Deck 4: Sustainability and Natural Resources

Question 1

Geographic proximity is rarely a major reason for trade.

Answer 1

False
Explanation: To the contrary, geographical proximity often explains trade relationships.

Question 2

Sustainability requires adjustments at the margins,rather than a totally new approach to business.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Sustainability requires us to change the way we manage everything.

Question 3

"Petroleum man" faces inevitable extinction,as we currently understand resources.

Answer 3

True
Explanation: This is mentioned in the text.

Question 4

Nuclear power is a leading contributor to the French energy grid.

Question 5

Switzerland,China,and Colombia are nations that present topographic challenges to marketers because their markets are divided by mountain ranges.

Question 6

Mountains tend to impede trade,whereas flat areas tend to facilitate trade relationships.

Question 7

Nonrenewable energy sources include coal,fossil fuels,and ocean thermal energy conversion.

Question 8

Heavy oil is oil weighted down with an extra carbon molecule,and it can be gassified using the Fischer-Tropsch process.

Question 9

Life cycle assessment (LCA)is a marketing concept that addresses innovation in product development.

Question 10

Through 2035,oil is expected to remain the world's dominant energy source.

Question 11

Walmart discovered that it could compete on price and build a sustainable business.

Question 12

Greenpeace supports extraction of shale oil from proven reserves.

Question 13

Bodies of water,much like deserts and mountains,also serve as barriers to trade.

Question 14

Early business sustainability efforts focused on the external aspects of conservation and environmental regulation.

Question 15

Above-ground issues impact territories available for oil exploration.

Question 16

Because Austria is located within central western Europe and in the Cold War joined the Western nations,it became a favored location for offices of international firms servicing eastern European operations.

Question 17

Mountain barriers found in the area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border impede travel and separate populations.

Question 18

Every coast between 20 and 30 degrees of the equator (north or south)is dry.

Question 19

Climate differences explain differences in human and economic development because the less temperate climates limit mental powers.

Question 20

All eBay profits are based on business trends that impede sustainability efforts.

Question 21

Because it is a high polluter,coal is on the decline as an energy source.

Question 22

Biomass is a category of renewable energy fuels based on their heavy weight.

Question 23

Thomas Merton linked interdependence with:

A) triple bottom-line accounting as a way to build sustainability.
B) compassion, as the first step in sustainability.
C) our approach to fossil fuel consumption, which is clearly unsustainable.
D) survival of the fittest.

Question 24

Environmentally sustainable business needs to consider the economic and ecological systems in which they function,but not the social,which is the realm of politics.

Question 25

Certain geologic structures have led to the development of separate languages within the same country.These barriers include:

A) political and cultural patterns.
B) mountain barriers.
C) linguistic tariffs.
D) differentiating borders.

Question 26

The stakeholder model requires businesses to think about:

A) the stakeholders' interest in profitability.
B) the network of ­­­­­­­­­­­tensions caused by competing demands.
C) strategy in light of sustainability.
D) the frequency of social issues faced by the stakeholders.

Question 27

Why is every western coast between 20 and 30 degrees north or south of the equator dry?

A) The winds blow away from the land, carrying moisture with them.
B) This is coincidental. Egypt, which has a source of water, can support a large population.
C) The equator is a tropical area, and the heat leads to evaporation.
D) Western coasts are not dry; it is the interior of continents that becomes arid desert.

Question 28

Swiss exports are concentrated,high-density products (cheese,chocolates,watches)that minimize the need for importing bulky materials because:

A) mountain ranges increase transport costs in and out of Switzerland and limit local resources.
B) the Swiss love of chocolate and watches influenced the export patterns.
C) high density exports encounter lower tariffs.
D) the Swiss chose not to have a strong agricultural base for an export strategy.

Question 29

Sustainable business practices have three characteristics: limits,interdependence,and equity.

Question 30

Sustainable approaches in business usually involve trade-offs such as lower profits compensated by reduced marketing costs and improved image/reputation.

Question 31

Interface,the producer of FLOR carpeting,has a solid record in sustainable business practice and:

A) makes impressive contributions to sustainable development in developing economies.
B) is committed to triple bottom-line accounting.
C) spins its products from heavy-oil petroleum.
D) sources its raw materials from recycled petroleum-based carpeting.

Question 32

Compassion has nothing to do with sustainable business.Business is business.

Question 33

The stakeholder model for environmentally sustainable business has failed because we don't have an accounting system to measure the present costs of environmental irresponsibility.

Question 34

Geographical proximity contributes to:

A) limited knowledge of the country by its neighbors.
B) standardized freight costs.
C) the likelihood of trade relationships.
D) distrust and contempt.

Question 35

Limits,interdependence,and equity are characteristics of sustainable business practices.

Question 36

Ecologically sustainable businesses such as Patagonia recognize that doing business following the traditional approach,focusing on quarterly earnings,is not complete because it does not focus on:

A) the negative impact of the business, such as excessive water usage.
B) the cost of environmental sustainability.
C) consumer needs for green merchandise.
D) triple bottom-line accounting.

Question 37

Stakeholder theory pushes managers to be clear about how they want to do business,so it encourages:

A) recognition of and transparency with values and underlying principles.
B) discussion of profit center margins.
C) strategy development from the top down.
D) decisive management.

Question 38

Coal and nuclear power are both in decline as energy sources.

Question 39

Environmental sustainability is about maintaining the environment,and it is both local and global.

Question 40

The relationships among ecological,social,and economic systems in sustainable environments need to be:

A) discreet.
B) renewable.
C) positive.
D) interdependent.

Question 41

A good example of the relationship between water supply and population concentration is:

A) Eastern Europe.
B) China.
C) Australia.
D) Japan.

Question 42

Densely populated areas coincide with:

A) rivers, lakes, and seacoasts.
B) inland waterways.
C) rich mineral reserves and rare earth deposits.
D) low levels of environmental awareness.

Question 43

Nations whose mountains divide them into smaller regional areas include:

A) U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
B) Switzerland, Afghanistan, China, and Colombia.
C) Luxembourg, France, and Romania.
D) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Question 44

Climate influences:

A) intelligence and energy levels, per the North-South divide.
B) what people can do, physically and economically.
C) levels of emotional well-being.
D) adjustment and motivation.

Question 45

Topography,including mountains,deserts,plains,and bodies of water,greatly influence:

A) political relationships.
B) the physical distribution of products and services.
C) the local approach to education and health services.
D) local attitudes toward industrially developed economies.

Question 46

Renewable energy:

A) will replace fossil fuels, due to price, depletion, or carbon emissions, within 10 years.
B) is essentially a political issue in developed economies.
C) is not actually renewable long term.
D) is available everywhere, in some form.

Question 47

Petroleum,a relatively cheap nonrenewable energy source,is:

A) in abundant supply but is not environmentally clean.
B) being increasingly depleted and is expected to run out in another 50 years, but in the meantime, improved retrieval techniques are being developed.
C) clean, cheap, and available, but its major issue as a fuel is that most of the reserves are located in countries whose leadership is critical of the industrialized world.
D) expected to run out in another 10 years and needs to be replaced with renewable energy sources quickly.

Question 48

As an energy source,nuclear power:

A) is growing insignificantly, except in developing countries.
B) has been growing.
C) has been rejected by France, which had one of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the industrialized world until they switched from nuclear power to coal.
D) has been abandoned because of the dangers associated with the storage of spent fuel rods.

Question 49

Coal pollutes heavily:

A) so its use has declined markedly in the past 15 years.
B) yet its consumption has increased and is projected to continue, so that greenhouse gases are an issue, especially in China, the U.S., and India.
C) yet it does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
D) because coal-fired plants do not use scrubbers.

Question 50

Natural gas:

A) includes gas from oil, heavy oil, and oil sands.
B) is mostly sourced through imports in the U.S.
C) used in the U.S. frequently originates in China.
D) consumption is increasing because it is the cleanest of the fossil fuels.

Question 51

Environmental sustainability is both local and global because:

A) environmental conditions do not recognize national borders.
B) governments are not prepared to address environmental issues beyond the UN.
C) business has become global, so sustainability must follow the trend.
D) it is a political issue as well as an academic one.

Question 52

Stakeholder theory is an understanding of how business works when it:

A) takes into account culture and environmentalism.
B) rejects the importance of the bottom line.
C) emphasizes planning.
D) takes into account all identifiable interest holders.

Question 53

Four countries processing oil-bearing shale are:

A) China, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.
B) Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Mexico.
C) Qatar, Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela.
D) the U.S., Germany, Russia, and China.

Question 54

The three characteristics of evolving sustainable business practices are:

A) local, global, and improving quality of life.
B) environmental sustainability, quality of life sustainability, and triple bottom-line accounting.
C) limits, interdependence, and equity.
D) being green, centering on the customer's needs, and demonstrating simple kindness.

Question 55

Sam Palmisano,CEO of IBM,has described a new way of doing business that goes to equity of distribution by observing that:

A) profit sharing will need to increase.
B) stakeholder theory provides a way forward, combining local and global.
C) IBM would end its colonial company model and move on to an integrated model with high levels of trust among stakeholders.
D) to each according to his needs makes a lot of sense.

Question 56

World Bank studies have shown that underdevelopment is often due to:

A) factors such as parasites and viruses that are a part of tropical climates and expand unchecked because of the lack of winter temperatures.
B) mental slowness in people of the climates around the equator.
C) socialist political regimes.
D) lack of government investment in education.

Question 57

Although the growth rates of nonrenewable energy sources slowed after the 2009 global financial crisis:

A) renewable energy's growth did not slow as a result of the financial crisis.
B) renewables slowed only in Europe.
C) the Middle East and Africa used the slowdown to increase exploration.
D) South American nations nationalized nonrenewables to support their growth.

Question 58

Heavy oil is:

A) a group of unconventional oil sources such as oil sands, shale, coal, and natural gas, that does not flow easily and via processing can yield oil.
B) a rich oil found in deposits in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait whose molecular weight is heavier than normal oil.
C) oil extracted from biomass that is reprocessed.
D) Top grade oil drawn from wells.

Question 59

One example of the effect of topography is:

A) isolated language groups, which require special marketing adjustments.
B) regional metals markets.
C) a unified China.
D) equal distribution of populations.

Question 60

In more dense populations,international managers can expect:

A) increased political discord.
B) markets that respond well to word-of-mouth promotion.
C) contrasting topographical features.
D) lower marketing and distribution costs.

Question 61

The main transportation artery of Europe is the:

A) Venice canal system.
B) Danube-Dresden waterway.
C) Lake Constantine system.
D) Rhine waterway.

Question 62

The significance of oil's peak production is that:

A) China and India will need to modify their fuel consumption patterns with peak oil.
B) it lets us know how much time we have to make the adjustment to renewables.
C) it serves to spread the word that fossil fuels will deplete.
D) oil companies will have to find new revenue services.

Question 63

Unconventional sources of petroleum such as oil sands and shale are often grouped together and referred to as:

A) nonrenewable hopes.
B) new sources.
C) peak sources.
D) heavy oil.

Question 64

Cradle-to-cradle (C-2-C)design:

A) identifies differing levels of success among the national players in world markets.
B) builds on endowment factor differentials.
C) measures the impact of climate on development.
D) closes the production loop so there is no waste.

Question 65

Studies conducted by the World Bank indicate that tropical climates allow for:

A) the unimpeded reproduction and growth of weeds, viruses, birds, insects, and parasites.
B) the lack of need to provide heat and shelter that is present in northern climates.
C) unparalleled trade.
D) cultivation of citrus and four crops per year.

Question 66

Although it pollutes heavily,this energy source is on the rise everywhere,especially in China.

A) Natural gas
B) Coal
C) Nuclear
D) Diesel

Question 67

Climate is probably the most important element of the physical forces as it sets the limits on:

A) annual rainfall, thus water supply.
B) population growth patterns.
C) what people can do physically and economically.
D) expected FDI.

Question 68

Inland waterways provide inexpensive access to interior markets and are significant in every continent except:

A) Australia.
B) North America.
C) Africa.
D) Asia.

Question 69

A way to measure a company's success in meeting its sustainable business goals is to:

A) examine the return on investment.
B) use triple bottom-line accounting.
C) monitor the company in a social context.
D) review the marketing materials.

Question 70

The North-South divide draws on climatic differences to explain:

A) population differences.
B) trade patterns.
C) differences in human development.
D) cultural differences.

Question 71

Australia's topography is:

A) an inland plain and desert, with population concentrated along the coasts.
B) like North Africa's, with population along the water and then desert and mountains.
C) desert except for the central highlands.
D) similar to North America's, with dissecting rivers, mountains, and some desert area.

Question 72

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP),unlike the Kyoto Protocol,a UN convention on climate change,is

A) regulated by the EU.
B) regulated by the U.S.
C) controlled by the IMF.
D) made up of corporate members.

Question 73

Energy consumption by fuel type reveals that fuel use has been dominated since 2010 by:

A) renewable energy sources.
B) nuclear energy and coal.
C) nonrenewable energy sources.
D) solar and wind power.

Question 74

Oil reserves and oil exploration are influenced by:

A) above-ground issues such as political unrest, financial crises, and natural disasters.
B) daily demand levels.
C) climate-challenging areas.
D) developed nations' oil fields.

Question 75

Natural resources are anything:

A) that is alive in the natural world.
B) provided by nature on which people depend.
C) any raw material that becomes a component in a manufactured good.
D) that is used for food or fuel.

Question 76

One value of life cycle assessment is:

A) the Footprint Chronicles, which address the trade-offs of global sourcing.
B) the ecosystem model of sustainability that it provides.
C) that it encourages the development of product stewardship over the product's life.
D) that it identifies products in their mature stage, so they can be reengineered.

Question 77

Instead of declining,this nonrenewable energy source,because of its lack of pollution and the generally rising price of oil,has seen significant growth.

A) Wind power
B) Nuclear power
C) Geothermal power
D) Petroleum

Question 78

An LCA conducted for a T-shirt convinced Patagonia that:

A) recycled plastics were ecological choices for packing materials.
B) industrially produced cotton used excessive amounts of water compared to organic cotton.
C) South Africa provided a good source of raw materials.
D) too many T-shirts were sold, and instead, should be recycled.

Question 79

This material,when heated,will yield up to 25 liters or more per ton of input.

A) Shale
B) Biomass
C) Natural gas
D) Light petroleum

Question 80

Proximity is a factor in explaining:

A) a nation's political system.
B) a nation's political and trade relationships.
C) language patterns.
D) demand conditions.