The Industry of London and the Environment of the United Kingdom - Dissertation Example

?Introduction There is an increasing emphasis on the impact of business and industry on environment and what could be the costs which society as a whole has to bear as a result of such impact. There is an increasing discussion on the development of sustainable business practices so that the overall impact of the industry on environment can be minimized and the resources of the earth can be sustained for foreseeable future. UK is one of the leading industrial nations in the world with major contribution towards the overall industrial output of the world. Greater London is one of the largest administrative areas in UK with significant concentration of industry and other services related firms. The presence of such significant number of industries in the region also invariably affect the environment of the region specifically and UK generally. London is also considered as the third command city in the world after New York and Tokyo because of the fact that it is the leading financial hub of the world. The overall population of London is however, mostly employed by the Services sector with less than a million population working in the manufacturing sector. Region’s only substantial manufacturing facility is Ford Dagenham which is also the largest diesel engine manufacturing facility in the world. Though the overall concentration of industry is low in the region however, it can still pose a threat to the environment. This proposed research study therefore aims to assess and explore the impact of industry in greater London on the environment of UK generally and Southern England specifically. Aims and Objectives of the Research The major aim of this research study is to understand and explore as to how the industry of great London impact on the environment of UK and especially the Southern England. The researcher aims to explore as to what can be the different characteristics of the industry which affect the environment most and what safety and security apparatus are in place to lessen the impact of same on the environment. The emphasis will be on the assessment of the impact on the environment in the Southern England while a general assessment of its impact on UK wide basis will also be made. Overall, this research aims to achieve following objectives: 1. How industries in great London have an impact on environment? 2. Are there any particular types of industries which are affecting the environment most? 3. Whether regulatory requirements for environment are being met by the industry? A general assessment of the regulatory requirements and the implementation will be undertaken to understand as to whether regulations have any influence on reducing the impact. 4. Does industry is taking efforts to lessen such impact? 5. If yes, what measures have been taken so far in order to contain the damage? These broader aims and objectives will therefore set the overall tone and direction of the research. These research objectives will also allow the researcher to set the overall research questions and hypothesis for this research. Research questions and Hypothesis Following research questions and hypothesis will be constructed for the purpose of this research: 1. Industry has significant impact on the environment. Industry does not have any impact on the environment? 2. Businesses have put in place appropriate security and risk measures to reduce the impact on environment. There are no significant efforts taken by the industry to reduce the impact on environment. 3. Regulations have been successful in compelling businesses to reduce the harmful impact on environment. Regulations have failed to compel businesses to reduce the harmful impact on environment. Literature Review Greater London region has important significance in the economy of UK and contributed towards the economy to a great extent. It is also however, important to note that the economy of London went through a structural change where the focus was shifted from the manufacturing to services sector. Greater London therefore is still dominated by the firms which are services oriented in nature. However, the presence of manufacturing related firms is still there and the region hosts one of the largest diesel engine manufacturing facilities in the world. Other than services related businesses in the region include manufacturing as well as construction businesses. Construction business is also considered as damaging to the environment and there is a renewed focus on the building of green housing units in order to ensure that the environment is sustained during the construction activities. During the deindustrialization of the region, most of the industries have either closed down their operations or relocated themselves out of the region in order to take better advantage of the available opportunities in other regions. This change in focus therefore shall also be considered as one of the key reasons as to why the overall assessment of the environmental damage of the industry specifically related with business may not be assessed. Research suggests that there is an inner resistance within the industry and businesses where there are differences between the ecologically conscious attitudes of the businesses and their actual behavior. (Chakraborty, 1997). This difference between the two therefore outlines as to how the businesses actually perceive and behave in order to support the environment. This also suggests that the businesses and industry may not be actually taking the right steps in order to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment. It has been generally accepted that the business and specially the manufacturing activities have on the environment. It has been argued that manufacturing activities produce different kinds of pollution and contribute towards the creation of an environment which could not be conducive. Further the mass consumption of the different resources such as energy as well as the water is another important aspect in which businesses can actually have an affect on the environment. It is argued that consumers are becoming more and more concerned about the over exploitation of the business resources of the world. The way current production processes and systems are designed and used by the industry often result into the over-exploitation of the environmental resources and damage the environment. Further, the impacts of industry on global warming, carbon emission as well as the loss of biodiversity are some of the themes which have been highlighted in the literature. One of the themes in research is focused on analysis of balancing the economic and social benefits of the industry with the environmental damage. The emphasis on the cleaner and environment friendly production processes has become priority. This is due to the fact that the better and cleaner production processes will often result into less damage to the environment and therefore can be more conducive for the environment. It has been argued that the existing codes and procedures for the development of sustainable development practices are not adequate enough for the global businesses specially. The lack of the development of the proper codes and procedures therefore allow businesses and industry to actually engaging into the practices which cannot be considered as conducive for the environment and therefore can often create damage to the environment. (Garvare, & Isaksson, 2001). Goetz (2010) has suggested an incentive based framework to induce small businesses especially to engage into the sustainable business development practices and lessen the impact of their operations on the environment. Incentive framework therefore is also targeted as generating the corporate social responsibility while ensuring that the impact of the business is relatively less on the environment. The above literature review suggests that the most of the effort has been focused on the development of an alternative business model to allow businesses and industry to balance their social and economic benefits with the environment. Research methodology Methodology is a systematic investigation of a research topic by employing different methods in order to arrive at meaningful conclusion. It therefore allows the researcher to develop and explore different research questions and also provides an insight into what is achievable for a researcher and what accomplishments can be made.( Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007) In order to conduct this research, the researcher aim to adapt a mix of desktop and field research while major focus will be on achieving a balancing act between the two. Research also aims to undertake a broader overview of the existing literature and research methods in order to develop and design a research study which can offer critical insight into the various hypothesis formulated at the beginning of this research study. In order to perform this research study, author will use a mix of both the qualitative as well as quantitative research approaches. Secondary Research While performing the secondary research, researcher aims to undertake a systematic review of the existing literature, websites, industry journals and other sources. Secondary research is important in the sense that it will allow the researcher to explore and understand underlying themes and broader areas which have been highlighted by the existing scholars. Primary Research The use of primary research will be of importance from the point of view of assessing the impact of the industry on the environment of UK and greater London. As a part of conducting the primary research, the researcher aims to develop a questionnaire and conduct personal interviews from some of the industry experts in order to seek their opinions on the research topic. It is also however, important to note that a well developed questionnaire is considered as necessary in order to receive meaningful answers. As such a good questionnaire shall always be distinctive with purpose of the research, must put forward the relevant as well as the appropriate questions besides is clear on how the overall aims of the research will be achieved. (Biggam. 2008) Research aim to apply selective sampling methods and will chose to interview approximately 5 managers from service, manufacturing as well as construction firms working in the region. Data Collection Data will be collected through questionnaires and personal interviews besides exploring the existing facts and figures available in the secondary research studies. As described above that the researcher aims to interview at least five managers from different firms and will circulate the questionnaires as well as arrange the personal interviews with them. Though personal interviews are considered as time consuming and costly however, data collected through this method is considered as accurate. (Dawson. 2009) Personal interviews therefore can also provide an opportunity to gather large amount of data for the purpose of research. Personal interviews however, will be semi-structured in nature as researcher aims to explore and understand deeper issues regarding the concerns of the industry as well as the businesses and how they perceive and view this process. Quantitative Analysis Quantitative analysis is performed in order to quantify the results of the research study and provide statistical significance to the results. Researcher therefore aims to employ different statistical methods Researcher aims to apply the descriptive statistics as well as regression and correlation analysis in order perform the quantitative analysis. Regression analysis will be performed specially in order to understand and explore any connection between the environmental damage and the presence of industry in the region. The results will be compared with other regions with significant concentration of manufacturing firms to explore as to whether there exists any relationship between the two in the region. For the purpose of conducting this analysis, researcher will use SPSS as a software tool to perform the descriptive statistics and regression and correlation analysis. Qualitative Analysis Qualitative analysis will be based upon the extensive review of the existing literature and industry journals in order to explore and understand the impact of the industry on the environment. Researcher anticipates uncovering different sources of data which can effectively provide a quantification of the costs which society as a whole has to incur as a result of the industry. Further, qualitative analysis will also allow the researcher to explore different issues raised by the earlier researchers. Ethical and Health related Issues Though exploring the relationship between environmental damage as well as the presence of industry itself presents an ethical dilemma, researcher however, is not foreseeing any ethical or health related issues in performing this research. References Biggam.J (2008) Succeeding with your masters Dissertation-A step by step handbook. McGraw-Hill Education, England Chakraborty, M (1997). Economic Incentives for Biodiversity: Will They Work in Developing Countries?. Economic and Political Weekly. 32(20), pp.1071-1073. Cohen.L, Manion.L & Morrison K(2007) Research Method In Education.6th edition.Routledge New York Dawson.C (2009) Introduction To Research Methods: A Practical guide for anyone undertaking a researchproject.4th edition How to Books Ltd, Oxford Garvare, R, & Isaksson, R (2001). Sustainable development: extending the scope of business excellence models. Measuring Business Excellence. 5(3), pp.58-65. Goetz, K (2010). Encouraging sustainable business practices using incentives: a practitioner's view. Management Research Review. 33 (1), pp.110-115. London's Place in the UK Economy [online]. (2005) [Accessed 10 March 2011]. Available from: . Read More