EMS report

https://www.scribd.com/doc/249623003/Sanne-de-Groot-LG

9: Research proposal

The assignment is to write a research proposal about how the economic crisis offers possibilities for Industrial Ecology applications. Also a given is the framework by Boons (2011) as described below.

Aims
Objectives of the study are:
- discovering relations between economic fluctuations and Industrial Ecology,
- detecting of opportunities for new initiatives or upscaling of existing ones
- and have starting point for scenarios of future development.

The hypothesis is:

There are Industrial Ecology initiative opportunities because of the economic crisis as seen from a macro level perspective.

The scope involves the meso and macro levels as in the framework of Boons (2011). Relevant developments regarding the current crisis will go back to 2007 when the current economic crisis began. Reference developments related to economic fluctuations can go back to the year 1800 when the London Stock Exchange was founded. From the hypothesis follows a focus on the coordination mechanism of self governance and less on governments.

Background
The background of this research is that recent economic developments are related to environmental problems. The current economic goal, at least until 2009, is that there must be a growth in GDP. However we are living on a finite earth so there are limits to growth. This observation is known since the Brundtland report. But less is known about the opportunities that this brings.

The significance for Industrial Ecology is to have an inventory of viable practices. Also policy makers could use this to stimulate desired behaviour. Because of deregulation of government tasks there will also be new opportunities for private parties.

Previous research
The framework as provided by Boons (2011) describes an overview of social systems. There are three levels: The micro level with individual actions choice that is the source of variation; The meso level of coordination mechanisms with routines that get selected and transmitted; And the macro level can be described as external dynamics. External dynamics consists of the adaptive cycle (Holling 2001), the polycentric perspective (Andersson and Ostrom 2008) and public and private goods (Hart 1995). These dynamics are connected to each other. And change is leading to innovation.
The adaptive cycle can be studied to spot growth, conservation, release and reorganisation. These are cyclic activities that can influence other levels as well. A crisis is a form of release at the macro level that can affect activities on the meso level.

Plan
Methodology that will be used is studying interactions between the meso level and the macro level. Because of certain global changes there will be a response within coordination mechanisms. These could again have an effect the outside world. Socio-ecological-systems that describe this are studied before by Ostrom (2009).

Information will be gathered from literature. Mainly literature about previous economic crises can be used. Also the effects of these crises on environmental measures can be mapped. Creative destruction (Schumpeter 1950) can be starting point to discover interesting case studies.

Analysis of data can be by putting significant happenings and case studies on a time line. This results in observations of relations between different levels. By drawing conclusions from this there can be feedback on the hypothesis.

Timeline of doing the research is publishing the article in one year. This consists of:
- information gathering,
- analysis of data,
- refinement of methodology,
- writing
- and peer reviewing.

Limitations of this research are that events and results are not always unambiguous. And certain happenings in the past do not guarantee that the same solutions are expected or appropriate.

Alternative study could be to interview people in the field about their solutions for the current situation. This research with interviews is mostly focusing on the micro level which is outside the scope of this research.

Literature
Andersson and Ostrom (2008). Analyzing decentralized resource regimes from a polycentric perspective. Policy Sci, 41. 71-93.
Boons, F. (2011). Putting things together. Lecture at Industrial Ecology, Leiden University and TU Delft, 22 December 2011.
Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20. 4, 986-1014.
Holling, C. S. (2001). Understanding the Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems. Ecosystems, 4. 390-405.
Ostrom, E. (2009). A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems. Science, 325. 419-422.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1950). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. P. 220. New York: Harper & Row.

10: Environmental Management System (EMS) exercise

This last post is about remaking an exercise that can be done in class.

The problem with the exercise to develop an EMS for every department of a computer systems provider was that is was not totally specified. The good thing is that it makes you think of what the company exactly does. Most of us thought about computer manufacturing but also network infrastructure and software came along. Additionally you don't have to read the assignment for fifteen minutes first. It was a nice exercise but could be tweaked a little to work better for bigger groups. This was the outcome of the exercise we did in class:

The aim of the exercise: To see the complexity in the EMS decision making process. My idea is to conclude towards one EMS for the entire company. There could also be some input in the form of competition from other companies.

The company is a light bulb manufacturer with the departments of

- marketing,

- designing,

- manufacturing,

- and environment.

Every department group has the roles as one manager, engineers, ICT people and laborers. All student are assigned to a department and can choose the role they want to play. This way everyone has their own part to contribute. If several people want to be manager there can be several executives that send one representing manager to the board of directors.

Just like in the exercise of this year, every department first determines its vision of an environmental better future. Then the information needed and provided will be inventoried. And then what information has to be collected routinely.

In five minutes the managers reporting to the board of directors have to reach one slogan for the entire companies EMS (not Lets Make Things Better).

Background information: incandescent light bulbs will be phased out and there is competition with the other producers of

- low-energy fluorescent lamps,

- stylish LEDs,

- sun replacement lights,

- and alarm clock lights.

Week 6: Government influence on LCA implementation

The topic of this week was how governments can influence the market to reach their own goals. Four methods governments can use to stimulate the use of LCA's are:

External control through regulations
Before certain products are allowed to be sold they will have to undergo a LCA. Also communication to the public is important to let the market determine if these products will still be sold. For example labeling with easy to understand benchmarks can make sure the information is accessible.

External control through taxes
If products are taxed by their environmental impact than information is needed about this impact. If no Life Cycle Assessment is made a worst case scenario would be applied. So products that are not assessed would fall in the highest tax scale.

Boundary conditions through deregulation
It could be agreed with industries to manage targets on LCA's before a specific date, otherwise regulations will be made. Self organization of the industries will help to share data, control the members and maintain competitiveness with an equal playing ground.

Boundary conditions through stimulation
Subsidies, knowledge generation and consulting can be friendly ways to stimulate a certain behaviour. Of course this comes with a price in financial terms. Montero (2011) comes with a hybrid solution to cover expenses with taxes on non cooperating parties. There are expected benefits from increased research & development. According to Cobb (2004) studies have shown that investing in R&D generates growth in markets that become increasingly competitive.

Conclusion
My choice for this specific goal is with boundary conditions through deregulation. This way the expertise available at the companies involved can be used for implementation. A non governmental organization could control the results. If targets are not being made, a form of external control could be applied.

The stimulation option to increase the use of LCA's will probably only influence products that already have a green image. This method is more useful to inform the market about the relevance. Also being a role model can help with sustainable procurement.

References:

Montero, J. M. (2011). A note on environmental policy and innovation when governments cannot commit. Energy Economics, 33, 13-19.

Cobb, D & Gates, J. (2004). Incentives for innovation. Engineering Management 14(3), 14-17.

Week 5 - social networks

Social networks are networks between actors. Some actors are more central in the web, some figure as a bridge between different groups and some are standing on the side. When studied in the form of online communities there is also the term social media. The movie from 2010 called Social Network is even about the social medium Facebook. Social media that I am using have no direct coordinating mechanisms, so I will describe two special social groups.

Theater group
A more concrete network I am involved in is a theater group in Delft. Every production a (different) board is managing new members, funds and logistics. The board is the least dependent on the other members of the group. The board is dependent on the members that are willing to form a new board for the continuity.

Members are playing, making music and delivering the sound, light, costumes or stage. Reasons to participate are mostly fun and some social and learning opportunities. Members are depending on the board and director but could also self organize activities.

The director sometimes gets paid and most of the times likes to work with student groups. He/she is mostly dependent on the players to produce something and partly on the board for funding.

Approximately once a year there is a performance with spectators that are depending on the players. And in return the spectators deliver a financial contribution to the production.

Last but not least are the funds. S&C from TU Delft has a location and gets a good relation back with the students. Other funds are depending on gifts and interest to stimulate a cultural climate.

Conquer Club
This gaming website allows users to play an equivalent of the boardgame Risk with each other. This is set up by an individual in 2006 that wanted to turn his hobby into his work. Most of the other administrators are volunteers that can modify forum posts or even ban players if they misbehave.

Everyone has an own user name and can organize themselves in so called clans. These clans are ranked in score so the higher clans are more in favor to join. The clans have their own leaders that decide if a new members is accepted. Making friends also helps so you know what to expect in the game.

The most interesting for me is the map making section. Everybody with an idea for a new environment can submit this and everybody can give feedback. So people are depending on getting feedback in order to continue with the idea. Also to try these new environments people are depending on the mapmakers.

Week 4 - Nokia

Companies like Nokia are outsourcing the manufacturing to their suppliers. These supplier companies are active in countries with low labor cost. Whose responsibility is it to improve the working conditions for the laborers in the supplier factories?

Is it effective to let suppliers meet Nokia's sustainability criteria diffusively?
By selecting the most sustainable supplier for their devices Nokia can steer towards its criteria for sustainable development. If production cost only rises with a small fraction it would be acceptable. If not only the involved production line is improved but the entire factory complies with the demands then the effects could be huge.

How would another government mechanism improve on this?
If none of the existing factories is able to deliver the required quality there is also an option to start an own factory where the conditions can be determined. This is not likely to happen because Nokia's policy is to focus on the design instead of production. Also there would be a stronger connection between the company and possible abuses that could deliver bad advertisement.

Policy of the Chinese government

The employees in the documentary A Decent Factory by Thomas Balmès are on probation time for half a year without a contract. In this way they can work below minimum wage. If the government would allow lower wages during the probation time they would possibly get a contract. This way the employees would get more rights.

A successful government mechanism is the implementation of one child politics. The factory is responsible for birth control. If a girl gets pregnant this will also gets her fired. Apparently it is not difficult to let companies cooperate with government policy. A law or better enforcement could improve the conditions of workers in the entire country.