Corporate irresponsibility

Legionella at the Melbourne Aquarium
 

(Legionella is a Gram negative Bacteria)

The multi-million dollar Melbourne aquarium opened in the beginning of 2000 and grew to be one of the most popular tourist spots in Melbourne. In the April of that year, Legionnaire’s Disease hit the aquarium. Three people died and seven ended up in the hospital. In total, 93 people had caught the disease. This was supposedly the "safest place in Melbourne" to visit. After the accident, visitors dropped almost 50 percent even after replacement of the water-based air conditioning system with a non-water based one and a health official declaring the aquarium. The aquarium also faces a class-action lawsuit seeking unspecified compensation for those who became infected. In response to the incident, the Victorian Government quickly moved to upgrade regulatory standards, establish a comprehensive registry of cooling towers, and require implementation of risk management programs with annual audits.

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Week 4 - How did the Recession affect Sony

 ( Picture above - Workers leaving Sony )




“These initiatives are in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment"  - SONY

While the recession was taking place, Sony planned to eliminate 16,000 jobs. Since December 9, 2008 Sony curbed investments, outsourced production and moved away from unprofitable businesses till March 2010. Doing so, they saved more than 100 billion dollars a year. The cuts in jobs included 16,000 full-time employees ( 5 percent of the company's electronics workforce) and 8,000 part time and seasonal workers. “The reason for this move is the deterioration of the economy, which was much larger than we expected,” Said senior vice president Naofuami Hara. Sony said on October 23, 2009 that net income will probably drop 59 percent in the year ending March 31 2010 , reducing the outlook by 38 percent. Sony said it will invest 30 percent less in its electronics business than planned under its mid-term strategy without giving figures. Sony also stated that they will cut the number of manufacturing sites by 10 percent.

Country Of Origin

Shirt - Honduras

Under Shirt - Bangladesh

Jeans - China

Boxers - Bangladesh

Socks - Unlabeled

Week 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Sony joined Climate Savers in July 2006. Sony has signed a contract in a committed effort to prevent global warming. Since Sony has joined this group, Sony has been focusing on 4 targets which are;

1) The greenhouse gases emitted by Sony Group as a whole will be reduced by fiscal 2010 to a level 7% lower than in fiscal 2000.

2)  The annual consumption of electric power by Sony products will be reduced, thus reducing the amount of CO₂ emitted when consumers use the products.

3) Communications regarding prevention of global warming will be established with consumers.

4) Support the WWF's view that the atmospheric temperature increase should be kept to less than 2°C.

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Also, in this year, Sony created a 5-year environmental targets under Green Management 2015. These targets are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at factories and offices by 30% and lower every product’s power consumption by 30 percent.

Sony is focused on four key areas:

• Global warming and the reduction of greenhouse gases
• Conservation and effective use of natural resources
• Preservation of our natural environment
• Reducing CO2 emissions from product use by introducing more
  energy efficient products
  

Week 2 - Strategic Planning

Same PlayStation, Different Look. I was not surprised when the ps3 slim was released. A slimmer version of the PlayStation 2 was also released when the PlayStation 2 was popular. This PS3 is a upgraded version as the say. This models only have 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB of memory. The model is 33% smaller, 36% lighter and consumes 45% less power. The PS3 slim was released on September 1, 2009 in North America. In its first week, the model has sold one million models in its first week. The bad about this new model is there is no fan in the back which might cause this new model to get overheated quickly. The good, is the model only cost 300 dollars.

Week 1 - Brief History Of The PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 first came out on November 11, 2006. Released in November 11, 2006 in Japan and November 17 for North America and Europe. As of November 11, 2006, the PS3 has sold 38.1 million units as of June 30, 2010. The first PS3's that were released had two HDMI ports, three Ethernet cable ports, and six USB ports. A year later, new PS3 models were made having only one HDMI port, one Ethernet port and four USB ports.When the PlayStation's were first released, the cost of it was 600 dollars to 700 dollars. Now, the models cost about 300 dollars. The first models of the PS3 are now discontinued. The first models only had 20GB, 40GB and 60GB of memory. The 60GB model was the only one that had an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, and was the only one that was chrome silver instead of black.