Question:
Discuss about business and business sector background, Challenges that are faced by the company and determining the sustainability priorities for the business and Reflection on the conflict between the exercise of rational self-interest and the common interest/common good in the particular circumstance of the individual business and sector?
Answer:
Business and business sector background
Air travel and aviation industry is one of the growing businesses in the recent timeline. Various analysts and researchers have concluded that travel related to both business and leisure purpose has been increased considerably in the past decade. The government of various countries has promoted this business in order to attract the tourist and in turn enhance the economy of the nation. Business travel has also grown as companies become increasingly international in terms of their investments, their supply and production chains and their customers. The rapid growth of world trade in goods and services and international direct investment has also contributed to growth in business travel (Grundy and Moxon 2013).
Main sustainability issues, which arise in the sector and the particular business
The main sustainable issues that are faced by the aviation industry are based on environmental, safety related factors. The aviation and airlines rely heavily on finite planetary resources. Since the load of natural resources is diminishing daily, the aviation industry is more focused on improving the sustainability of air transport. The engines of the aircraft are found to emit heat, noise, and gasses that are inflicting immense impact on the environment causing climate changes and global dimming. The combustion of the fuel is found to release CO2 (Carbon-dioxide) and greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere (Barr et al. 2010). This has contributed its part in causing global warming and acidification of the ocean. Besides, some of the aircraft have been found to emit other poisonous gasses in the environment which includes nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Toxic organic compounds like tetraethyl-lead, hydrocarbons and hydroxyl radicals are also released in the environment. All these factors contribute majorly in causing anthropogenic climate changes in the atmosphere as pointed out by The Environmental change Institute of Oxford. In various places, Cirrus clouds have been observed due to over emission of water vapor from the aircraft. This are some of the environment-related sustainable issues that are currently faced by the aviation industry in the recent time. Apart from this many aircraft have faced sustainable issues due to emitting noise and air pollution in the atmosphere (Oosterlynck and Swyngedouw 2010).
On the other hand, there is a growing issue related to the public safety considering the transportation in aviation. In recent times, various airlines in the world have faced fatal accidents which have resulted in the death of hundreds of passengers. The horrific accident of the Malaysian Airlines MH 370 and MH 17 in recent times is still fresh in all of our minds. Over the past, some of the accidents have occurred due to the irresponsibility of the pilot or due to various technical issues inside the aircraft (Ringle, Sarstedt and Zimmermann 2011). Nevertheless, in other cases, it has been observed that the plane crash and accidents have occurred due to the shortage of fuelorage, rough landing and weather conditions. On the other hand, it has been observed that some of the minor crashes have occurred due to technical problems in the air traffic controlling system. In various cases, passengers and customers on the aircraft have faced sabotages and terrorist hijacks which have resulted in many bloodbaths in the recent history of aviation (Oster, Strong and Zom 2013). Many passengers have lost their lives due to terrorist activities inside the aircraft. However, this has happened due to the fallacy of the security staffs that are appointed inside the airport. They have acted too casually and did not cross checked the passengers before providing them the boarding pass. This security issue is correlated with the safety issues of the passengers. Hence, this major sustainable issues are faced by most of the airlines and aviation industry in the recent timeline (Stewart and Mueller 2011).
Challenges that are faced by the company and determining the sustainability priorities for the business
To provide a better solution to all the issues the company like British Airways need to analyze and prioritize their work to bring positive changes in the aviation industry. Firstly, the aviation company needs to cooperate with the airport operational management team. They need to publish an annual environmental report every year in order make the governmental bodies and common people aware of the changes. Secondly, they need to focus on launching more aircraft that produces less noise and air pollution. Side-by-Side they need to stop flying the aircraft which produces more pollution and noise. To accomplish this, they need to consult with different aircraft production companies and provide them with basic insights about the problem so that the engineers can come out with a valid and proper solution (McManners 2012). On the other hand, the aircraft and aviation industry need to focus on using fewer chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs and in order to decrease the emission of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. This would result in the reduction of air pollution by a considerable margin. Side-by–side they need to think about their business prospect as well. Considering all the factors they need to invest their money in R&D sectors and motivate them so that they can come out with new solutions and provide a low-carbon fuel for the aviation industry (Buckley 2012).
On the other hand, it is always helpful to work in parity with the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This would help the aviation industry in building up a proper framework and strategy to prepare a global climate regulation. This would assist the airline industry in accurately monitor the environment and pollution related issues and in turn it would help the industry in controlling the issues more efficiently and effectively (International Air Transport Association 2014). Various modern technologies and advancements can be incorporated into the aviation sector to reduce the environment pollution and climate change in the environment. These technological advancements that can be implemented in the aviation and aircraft are catalytic reduction and exhaust gas circulation systems. These installations of new technical instruments in the aircraft would result in the reduction of CO2 emission 2 and other harmful gases so that the environment would remain in a pollution free state (Kivits, Charles and Ryan 2010).
On the other hand, the aviation industry is required to enhance their security protocols to provide the best security to its passengers and customer. Sophisticated X-ray scanners and metal detectors need to be installed both in and out of the aircraft in order to cease the entry of hazardous materials (like fluids, weapons, etc.) inside the plane. On the other hand, sniffing dogs are needed to be introduced into the aircraft before the flight gets a green signal for taking off. Secondly, the mechanics and other safety officials need to check every technical and mechanical aspect of the flight before allowing it to take off from the airport (Wilkinson and Jenkins 2013). All these security measurements are considered as the major factor in combating the sustainable issues that are faced by most of the aviation sector in the recent time. Moreover, amending all these sections within the aircraft is itself a challenging aspect of the aviation industry and it requires a thorough planning and strategy to implement all the suggested factors (Price 2012).
Responsibility for the priority issues and its explanation
Firstly, the government of the United Kingdom needs to take the major liability in order to prioritize the issues. They can conduct various balanced programs focused on introducing progressive and improved technologies to (or “intending to”) reducing the environmental and social harm related issues of the aviation industry (Wensveen 2015). Side-by-side, the government, needs to adopt an active and leading role in the international debate forums, and they need to focus on developing radical and innovative solutions for the problem. They need to invest money in the Research and Development sectors and nurture locally born scientists and researchers so that they can come out with a decent solution to reduce the environment and pollution related issues (Baker, 2013).
Secondly, the Government of the country holds the supreme power of providing the certificate of approval for the aviation company. If they feel that any company and organization is lagging behind in following the safety and environmental protocols, then they have the full right on ceasing the company permission and certificate (Baker 2013). Adding to this the Government is also responsible for negotiating with other aviation industries of neighboring countries in order to make them aware and request them to reduce the environment pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency also holds a key responsibility for checking the air pollution level in the country. They need to enforce the aviation industry in following the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 so that the degree of contamination remains in a check (Belobaba, Odoni and Barnhart, 2015).
On the other hand, the management of the aviation industry needs to think out of their boxes and implement some innovations in the airline industry in order to combat the sustainable related issues. Moreover, a federal interagency group is needed to be established from the side of the aviation management team so that they can coordinate with the governmental bodies of the country. The governing body of this federal interagency group is very much important for communicating and exchanging ideas among themselves. Furthermore, the management of the aviation industry needs to focus more on providing the best security to its passengers. They need to hire more security officials and sniffer dogs inside the aircraft. The management team needs to take more responsibilities and hire skilled and competent pilot and crew members for the plane to avoid any kind of manual errors (Oster, Strong and Zorn, 2013).
To accomplish all these tasks the management team also holds immense responsibilities in providing the work base and employees of the aviation with proper training programs. Moreover, the management and HR team of the airline company needs to hire more experienced and qualified mechanics and engineers in order to evaluate the technical parts of the aircraft. This would help the plane in avoiding any major accidents and would also assist in increasing the level of passenger security. So it can be said that apart from the management team and government bodies various other members like pilot, cabin crew, mechanics and engineers that are associated with the aviation industry holds immense responsibility in reducing the pollution and safety issues of the organization (Jenatabadi and Ismail, 2014).
Reflection on the conflict between the exercise of rational self-interest and the common interest/common good in the particular circumstance of the individual business and sector
If the aviation industry follows every strategy of reducing the environment and social issues (as discussed in the previous sections) then it will naturally gain the attention of the mass public. Moreover, it would help them to advertise their agenda in a positive note which would drag the attraction of majority of people. Incorporating a sense of safety and security among the customers will only bring prosperity to the business growth of the organization as it would install loyalty and satisfaction among its trusted customers (Axelrod 2011). On the other hand, the aviation industry would also gain attention from the side of the government if they tend to abide by the rules and safety regulations of the government policy. This would make the organization enlisted in the “good book” of the government which will provide them with various facilities and privileges in the long run (Groenleer, Kaeding and Versluis 2010).
Maintaining safety policies and reducing the environmental pollution can install faith of various environment-related organizations. This would provide them with a positive advertisement, and more people would recommend their relatives and friends to travel with the particular aviation company. This would ultimately result in promoting the business curve of the company, and its customer base would increase immensely in the coming years (Callan and Thomas 2012).
On the other hand, if the company follows the task of reducing the emission of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere it would help them to sustain a healthy environment and side-by-side it would also assist the company in grabbing up its profit margin (Elsom 2014). As per the new rules of the EU commission every aviation industry has to pay taxes based on the net carbon emission of the aircraft. Now, if the company successfully reduces the carbon emission then naturally it would have to give very less amount of tax to the EU organization (Ellerman, Convery and Perthuis 2010). This would help them to save more money. In a positive way, they can invest the saved amount of money and provide increment, bonuses and other facilities to the employees of the organization. This would install faith, loyalty and trust among the working staff of the company. On the other hand this managerial strategy would increase the work efficiency of the employees resulting in profitability and productivity of the organization. In this way, the tax saving policy of the organization would serve the company in a positive way (Bamber et al. 2013).
References
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