Read the following information below and answer the questions: ...

Read the following information below and answer the questions:

1. Explain how the six (6) external environmental factors have impacted or are impacting the Canadian company Nanoleaf. Explain your answer using examples from this case.
2. Explain which management philosophy the classical school or the behavioural school may be better suited for Nanoleaf and why? Explain your answer using examples from this case.

Nanoleaf is a Toronto-based, Canadian tech startup company that makes smart-lighting products. Nanoleaf was founded in 2012 by Gimmy Chu, Christian Yan, and Tom Rodinger, three University of Toronto engineering graduates.i In 2020, the company had expanded to other countries including France and China, and had employed 80 workers globally. ii Workers are highly skilled and a source of new ideas for innovative and technological products. By 2016, the company secured a $2.9 million investment from the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the Canadian federal government's foundation focused on helping clean technology start-up companies to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. "Nanoleaf will be using the SDTC funding to continue the development of its "Smarter Series" products, a line of highly efficient, extremely intelligent lighting products. Its Apple HomeKitenabled Smarter Kit, which allows users to control lights in their home with their voice, has already received support from Best Buy in the past while the company was still crowdfunding its product."iii In 2021, Nanoleaf's success also included partnerships with global retailers such as Apple, Best Buy and Home Depot. The Nanoleaf Smarter Kit includes an innovative light bulb, which uses the same amount of light as a 60-watt light bulb, while only consuming 7.5 watts of energy. iv The less wattage that is used, the lower are consumers' electricity bills, but also the less carbon emissions are emitted.v As society becomes more environmentally-conscious, consumers are wanting to purchase more sustainable products. Nanoleaf produces several products, including Nanoleaf One which uses patented technology with custom packaged LED chips. The company also claims it produces the world's most energy efficient light bulb. vi In 2020, the company further diversified its product offerings and used its production facilities to manufacture medical-grade masks for North American front-line healthcare workers.vii By 2021, Nanoleaf faced a new challenge - the shortage of microchips, which the company needs to make its products. What is a microchip and why is there a shortage? "A microchip (sometimes just called a "chip") is a unit of packaged computer circuitry (usually called an integrated circuit) that is manufactured from a material such as silicon at a very small scale."viii Chips are used in all electronic products such as personal computers, home appliances, video game consoles, ultra-fast 5G servers, and cars. Therefore, the shortage impacts a broad-range of different industries that involve electronics and computers. In 2021, the shortage of chips was due to a variety of factors. In 2020, covid19-related government restrictions forced millions of office workers to work from home while students also attended classes remotely. The demand for personal computers at home subsequently increased significantly. Other individuals changed their habits and bought automobiles, instead of taking the train, the bus, or using other forms of transportation to improve social distancing measures and to reduce the risk of contracting the corona virus. 5 | P a g e Across the globe, a fire in Japan also added to the problem. According to one report, "a fire March 19 at a Japanese factory operated by Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the biggest makers of automotive chips, hit the industry hard. It triggered a 6.7% drop in General Motors Corp. shares" due to delays in production.ix The manufacturers of chips are dominated by large global companies mainly in Asia and the United States. As global suppliers, manufacturers can choose who to sell their chips to and at what price. With the increase in worldwide demand, manufacturers can raise prices and pass on higher costs to consumers. In 2021, the United States and China trade tariff disputes also impacted delays in companies receiving chips.x However, U.S. companies are limited by their own plant capacity. In 2021, President Biden called for a plan to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry by providing financial support of $50 billion to boost America's semiconductor production as part of a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.xi Clearly, there is opportunity for business growth and profits in this sector, but more needs to be done. The U.S. share of the global chip manufacturing market [had] gone down from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2021, according to Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group. xii According to the Semiconductor Industry Association in California, for each semiconductor job that is created approximately five indirect jobs are created. Worldwide, the industry generates approximately $7 trillion in economic activity annually. xiii "After planes, cars and oil, semiconductors are the US's fourth largest export." xiv "But other countries are working hard to catch up. [For example], China is the world's largest consumer of semiconductors." xv Technology also requires good components. "High-end electronics require high-quality ingredients. The purest silicon is found in quartz rock and the purest quartz in the world comes from a quarry near Spruce Pine in North Carolina, US. Millions of the digital devices around the world - perhaps even the phone in your hand or the laptop in front of you - carry a piece of this small North Carolina town inside them. "It does boggle the mind a bit to consider that inside nearly every cell phone and computer chip you'll find quartz from Spruce Pine," says Rolf Pippert, mine manager at Quartz Corp, a leading supplier of high-quality quartz."