On Branco Schippers, Business of business
You mention the concept of a business not being human, but created by humans. I think this is a very interesting concept, posing the question "are we really in control of our businesses?". We would think that ofcourse the director/ceo/founder may be responsible for the business' actions. But also this is not always true, some forces from deeper inside a business that go around the director may be the reason for certain processes. I also agree that a loss of jobs or wages is not desired, allthough this has to be put in perspective. Maybe the company has irresponsibly hired too many persons? Maybe the wages where too high already?
On Branco Schippers, Kuznets explained
Thanks for sharing this interesting view upon the urge to reduce environmental pollutions outputs. I have not yet seen it as a pyramid where certain priorities are dynamic, bound to prosperity. In that sense, when we wished for mobility we could develop a (reasonably) functional system for private car transport. Than why can we not (yet) come up with a system that attacks CO2 as a pollutant? Maybe this takes time.
On Michelle Steenmeijer, the busines of business is to increase profit
I think overall what you say is correct and I can relate to your thoughts. I’m not sure if I understand “efficiency of a product” correctly in the blog. I would think of performance of the product, being able to do more, with less. Personally I am not sure if R&D and robots and such really increas the efficiency of a product. I think a lot of R&D and applying automated techniques is done to increase production rates; more & more, not better products per sé. However I do not know the facts of this. This touches upon another interesting topic; standardising life time of products. Do companies make products that on purpose last less long?
I think you picked a very accurate topic (materialism) that relates to our every day lives and the choices we make on a daily basis. It reminds me of a documentary by Alain de Botton, called “Status Anxiety”. Here, he confirms what you are saying: In a civilization where everyone should have the same chances, then why do I drive a Fiat Panda and my neighbour can drive an Audi A8? It is exactly this discrepancy in material goods that we use to read someone’s status: rich or poor.
I find the idea of materials separating people interesting, it is true that some things like the community bbq seem to fade away. Just like kids playing online games instead of playing hide and seek outside. On the other hand, also consider the social connections that can be made thanks to these technological interventions (WhatsApp, Facebook chat, online gaming). I myself am in perfect touch on a day to day basis with my friends from high school who live in different cities thanks to whatsapp, before we didn’t really know what’s going on in eachothers lives. It’s not optimal, but it’s something :)
And just to add a sprinkle of “hope” towards a better consumer market; have you heard of Peerby.nl? It’s a platform for everybody to share everything with everybody! Maybe these things will become more common the next decade.
You mention the concept of a business not being human, but created by humans. I think this is a very interesting concept, posing the question "are we really in control of our businesses?". We would think that ofcourse the director/ceo/founder may be responsible for the business' actions. But also this is not always true, some forces from deeper inside a business that go around the director may be the reason for certain processes. I also agree that a loss of jobs or wages is not desired, allthough this has to be put in perspective. Maybe the company has irresponsibly hired too many persons? Maybe the wages where too high already?
On Branco Schippers, Kuznets explained
Thanks for sharing this interesting view upon the urge to reduce environmental pollutions outputs. I have not yet seen it as a pyramid where certain priorities are dynamic, bound to prosperity. In that sense, when we wished for mobility we could develop a (reasonably) functional system for private car transport. Than why can we not (yet) come up with a system that attacks CO2 as a pollutant? Maybe this takes time.
On Michelle Steenmeijer, the busines of business is to increase profit
I think overall what you say is correct and I can relate to your thoughts. I’m not sure if I understand “efficiency of a product” correctly in the blog. I would think of performance of the product, being able to do more, with less. Personally I am not sure if R&D and robots and such really increas the efficiency of a product. I think a lot of R&D and applying automated techniques is done to increase production rates; more & more, not better products per sé. However I do not know the facts of this. This touches upon another interesting topic; standardising life time of products. Do companies make products that on purpose last less long?
On Michelle Steenmeijer, Materialism and lonliness
I find the idea of materials separating people interesting, it is true that some things like the community bbq seem to fade away. Just like kids playing online games instead of playing hide and seek outside. On the other hand, also consider the social connections that can be made thanks to these technological interventions (WhatsApp, Facebook chat, online gaming). I myself am in perfect touch on a day to day basis with my friends from high school who live in different cities thanks to whatsapp, before we didn’t really know what’s going on in eachothers lives. It’s not optimal, but it’s something :)
And just to add a sprinkle of “hope” towards a better consumer market; have you heard of Peerby.nl? It’s a platform for everybody to share everything with everybody! Maybe these things will become more common the next decade.
On Josefine Rook, Friedman Proposition
Hi Josefine,
I agree that consumers can change supply. Actually, I always believe in the idea that whatever products or services there are being sold is a mirror of society. No matter how weird, polluting or green a product is, it is only produced because there is groups of people that want the products.
So far I can only agree with what you are saying, since what you describe is a personal devolopment that you have made since the beginning of this course.It seems you learned more about your personal opinion along the way which is good!
I agree that consumers can change supply. Actually, I always believe in the idea that whatever products or services there are being sold is a mirror of society. No matter how weird, polluting or green a product is, it is only produced because there is groups of people that want the products.
So far I can only agree with what you are saying, since what you describe is a personal devolopment that you have made since the beginning of this course.It seems you learned more about your personal opinion along the way which is good!
On Josefine Rook, Rational Decision making
Hi Josefine
I think you clearly described the steps of the RAM, using Obama's decision as an example. I think it is very well applied.
I do miss the part where you where supposed to "Write an alternative, equally plausible account, showing how these actions might result from a boundedly rational organization (à la Jones 2003)".
On Ilonka Marselis: SES
You present the subsystems clear. Just wondering, how do the the systems together protect us from earthquakes? I personally feel that one part of the system tries to limit the amount of earthquakes, but they do not protect us from them.
I see how you propose to invest in order to have a safe extraction of gas. This itself leads to a sustainable gas extraction, in that sense that the extraction of gas can sustain itself. I must say that I interpret sustainability in this context as a process that does not contribute to the greenhousegasses. Burning fossil gas I think adds to greenhousegasses.
On Tim de Vrijer: SES
I think you touched upon some promising topics that will grow of importance the coming years. What I find interesting is that symbiosis's like recycling and waste stream collection comes with dependency on other companies/organisations. There has to be a high level of trust in order for these kind of symbiosis to work: if one company shuts down, important streams may shut down as well, leaving other companies with problems.
On Paulina Criollo, Nokia
On Romee de Blois, Resource networks
Dear Romée,
I think you picked an interesting case that is actually regional. I found that quite hard to find actually. The warmterotonde is a good example of a regional case. You analysis is done quite well and the list of stakeholders gives a good overview and also a notion on how large this project actually is.
Concerning the network, I think you are right when saying that it consists of cliques connected through some big/powerfull actors. On your remark:"Because the government is tightly involved the level of transparency is high, creating a lot trust in this stable assembly" I would like to ask you from what perspective it is transparant? For me, complete transparancy is achieved when the organisation or coalition can show a full overview on their activities and spendings. However, I do not see for example how the much the industrial companies are being payed for their heat, or what they have to invest in the pipes in relation to the municipalities? Ofcourse this is the beginning of this project, but I am doubtfull on how transparent this project will be in the end.
I understand that you say that the roundabout is dependent on one resource, heat. Ofcourse withot heat, the purpose of this construction would be absent. However, in this context I think transferring heat is the goal, and by reaching that goal you need many different resources. For one, you need to be able to finance the pipelines. Therefore capital is an important resource. You name investments from outside correctly (like banks).
Another important 'resource' in this case is the network allignment. In order for a project like this to become a succes, the actors involved need to achieve a high level of trust, since they become dependent from eachother. (if one company quits/goes bankrupt, the network is greatly affected).
About closing the loop, I see that this project definently is an addition to the heating efficiency of companies. However I don't think that this really is closing the loop. In my opinion, closing a loop means reaching a circular system where materials that are discarded after use are used again in the beginnning of the cycle. I think the issue here is that this is not a network of material production, but a network of heat production. And unlike materials, one cannot store heat. In this network, heat is cascaded efficiently over multiple users, after which the heat is lost in the air.
Also I think it would have been interesting to see how the network that you described reached this cascading energy system. Why could this network specifically reach their goal?
On Hsiu-chuan lin, Resource networks.
No tekst yet.
On Jorine Vernooij, Sabatiers' Framework
I think you clearly described the steps of the RAM, using Obama's decision as an example. I think it is very well applied.
I do miss the part where you where supposed to "Write an alternative, equally plausible account, showing how these actions might result from a boundedly rational organization (à la Jones 2003)".
On Ilonka Marselis: SES
You present the subsystems clear. Just wondering, how do the the systems together protect us from earthquakes? I personally feel that one part of the system tries to limit the amount of earthquakes, but they do not protect us from them.
I see how you propose to invest in order to have a safe extraction of gas. This itself leads to a sustainable gas extraction, in that sense that the extraction of gas can sustain itself. I must say that I interpret sustainability in this context as a process that does not contribute to the greenhousegasses. Burning fossil gas I think adds to greenhousegasses.
On Tim de Vrijer: SES
I think you touched upon some promising topics that will grow of importance the coming years. What I find interesting is that symbiosis's like recycling and waste stream collection comes with dependency on other companies/organisations. There has to be a high level of trust in order for these kind of symbiosis to work: if one company shuts down, important streams may shut down as well, leaving other companies with problems.
On Paulina Criollo, Nokia
Hi Paulina,
Very good and extensive blog on the Nokia video. I agree with what you are saying. I have double feelings on this way of Nokia by showing their goodwill to improve the situation. It is good that they want to improve their supplying line, however, why did they build/hire this factory in the first place?
I think the coordination system you suggest is a good one, proposing companies to develop stronger norms. I am wondering though, if this can be developed the same way in China as in Western organisations. From what I know of China, the power is very ' top-down'. The government sets the rules and the economy has to follow. Maybe it is up to the government to sharpen the norms? Or better control?
On Rebecca Joubert, Nokia
Hi rebecca,
I think your analysis on the video is accurate. I am wondering if the correct incentives may still motivate the supplier to improve the situation. Maybe in that way Nokia can still keep the same supplier.
I miss quite a large part from the assignment:
Is the approach taken by Nokia an effective way of diffusing sustainability criteria?
How could another coordination mechanism improve on this?
I would like to see you view upon this as well.
Kind regards,
Daniël
On Romee de Blois, Resource networks
Dear Romée,
I think you picked an interesting case that is actually regional. I found that quite hard to find actually. The warmterotonde is a good example of a regional case. You analysis is done quite well and the list of stakeholders gives a good overview and also a notion on how large this project actually is.
Concerning the network, I think you are right when saying that it consists of cliques connected through some big/powerfull actors. On your remark:"Because the government is tightly involved the level of transparency is high, creating a lot trust in this stable assembly" I would like to ask you from what perspective it is transparant? For me, complete transparancy is achieved when the organisation or coalition can show a full overview on their activities and spendings. However, I do not see for example how the much the industrial companies are being payed for their heat, or what they have to invest in the pipes in relation to the municipalities? Ofcourse this is the beginning of this project, but I am doubtfull on how transparent this project will be in the end.
I understand that you say that the roundabout is dependent on one resource, heat. Ofcourse withot heat, the purpose of this construction would be absent. However, in this context I think transferring heat is the goal, and by reaching that goal you need many different resources. For one, you need to be able to finance the pipelines. Therefore capital is an important resource. You name investments from outside correctly (like banks).
Another important 'resource' in this case is the network allignment. In order for a project like this to become a succes, the actors involved need to achieve a high level of trust, since they become dependent from eachother. (if one company quits/goes bankrupt, the network is greatly affected).
About closing the loop, I see that this project definently is an addition to the heating efficiency of companies. However I don't think that this really is closing the loop. In my opinion, closing a loop means reaching a circular system where materials that are discarded after use are used again in the beginnning of the cycle. I think the issue here is that this is not a network of material production, but a network of heat production. And unlike materials, one cannot store heat. In this network, heat is cascaded efficiently over multiple users, after which the heat is lost in the air.
Also I think it would have been interesting to see how the network that you described reached this cascading energy system. Why could this network specifically reach their goal?
On Hsiu-chuan lin, Resource networks.
No tekst yet.
On Jorine Vernooij, Sabatiers' Framework
Hi Jorinde,Very extensive analysis on the proposed measures. Your structure is clear and this makes the text comfortable to read. I do not have any comments for the rest.Kinds,Daniël
On Vigil Yu, Sabatiers' Framework
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