The Business Community in Australia - Assignment Example

The rapid rise in global warming, sea level rising, and the amount of consumable water depleting is a concern for all economy. The growth of concept of environment and climatic changes through different structure which has increased the role of both government and private bodies has increased the development of new rules which look towards mutual benefit of most. World organizations have played a pivotal role in this regard. This paper presents the manner in which the concept of environmental pollution has grown in Australia and the manner the government has framed different rules and legislation to ensure that environmental harm is contolled. It has grown the role of the different stakeholders, government and private bodies so that they can work together so that the mutual goals are achieved. This paper further dwells on the different factor which affects community and the manner it has to be dealt so that better environment can be developed which will help to preserve the environment. Community today is looked as an area where public, government, service providers, leaders and business contribute towards the well being of the society so that the common goals and objectives can be achieved in the most productive manner (Munar, 2012). This includes looking after the older people, ensuring inclusion of all community, ensure proper decision making and garnering the required flexibility so that the larger section of the society can be looked into. This will help to make rules and legislation which will ensure better environment for the community. The Australian government has altready taken steps in that direction and the development of different rules like The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting act (NGER) and the Carbon Tax will ensure that the environment is looked after (BCA, 2008). I agree to the fact that community has to play a larger role as they can transform the manner in which environment is looked after and will help to preserve the world for a large period of time. The Australian government on their part has started with the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme with the aim to reduce emission. The government has set a cap and will work towards those and ensure that it’s below the limits. The government for this scheme has developed the overall initiative looking into different areas. The scheme will yield better results if recycling is also looked into seriously. The Carbon Reduction Pollution Scheme started by the Australian government is an initiative to reduce carbon emission. “The scheme starts in 2011 with the prime mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”. (DAFF, 2010) The government to ensure that emission levels fall have taken “commitment to reduce it by 60% by 2050 of 2010 level”. (DAFF, 2010) Government and private partnership is vital for environmental programs and effective development of the community as the different stakeholders is able to understand their role and contribution (Dodds and Marion, 2005). This requires empowerment and involvement from all the stakeholders so that they are able to understand their role and contribute towards the environment by reducing the harm that is done on the environment. With millions of computers being dumped is adding to the worries of the government as green house gas emission is rising. It is estimated that “1.6 million computers is dumped every year which is giving rise to emission”. (Television Recycling, 2009) With the government looking forward to look ways to control recycling electronic equipments is a way out. Since, the electronic equipments are the biggest contributor so reducing those is a must. I also feel that it will help to reduce the amount of environmental pollution as increased use of products which can be recycled will help to ensure that the environment is supported and the overall human world is preserved. This has helped to identify some of the problems that the stakeholders face like lack of proper conceptual design and strategies, lack of participation, lack of understanding of their roles and responsibilities in community program, and lack of proper agreement which includes all sections and ensure equal participation (Olsson, 2010). I also feel that it will help to control the world environment and ensure that the future generations are able to sustain a better life. This increases the importance of ensuring that community programs are developed which look towards participation from all stakeholders so that the efforts of the entire people can be divulged in a manner that helps in the accomplishment of the larger goals. This will help to ensure better efforts and alignment of the skills so that the community on a large benefits. The concept of environmental pollution and climatic change is widly prevalent in the tourism and hospitality sectors as this sectors are service sectors which are driven by humans. The hospitality & tourism sector requires that all the stakeholders work together so that while providing services the atmosphere and other factors are considered. Further, it requires the effort of the stakeholders in ensuring that the sector through their contribution is able to preserve the environment and provide the future generations with a lot of options due to wide scale availability of stakeholders who can contribute immensely towards the benefit of the society (Waldo & Paulrud, 2012). The development of new laws like a carbon tax by the Australian government has helped to control the environmental pollution to a large degree. It has ensured that organizations and business looking to pollute the air or the environment have to pay a fine and have to ensure proper conditions for the development of the future generation. Businesses in Australia have been affected by the legislation passed by the government which has made it mandatory for organization to pay carbon tax on the carbon footprints emitted by them. This will have an effect on the business prospects as it will requires special efforts and steps from the management to deal with it. The government has proposed a two way method to measure the amount of carbon footprint. Firstly is the direct emission where carbons are released directly into the environment during the manufacturing process. The second one related to indirect carbon emission as caused by the use of electricity, the process in which supply chain takes place and similar other ways which makes the business look towards emitting carbons. This will have a bearing on the business as it will result in an additional cost for the business. To deal with it in the most effective manner it is important that organizations look towards dealing with the issue seriously and look towards identifying ways through which it can be controlled as it would otherwise transform into additional cost for the business. This thereby requires special care and precaution to find out the most effective manner in which carbon emission will be dealt. I feel that this method will help to ensure that better environment is facilitated and the economy can be preserved for the well being of the society. The business community in Australia has to look towards finding out ways through which the business is able to reduce the amount of carbon emission in the environment. This will require that the business looks towards finding out ways in which direct emission can be controlled by looking towards adopting ways which emit less carbons and substituting towards ways through which better efficiency can be achieved. The business world can also look towards ensuring that lights, computers and other equipments and machineries are switched off when not required. This will help to save carbon emission and will act as a way through which carbon emission is controlled. In a similar way the business based on their fundamental needs have to find out a way in controlling carbon so that they are able to reduce the cost associated with carbon tax. The modalities of the environmental pollution highlight different factors due to which the overall working of the community gets affected. This requires that special consideration is made towards identifying the factors that have an effect on the environment so that ways can be developed to combat it. Some of the factors which include both the global and local ones are as (Pesamaa & Hair, 2008) Active Living including lifestyle: The environmental legislation programs gets affected due to the style of living and the lifestyle as lack of proper facilities which helps to improve the condition of living affects the manner in which the stakeholders work and thereby has an effect on the overall environment. The manner in which the society is looking towards new model and developments has increasd environmental pollution. The Australian government thereby has developed different legislation which aims at reducing the carbon emission and has capped the amount of environmental pollution that is done. Natural Environment: The depleting water resources and increasing temperatures is affecting the environment and is acting as a hindrance in ensuring proper strategy for development of the community. The manner in which sewer and construction of infrastructure has been affected is thereby causing an effect on community programs. The Carbon Reduction Pollution Scheme as framed by the Australian Government has proposed “the cap and trade system to control green house gas emission “. (CRPS, 2010) The government in this scheme has “kept an upper limit to the amount of carbon the country will emit and will reduce it as years pass by on a rolling basis”. (CRPS, 2010). This will help to control the amount of pollution. In addition to it The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting act (NGER) and the Carbon Tax which is aimed at controlling the amount of carbon emission will help to ensure that the business is able to grow and the society benefits over a longer period of time (DAFF, 2012). Social Capital: Lack of empowerment to develop health and well being center is acting as a hindrance to environment as it has resulted in a lack of effective communication strategy. Further, the lack of training needs in this regard is affecting the stakeholders to work effectively and acting as a hindrance to growth. The Australian government as a result has ensured that they provide the necessary guidance and provide the required inputs through which the business and other community in Australia is able to control pollution. The framing of different legislation like The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting act (NGER) and the Carbon Tax has also ensured that the different bodies are well aware about the different developments and areas through which better execution of the roles and responsibilities have become possible (CPA, 2008). Economic Growth: Recessionary conditions and the inability of the economy to finance the required expenses is increasing the burden on the government which has delayed the environmental programs and has made it difficult to ensure the same effectiveness with which the community programs were otherwise used. This has been a worrying factor for the Australian governent but the government has ensured to act positively in this direction and has looked towards making rules through which they look towards reducing the amount of emission and ensuring that the people are better protected and preserved. Thus, there are different reasons which highlight the areas under which the environmental program is difficult to be implemented. This requires more accountability, involvement and passing of authority to the stakeholders so that they are able to work effectively towards the program. In addition to it the increase role of the government bodies and stricter rules and regulations will ensure that the environment is looked after (DAFF, 2012). It is also considered that breaking the different environmental legislation will have an impact of the financials of the organization. This will result in a decrease in money being spent on payroll, green marketing, and research (Queen, 2007). This will thereby impact the corporate social responsibility strategies and will make businesses postpone their capital expenditure in that direction due to paucity of funds. This will be a temporary phenomenon but will certainly have some impact on the future policies and strategies that the business community formulates. The Australian government has been strict in this regard which will thereby ensure that the rules are made through which the environment is protected and human life is preserved. This is backed by a fact that economic recession will result in a decrease in capital expenditure which would transform into a plunge in profits. Since businesses require the funds to be able to finance the different environmental programs and strategies it will directly have an impact on it (Winegarden, 2008). Businesses during this phase are unable to maintain the same strategies which will wipe away the old strategies that the management had crafted with regard to their role towards the environment. This will make the companies look towards ways of improving the bottom line which will adversely have an impact on corporate social responsibility and will dilute the interest of the stakeholders. This will also make the society and the people understand the contribution of the society towards the environment and the manner the different business world fraternity looks to preserve the environment. Despite different views a proponent supports that fact that environment protection has impact on corporate social responsibility. This is primarily due to the fact that business in this competitive world will have to address the issues of climatic changes irrespective of recession as the world community demands it (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001). This will make the world bodies and organization still look towards developing ways to ensure that they are able to contribute towards the environment and the society. This would thereby transform into better opportunities in the near future. Keeping this in mind business have to ensure that they still consider environmental responsibility as important aspect of business and look towards making strategies which ensures betterment of the stakeholders. This will thereby have to reduce the impact of on environmnt and businesses will be guided by long term motives to ensure better facilities and products for the society (Queen, 2007). This will also have an impact on businesses that don’t look towards environment will help the stakeholders to understand whether the companies do what it preaches (Stancich, 2009). This will help the stakeholders to differentiate between the companies that look towards the environment and those that don’t consider it. This will thereby have a positive impact as it will help to identify the companies and will result in a positive impact on the society especially by understanding the role that the differet companies have with regard to preserving the environment. The Australian government has been able to ensure that they through their strict legislation look towards preserving the environment and have the required framework developed which will ensure minimum carbon emission and protection of the environment. Businesses in Australia have been affected by the legislation passed by the government which has made it mandatory for organization to pay carbon tax on the carbon footprints emitted by them. This will have an effect on the business prospects as it will requires special efforts and steps from the management to deal with it. The government has proposed a two way method to measure the amount of carbon footprint. Firstly is the direct emission where carbons are released directly into the environment during the manufacturing process. The second one related to indirect carbon emission as caused by the use of electricity, the process in which supply chain takes place and similar other ways which makes the business look towards emitting carbons. This will have a bearing on the business as it will result in an additional cost for the business. To deal with it in the most effective manner it is important that organizations look towards dealing with the issue seriously and look towards identifying ways through which it can be controlled as it would otherwise transform into additional cost for the business. This thereby requires special care and precaution to find out the most effective manner in which carbon emission will be dealt. I think that it is important that organizations look towards the long term perspective and based on continue with their environmental programs so that they are able to sustain a competitive edge (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001). This will help the public to understand companies which are ethical will look towards the same business fundamental and based on it will look towards developing strategies so that the environment is considered an important aspect and business is able to build a brand impact and work for the betterment of the society and its stakeholders. This will also receive the preference and support from the government and will be able to ensure that they are able to gain maximum leverage and benefit through which the society benefits. Thus, carbon reduction pollution scheme will bring about a change in a lot of things. The decision making as a result of this will get alter. Organisations will look to include the scheme while planning. The financial department will also see various changes with regards to recording, measuring, auditing and all financial related changes as carbon reduction pollution scheme will affect the planning. I also feel that looking towards preserving the environment will help the world fraternity and improve the overall stature with which the work is done all over. The paper thereby presents the manner in which the new legislation passed by the government which has made it mandatory for organization to pay carbon tax on the carbon footprints emitted by them will have an effect on the business prospects. Since, the government looks towards identifying both the direct and indirect emission it will thereby have to be dealt in the most efficient manner. The report also brings forward the different issues and problems that it might look towards presenting for the business as a carbon tax directly would lead towards additional cost which the business will look to pass on to the customers. The report also shows that the business fraternity needs to look towards ways which aims at reducing carbon emission and have to ensure that in times when the business doesn’t require computers and other equipments which consume electricity are switched off so that carbon emission can be controlled and the business will be able to function in the most efficient manner. References BCA 2008. British Council of Australia: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper Submission CRPS, 2012. Carbon Reduction Pollution Scheme”, Government of Australia Undertaking, 2010 retrieved on Dec 15, 2012 from http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/carbon/ CPA, 2008. Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: What will be the business impact. CPA Australia Ltd, retrieved on Dec 15, 2012 from http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au DAFF, 2012. Carbon Reduction Pollution Scheme. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, retrieved on Dec 15, 2012 from http://www.daff.gov.au/climatechange/carbon_pollution_reduction_scheme Dodds, R. and Marion, J. 2005. CSR in the Tourism Industry? The Status of and Potential for Certification, Codes of Conduct and Guidelines. CSR Practice Foreign Investment Advisory Service Investment Climate Department McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. 2001. Corporate social responsibility: A theory of the firm perspective. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 117-127 Munar, A. 2012. Social Media Strategies and Destination Management. Scandinivian Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 12 (2), pp. 101 – 120 Olsson, A. 2010. A Tourist Attraction’s Members: Their Motivations, Relations and Roles. Scandinivian Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 10 (4), pp. 441 – 429 Pesamaa, O. & Hair, J. 2008. Cooperative Strategies for Improving the Tourism Industry in Remote Geographic Regions: An Addition to Trust and Commitment Theory with one Key Mediating Construct. Scandinivian Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 8 (1), pp. 48-61 Queen, E. 2007. Defining and understanding the need for a moral approach to business. Knowledge@Emory, Retrieved on Dec 15, 2012 from http://www.knowledge.emory.edu Stancich, R. 2008. Recession-proof ethics can weather the storm. Ethical Corporation Journal, March, pp. 18-21 Waldo, S. & Paulrud, A. 2012. Obstacles to Developing Recreational Fishing Enterprises. Scandinivian Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 12 (2), pp. 121 – 139 Winegarden, W. 2008. The Economic Recession and the Future of CSR. Retrieved on Dec 15, 2012 from http://www.townhall.com Read More