Created by Group F for International Business 2011.12.

08

Budapest, 2011.12.08

Boda Tomaj Hasz Rbert Srkzi Tibor Sska Zoltn Szentimrey Mrk

What is It? We hope at the end the reader is going to get a clear picture about sustainability. History of sustainability
Early civilization

In early human history, although the energy and other resource demands of nomadic huntergatherers were small, the use of fire and desire for specific foods may have altered the natural composition of plant and animal communities.
17th-19th centuries

The Western industrial revolution of the 17th to 19th centuries that tapped into the huge growth potential of the fossil fuels. Coal was used to power ever more efficient engines and later to generate electricity. Modern sanitation systems and advances in medicine protected large populations from disease. Such conditions led to a human population explosion and unprecedented industrial, technological and scientific growth that has continued to this day.
Late 20th century

Environmental problems were now becoming global in scale.

21st century

Greenhouse gases "endanger public health and welfare" of people by contributing to climate change and causing more heat waves, droughts and flooding, and threatening food and water supplies. Rapidly advancing technologies now provide the means to achieve a transition of economies, energy generation, water and waste management, and food production towards sustainable practices using methods of systems ecology and industrial ecology. <1> Well, we all have a clear picture what sustainability means. We know that we have to (or simply just should) change, or at least aim for the changes. But still, how does humanity want to achieve this glorious deed? The people, who spend billions of dollars before Christmas, creating thousands of tons of waste in order to make our fellow (friend/girlfriend/relative) or whoever happy and see them smile. Let me ask the question. Is this really what we need? Do we really want to change our behavior? After all, the modern so called Christmas long ago lost its real value and it is just another consumer driven holiday, urging us to spend our money on useless, unimportant objects.

Now why I am writing this all down? To help you understand the fact, that we are no more than a degenerated consumer society. And until this society exists, we can not strive for sustainability. We have to build a new society, a new ideology, starting from the basics. I am not speaking about we all should be weed lover hippies from the Woodstock era, living in harmony with the nature, in shamanistic societies, but we have to be aware of the consequences and responsible for our actions. We have to change our state of mind, our attitude. Why? You might ask. Why should I care about the whole god damned sustainability if it wont affect my life at all? I will be ten feet under the ground when well run out of water. So why should I care? Well, we could be all dead by that time.

Could, we? According to this picture, some of the non-renewable resources, namely the Natural gas and the Oil are going to run out approximately within our lifetime.<2> Just think about it, how many household is fueled by natural gas, and how many cars are on the road working with gas oil and with electricity? On the picture you can see Hungarys energy production. You can clearly see that we are very dependant from them. What if they we will run out? Most probably, Russia will conquer Hungary (if it has not done already). Of course, I am not speaking about

wars. No, ladies and gentleman we are in the 21th century, and there are more sophisticated ways to captivate a country. Not by force, by energy. Here is a report from the third of January 2007, for the government. (For the sake of inappropriate
translation the text is copied in original language) Magyarorszg jelents mrtkben fgg a (fknt Oroszorszgbl trtn) energiaimporttl, mivel a belfldi nuklerisenergia-, fldgz-, kszn- s kolaj-termels a fogyasztsnak csak egy rszt fedezi. A primerenergia szolgltats flgzra, k_olajra s atomenergira pl, a megjul energiaforrsok arnya elmarad a 27 tagorszgot szmll EU-s tlagtl. Noha az egy fre jut energiafogyaszts s a CO2 kibocsts alacsony, az energiaintenzits sokkal magasabb, mint a 27 tagorszgot szmll EU-s tlag. A klmavltozs miatti aggodalmak miatt, a jelenlegi trendeknek megfelelen, a megjul energiaforrsok arnynak nvekedse vrhat a jvben, a kzvlemny pedig tmogatja a nukleris energit, amelynek segtsgvel cskkenthet az importtl val fggs. *<3>

These are strong facts that show that even we Hungarians have to take seriously the question of sustainability, not to mention our children. Our duty and responsibility is to create the living conditions that we were given by our ancestors. Sustainability only a good marketing? 1, If somebody takes a look on the website of a multinational company such as Whirlpool, Samsung or Hewlett Packard, there is going to be found an interesting topic among many other facilities, which is called sustainability. Naturally, the homepage of any companies provides their products or services, they try to sell us something new, something innovative, but further these promotions they put on emphasis on the society and on the environment as well (both on local and global scale, because we are discussing about multinational enterprises) thus they try to build confidence about the firm in the customers mind and by now we can ask the question above is sustainability only a good marketing tool? The answer is yes without the word only, because they are able to build the companys reputation by this phenomenon, but the firm must be absolutely responsible for its statements. They cannot say that the company protects the nature and safeguards the employees during the manufacturing process of its products while in reality they dont care about these facts and using this term in order to earn more profit. During the brainstorming, we all agreed that the enterprise must be reliable; this is the only way to create or maintain the confidence in consumers mind, and when they lose this trust, probably never earn it again.

2, First of all I would like to clarify what sustainability means to me. It means an abstract sense of charity that centers on a companys effects on society and the environment. It means a company is willing to invest on things that they have no profit on, or they even lose money with it only in sake of being environment friendly and alike. If we talk about sustainability and its relation with the marketing we have to separate the world into fragments. For example in Hungary and in centre Europe it does not mean that much like in the western countries. A costumer in the US might reconsider his/her purchase in the name of the companys reputation, but in less developed societies they would buy the product that has the best marketing or they have the money for. Essentially sustainability should really not be a marketing tool. It should be the basic principle each company should have by the foundations. Should I care about sustainability? It wont change my life. 1, Actually, it probably will. Lack of resources is not the problem of the future, todays society has been facing with this problem already, but generally people dont know it or dont want to know it. Consciousness about environment protection is general only in the developed countries and is raised in the BRICs but in developing countries they dont spend or simply cannot spend on recycling for instance. People usually say, they have their own problems and these are not going to be solved by anybody else so why should they care about others problems? These people dont think about next generation, which if they are still destroying our nature- is going to have worse life lacking those things which were essential in the previous generations life. Project it on a global scale, firms put more emphasis on the environment protection by creating products which safeguard the nature and moreover save money for the consumer. One example is Whirlpool, which created a system which saves water (7 liters per dishwashing cycle) by an external tank which absorbs the used water after an anti-bacterial process and it can be used for washing, watering, or it can be heated up by the compressor of refrigerator for dishwashing so it saves electricity as well. 2, The answer is clearly yes. Big companies like General Electric have more income than a little country, so they are clearly the players in the economy who has the most responsibility for the nature, or for the future. No matter how expensive is to be environment friendly or use methods that costs more just to be sustainable, every company must be aware of their impact on the society or the environment. According to a research from 2010 the 10 most sustainable companies include General Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric, Nokia, Smiths Group along with other companies. The two companies are American, but Great Britain has the most on

the list of 100, with 21,<4> These companies should be the example to the others, cause they following the path that every multinational company should. Is sustainability able to cooperate with commercials? Friends or foes? 1, Probably commercials are the worlds most manipulating tools, by which companies or governments can influence people more than anyone could imagine. People usually create living standards based on commercials while they simply dont know about this fact. That is why sustainability could be more and more widespread with the help of commercials, although in my opinion in Hungary is not common. For instance the music television MTV, which broadcasts in our country as well, there are commercials that call young peoples attention for environment protection, it is important, because youngsters are more likely to absorb such things than adults. However, on one hand it is due to the influencing power of commercials so a few months later the ads going to be out of the program so people simply forget about its significance, thats why commercials cannot build trust in the long-term. On the other hand most of the commercials inspire people to consume more and more which cannot be stated as the basic pillar of consumption. 2, Yes, indeed. Commercials have a big impact on how we comprehend a company. It has the power to create sympathy in the people and to build a good image with the right tools. For the sake of the mankind our interest is to create values and if everybody is aware of what values are important we can demand it from a company. If sustainability will be a basic principle in the future, no company could prevail if they neglect issues ranging from climate change to ethical procurement. Guardian Media Group, the multimedia business whose diverse portfolio includes the Guardian and Observer, launched and integrated sustainability vision. The 'Power of 10' vision is based on the belief that the group, which also includes radio stations, magazines and business to business media, can have a multiplier effect by educating and influencing its millions of readers, web users, and listeners as well as working with its thousands of staff, suppliers and advertisers to work towards a more sustainable future. The Power of 10 vision states: "We commit to play our part as a leading media organization in creating a fair society that lives within the means of our planet. Driven by our unique ownership structure and values, we will enable our audiences, customers, employees, advertisers and suppliers to build a more sustainable future. <5> Technology, as an essential innovator?

1, Lack of resources inspires people to find other energy resources such as natural resources nowadays. In order to use these, special facilities are needed which are invented by technology. Technology is always going to be one of the most important factors of innovation, and why is it important? Because innovation is essential to sustainability, that is why a firm wants to be sustainable; using innovative techniques the company can renew its products and services while it is able to operate in a long-term. By financing technology, research and development, an enterprise or a whole country can be innovative and thus sustainable as well. 2, Technology can contribute a lot to sustainability as long as they are in the right hands. It can be controversially on the other hand if they are in the wrong hands. If the management of the company is enlightened and they plan for long run, not just on short run, they can use technological improvements as a tool to create products which are more environments friendly, even though these may cost them more. On long run they will be profitable choice. Is it worth for a multinational company to be sustainable? 1, I think the answer is YES, it is! When a company is sustainable, then it shows a better image toward the customers and the government. The commitment of sustainability will build up a better connection between them. The environmentally sound behavior will be taken into consideration, when we are talking about procurement. When a company use less energy, reduce the water consumption, producing less waste and recycle, it will reduce the costs and on long term makes more profit. The managers have to change their minds. They should not think on short term exploitation, rather on a long term solution. E.g. When a product has less wrap page on it, it will reduce the waste, it is good for the nature, naturally less waste follows less cost. Considered the costumer factor, the company may not be more attractive for a normal consumer but if there would be a well-known association all around the world which would create a sign for all the sustainably produced products the people could carefully choose the environmental friendly product against the harmful ones, which could make a change. 2, Well, to be honest we had some disagreement regarding this topic. Personally, some of us think that for certain companys sustainability can not be profitable, and they are rather doing anything within their range (or even goes beyond that) to prevent it. Just think about how many cars might be invented already that requires no gas oil, but works based on renewable energy resources? Why these cars are not in front of our houses then?

Because, to put it simple, big oil firms have no interest in the change of technology, since most probably new technologies would rather cause them profit loss, because everyone would use the cheaper cars. They rather buy the inventions for big money and continue the exploitation of the earth. In addition to this, big companies in most cases have one goal: to make profit. This is what we learn in school as well. Make profit, Profit and PROFIT. Short term profit is decisive, and shifting to alternate energy resources, or just changing the production method could cause them loss in the short term. Also, it could change the balance of multinational companies. They do not want this, do they? What can we do for make everybody responsible?
Regulations

1, I think the governments should make some laws in connection with sustainability. They should outface this problem and inflict a bigger punishment on trespassers. It may sound hard, but in my point of view we should do some act in a hurry to change this problem which can rush the world into a danger. 2, This is another topic in which we all agree. Governments should take actions, and encourage the people, the firms to make further steps down the road of sustainability. There are already some regulations. The EU is working to reduce the effects of climate change and establish a common energy policy. As part of this policy, European Heads of State or Government agreed in March 2007 on binding targets to increase the share of renewable energy. By 2020 renewable energy should account for 20% of the EU's final energy consumption (8, 5% in 2005). To meet this common target, each Member State needs to increase its production and use of renewable energy in electricity, heating and cooling and transport. <6> The rising cost of energy has also prompted the European Commission to call for a 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020. Furthermore, there is ETS. But what it is? Launched in 2005, the ETS created a market in carbon emission permits, aimed at giving industry a commercial incentive to reduce greenhouse gases. Power stations, refineries and other heavy polluters receive permits which can be traded. If an installation's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are higher than the number of permits it has, it must buy extra allowances from other installations which are lower CO2 emitters. The ETS currently covers about

10,000 industrial plants across the EU, accounting for about 40% of the EU's total CO2 emissions. Each permit is equivalent to one ton of CO2. The success of the ETS is crucial to the EU achieving its goal of a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. That goal will be extended to 30% if a new international agreement is reached.<6>
Education

1, People have no idea what does sustainability mean. For as little as 3% of the popularity knows what does sustainability mean and 11% heard about it before. We should redress this problem already in elementary school. From the age of 7, children have to hear about this subject. In my opinion it would be a good idea to make a compulsory subject in schools, which is concerned with sustainability. This subject would be equivalent with e.g. chemistry or physics. When somebody is more interested in this subject, then she/he could learn it in a higher level in high schools or even in colleges/universities. The companies structure would change. Beside the extent departments it could bring a sustainability department into being that means even new workplaces. 2, We have expressed our opinion regarding the topic, and there is no debate in this. We all agree that sustainability is a real threat for us and thus the future generation have to be educated accordingly. As written above the changing attitude should have been done from the very basics, and the elementary school is a perfect example for that. If the reader was not able to manage to have a clear picture about our thoughts here is the definition: Sustainability has many definitions, all having a common theme: meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Recognizing the nature and complexity of the interdependence of the earths systems and its inhabitants is fundamental to understanding the concept and for evaluating what is and what is not sustainable behavior. Sustainability is understood to refer to conditions that promote a healthy, safe, and economically secure environment for people and all living things, and that do not exceed the limits of the earth to renew itself. <7> Sustainability refers to the dynamic among ecological, economic, and social systems on a global scale.

Sources
The main source was a 3 hours long brain storming as a group. It created many questions, answers, ideas. List of other sources:
<1> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability <2> Picture taken from Technical Knowledge 2009-2010 subject,teacher L. Clavilier. <3> http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/doc/factsheets/country/hu/mix_hu_hu.pdf <4> http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/26/most-sustainable-companies-leadership-citizenship-100.html <5> http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainability/guardian-media-group-sustainability-vision <6> http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/index_en.htm <7> http://www.lwvmontezuma.org/Docs/1_SUSTAINABILITY_BACKGROUND.pdf Further pictures are available at ngbandu@hotmail.com.