Response Paper on GI units 1,3 and 4
Through out the assigned Global Issues units certain themes seem to keep coming out that are vital in the world of international business. The emergence of the B.R.I.C is a key ingredient in understanding and planning for the future of international business. Also important is the growing population and the resources needed to sustain these numbers of people. We must also realize the effects that international business has had on the environment and what those effects will mean for us in the future. Finally and probably most all encompassing is the idea of the world evolving into one cohesive unit, better known as globalization of industry.
There can be many factors that can derail these economies and with that in mind we must realize that nothing about the future is truly written in stone.
We can no longer avoid the population problem, we are in the middle of it right now and it is staring us in the face. The problem is not only about the amount of people on earth, it is about the amount resources these people consume. For example, Americans represent roughly 5% of the world’s total population, however America is consuming about 24% of the world’s energy. Likewise we are also cornering the market in consumption of water, food, land, etc. The scary thing to think about is that citizens of developing countries want to live like Americans, but the world that we live in only has so to spread around. The majority of what we consume is not renewable. As a planet we are beginning to push the limits of our planet’s ability to provide its people. As nations begin to develop, for example the BRIC, their slice of the world’s resources will increase with them. What this means for developed economies (like the US) is that their slice of the world’s resources must shrink to accommodate the emerging economies. Developed nations are already consuming way beyond the earth’s capacity. Carrying Capacity has been exceeded for years. While developed countries are making progress in improving their conservation, there has been little to no reduction in the rate of consumption, these countries have only slowed the rate of per capita consumption. While these efforts are going on developing nations are sneaking up the consumption curve, which is accelerating the depletion of Earth’s resources: oil, potable water, wild fish, species, clean air, etc. Earth’s Carrying Capacity is supposedly between 1 and 3 billion people. We have exceeded that number for almost 50 years now.
As the world of business becomes more global we begin to realize that as a whole we are all having an effect on the environment. The call for more corporate socially responsible acts has never been higher. Different governments across the globe have different policies when it comes to environmental standards and that can be seen as a problem or a loophole depending on the business in question. It is no secret that certain businesses only focus on the bottom line and has no disregard for the means that get them there. These are the companies that will exploit another country’s labor laws, resources, environmental emissions laws and etc. As international business students we must realize that what we...
