Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Sustainability of Eco-Friendly Product Designs

Critically assess key developments in the global business environment of the chosen sector and consider their impact on the sustainability of existing international operations and practices of multinational enterprises.
Connecting Formative and Summative Elements The four-dimensional Global Business Environment(GBE) framework introduced in this Unit— i.e., culture and society, economic, political, and legal—provided a broad lens for exploring aspects in the contemporary GBE (‘dimensional aspects’ hereafter) that might explain the international operations and business practices of Multinational enterprises(MNEs) within a chosen sector. However, as identified by many groups in the formative presentation task, not all prescribed elements within a GBE dimension (nor, indeed, each of the four dimensions themselves) appeared equivalent, or indeed relevant, as possible explanatory factors for Multinational enterprises operations and practices when confronted with the empirical reality of a given sector. Moreover, as well as prioritising different aspects of MNE operations and practises, many groups prioritised different dimensional aspects as the principle explanatory factor(s). This was an important experiential learning outcome from the formative task and one that provides the basis for the individual summative assignment. As outlined in the Assignment Brief, the individual summative assignment requires you to draw on academic scholarship in a critical evaluation of potential changes to the contemporary GBE for your chosen sector and the possible implications of these changes for the sustainability of the existing operations and practices of Multinational enterprises (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3). In this respect, the scope of your individual summative assignment will be directed by the dimensional aspects, aspects of Multinational enterprises operations and practices, and the relationship between them identified in your group formative task (ILO4). Your individual summative assignment therefore requires you to focus on a particular dimensional aspect of the contemporary GBE that explains an aspect of MNE operations and practices in your chosen sector. On this basis, you are required to (critically) evaluate potential changes within this dimensional aspect and the possible implications of these changes for the sustainability of your identified aspect of MNE operations and practices in your sector. [N.B: change is not necessarily inevitable, can take many different forms, can arise through many different processes, and across varying timeframes. Indeed, your critical evaluation might, conversely, lead you to propose continuity for the dimensional aspect and, as a result, your chosen aspect of MNE operations and practices. It is also worth remembering Mintzberg’s notions of ‘egotistic’ and ‘hindsight’ bias when qualifying any suggestions of ‘unprecedented’ change. Next Steps: #1 - Establishing Focus As outlined above, your individual summative assignment requires you to focus on a particular dimensional aspect of the contemporary GBE that explains an aspect of MNE operations and practices in your chosen sector. !!!Sector: Automotive Global Business Environment Key questions to consider in this regard: What particular aspect of the contemporary GBE for my sector am I focusing on? Which particular aspect of MNE operations and practices am I focusing on? A further question to consider, and one linked to an element signposted in the collective feedback and comments on the formative presentation task (available on our Unit’s BB VLE), relates to: How might this dimensional aspect explain this aspect of MNE operations and practices in my chosen sector? Directed by the parameters presented through your consideration of these questions, the title of your (critical) evaluation of potential changes within your particular dimensional aspect of the GBE for your chosen sector and the possible implications of these changes for the sustainability of your chosen aspect of MNE operations and practices will resemble something along the lines of the following examples: Example A: Evaluating the sustainability of [chosen aspect of MNE operations and practices] in the advent of [chosen dimensional aspect]: The case of the [chosen sector] Example B: Evaluating the impact of [chosen dimensional aspect] on the sustainability of [chosen aspect of MNE operations and practices] in [chosen sector]