Questions:

1. What does it mean to be responsive in the Age of Responsibility? Provide examples, and explain the trade-off between responsiveness and scalability.

2. In the article, “A pale shade of green” as published in The Economist on March 9th, (also handed out in class) what are the key challenges in creating a sustainable market for palm oil extraction? Which initiatives have been attempted as means to create transparency? What does the future look like for the industry?

3. What is glocality, and how would you apply the concept to any product or service of your own choosing? What is the benefit to business of glocality?

4. Human bias is a serious impediment to forming beliefs that map on to reality. Corporations create impacts on the environment and community, and we sometimes ignore such impacts for the sake of gain, and allow negative externalities to accumulate into a mixed bag of unintended consequences. The way we talk about environmental and social problems has been a challenge to business, but how can we convince others (customers) that sustainability is a desirable end? Refer to the best/latest science or behavioural economics in describing a plan for nudging consumers toward sustainability.

5. Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia doesn’t think it is appropriate to describe a company as sustainable. He thinks we need to spend more time in nature, simplify our lives and be responsible. Explain how these ideas fit together with his beliefs about running a responsible company.

6. What are the key drivers in the Age of Responsibility, according to Wayne Visser? In other words, what is causing companies to take sustainability more seriously, and what are some of the reasons or evidence for this shift in the market? What are some of the consequences for companies that ignore sustainability as a driver?

7. Why does Visser view Walmart as an example of a company worthy of emulation? What are some of the problems about how sustainable companies have introduced sustainable products and services into the marketplace, and what does Walmart’s best practices have to teach us about sustainability? Furthermore, why would Walmart pursue sustainability, if its primary objective is profit? 8. Explain the difference between ‘cradle to grave’ and ‘cradle to cradle’ design, and describe a process by which a service or product could become circular. In other words, how can we look at waste differently, or create products that don’t produce negative externalities? Can you provide examples of companies that have successfully transitioned to a cradle to cradle process?

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