marshes, mangrove swamps, estuaries, and coral reefs.
The oceans are running out of fish to meet human needs.
Conservation efforts have helped some species recover.
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Deforestation
Deforestation
Adds to soil erosion problems and is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.
Costs money.
Plays a key role in global warming.
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19. Responsibility for Environmental Issues
Wicked problems
Problems with characteristics such as interconnectedness, complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, conflict, and societal constraints.
Tragedy of the commons
A “commons” is a plot of land available to all.
Constraints must be placed on the use of the commons (i.e., our environment) because self- interest is likely to lead individuals and organizations to behave in ways that will not sustain our shared resources.
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The NIMBY Problem
Not in my Backyard: NIMBY
Human denial of responsibility for misuse of the environment.
Entities causing environmental pollution are not identified as the sources of the problem.
A NIMBY attitude avoids or denies the root cause of the damage.
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21. The Role of the U.S. Government in Environmental Issues
U.S. Government Response
Environmental impact statements (EISs)
Reports of studies explaining and estimating the environmental impacts of questionable practices and proposing alternatives to these practices.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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22. Air Quality Legislation
Clean Air Act
Emissions trading (Cap and trade)
Intended to reduce a particular pollutant over an entire industrial region by treating all emission sources as if they were beneath one bubble.
A business can increase its emissions in one part of a plant or region if it reduces its pollution by as much or more in another part of the plant or region.
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23. Water Quality and Land-Related Legislation
Water quality legislation
Clean Water Act
Land-related legislation
Toxic Substances Control Act
Superfund (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980)
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24. Endangered Species Protection
15,000 species are considered to be threatened with extinction.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Stakeholders argued that the ESA was weakened under the Bush administration.
Obama has been more ESA-friendly than Bush was.
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25. International Government Environmental Responses
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Montreal Protocol
Global Waters Assessment
Global Compact
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
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26. Other Environmental Stakeholders
Environmental interest groups:
Radicals
Mainstreamers
Accomodators
Ecoterrorists
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27. Other Environmental Stakeholders (continued)
Green consumers
Actual and potential customers of retail who express preferences for products, services, and companies that are perceived to be more environment friendly than competitors.
Green employees
Employees play a major role in promoting environmentalism at work.
Green investors
A growing number of mutual funds, stock and bond offerings, money market funds, and other financial instruments have included environmental components.
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CERES Principles
Protection of the biosphere
Sustainable use of natural resources
Reduction and disposal of waste
Energy conservation
Risk reduction
Safe products and services
Environmental restoration
Informing the public
Management commitment
Audits and reports
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29. Business Case for Sustainability
The upside benefits: Innovation and entrepreneurship that can help a firm gain a competitive edge.
The downside risks: Companies that do not care for the environment risk incurring society’s wrath.
The right thing to do: Sustainability is the only option.
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30. Cost-Benefit Analysis
Costs are totaled and compared with overall benefits. If benefits are sufficiently greater than costs, the project is given the go-ahead; if not, it is shelved, revised, or scrapped.
Helps managers decide which projects to undertake and which to forego.
Is used frequently in natural environment policy decisions.
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Triple Bottom Line
Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
A form of reporting that covers social and environmental performance in addition to economic performance.
Forces corporations to focus not only on financial performance but also on the ways in which the company either adds to or detracts from society and the environment.
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32. Systematic Business Responses to the Environmental Challenge
Crisis management
Issues management
Stakeholder management
Sustainability
Strategic environmental management
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Key Terms
Acid rain
Air pollution
Biodiversity
Carbon neutral
Cap and trade
Ceres Principles
Clean air act
Clean water act
Climate change
Cost-benefit analysis
Deforestation
Ecoterrorists
Emissions trading
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Energy inefficiency
Environment
Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Externalities
Fossil fuels
Global Compact
Global reporting initiative
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Key Terms (continued)
Global warming
Green values
Greenhouse effect
ISO 14000
Montreal Protocol
NIMBY
Ozone
Strategic Sustainable Management (SEM)
Superfund
Sustainability
Toxic substance
Toxic substances control act
Tragedy of the commons
Triple Bottom Line
Watershed
Wicked problems
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