Great Lakes, Great Decisions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Great Lakes, Great Decisions - Case Study Example Political – the political environment for leaded gasoline had changed markedly due to the intense lobbying of environmental groups. Politicians who plan to seek office and those already in office but are seeking re-election have no choice but to listen to advocacy groups. By the end of the twentieth century, various scientific studies have established that lead can really cause adverse health conditions such as brain damage in children, respiratory problems in adults and overall lowering of the air quality (Mead, Wicks, Werhane and Freeman 156). In such a politically-charged atmosphere, not only politicians but businesses as well have to also take into consideration how their products may harm the environment and listen to opinion. A big company like Great Lakes has to exercise its responsibilities as a corporate citizen too. A new operating environment has to be taken into consideration when making strategic plans in business decision making like compliance with stricter emis sion standards as required under new policies by the Clean Air Act (1970) that banned the use of leaded gasoline. Economic – the economics of mass transportation such as private cars and buses has been going in the direction of clean and renewable energy such as ethanol or through the use of lower-rated unleaded gasoline through the use of catalytic converters the prices of which are going down because these previously specialized products are now becoming generic. At any rate, the cost of transitioning away from leaded gasoline is not that expensive as studied by both the World Bank (WB) and the World Health Organization (WHO); the net negative impact on economic growth rates is not that substantial anyway as thought (ibid. 158). Social – people are getting sick from all the lead pollution in the air they breathe and now realized how harmful some of their lifestyles have been on themselves and environment. To such an extent, a growing social movement towards healthy living and health awareness is making the changeover to unleaded gasoline a mandatory strategic move for big busines ses. It is unrealistic for a business enterprise to ignore these social movements which determine to a large extent the buying patterns of consumers. Sooner or later, people would see the healthy benefits of using unleaded gasoline for themselves and their children. Using macro-economic environmental analysis allows business leaders to anticipate future trends (Fleischer 172). Technological – energy production has been shifting towards a renewable and clean energy source for cars such as bio-fuels like bio-ethanol derived from alcohol produced by a fermentation process of the sugar components of plants like sugarcane and starch crops. Shift to clean energy sources has been partly driven by a combination of factors such as peak oil (a realization that fossil fuels production is now on a downtrend due to fast depletion of known reserves which are non-renewable), the political instability of crude oil supplier-countries, the high gasoline prices, concern over the environment and government subsidies for bio-fuels. A shift to renewable energy sources is inevitable as new production techniques lower its costs. Legal – as can be seen from the experience with the markets in developed countries, new environmental regulations and laws pertaining to preservation of the environment are all being strictly enforced such as clean air standards requiring lower sulfur emissions. All those developing