Assignment 2:

Responsibilities to
Stakeholders
BAM101 – Introduction to Business Administration

By: Shakshi Shakshi

Student ID# 130199219
Professor: Peter Forint
November 29, 2021
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Table of Contents

Situation Description and Initial Judgement................................................3

"Musk vs. Buffett, a Solar War in the Desert Heats" video summary.........3

My Initial Judgement.................................................................................3

Business Leader Profile on Elon Musk......................................................4

Business leader profile on Warren Buffet..................................................5

Stakeholders Impact: Justice and Individual Rights..................................6

Investors and Customers.........................................................................6

Communities...........................................................................................6

Environment............................................................................................6

Employees............................................................................................... 6

NPUC Decision.......................................................................................6

Nevada Now............................................................................................6

Conclusion............................................................................................... 7

Reflection.................................................................................................. 8

References.................................................................................................. 9

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Situation Description and Initial Judgement

"Musk vs. Buffett, a Solar War in the Desert Heats" video summary

In the video "Musk vs. Buffett, a Solar War in the Desert Heats Up" by Bloomberg
(Withers), owing to the abundant solar energy, Nevada people decided to put
rooftop solar system regardless of their initial expensive costs, but the long-term
plan seemed beneficial to them as it was going to save their money in the future.
Moreover, the government also set a policy in 1990’s, which is known as Net
metering that allowed homeowners who has installed solar panels to sell the
electricity they do not use. Hence, this made their electricity bills cheaper than
before and people were happier with the environment.
In 2014, Solar city, co-founded by Elon Musk, entered Nevada, and became the
state's leading installer of rooftop panel. Due to its rates in the beginning, some
people could not afford it, so SolarCity centered around house to house deals of
rented systems, where clients would not have to pay upfront expenses, however
they must give consent to buy the power produced by those boards from the
organization for 20 years. A lot of people showed interest in purchasing these
panels and it became so popular. Although Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission
thought that people were not paying the fair amount to maintain the grid. Therefore,
under the net metering rule, it decided to increase monthly charges for solar rooftop
customers and decline the rate of solar energy that sold back to the grid due to
which Solar city decided to withdraw their model from Nevada. This seemed a
victory for the owner of Nevada energy, Warren Buffet. Nevada people started
protesting the rate changes by Public Utilities Commission that too seemed futile as
Warren Buffet was not ready to listen any of this. After this, the battle started
between Elon Musk’s Solar city and Nevada Public Utility NV Energy, part of Warren
Buffet’s business empire.

My Initial Judgement
In my opinion, I support Elon Musk as he brought renewable energy to the
Nevada people and more than a dozen states that proved good for environment
also. Elon musk’s model supported welfare of the public. Even though initial
expenses were bit high, it was going to provide a lot of incentives to the
homeowners in the future. I think, Warren Buffet’s focus was only on money, on the
other hand, Elon Musk’s purpose was profit, public welfare, and preserving
environment. When people protested Public Utilities Commission’s decision, Warren
Buffet should have supported them, so that people could enjoy long term benefits of
Solar city rather than opposing them as many Nevada people put pensions and all
their savings to set up solar panels that would help in reducing the electricity bills on
their rooftops.

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Business Leader Profile on Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a business visionary and financial specialist. He established
X.com in 1999 (which later became PayPal), SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla Motors in
2003. Musk turned into a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his new
business, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers. Musk stood out as truly
newsworthy in May 2012, when SpaceX dispatched a rocket that would send the
principal business vehicle to the International Space Station. He reinforced his
portfolio with the acquisition of SolarCity in 2016 and established his remaining as
a head of industry by taking on a warning job in the beginning of President Donald
Trump's organization.

Elon Musk was brought into the world on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa.
He showed an early capacity for PCs and business. At age 12, he made a PC
game and offered it to a PC magazine. In 1988, directly following gaining a
Canadian visa, Musk left South Africa since he was hesitant to help politically
authorized racial isolation through vital military help and because he searched for
the more imperative money related possibilities available in the United States.

In 1989, he moved to Canada to go to Queen's University and afterward in 1992,

he concentrated on business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He
graduated with a college degree in Economics and remained for second bachelor’s
degree in physics. Lastly, after dropping out of Stanford, he launched his first
company, Zip2 Corporation in 1995.
Musk's mother, Maye, is a specialist dietitian and model. In 2017, at 69 years of
age, she took care of a concurrence with CoverGirl. Musk's dad, Errol Musk, is an
affluent South African specialist.

Musk is the co-founder, CEO and product architect at Tesla Motors, an

organization established in 2003 that is devoted to delivering reasonable, mass-
market electric vehicles just as battery items and solar rooftops. Musk and SpaceX
left a mark on the world when the organization dispatched its Falcon 9 rocket into
space with an automated case. To the extent new improvements by Elon Musk,
SpaceX is attempting of new rockets that would be reusable. That would give an
immense hundred-wrinkle decrease in the cost of room flight. Fuel and oxygen are
only 0.3% of the cost of a rocket. With reusable rockets, space travel could be
easier to achieve for extra people.
In October 2019 Musk pledged to donate $1 million to the #TeamTrees campaign,
which aims to plant 20 million trees around the world by 2020. He even changed
his Twitter name to Treelon for the occasion.

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Business leader profile on Warren Buffet
Warren Buffet is the CEO and largest shareholder in the investment company
Berkshire Hathaway. He is the world’s second-richest person changed biggest
philanthropist. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930. While working in his
father’s stock buy, purchasing Cities Services shares for $38 each that showed him
significance of contributing if possible.

Buffet went to the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania then, moved to
the University of Nebraska. Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor made him
interested in investing. Owing to this, he set up Buffett Associates, his first
speculation organization, in 1956.

Buffet most likely is the hardest demonstration to continue in American business,

because of his exceptional ability and incredible achievement. He leads an
organization with $64 billion of yearly income and $142 billion of market esteem,
whose offers have risen 5,000-crease since he assumed responsibility for what
was then an ailing material firm in 1965. Buffett's sage venture views are probably
going to live on long after the Great One, as did the lessons of his guide, Benjamin
Graham. A couple of years after graduating school, Buffett effectively got some
work at the firm of his tutor Benjamin Graham. Not long after, he happened to
establish Buffett Partnership Ltd. Starting with three associations in 1957, he put in
the hours every day; and by 1960, his firm could flaunt seven organizations.

Buffet gave most of his assets to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and four
other philanthropies. He always liked giving and helping others. Consistently for
quite a long Buffett welcomed around 15 colleges and schools from everywhere
around the world to his corporate central command. He shared his ideas on
business and more critically his examples on the best way to live your life. Buffett
gave one class an offer to each school to cover their costs. Buffett likewise
auctioned a lunch with himself consistently on eBay. He gave the returns to Glide
Foundation, a non-benefit association in San Francisco that helped the destitute
and poor.

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Stakeholders Impact: Justice and Individual Rights

Investors and Customers

Nevada Public Utilities Commission’s decision to double the rates of consumer’s

solar energy forced Elon Musk’s Solar City to withdraw their model of rooftop solar
panels from the Nevada city. Eventually, both the investors and customers would suffer
loss in future as the rates of electricity rates were less before. Customers were happy
before NPUC’s decision, which was affected by Warren Buffet.

Communities

The focus of Elon musk’s Solar City was to protect the environment by providing
renewable energy to the Nevada people that seemed beneficial to both the
community and environment. Therefore, people could use Nevada’s abundant
source of energy that is sunlight at lesser rates in future.

Environment

Warren Buffet’s business empire proved victorious after NPUC’s decision of

increasing rates, even though he knew that Solar City was protecting environment
and people were happy with it, still they took this decision resulting in protests by
masses of Nevada. The focus of Nevada Energy was profit while Solar city’s idea
was to protect fossil fuels that is environment.

Employees

A lot of employees got eliminated from the Solar City due to NPUC’s decision as
Elon Musk had to withdraw his project from Nevada as his company started facing
losses because NPUC doubled the rates of electricity bills.

NPUC Decision

Lastly, NPUC decided to set “Grandfathering proposal” which the old rates to
the existing customers of Solar city for at least 20 years (Cole Mellino).

Nevada Now

To maintain the monopoly and to avoid the competition, NPUC regulators try to
cut off the state’s increasing solar energy making the Nevada people furious and
solar companies run away from the state. According to the people, the changes are
retroactive, and their payments are getting wasted ( David Roberts).

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Conclusion

Warren Buffet as a businessman is responsible to protect and improve the

environment for the betterment of people to live, but he sent his lobbyists to the
NPUC, which affected its decision[ CITATION Mic \l 4105 ]. The decision was unethical as
people spent their whole savings, and retirement pensions thinking that it could
benefit them in the future. it did not bring justice to the Nevada people.

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Reflection
This assignment taught me various things. I have heard name of both the
businessmen before, but I did not know much about them, so I was very keen on
searching about the lives of two very successful and famous entrepreneurs.
Moreover, I was not aware about the city Nevada, but after doing research and
watching the given video, I got to know a lot about it.
My research skills also improved through this assignment as I did research through
Seneca libraries as well as google. I got to know how in businesses, businessmen
do not care about society, environment and only care about profits. Taking
decisions just to gain profit that are not fair for communities’ benefit neither people
nor enterprise. In my opinion, every businessman should keep in mind it’s
responsibilities not just profits.

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References

Bary, Andrew. "Buffett's Legacy." ProQuest. Web (2021).

Editors, Biography.com. Elon Musk Biography. n.d. 29 november 2021.

"Elon Musk Biography." A&E Television Networks (2014).

https://www.biography.com/business-figure/elon-musk

Edu, World History. "Warren Buffett Biography: 6 Important Achievements." World

History Edu (2020).

Finkle, Todd. "WARREN E. BUFFETT AND BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, INC." Journal of

the International Academy for Case Studies (2021): 61-68.

Geron, Tomio. "Elon Musk: SpaceX Testing New Reusable Rockets." Forbes.Com
(2013): 2. search-ebscohoscom.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=buh&AN=86021699&site=ehost-live&scope=site.c

Inc, Encyclopædia Britannica. "Musk, Elon." Encyclopædia Britannica Online

(2020).https://senecacollege.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01SENC_INST/25f
q4b/cdi_britannica_eb_571525

Weinberger, Matt. "Elon Musk Turns 47 Today — Here’s the Incredible Story of How He
Went from Getting Bullied in School to the Most Interesting Man in Tech." Business
Insider (2018).

"Worldbeaters: Warren Buffet." New Internationalist (2007): 31.

https://senecacollege.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01SENC_INST/25fq4b/cdi_rmit
_indexes_Warren_Buffet_073061_SAge

Wade, Michael; Responsibilities to Stakeholders. n.d.

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