Harvard Business Review Reflection Essay

IntroductionThe member authorise parched Earth written by Elizabeth Economy (senior fellow for Asia with the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations in New York) and Kenneth Lieberthal (William Davidson Professor of Corporate dodging and International Business, the china director of Davidson Institute, and the Arthur Thurnau Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, senior director of St angiotensin-converting enzymebridge International, a Washington, D.C.based consulting firm, and the co-author, with Geoffrey Lieberthal, of The grand Transition (HBR October 2003)) was published in the Harvard Business Review of June 2007 on the pages 88 to 96. The name deals with the problem of environmental degradation in China which is of spacious concern for MNEs that are active in, or are going to be active in China concerning both future opportunities and risks.SummaryThe authors of this clause consider the threat posed by environmental degradation as the gre atest risk of doing channel in China. The problem is that this topic is except discussed within corporations. This is a serious mis win. Multinationals may be busy with anformer(a)(prenominal) problems, but the Chinese government, NGOs, and the Chinese press have been foc determinationd forthrightly on the countrys energy shortages, soil erosion, lack of water, and taint problems. The authors believe that these problems are so severe they might constrain gross domestic product growth. Moreover, it is from the MNEs expected to piece of cake a key federal agency in the security measure of the environment.If that does not happen, multinationals face clear risks to their operations, their workers health, and their reputations. In implementing environmental issues into their strategies, foreign firms make to be both defensive and proactive. Defensivehere miserlys take steps to reduce harm and proactive means investing in environmental protection efforts. Finally, this problem also brings some opportunities on as MNEs can use innovations that are designed for the Chinese market in the rest of the world. This means that China affects the MNEs performance in separate most-valuable markets.ReviewWeaknesses and limitations relating to the content eldest of all, the expression only underlines the weaknesses of China regarding environmental issues. Instead of laying the responsibility at the Chinese government, the MNEs are sanely kept responsible. This is quite unfair and this way, the authors create a problem that in reality is way little extensive. Secondly, we would like to quote a disrupt of the articleDespite the take exceptions, multinationals cant afford not to do the right thing (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007, p.96)We believe that this statement is completely wrong as a lot of companies that are active in China, just do not do anything about it. They are even encouraged to do the wrong thing by the local governments. Thirdly, time after time, the authors emphasize how big Chinas decide is on the pollution in the world. However, this is quite logical as China is one of the biggest countries in the world. Therefore, this is genuinely annoying and not really useful in the article. Fourthly, referring to the challenges depict, there is no clear relationship between, for instance, the spill of water by the Chinese nation and MNEs. This because MNEs cannot do anything about this issue. Furthermore, it is not really the MNEs responsibility.Therefore we consider this challenge as superfluous. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007) Finally, the authors do spend enough time on the belief of using their new innovations for China (concerning environmental degradation etc.) in other key markets. This is actually the most important part of the article and so more attention should be paid to this concept. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007) Strengths of the article relating to the content and grammatical construction To begin with, the authors have do ne very well in describing the environmental degradation as a problem among a long of other problems in China. The contrast described in the introduction really attracts attention. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007)Furthermore, the articledescribes that MNEs can actually benefit from these environmental problems as they can use innovations from the Chinese market in other important markets. This is quite a creative consideration we could never think of. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007) other strong take is that the article gives advice about how to deal with the Chinese political system. A modified segment of the article is dedicated to this subject.Moving on with the subject of structure, the article is quite well structured. As a reader, you can clearly advert between an introduction to a problem, a detailed description of the problem(s) and finally a part dedicated to the solutions . However, there are a equalise of things that we do not like about the article?s structure. First of all , concerning the discussion of China?s challenges (water, energy, soil erosion etc.), the authors spent likewise much time on the description of these challenges. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007)These challenges are extensively described along with a lot of specific data which is unnecessary as the article does not directly describe how managers should cope with these challenges. Instead, the authors move on with discussion another(prenominal) set of risks. Then, lastly, some solutions are given. In usual this is a good thing. However, we would rather have seen the solution along with the challenges and risks in order to improve the clarity of the article. And as we state before, the authors could spend less time on describing the challenges as all the specific data has no connection with the solutions given.Relation to the course IIBThis article concerns environmental problems in China and that is a problem for all MNEs because of the fact that there is only one environment in the wor ld and we have to make sure that does not cause unrepairable damage to that environment. This because it crosses all borders and is not bounded to a legitimate location. Therefore environmental damage in China can influence business activities in other markets due to, for instance, a shortage of accredited raw materials. Moreover, it can limit the possibilities of MNEs in the future. Moreover, the article discusses the opportunities of China-specific innovations that can be applied in other markets. This implies the creation of a FSA.Conclusion ace of the things that we have learned from this article is the fact that Chinese local governments, along with a part of the population play a bigger role than expected in the environmental degradation than expected. We assumed that most pollution derived from MNE activity in China. Another thing that we have learned that you eventually pay a high price for your, initially cheap business activities. After extensively analysing this article , a couple of hesitation came to mind. First of all, the article forecasts that the environmental damage will have a great equal on China?s GDP. Quoting the article Chinas environmental problems are reaching the point where they could constrain its GDP growth. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007, p. 90)We would like to go if the authors, if they had the possibility, would change this statement to let it match the current circumstances. We ask this question because, in our eyes, the impact has not been that great. In the media, for instance, there is nothing said about the constraining factors on Chinas GDP growth. Another question that came to mind is the followingAccording to the article, the Chinese local governments play an important role in the environmental problematic cases. (Economy, Lieberthal, 2007) Doesnt this mean that the focus should lay at these governments rather than the organizations? In our eyes, these governments should be penalize by international organizations. Such intervention would decrease the MNEs challenges significantly. Moving on to our final question, we would like to know if the authors expect that this problem will be completely solved, by either the Chinese government or another institutions, in the near future?Full reference listEconomy, E. Lieberthal, K. June 2007. Scorched Earth. Harvard Business Review. P. 88-96