Week 8: Culture as a Coordination Mechanism

Define industrial ecology in a way that fits with your national culture/discipline , and make explicit what the specific national elements in your definition are.

For this assignment., I chose some Industrial Ecology (IE) definitions and concepts extracted from existing literature, that best define what this field of study is all about,however, some of these definitions do not  comply with the key elements (principles) of the Biology perspective of IE, a few examples include :

Industrial Ecology is a new approach to the industrial design of products and processes and the implementation of sustainable manufacturing strategies. It is a concept in which an industrial system is viewed not in isolation from its surrounding systems but in concert with them. Industrial ecology seeks to optimize the total materials cycle from virgin material to finished material to component, to product, to waste products, and to ultimate disposal. . . . Characteristics are: (1) proactive not reactive, (2) designed in not added on, (3) flexible not rigid, and (4) encompassing not insular.

— L.W. Jelinski, T. E. Graedel, R. A. Laudise, D. W. McCall, and C. Kumar N. Patel, “Industrial Ecology: Concepts and Approaches,” Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA 89 (February 1992).

Somewhat teleologically, “industrial ecology” may be defined as the means by which a state of sustainable development is approached and maintained

— Braden Allenby, “Achieving Sustainable Development Through Industrial Ecology,” International Environmental Affairs 4, no.1 (1992).

Industrial Ecology is the study of how we humans can continue rearranging Earth, but in such a way as to protect our own health, the health of natural ecosystems, and the health of future generations of plants and animals and humans. It encompasses manufacturing, agriculture, energy production, and transportation — nearly all of those things we do to provide food and make life easier and more pleasant than it would be without them.

— Bette Hileman, “Industrial Ecology Route to Slow Global Change Proposed,” Chemical and Engineering News (Aug. 24 ,1992): 7.

Perspective:

From the perspective of biological sciences, the main element on which IE is defined is based upon  a straightforward analogy with natural ecological systems. In nature an ecological system operates through a web of connections in which organisms live and consume each other and each other’s waste. Industrial ecology is a relatively new field that is based on the ideology of nature. It claims that industrial ecosystem may behave similar to the natural ecosystem where everything gets recycled

 It is also worth mentioning that many key terms in Industrial Ecology are derived from Biology such as a) Industrial Metabolism. Biological metabolism, is the ''totality of the biochemical reactions in a living thing. These reactions proceed down metabolic pathways, sequences of enzyme catalyzed reactions, so ordered that the product, of one reaction is the substrate for the next''  . Comparatively,  ''Industrial Metabolism'',is  defined as "the whole integrated collection of physical processes that convert raw materials and energy, plus labor, into finished products and wastes..."

— Ayres, R.U., 1994. ''Industrial metabolism: Theory and policy''. In: Ayres,    R.U., Simonis, U.K. (Eds.), Industrial Metabolism: Restructuring for Sustainable Development. United Nations University Press, Tokyo, pp. 3–20.

b)Symbiosis is another important phenomenon in Biology, which is a ''close and often long-term interaction between two or more different biological species'' . When applied to industrial systems, Industrial symbiosis in turn, is a subset of Industrial Ecology is known to be sharing and interaction of services, utility, and by-product resources among diverse industrial actors in order to add value, reduce costs and improve the environment.

Accordingly, these proceeding existing definitions are found to clearly define Industrial Ecology, in relation to Biology

'' Industrial ecology is the study of the physical, chemical,and biological interactions and interrelationships both within and between industrial and ecological systems.''      

      —Arun J. Basu ''Industrial Ecology framework for achieving cleaner production in the mining and minerals industry'' Journal of Cleaner Production Volume 14, Issues 3–4, 2006, Pages 299–304

Industrial ecology can be best defined as the totality or the pattern of relationships between various industrial activities, their products, and the environment.

— C. Kumar N. Patel, “Industrial Ecology,” Proceedings of the National Academy of

                Sciences, USA 89 (February 1992).

Industrial ecology involves designing industrial infrastructures as if they were a series of interlocking manmade ecosystems interfacing with the natural global ecosystem. Industrial ecology takes the pattern of the natural environment as a model for solving environmental problems, creating a new paradigm for the industrial system in the process. . . . The aim of industrial ecology is to interpret and adapt an understanding of the natural system and apply it to the design of the manmade system, in order to achieve a pattern of industrialization that is not only more efficient, but that is intrinsically adjusted to the tolerance and characteristics of the natural system. The emphasis is on forms of technology that work with natural systems, not against them.

— Hardin B. C. Tibbs, “Industrial Ecology: An Environmental Agenda for Industry,” Whole Earth Review 77 (December 1992).

Week 7 : Heirachies : Public Policy

            LCAs are a tool for assessing the environmental impact of products. Think up four ways in which government can increase the use of LCAs through external control and setting boundary conditions. Which way would you choose and why?

There is no doubt that environmental governance is crucial to reduce some of the negative environmental impacts of some products; as environmental problems will not be solved by ‘free market’ or ‘market-led’ solutions; as there is still no strong evidence that firms devote substantial profits to the public interest through their CSR, and such strategy will always remain complements to, rather than substitutes for, government action.

For this week's assignment, I suggest four different policies (means of intervention) in which a government could employ to encourage firms to utilize LCA methodology to asses the environmental impact of their products:

·        External Control

1.     Nationalized delivery

Government finances and delivers on environmental protection directly though central     government departments , (it is not of the firms responsibility to carry out LCAs)… but products have to meet the standards of  LCAs carried out by the government. (Newell 2010)argues that government should help to compensate for underinvestment by private firms by focusing on areas firms otherwise ignore, such as fundamental research

2.     An ''input –based intervention ''

The government requires firms to carry out LCAs specifically using its market-  based instruments like taxation, exemption

3.     Economy-wide relative prices

The government controls pricing of the goods according to their environmental impacts, or quantity of the social good or externality (e.g. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and implements policy to correct present prices. (here LCA is not specifically requires as a tool, but in this way, R&D of firms are likely to find LCA as an adequate solution to produce products that best achieve profit.

·        Setting boundaries (boundary conditions):

4.     ''Government by discussion'' : Moral suation

 In this form, lobbying takes place between the government and a given firm, ending with bilateral agreements, here, it is all up to the firm's Environmental management system/ (R&D).  The Government offers subsidies and sets the overall objectives (boundaries), and leaves it up to the firms (market) to deliver.

Conclusion:

    

  I choose method four  'Government by discussion'' : Moral suation as the best solution to encourage LCAs conduction by firms. However, I believe mixing of instruments of external control and boundary conditions is more efficient. Taxes and economical penalties may provide a way to ensure that firms will do their best to achieve the optimal environmental objectives, but it is also better to leave it up to firms to decide on the optimal methodologies  in order to best  meet these objectives that is because, governments never have complete information to put an optimal policy (e.g. on aggregated private sector abatement costs) so that a balance between costs and benefits can be struck.

   Moreover, governments are comprised of individual humans, and humans are subject to lobbying, manipulation, and subtler forms of persuasion by others who have an incentive to shape policy for their own benefit and hence, environmental governance and policy should never be an absolute duty of the government , but instead, carried out by complex networks of firms and governments.

References:

·        Hepburn (2010): Environmental policy, government,

and the market, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 26, Number 2, 2010, pp.117–136

·        Newell, R. (2010), ‘The Role of Markets and Policies in Delivering Innovation for Climate Change Mitigation’,

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 26(2), 253–69

Week 6: Hierarchies I: Strategy Formation in Firms

1.    Choose a firm on which you have data, for instance through a recent annual sustainability report. Analyse the underlying society-nature paradigm of this firm. [it is useful to substantiate your analysis with quotes from the report or website(s)]
2.    Give a well-argued assessment of the extent to which this firm, in your opinion, contributes to the sustainable development of the larger system of which this firm is a part.

For this assignment, I chose Heineken International, with more focus on Heineken NV.

Heineken's slogan is ''Brewing a Better Future'' represents the objective it has to become the World's greenest brewery (sustainable)by 2015. According to the annual report, it seems (is alleged) that they have been progressing according to their established plans to progress in the triple bottom line.  From my viewpoint, I believe this firm possesses an ''Environmental Protection'' paradigm . where the ''private interest government'' form of coordination is obvious

Taking a look at Heienekn NV, '' Heineken cares'': as an alcohol producing industry, it is engaged in many campaigns and have a responsible advertising policy, even though the alcohol industry was given responsibility for regulating its own advertising and promotional activities through their own ''Committee for Advertising Rules'' and so far not controlled by legislation, government sanctions are present if violation occurs.On a local system boundary, it seems that Heineken NV is quite bound to those regulations, but that would not be the case on other countries, for instance in Russia (according to Andrei; a Dutch-Russian classmate) Heineken commercials are there on T.V. throughout the day!

On the Planet aspect '' Green Brew'' and ''Green Commerce'': Heineken gives big focus at present on renewable energy ''Wind Turbines'' and that took place after getting a government subsidy on it. Meanwhile, on other aspects as reducing the carbon and water footprint, they allege on their report to become close to their targets, but the progress is not significant according to their figures (2009-2011) and still water use does not follow a well- regulated resource management strategy, maybe it will if the government provides some regulation on it.

(Taken from 2011 sustainable report)

taken from 2009 sustaianbility report

It is most definitely unreasonable to assess an organization's  level of sustainability according to what has been  mentioned in their sustainability reports , which are designed to be a mean of attractive publicity. Generally speaking, Heineken is a profit- oriented organization, with shareholders fully aware that becoming more sustainable guarantees competitive advantage, rather than being a core value. The variation of how sustainability is attained if we take the  the planet aspect as an example, it is clear how Heineken  complies to the government regulations of each country in which it operates ( if we make a comparison between 2011 sustainability report of Netherlands and Egypt, there's even no need to get into details to make a point….. for a  132 –page Dutch report full of numbers, charts and statistics and the 4- page Egyptian report, referred to as ''Factsheet''!!)

Another comparison between the Dutch, Egyptian and Nigerian reports regarding reduction of water consumption, the goals set are significantly different, showing more action and responsibility in the Netherlands, not to mention that the Dutch breweries are the world's biggest!!

Egyptian figures (2011)

Nigerian Figures (2011)

Dutch figures (2011)

If Heineken truly aspires to become the world's greenest brewer by 2015, some unified goals regarding energy, water consumption, …etc  among all producing countries should be established.

On narrowing the system boundary into Netherlands,  Heineken seems to achieve noticeable progress in the three cornerstones of sustainability, this is a quote  written by a Heineken outsider and figure of the Dutch government, might be regarded as a fair support to that:

 Ton Rombouts, Mayor Of ‘S-Hertogenbosch in 2009's sustainability report:

“Sustainability and corporate governance are engrained in the company. From the time the company opened its doors in 's-Hertogenbosch in 1958, Heineken has been strongly involved in the economic and social development of the town. As far as sustainability is concerned, the company has successfully been the driving force behind the national flagship project 'Sustainable revitalisation of the Rietvelden Industrial estate', which included a focus on soil sanitation and the structural protection of industrial water collection. The company is also very committed and dedicated to improving the links between education and the business world. With the brewery's support, many small and large events have blossomed into image-defining events, and great meeting places for people from the region and beyond, such as Jazz in Duketown, Burgundian ’s-Hertogenbosch, Martime ’s-Hertogenbosch, and last but not least, the annual Carnival. With the biennial Brewery Cultural Award for the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, the company reinforces its connection with cultural life in the city. It gives young professional artists an opportunity to develop. The star in the Heineken logo is clearly casting its rays on the development of the city.”  

Refrences:

Heineken Sustainability reports:

1) Heineken NV 2011:

http://www.heinekeninternational.com/content/live/sustainability/2011/HEINEKEN-Sustainability-Report-2011_the-Netherlands.pdf

2)Heineken Egypt 2011:

http://www.heinekeninternational.com/content/sustainability/2011/heineken-sustainability-factsheet-2011_egypt.pdf

3) Heineken Nigeria 2011:

http://www.heinekeninternational.com/content/sustainability/2011/heineken-sustainability-report-2011_nigerian-breweries.pdf

4) Heineekn NV 2009:

http://www.unglobalcompact.org/system/attachments/5912/original/Heineken_NV_Sustainability_Report_2009.pdf?1281427179

Week 5: Networks

Q:Think up two social networks of which you are currently  a member. Analyze the structure of each of these networks, make clear what the dependency relationships are, and what coordinative mechanisms are used.

       e.g.1: The first social network I choose is the faculty scouts team I was a member of, at my home University,  Alexandria University in Egypt. I chose this example as  I was a previous member in it and hence, familiar with .

       

  Actors (members):

·    

•   Students (scouts): all undergraduates, no hierarchy is within these actors.
• ·  Scouts team supervisior: this position is usually given to the lowest rank in the Faculty members hierarchy;  teaching assistants,  (who is either an MSc student / degree holder or a  PhD student), they are the ''team leaders'', they usually have very friendly and personal relationships with the scouts ; owing to his/her young age.
• ·    Chief of the scouts team: a faculty teacher : (the financial manager of the scout), all activities are to take place after his approval.
• ·  Vice Dean for student affairs: the highest rank in the university administration that has a direct  connection with students and between students and administration.

the next members are indirect members of the scouts network regarding contact,

but that does not exclude them from the network as the students are dependent

on them in financial terms and in case of complaints (if passed from a lower to a higher position)

•      Dean of Faculty of Science
• ·    Vice President of University for student affairs
• ·    President of Alexandria University

Network Structure:

from my point of view , I see the structure of this network as the ''Clique with bridging a structural hole '' , type with no centrality and the faculty dean as the bridge; since he's in charge of receiving the faculty's budget in general with the scout's budget implicitly.

Coordination mechanisms:

For this assignment, I will be using the coordination mechanisms based on the book: Mintzberg's Structure in Fives : Designing Effective Organizations.

Mintzberg 1983

Several coordination mechanisms could be found in this network:

·  Mutual adjustment: between scouts

·  Direct supervision: from scouts' chief on both; scouts and scouts' supervisor

· Standardization: (of work processes): there is an already set task description or ''guidelines' assigned to each actor in this network . These guidelines were put by members of the university administration.

Dependancy Relationships:

Financial dependency of  the University to the scouts activities is clear in this network, also dependency on the chief for approval on their activities

e.g.2: ''The Economic club of Washington, D.C.,''

·       An NGO

·       Organized in 1986, the Economic Club of Washington was established in recognition of the unique and critical role that Washington plays in the national and world economies and because of the Washington metropolitan area's increasing economic diversity and importance as a center of business activity.

Beginning with a membership of 100 of the area's top business and professional leaders, the Club was a immediate success and, subsequently, its membership was expanded to over 500 men and women. Established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the Club has two primary purposes.  First, it offers a forum in which prominent business and government leaders can express their views on the most important economic issues of the day and how those issues affect the region, the Nation, and the world. Second, and equally important, it generates and promotes a greater sense of community among business leaders, government officials, and members of the diplomatic corps. http://economicclub.org/page.cfm/go/about-us

        

          Actors

• ·       Officers

President

                 Vice president

                 Vice president – programs

                 Vice president - membership

                 Vice president – education

                 Vice president - finance

                 Nominating co-chair

                 Nominating co-chair

                 Vice president – audit

                 Secretary

                 General counsel

                  Executive director

• ·       Committee Chairs : Resource Development Committee
• ·       Task Force: Grants
• ·       Board of Directors
• ·       Grantees (Beneficiaries)

Network Structure

from my own point of view , I see the structure of this network as the ''Tightly coupled network '' , type with no centrality.

Dependancy Relationships:

 This club is involved in provision of many community services; as charities,      scholarships, grants…so grantees of such services are dependant 

References

The Economic club of Washington, D.C, official website: http://economicclub.org/page.cfm/go/about-us

Mintzberg, Henry 1983. Structure in fives: designing effective organizations. Prentice Hall 1983. Business and Economics.

Q#2Choose your own Industrial Ecology inspired puzzle and think of 3 alternative explanations for it?

My puzzling question arises from the present phenomena (observations) about societies of third world order countries:

• Decreased local responsibility, demonstrated in some individual irresponsible practices, from all society generations demonstrated in these examples ;

   - Waste disposal by wrong practices like landfilling even, burning of wastes can take place in extremely poor communities,  

    - Vandalism.

  -Cutting forest trees  ''artificial deforestation'' in order to get cheap sources of firewood and energy.

  -Washing clothes in rivers, leading to their pollution

           -Consuming cheap non eco-friendly products.

•  The presence of some misconceptions in popular culture like, 'Environmental issues, pollution are those caused by industrial organizations ''factories'', and have nothing to do with wrong individual practices'

So my puzzling would be:

''Why do developing countries suffer from low environmental awareness at both an individual and a societal level? ''

Three possible explanations could be:

1. Low economy and increased poverty:  could be an outcome of  population explosion .As proposed by the famous ''Environmental Kuznets curve'' which suggests that environmental impact increases with decreased GDP.

2. Education:  absence of an appropriate standard of environmental education ; school education doesn't engage the process of increasing awareness among kids regarding wrong environmental practices, indifferent school administrations to integrating either curricular or extracurricular activities regarding environmental and sustainability issues

3.Political : corrupt governments and policy-makers  usually lack enough responsibility  in provision of appropriate public health, environmental services like resources management,….etc.

Q#1 What are your first impressions with the social science perspective on industrial Ecology ? and how do they relate with the earlier experiences with social sciences?

My first impressions, well… First off; I had an  absolute scientific background, during my undergraduate studies (Biology) ….so I consider the first meeting as the ''ultimate social science debut'' !!!! . I find it extremely appealing to get to learn about some social aspects  of sustainable development, however, I am still, uncertain if I could clearly grasp and distinguish between the social concepts like theory and assumption. 

To me , I think about social science as :

1.  A ''guideline- maker''  to how ''we''; that is every single member of the techno sphere should behave in order to attain sustainability in our societies on both, a national and international levels.
2.  In addition to developing theories, based on observations and conclusions regarding a certain phenomenon; justifying reasons of certain behaviors in a given society.