Day: November 9, 2014

The introduction, maintenance and determination of renewable resources are more important today than ever before. Non-renewable resources are slowly coming to an end, as the finite resources are being exploited to their fullest capacity.

Australia: A country with glaring sun almost all year round, large areas of unused land and also coastal, leading to high amounts of wind and water, is one of the only countries in the world where renewable resource use is decreasing.

“Investment into renewable energy projects in Australia has dropped by 70% in the last year, according to a new report by a climate change body.” (BBC, 2014)

Most economically developed countries have been accelerating in recent years with the implementation and building of infrastructure for the use of renewable resources, showing promising results in the slow down of global warming. In my opinion it is extremely questionable why Australian leaders would not invest in the increase in production of solar energy, wind power and hydroelectric energy, seeing as they are more than capable due to the extent of the aforementioned geographical characteristics of the country.

Australia is lagging behind.  The reason for this according to Prime Minister Tony Abbott is that the installation of the infrastructure needed for renewable resources is expensive. In the short run, this may be true; the installation of wind turbines, hydroelectric dams and solar panels is expensive, however in the long run it is the most efficient and cheapest way to sustain energy throughout the country. I believe that the government should subsidise homeowners for installing solar panels on their houses and also firms for instigating renewable resources into their factories.

Hopefully in the future Australia will sort itself out and make use of the benefits that the geographical conditions of the land brings and do their part in sustaining the environment and their economy in the long run. Step up your game, Australia!

“Australia ‘giving Up’ on Renewables.” BBC News. BBC, 9 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-29982908>.

“Australian Renewable Energy Agency.” Home. ARENA, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://arena.gov.au/>.

Following up from the guest lecture “people, culture and teams” by Danielle Van Jaarsfeld, where we discussed the culture in firms and also different ways of working together in cooperation’s. We used Zappos online shoe store as a case study in class, however the business that kept coming to my mind was Google.

Plenty people have heard about the Google teams creative, inclusive and wild way of working. Organisational culture is the common behaviour of the staff in the company and how they interact with each other. Google, just like Zappos focuses on having all their employees sharing the same values and beliefs, and all have a common understanding of the way in which to think, act and socialise within an organisation.

My friend from Germany recently interned at Google and said it to be the most amazing and insightful experience he had ever had at a workplace.

Hence, after the lecture earlier this week, I read into Google’s values and the way they function in their workspace. The ways in which it is described makes the company appear to be the most fantastic and innovative workspace ever heard of.

Essentially, the people make the work environment. The employees are determined, creative, innovative and out of the ordinary. Google doesn’t necessarily seek people who are the most intellectual on paper with a degree, but rather Google selects its people based on what they are willing to thrive for, what their values are and how they are able to achieve their goals.
Pinpointing, the environment in which they work, I believe it would be an amazing atmosphere in which people can be open about their ideas, opinions and essentially learn from others.

“Our Culture a Company at Google.” Our Culture a Company at Google. Google, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. http://www.google.com.sg/about/company/facts/culture/