Deck 6: Sustainability

Question 1

In 1992 the Second Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro conceptualised three pillars of sustainable development identifying which processes?

A) Environmental
B) Economic
C) Social
D) None of the options listed
E) All of the options listed

Answer 1

E

Question 2

International guidelines for business sustainability can only be implemented effectively if organisations:

A) take responsibility for specific aspects of the guidelines/goals.
B) work in collaboration to implement all guidelines/goals.
C) engage stakeholders to implement specific guidelines/goals.
D) take responsibility for all of the guidelines/goals.
E) engage stakeholders to discuss the guidelines/goals.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Harish Manwani the chief operating officer of Unilever believes that sustainability is at the core of business success over the __________.

A) business functions
B) medium term
C) business divisions
D) long term
E) short term

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Millennium Development Goals include the following EXCEPT:

A) achieve universal primary education.
B) ensure environmental sustainability.
C) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
D) develop a local partnership for development.
E) reduce child mortality.

Question 5

Which statement regarding global trends is NOT true?

A) Many leading companies are embracing sustainability visions.
B) Many leading companies are embracing sustainable development.
C) Many leading companies are not embracing sustainability management.
D) Many leading companies are reducing the environmental impact of businesses.
E) Many leading companies are developing green businesses.

Question 6

A percentage of total energy production that is generated by renewable sources is called __________.

A) proportional renewable energy usage
B) renewable energy percentile
C) renewable energy goal
D) renewable energy fraction
E) renewable energy target

Question 7

Steps that the company could take to promote environmental sustainability include all the following EXCEPT:

A) redefining company vision, policies and strategies to include the 'triple bottom line'.
B) developing sustainability targets and indicators.
C) ensuring transparency and unbiased dialogue with stakeholders.
D) responding only to mandatory environmental regulations.
E) working with suppliers to improve environmental performance.

Question 8

What BEST defines business sustainability?

A) The use of resources that meet the needs of future generations.
B) The management of the natural environment and community.
C) Economic growth that incorporates community concerns.
D) The use of resources that meet the needs of current and future generations.
E) The management of the natural environment and society.

Question 9

The Millennium Development Goals are a UN-sponsored set of _________ time-bound goals that aim to reduce global extreme poverty.

A) six
B) eight
C) ten
D) seven
E) nine

Question 10

Sustainability results from the following activities EXCEPT:

A) enhances the society's ability to maintain itself to solve it major problems.
B) expansion of economic growth through the maximum use of natural resources.
C) maintains decent life levels of welfare for present and future generations.
D) enhances the planet's ability to maintain and renew the biosphere and protect all living species.
E) extends the productive life of organisations and maintain high levels of corporate performance.

Question 11

How many megacities are estimated to exist on the planet by 2030?

A) 50
B) 41
C) 20
D) 10
E) 30

Question 12

Social justice is concerned with creating a more just and __________ world.

A) humanitarian
B) ethical
C) conscious
D) equitable
E) responsible

Question 13

Currently, our cities and industries have an essentially __________ metabolism.

A) non-process
B) linear
C) non-linear
D) process
E) circular

Question 14

In 2004 a tenth principle to the UN Global Compact was added focusing on __________.

A) anti-corruption
B) global cooperation on poverty alleviation
C) rights to collective bargaining
D) abolition of child labour
E) bilateral action on climate change

Question 15

Many organisations have identified themselves as __________, leaders and trendsetters in sustainability management.

A) pioneers
B) change agents
C) entrepreneurs
D) champions
E) innovators

Question 16

The future lies with __________.

A) clean fossil fuel technologies
B) totally renewable power
C) nuclear power, fossil fuels and renewable energies
D) a mixture of fossil fuels and renewable power
E) nuclear power and renewable energy

Question 17

The definition of sustainability was coined in 1987 with the release of the United Nations report, which was called?

A) A Common Future
B) Our Common Futures
C) The Common Future
D) Our Common Future
E) Common Futures

Question 18

Sustainability can be described as the use of resources without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their __________.

A) needs
B) goals
C) wants
D) desires
E) aspirations

Question 19

What is the endeavour to eliminate all wastes and/or the recycling of resources known as?

A) Zero emissions
B) Waste minimisation
C) Resource utilisation
D) Zero waste management
E) Waste management

Question 20

A measure of company performance covering results in terms of economic, social and environmental and cultural factors is called _________.

A) the total bottom line
B) the quadruple bottom line
C) the triple bottom line
D) the integrated bottom line
E) the financial bottom line

Question 21

The Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum established a stronger partnership between which organisations?

A) Governmental
B) Business
C) Not-for-profit
D) All of the options listed
E) None of the options listed

Question 22

The practice of purchasing products and services produced in a way that minimises social and/or environmental damage, while avoiding products and services deemed to have a negative impact on society or the environment is known as _________.

A) eco-social consumerism
B) value-focused consumerism
C) sustainable consumerism
D) ethical consumerism
E) humanitarian consumerism

Question 23

The policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates is known as _________.

A) shared directive
B) shared knowledge
C) shared information
D) shared value
E) shared ethics

Question 24

Which is NOT one of the four phases of incremental change proposed by Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn?

A) From compliance to sustainable efficiency
B) From strategic proactivity to the sustaining corporation
C) From non-responsive to compliance
D) From efficiency to strategic proactivity
E) From sustaining corporation to the civil corporation

Question 25

Companies that have adopted 'industrial ecosystems' apply what kind of economic production model?

A) Closed-loop
B) Systematic
C) Holistic
D) Open-loop
E) Linear

Question 26

'The Global Reporting Initiative' promotes which of the following?

A) Economic responsibility
B) Social responsibility
C) Environmental responsibility
D) All of the options listed
E) None of the options listed

Question 27

When the late C.K. Prahalad identified that there is a 'fortune at the bottom of the bottom of the pyramid' he meant that the poor of the world are:

A) resilient and creative entrepreneurs.
B) resilient workers.
C) a market for global organisations.
D) a set of valuable communities.
E) assets for global organisations.

Question 28

The second stage (of four stages) for organisations to become more sustainable could be described as _________.

A) from compliance to sustainable efficiency
B) from strategic proactivity to the civil corporation
C) from efficiency to strategic proactivity
D) from strategic proactivity to sustaining corporation
E) from non-compliance to compliance

Question 29

The scope of corporate governance includes the methods of all the following EXCEPT:

A) transparent decision making.
B) excluding environmental issues from the annual report.
C) corporate decision making.
D) applying ethical principles to decision making.
E) representing stakeholder interests.

Question 30

The process of incorporating the values of sustainability into organisations begins with _________.

A) assessing values within the organisation.
B) a review of organisational processes.
C) a survey of stakeholder interests.
D) the recruitment of employees with sustainability values.
E) reaching a consensus within and amongst organisations and their stakeholders.

Question 31

Which ISO standard refers to a set of standards relating to aspects of environmental management?

A) ISO 9000
B) ISO 14000
C) ISO 26000:2010
D) ISO 20121:2012
E) ISO 50001:2011

Question 32

The UN Global Compact's seventh principle states that businesses should support:

A) a precautionary approach to social challenges.
B) a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
C) a precautionary approach to economic challenges.
D) a precautionary approach to cultural challenges.
E) None of the options listed

Question 33

The UN Global Compact provides '__________' guidance to businesses in developing sustainable practices, and sets some standards in relation to businesses that aim to operate ethically.

A) comprehensive
B) policy
C) documented
D) local
E) universal

Question 34

A specific target associated with the Millennium Development Goal's has seen the extreme poverty rate _________ of its 1990 levels.

A) double that
B) cut to a quarter
C) equal that
D) cut to a half
E) cut to a fifth

Question 35

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer of __________.

A) mandatory international standards
B) business development standards
C) voluntary international standards
D) globalisation standards
E) organisational performance standards

Question 36

Corporate governance in relation to sustainability is MOST effective when_________.

A) organisations internalise sustainability within corporate governance structures
B) organisations comply with governmental regulations
C) organisations voluntarily report to their stakeholders
D) corporate governance frameworks allow for effective stakeholder engagement
E) organisations are accountable through reporting progress to an external agency

Question 37

How many performance indicators are in the environmental category of 'The Global Reporting Initiative'?

A) Four
B) One
C) Three
D) Five
E) Two

Question 38

What will be needed MOST from businesses, communities and government so that sustainable business initiatives can reach scale, and be sustainably valued and profitable?

A) Collaborative ventures
B) Ecological innovation
C) Sustainable visions and strategies
D) Organisational cultural change
E) Continuing partnerships

Question 39

Some critics argue that there can be no universal standards considering differences between nations based on __________.

A) business practice
B) economic development
C) culture
D) All of the options listed
E) None of the options listed

Question 40

A farmer who puts aside land to protect endangered animal and plant species is practising the principles of which environmental category (belonging to 'The Global Reporting Initiative')?

A) Fauna and flora preservation
B) Biodiversity
C) Land re-generation
D) Ecological protection
E) Ecological diversity

Question 41

Individuals will focus on integrating all dimensions of their lifer, achieving responsibility for the whole and acting as global in which 'Wave' of socio-economic development?

A) First
B) Second
C) Third
D) Fourth
E) Fifth

Question 42

Why are the outcomes of the Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum important for managers?

A) They provide broad guidelines and policies that are likely to have long-term impacts.
B) They provide broad guidelines and strategies that are likely to have long-term impacts.
C) They provide narrow guidelines and policies to manage environmental impacts.
D) They provide narrow guidelines and policies allowing for specific training of employees.
E) They provide a framework for governance.

Question 43

Describe the concept of a 'closed-loop' economic production model.

Question 44

Explain the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability.

Question 45

The Second Wave of change, the Industrial Revolution began in which two Northern English towns?

A) Leeds and Newcastle
B) Manchester and Liverpool
C) Liverpool and Leeds
D) Newcastle and Manchester
E) Manchester and Leeds

Question 46

In the Fourth Wave of change, individuals will focus on __________ all dimensions of their life.

A) analysing
B) adapting
C) adjusting
D) integrating
E) changing

Question 47

Explain the concept of social justice? What are the short- and long-term implications of social justice? Provide examples to support your answer.

Question 48

Mary is the team-leader of a group who are designing a marketing plan for a clothing company. The new clothing range needs to be advertised through a campaign in three months' time. In the budget Mary accounts for training of staff to allow for personal growth and self-fulfilment, recycled stationary, biodegradable products for the advertising campaign and carbon offsets for travel during the campaign. Which validity concepts of the Third Wave of change is Mary applying?

A) Intuition and non-rational processes
B) Emotion and non-rational processes
C) Emotion and rationality
D) Intuition and rational processes
E) Emotion, intuition and rational processes

Question 49

The Third and Fourth Waves of change are causing the emergence of new phenomena. Which of the following MOST CLOSELY ascribe to the new phenomena?

A) Industries focused on social innovations.
B) Industries focused on environmental management.
C) Industrial clusters focused on eliminating environmental impacts.
D) Industries focused on efficient production.
E) Industrial clusters focused on urban regeneration.

Question 50

Who argued that the First Wave of change was the agricultural revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, which began in the United Kingdom and was necessary for the subsequent Industrial Revolution?

A) Alfred Toffler
B) Alvin Toffler
C) Alfred Theiler
D) Alvin Tiller
E) Alvin Theiler

Question 51

The Third Wave of change concerning the need for balance and sustainability, epitomises a world-view stressing which of the following?

A) Cooperation
B) The connectedness of individuals
C) Value creation
D) All of the options listed
E) None of the options listed

Question 52

How do transition phases contribute to incremental sustainable change?

Question 53

Growing concern for balance and sustainability and the connectedness of individuals, cooperation and value creation is the focus of which 'Wave' of socio-economic development?

A) First
B) Second
C) Third
D) Fourth
E) Fifth

Question 54

The Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum was a UN-sponsored forum comprising:

A) private businesses.
B) community activists.
C) academics.
D) All of the options listed
E) None of the options listed

Question 55

What is the main sustainability activity that organisations are currently engaged with? Are there any further sustainability activities that some organisations might be engaged with? If so what goals are these organisations trying to achieve? Provide examples in your answer.