Technology and Industrial Development: Toward Sustainability
The industrial revolution in the 17th century changed the way things are done; from labour-intensive work to operating machines, the increased efficiency of water power, the first use of steam and the use of coal as a energy source. These new methods and technologies originated from the Great Britain, and were spread to the rest of the world over time. More and more countries developed. Factories were built for large-scale production, job scopes were more specialized, efficiency and productivity improved significantly and production costs were reduced as a result. Industrialization freed some countries from the shackles of poverty, increased employment, as well as increasing accessibility and availability to education and healthcare. However, at the same time, despite these benefits industrialization brings, it also caused some negative impacts when not sustained. One prime example would be the environment. Large-scale activities such as deforestation of forested land to pave way for skyscrapers or mining for coal, created much damage to the Earth. With more and more carbon emissions from factories, and increasing amounts of toxic chemicals being dumped into the seas, the air and water qualities are severely affected. Human activities since the Industrial Revolution has also increased the level of greenhouse gases in the air, resulting in today's pressing problem of global warming. The Earth's homeostatic mechanism is thus stressed as a result, being unable to cope with the pressure of infinite needs and wants, over-consumption by the increasing population of the world and the issue of limited resources.
This is precisely why sustainability is so important. Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present population without compromising the ability of the following future generations to meet their own needs. Prof. Shahi gave an example on the US, that despite making up 5% of the world's population, it is using a shocking 30% figure of the world's resources and thus producing 30% of waste. US then attempted to solve its over-consumption problem by using the Third World countries' resources instead. I believe that this widened the income gap between the First and the Third World countries as when the former uses the latter's raw materials, the former would use these resources to undergo manufacturing processes in their own countries and then, sell them at inflated prices to the Third World countries, with the First World countries reaping all the profits and the Third World countries on the losing end.
The video, "Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard, talked about how Earth is planet with finite resources which are depleting at an exponential rate. This is why businesses should move from a "linear" approach to a "cyclical" one. Everything has a life cycle. For example, when a product reaches the end of its life cycle, it takes up land space when dumped and years to decompose. Therefore, there is a need to move towards sustainable development, creating new "cyclical" business and industrial models through innovation and change.
On a broader perspective, sustainability management is applicable to many aspects. Businesses for example, should strive to be sustainable in their growth if want to maintain a competitive edge against other companies. On a more personal level, our own lives should be managed sustainably as well, by making decisions with a long-term goal in mind.
Key takeaways from readings:
1. Localized damage on the environment has detrimental effects on a global scale.
2. Advantage of backwardness. The inventor is the one who incur all the R&D costs and risks. Other players such as Third World countries would then benefit from such spillover effects. (though this is only applicable if they had the connections and access to these new technologies)
3. Humans copy. It is thus important to always invent and create something newer, faster, better.
Issue for discussion:
With industrialization and the increasing use of machines, there is greater automation of the work we do and this threatens workers that earn their living through low-skilled jobs and might even threaten management and professions in the near future. Unlike the past, the advancement of technology today can potentially create drastic changes in the labour force as gadgets grow in ability to replicate even the most sophisticated of skills, and thus rendering the skills of the labour force obsolete. To what extent exactly, has technology had a negative impact on the skills level of people? Well, perhaps such technological advancement compels us to upgrade ourselves in the skills of innovation, creativity and ingenuity; something of which is far less likely to be replicated by machines.
Technology and innovation management
A good summary of the innovation process:
Prof. Shahi shared the key elements for successful innovation: 4 Smarts: Smart people with smart ideas having access to smart money and smart partnerships. I personally feel that each and every element is equally as important and one cannot do without the other to a successful innovation.
Overall, I would rate the session a 8/10. Presentations were really interesting this session! :)
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