Workers of every industry have had their ups and downs, moving through the ranks in business. Supposedly, putting in ones time and working those long hours has been the way into promotions and a better position in ones career. But, it’s been difficult to attain any concrete evident proving that a longer work day maximizes a workers output, The New York Times has yet again published an inside look and initiates conversation about whether or not working longer hours produces a better worker.

In any business, one would want to maximize its efficiency, for obvious reasons. That’s how one makes money and contributes. But, ineffectively using employees does not promote that product maximization, and could drag a company further into the red. It depends on the type of business one works for.

Oil issues have continued to bombard media outlets throughout the 2000’s. However, there may be possible solutions to our world crisis, if one looks back to the New York Times June 2005 article entitled, “Japan does the most with least oil”. This seems like a far stretch, but when the United States president has approved an oil drill expedition in the Arctic, as reported by Joseph Luiz, though it is potentially dangerous to the surrounding marine life, there is no harm looking back into the past.

The Japanese government then was initiating campaigns around hybrid vehicles, and replacing older appliances. This may not seem like a huge impact, but when one looks at the Japanese statistics, it’s evident that they don’t have much more to do to reverse the effects of extreme oil dependency. Japan imports 96% of its fossil fuels, and only produces only 4% within country. Companies within Japan have successfully created ways to use scraps for energy.

Though every world power continues to struggle with the rise in crude oil and oil wars and resorting to destroying marine life for the sake of oil, Japan has founded a lasting system to combat this global catastrophe.