Great Lakes, Great Decisions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Great Lakes, Great Decisions - Case Study Example Political – the political environment for leaded gasoline had changed markedly due to the intense lobbying of environmental groups. Politicians who plan to seek office and those already in office but are seeking re-election have no choice but to listen to advocacy groups. By the end of the twentieth century, various scientific studies have established that lead can really cause adverse health conditions such as brain damage in children, respiratory problems in adults and overall lowering of the air quality (Mead, Wicks, Werhane and Freeman 156). In such a politically-charged atmosphere, not only politicians but businesses as well have to also take into consideration how their products may harm the environment and listen to opinion. A big company like Great Lakes has to exercise its responsibilities as a corporate citizen too. A new operating environment has to be taken into consideration when making strategic plans in business decision making like compliance with stricter emis sion standards as required under new policies by the Clean Air Act (1970) that banned the use of leaded gasoline. Economic – the economics of mass transportation such as private cars and buses has been going in the direction of clean and renewable energy such as ethanol or through the use of lower-rated unleaded gasoline through the use of catalytic converters the prices of which are going down because these previously specialized products are now becoming generic. At any rate, the cost of transitioning away from leaded gasoline is not that expensive as studied by both the World Bank (WB) and the World Health Organization (WHO); the net negative impact on economic growth rates is not that substantial anyway as thought (ibid. 158). Social – people are getting sick from all the lead pollution in the air they breathe and now realized how harmful some of their lifestyles have been on themselves and environment. To such an extent, a growing social movement towards healthy living and health awareness is making the changeover to unleaded gasoline a mandatory strategic move for big busines ses. It is unrealistic for a business enterprise to ignore these social movements which determine to a large extent the buying patterns of consumers. Sooner or later, people would see the healthy benefits of using unleaded gasoline for themselves and their children. Using macro-economic environmental analysis allows business leaders to anticipate future trends (Fleischer 172). Technological – energy production has been shifting towards a renewable and clean energy source for cars such as bio-fuels like bio-ethanol derived from alcohol produced by a fermentation process of the sugar components of plants like sugarcane and starch crops. Shift to clean energy sources has been partly driven by a combination of factors such as peak oil (a realization that fossil fuels production is now on a downtrend due to fast depletion of known reserves which are non-renewable), the political instability of crude oil supplier-countries, the high gasoline prices, concern over the environment and government subsidies for bio-fuels. A shift to renewable energy sources is inevitable as new production techniques lower its costs. Legal – as can be seen from the experience with the markets in developed countries, new environmental regulations and laws pertaining to preservation of the environment are all being strictly enforced such as clean air standards requiring lower sulfur emissions. All those developing

Foundations and Enforcements of White Collar Crime Essay

Foundations and Enforcements of White Collar Crime - Essay Example Since such types of crimes are committed by respectable people, it often involves intricate manoeuvre of managerial accounting which may or may not be accompanied by huge amount of financial fraud. In 1970, Herbert Edlehertz, US Department of Justice Official, described white collar crime as ‘those illegal act or series of acts committed by non physical means and by concealment or guile, to obtain money, or property, or to obtain business advantage’ (Edlehertz). FBI2 has also reaffirmed Edlehertz’s definition and has asserted that white collar crimes are ‘characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence’ (USDOJ). The white collar crimes are illegal acts that violate state laws and the persons found guilty, can be tried under various section of Criminal Law. The wide scope of white collar crimes is open to interpretations and unless the culprit is caught with hard evidence of violating federal or state laws, it becomes very difficult to bring the offence and the offender to its rightful result. Enron Scandal is one of the most infamous white collar crimes where the top executives of the company were involved in huge financial bungling, money laundering, security fraud, wire fraud etc. that had finally led the company to seek bankruptcy in 2001 (Enron). In the recent times, there has been increasing cases of white collar crimes. The unethical conduct and non transparency in corporate governance has greatly facilitated the upsurge in the huge financial irregularity that has caused the loss of billions of dollars of the hard earned money of the public. There is urgent need to bring accountability within the working of the organization both public and private so as to safeguard public money and promote mutual trust and confidence. It is especially true in the contemporary times, when the world economy is