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Journal articles on the topic 'Sustainability Consultants'
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Søraa, Roger Andre, Håkon Fyhn, and Jøran Solli. "Energy consultants calculating sustainability for residential buildings." Facilities 37, no. 11/12 (August 5, 2019): 825–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-02-2017-0014.
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PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of a particular energy calculator in enhancing the energy efficiency of existing homes by asking how this calculator was developed and how it is domesticated by craftspeople working as energy consultants.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on qualitative interviews with users and producers of the energy calculator (n= 22), as well as participation in energy consultation training.FindingsThe paper finds that, in the energy calculator, there is a striking lack of connection between the domestication and script because of lack of energy consultants’ involvement in the design and implementation process.Practical implicationsThe enrolment of energy consultants as energy calculator users earlier in and throughout the design process could be valuable in making the transition to an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building sector.Social implicationsThe paper argues for recognition of the role of energy consultants, especially craftspeople, as participants in the design process for tools of governance. This is a call to acknowledge the value of particular skills and experiences possessed by craftspeople doing home consultation.Originality/valueBy understanding the intricate developer–user synchronicity in tools developed for upgrading the building sector, energy mitigation can be made more effective.
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Draisey, Ian. "Consultants' corner." Refocus 3, no. 1 (January 2002): 44–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1471-0846(02)80012-9.
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Draisey, Ian. "Consultants' corner." Refocus 3, no. 2 (March 2002): 46–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1471-0846(02)80028-2.
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Draisey, Ian. "Consultants' corner." Refocus 3, no. 3 (May 2002): 62–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1471-0846(02)80046-4.
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Fitzgerald, Katherine, Philip Yates, Jonathan Benger, and Adrian Harris. "The psychological health and well-being of emergency medicine consultants in the UK." Emergency Medicine Journal 34, no. 7 (October 21, 2016): 430–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2015-205246.
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ObjectiveTo explore the experience of psychological distress and well-being in emergency medicine (EM) consultants.MethodsA qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study based on 1:1 semistructured interviews with EM consultants working full time in EDs across South West England. Eighteen EM consultants were interviewed across five EDs, the mean (SD) age of participants being 43.17 (5.8) years. The personal meanings that participants attached to their experiences were inductively analysed.ResultsThe analysis formed three superordinate themes: systemic pressures, physical and mental strain and managing the challenges. Pressures within the ED and healthcare system contributed to participants feeling undervalued and unsatisfied when working in an increasingly uncontrollable environment. Participants described working intensely to meet systemic demands, which inadvertently contributed to a diminishing sense of achievement and self-worth. Consultants perceived their experience of physical and emotional strain as unsustainable, as it negatively impacted; functioning at work, relationships, personal well-being and the EM profession. Participants described how sustainability as an EM consultant could be promoted by social support from consultant colleagues and the ED team, and the opportunity to develop new roles and support ED problem solving at an organisational level. These processes supported a stigma-reducing means of promoting psychological well-being.ConclusionsEM consultants experience considerable physical and mental strain. This strain is dynamically related to consultants' experiences of diminishing self-worth and satisfaction, alongside current sociopolitical demands on EM services. Recognising the psychological experiences and needs of EM consultants and promoting a sustainable EM consultant role could benefit individual psychological well-being and the delivery of emergency care.
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Telles, Beatriz M., Leandro Petrokas, and Marcus H. Nakagawa. "Sustainability Trends and Implementation in Academy and Consulting." Journal on Innovation and Sustainability. RISUS ISSN 2179-3565 3, no. 3 (November 15, 2012): 3. http://dx.doi.org/10.24212/2179-3565.2012v3i3p3-17.
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Sustainable development and sustainable shareholder value gain are terms increasingly being worked in the academic and corporate worlds. Based on the Sustainable Shareholder Value Model, by Hart and Milstein (2004), along with research by Sgarbi et al (2008) and Telles (2011), this paper verifies and compares if the jargons from Sgarbi (2008) are being used by professors from PUC-SP and by professionals and consultants in Brazilian companies, in addition to verifying how these professionals and consultants classify these jargons for the next two decades. The conclusion shows that the distribution of jargons from Sgarbi (2008) over the quadrants by Hart and Milstein (2004) are balanced both by professors and by sustainability professionals and consultants. Both the future on the next two decades and the quadrant with highest frequency percentage are related to present topics, externally to the company.
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Zainul Abidin, Nazirah, and Nadia Alina Amir Shariffuddin. "Engaging consultants in green projects: exploring the practice in Malaysia." Smart and Sustainable Built Environment 8, no. 1 (April 1, 2019): 80–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-06-2018-0033.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the practice of engaging key project consultants for the development of green projects in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach is adopted in this research using the face-to-face semi-structured interview process with 18 respondents consisting of developers and architects of green projects that have obtained green certification by the Malaysian Green Building Index. Findings The engagement of consultants is divided into three stages: engagement method; consultant selection method; and evaluation process. The engagement method can be initiated by the client or through the architect. The direct selection is the preferred strategy in engaging architects, while open strategy is commonly adopted for engaging other key consultants. The evaluation process consists of request for proposal evaluation and negotiation before appointment is awarded. In addition, there are four main criteria in selecting the consultants: client’s preference, fee flexibility, green project requirement and consultant firm’s internal strengths. Research limitations/implications The study is based on the Malaysian context and based on the engagement of main consultants in green development projects and, thus, cannot be generalised to other consultants’ engagement in conventional projects. Practical implications This research presents the process that can contribute to better planning, controlling and management of the consultants’ engagement process. The selection criteria shall form a reference in selecting the most suitable consultants for the project. Originality/value This study attempts to understand how consultants are engaged in green projects, an important management stage in project initiation, but has received little attention in the past.
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Peters, Gary F., and Andrea M. Romi. "The Association between Sustainability Governance Characteristics and the Assurance of Corporate Sustainability Reports." AUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory 34, no. 1 (July 1, 2014): 163–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-50849.
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SUMMARY This study provides evidence on whether sustainability-oriented corporate governance mechanisms impact the voluntary assurance of corporate sustainability reports. Specifically, we consider the presence and characteristics of environmental committees on the Board of Directors and a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) among the management team. When examining assurance services, we make a distinction between those services performed by professional accountants, consultants, and internal auditors. We find that the presence of a CSO is positively associated with corporate sustainability report assurance services, and this association increases when the CSO has sustainability expertise. Supporting the position that some firms establish sustainability-related governance merely to conform to socially desired behavior, we find that only those environmental committees containing directors with related expertise influence the likelihood of adopting sustainability assurance. Presently, environmental committees with greater expertise appear to prefer the higher-quality assurance services of professional accounting firms. Expert CSOs, on the other hand, prefer assurance services from their peers with sustainability expertise, as evidenced by their choice to employ consultants. When analyzing firms' environmental contextual characteristics, we find that firms employing a CSO and exhibiting poor environmental performance, relative to other firms in their industry, prefer to report sustainability results without assurance. While we do find that larger firms in the U.S. are significantly less likely to employ assurance, this result decreases over time. Further, we provide initial evidence that the value-relevance of sustainability assurance is increasing with time.
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Tayeh, Bassam A., Yazan I. Abu Aisheh, and Ibrahim O. Abuzuhri. "Factors Affecting Sustainability Performance during the Construction Stage in Building Projects-Consultants’ Perspective." Open Construction and Building Technology Journal 14, no. 1 (February 18, 2020): 17–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874836802014010017.
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Background: The construction industry significantly contributes towards enriching human inhabitation within the built environment. However, the industry generates one-third of the world’s carbon emissions per annum (a major contributor to climate change). In response, a sustainable construction development agenda has been propagated by governments worldwide. Objective: This research investigates the factors affecting sustainability performance during the construction stage of building projects in the Gaza Strip from consultants’ viewpoint. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 35 consultants, and 31 completed questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 88.57%. A total of 55 variables were considered in this study and listed within three thematic factor groups, namely, economic, social and environmental factors. Data collected were analysed using factor analysis and relative important index within the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (v22). Results: Results indicated that the most influential factors are i) Economic: professional fees of engineers and consultants, energy cost and use of full equipment capacity; ii) Social: availability of knowledge and skills in the labour force, increased burden on infrastructure as a result of the use and depletion of natural resources and public awareness; and iii) Environmental: environmental regulations, pollution generation and waste generation. Conclusion: Lack of awareness about economic and social sustainability was found due to the traditional definition of environmental sustainability and the upper and indirect super-vision of consultants to the construction stage.
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Diouf, Dominique, and Olivier Boiral. "The quality of sustainability reports and impression management." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 30, no. 3 (March 20, 2017): 643–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-04-2015-2044.
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Purpose The purpose of this research is to analyze the perceptions of stakeholders – more specifically, socially responsible investment (SRI) practitioners – of the quality of sustainability reports using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on 33 semi-structured interviews carried out with different stakeholders and experts (e.g. consultants, fund managers, analysts, consultants) in the field of SRI in Canada. Findings The perceptions of SRI practitioners shed more light on the elastic and uncertain application of the GRI principles in determining the quality of sustainability reports. Their perceptions tend to support the argument that sustainability reports reflect the impression management strategies used by companies to highlight the positive aspects of their sustainability performance and to obfuscate negative outcomes. Originality/value First, undertake empirical research on stakeholders’ perceptions – which have been largely overlooked – of the quality of sustainability reports. Second, shed new light on the impression management strategies used in sustainability reporting. Third, show the reflexivity and the degree of skepticism of practitioners with regard to the reliability of information on sustainability performance.
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Opoku, De-Graft Joe, Joshua Ayarkwa, and Kofi Agyekum. "Barriers to environmental sustainability of construction projects." Smart and Sustainable Built Environment 8, no. 4 (September 2, 2019): 292–306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-08-2018-0040.
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Purpose The construction industry plays an important role in the achievement of the 11th and 15th of the Sustainable Development Goals. Efforts have been made by most developing and developed economies toward the achievement of these goals. Despite the efforts being made by the construction industry toward the achievement of these goals, there are still barriers that prevent built environment consultants from advancing environmental sustainability (ES) of construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers to ES of construction projects. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review on barriers to the adoption of ES was conducted and face-to-face semi-structured interviews of purposively selected built environment consultants in Ghana were carried out. Thematic template analysis of qualitative data was conducted. Findings The key findings from the study include perceived initial costs, lack of knowledge on ES, technological difficulties, external pressures in adopting ES practices and environmental conditions in developing countries. Originality/value The outputs of this study offer strategies which are very significant to the construction industry in embracing ES. Further, the findings contribute to knowledge on achieving the sustainable development agenda.
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Helen Brain, Roslynn Grace, and Blake Hunter Thomas. "Undergraduate Students as Sustainability Consultants: Applying Service-Learning To Enhance Career Skills and Foster Community Environmental Sustainability." Sustainability: The Journal of Record 6, no. 5 (October 2013): 277–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/sus.2013.9839.
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Matteson, Patricia, Peter Werts, and Chloe Nelson. "Sustainability and organic certification programs offer opportunities to growers and their consultants." Crops & Soils 48, no. 1 (January 2015): 32–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/cs2015-48-1-8.
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Parminter, T. G. "Selecting farm practices and preparing farm plans for land-use consents in the Manawatu-Wanganui region." Journal of New Zealand Grasslands 77 (January 1, 2015): 275–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.33584/jnzg.2015.77.464.
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Throughout 2014, the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council and DairyNZ worked with 10 farm consultants assisting dairy farmers preparing farm plans for the regional OnePlan and reducing their risks of contaminating local waterways. Twenty-three farm plans that had been produced with the support of five farm consultants were examined. Starting with average annual leaching losses of 23-71 kgN/ha, these plans included a range of mitigation practices to achieve reductions in nitrate losses of 5-15%. Although they had been developed independently, similar practices were bundled together in the plans to match the needs of each farmer's circumstances and particular farming systems. This work suggests that although a short list of mitigation practices may be able to be selected for application on farms, the impact of those practices upon each farm business will each need to be determined in order to reliably enhance farm sustainability and viability across a catchment. Keywords: consultancy, OnePlan, consents, farming systems
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Lam, Terence Y. M. "A sustainable procurement approach for selection of construction consultants in property and facilities management." Facilities 38, no. 1/2 (August 22, 2019): 98–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-12-2018-0147.
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Purpose Outsourcing architectural and engineering services is a trend for public-sector construction projects. This study aims to examine what tender selection criteria should be considered when assessing the performance outcomes of consultants in relation to sustainable design, construction and management of buildings within the context of property and facilities management of existing building portfolios. Design/methodology/approach Combined qualitative-quantitative methods are adopted to examine the causal relationship between sustainable performance outcomes and influencing factors, using primary data collected from the estate offices of the UK universities, which form a unique public sector. The performance factors identified form the basis of selection criteria. Findings The qualitative multiple-case interviews identify economic, environmental, social and functional sustainability measures as the attributes of performance outcome. The quantitative hierarchical regression analysis generalises that sustainable performance outcomes can be significantly influenced by task and contextual performance factors. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study is limited to university estates. Further research should be conducted on other property and facilities management and construction-related organisations so that the sustainable procurement approach developed by this research can become more robust and applicable to the wider public sector. Practical implications At the tender stage, estate managers should adopt a sustainable procurement approach for selection of construction consultants: focussing on the significant task performance (project staff and execution approach) and contextual performance (collaborative consultant frameworks) influencing factors to optimise the project sustainability outcomes in relation to economic, environmental, social and functional values. Originality/value The sustainable procurement approach developed by this research benefits property and facilities management, as well as construction disciplines within the wider public sector, thus contributing to the government construction policy on promoting sustainability to the built environment.
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Osman, Azim Azuan, Rusalbiah Che Mamat, and Mazita Mat Ali. "Lean Transformation Sustainability Models." ADVANCES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL 6, no. 2 (October 31, 2020): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.24191/abrij.v6i2.10581.
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Tranformation from conventional production system to lean production system has helped many manufacturing companies to reduce cost and ultimately improve their business performance. Unfortunately, there were also many reported cases where manufacturers failed to sustain the transformation until they achieve the ultimate result. Therefore, this article aimed to review existing Lean Transformation Sustainability (LTS) models that might help scholars and practitioners gain better insights on how to sustain lean transformation. This article compiled 37 LTS models through assistance of online bibliographic databases. The review study found that many researchers have proposed original models which involved high participation of practitioners and to some extent consultants in the development of LTS models. It was also found that a huge number of inconsistent elements were used to propose the LTS models. The study findings provided direction towards future research opportunities such as the development of LTS assessment model that encompassed standard set of elements for generalisation.
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Tuyp, Benjamin, Kasra Hassani, Lisa Constable, and Joseph Haegert. "Models of care for traumatically injured patients at trauma centres in British Columbia: variability and sustainability." CJEM 20, no. 2 (July 11, 2017): 200–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cem.2017.50.
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AbstractBackgroundSuccessful trauma systems employ a network of variably-resourced hospitals, staffed by experienced providers, to deliver optimal care for injured patients. The “model of care”—the manner by which inpatients are admitted and overseen, is an important determinant of patient outcomes.ObjectivesTo describe the models of inpatient trauma care at British Columbia’s (BC’s) ten adult trauma centres, their sustainability, and their compatibility with accreditation guidelines.MethodsQuestionnaires were distributed to the trauma medical directors at BC’s ten Level I-III adult trauma centres. Follow-up semi-structured interviews clarified responses.ResultsThree different models of inpatient trauma care exist within BC. The “admitting trauma service” was a multidisciplinary team providing exclusive care for injured patients. The “on-call consultant” assisted with Emergency Department (ED) resuscitation before transferring patients to a non-trauma admitting service. The single “short-stay trauma unit” employed on-call consultants who also oversaw a 48-hour short-stay ward.Both level I trauma centres utilized the admitting trauma service model (2/2). All Level II sites employed an on-call consultant model (3/3), deviating from Level II trauma centre accreditation standards. Level III sites employed all three models in similar proportions. None of the on-call consultant sites believed their current care model was sustainable. Inadequate compensation, insufficient resources, and difficulty recruiting physicians were cited barriers to sustainability and accreditation compliance.ConclusionsThree distinct models of care are distributed inconsistently across BC’s Level I-III trauma hospitals. Greater use of admitting trauma service and short-stay trauma unit models may improve the sustainability and accreditation compliance of our trauma system.
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Isenberg, Susan. "Merging Education and Business Models to Create and Sustain Transformational Change." International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology 1, no. 4 (October 2010): 31–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/javet.2010100103.
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In 2004, a large Midwest hospital was losing money, patients, employees, and physicians. A business consultant was hired to engage key employees in a process to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care. The improvement was negligible after the first year, so a 3-man consultancy was added in 2005 to engage all employees in an educational process with the same mission. The author was the hospital director of this experimental change project titled Transformation and worked with both the business and education consultants. The opposing models were serendipitously discovered to be parallel and resulted in positive change. The business model was the application of two Six Sigma models, DMAIC (define, measure, analysis, improvement, control) and Ten Step Kaizen. The education model was proprietary but discovered to be a learning process toward self-direction (Taylor, 1986). Interviews were conducted in this grounded theory study to understand the perceived relationship between the 2005 experiment and current realities. Significant improvements were immediate and sustained over time. The hospital is currently making money and attracting patients, employees, and physicians and the emerged theory posits that merging the models creates transformational change, but sustainability requires empowered leaders to manage the process.
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Sospeter, Nyamagere Gladys, and Nicholas Chileshe. "Risk Handling Responsibilities in Tanzanian Project-Based Organisations." Sustainability 13, no. 14 (July 20, 2021): 8078. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13148078.
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Risk handling is one of the elements and essential parts of risk management when properly incorporated into a project. However, there is inadequate knowledge amongst the contractual parties on risk handling responsibilities in road projects, particularly in Sub-Saharan African developing countries. This study is aimed at bridging that knowledge gap by investigating the perceptions of contractors and consultants on the risk handling responsibilities in road projects in Tanzania. The primary data were collected from 80 registered foreign and local civil contractors and engineering consultants based in Dar es Salaam. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The results show that both contractors and consultants ranked safety project provision and ensuring quality provision in terms of construction as shared risk responsibilities among contractual parties. The findings further show that consultant-related risk responsibilities are: safety provision, the use of historical cost deviation, ensuring quality provision, and review of knowledge on budgeting. On the other hand, contractor-related risk responsibilities include: safety provision and ensuring quality provision. The findings of this study can be used by the practitioners and stakeholders as important lessons useful for controlling risks and making decisions when they intend to participate in such projects during the construction stage.
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Rapoport, Elizabeth, and Anna Hult. "The travelling business of sustainable urbanism: International consultants as norm-setters." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 49, no. 8 (January 9, 2017): 1779–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0308518x16686069.
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This article examines the international travels of ideas about sustainable urban planning and design through a focus on private sector architecture, planning and engineering consultants. These consultants, who we refer to as the global intelligence corps (GIC), package up their expertise in urban sustainability as a marketable commodity, and apply it on projects around the world. In doing so, the global intelligence corps shape norms about what constitutes ‘good’ sustainable urban planning, and contribute to the development of an internationalised travelling model of sustainable urbanism. This article draws on a broad study of the industry (GIC) in sustainable urban planning and design, and two in-depth case studies of Swedish global intelligence corps firms working on Chinese Eco-city projects. Analysis of this material illustrates how the global intelligence corps’s work shapes a traveling model of sustainable urbanism, and how this in turn creates and reinforces particular norms in urban planning practice.
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McKenzie, Sean, Hilary Parkinson, Jane Mangold, Mary Burrows, Selena Ahmed, and Fabian Menalled. "Perceptions, Experiences, and Priorities Supporting Agroecosystem Management Decisions Differ among Agricultural Producers, Consultants, and Researchers." Sustainability 10, no. 11 (November 8, 2018): 4096. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10114096.
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The sustainability of agriculture depends as much on the natural resources required for production as it does on the stakeholders that manage those resources. It is thus essential to understand the variables that influence the decision-making process of agricultural stakeholders to design educational programs, interventions, and policies geared towards their specific needs, a required step to enhance agricultural sustainability. This study employed a survey of multiple-choice and open-ended questions to examine the perceptions, experiences, and priorities that influence management decisions of agricultural stakeholders across Montana, United States. A total of 272 respondents completed a survey, representing five distinct agricultural stakeholder groups: 103 (34.9%) conventional producers, 78 (28.7%) consultants, 37 (13.6%) researchers, 33 (12.1%) organic grain producers, and 21 (7.7%) organic vegetable producers. The results revealed that, while stakeholder groups have distinct perceptions, experiences, and priorities, there were similarities across groups (pseudo-F = 22.92, p = 0.001). Specifically, organic vegetable and organic small-grain producers showed similar responses that were, in turn, divergent from those of conventional producers, researchers, and crop consultants. Conventional small-grain producers and researchers showed overlapping response patterns, while crop consultants formed an isolated group. Six clusters resulting from the classification of the multiple-choice response dataset associated with specific agricultural professions (χ2 = 549.72, p = 0.001). The classification of open-ended questions that assessed agronomic challenges and research needs resulted in six distinctive clusters, with specific associations between clusters and agricultural stakeholder groups (χ2 = 164.41, p = 0.001). These results reinforce the need for agricultural education and programs that address unique and shared experiences, priorities, and concerns of multiple stakeholder groups. This study endorses the call for a paradigm shift from the traditional top-down agricultural extension model to one that accounts for participants’ socio-ecological contexts to facilitate the adoption of sustainable agricultural systems that support environmental and human wellbeing.
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Kim, Grace S., Vali D. Kahn, John Tawa, and Karen L. Suyemoto. "Toward a Ripple Effect: Psychologists Collaborate in Social Justice Education at a High School." Journal for Social Action in Counseling & Psychology 9, no. 2 (December 1, 2017): 112–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.33043/jsacp.9.2.112-131.
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Social justice education aims to develop critical thinking about social inequities and social responsibility to increase civic engagement in high school youth. While high schools increasingly recognize the importance of social justice education, teachers are often initially under-prepared to teach this material, particularly about managing challenging emotions, and working with a group- processes as students work with social justice content and process. Psychologists are often asked to be diversity consultants or instructors, creating opportunities to contribute to social justice education. Drawing from implementation science, this paper describes a model of collaboration between university-based psychologists and high-school educators in providing a social justice course to high school students. Our education model enabled a multi-layered collaborative network that maximized the contributions of collaborators (i.e., Students, High School Teachers, Consultants, and Mentor) and enabled sustainability within the high school.
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Sanchez-Henriquez, Fernando, and Ignacio Pavez. "The Effect of Open Innovation on Eco-Innovation Performance: The Role of Market Knowledge Sources." Sustainability 13, no. 7 (April 1, 2021): 3890. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13073890.
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Organizations use multiple strategies to increase the number and impact of eco-innovations as a path to achieve competitive advantage. In this article, we study the role of open innovation activities, specifically related to market sources, as a driver of eco-innovation performance. While studies have looked at the relationship between these two emergent innovation phenomena from a broad perspective, we explore whether specific market knowledge sources—clients, suppliers, competitors, and consultants—and their combined use—affect eco-innovation performance. We rely on insights from theories of open innovation and sustainable and environmental innovation to build a theoretical framework about the determinants of eco-innovation performance from a market-driven open innovation perspective. Our sample consists of 3047 firm-year observations obtained from three consecutive panels of the Chilean Innovation Survey (2009–2014). We found that clients, suppliers, competitors, and consultants as knowledge sources positively influence eco-innovation performance in firms. In addition, our results suggest that a combination of client sourcing with supplier and consultant sources of knowledge positively affect eco-innovation performance. We discuss the implications of our findings for open innovation activities on eco-innovation and suggest ideas for future research.
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Eklund, Mehtap Aldogan, and Hermann J. Stern. "How COVID-19 reshapes businesses and executive pay for sustainability." Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review 5, no. 1, Special Issue (2021): 107–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/cgsrv5i1sip2.
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The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question of how to design a fair and resilient compensation scheme according to stakeholder theory and the sustainability concept. The first finding of this paper is the framework for the sustainable, fair, resilient, scientific, simple, and practical compensation schemes — pay for sustainability (P4S). P4S has been developed after reviewing the literature and obtaining insights from the compensation consultants in Switzerland. It is also a useful tool in COVID-19 and will be for future crises. As a second finding, this theory-adaptation-based conceptual and commentary paper criticizes the conventional executive compensation structure and introduces the business lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis. As a contribution to both the literature and practice, this research advances the novel knowledge in the field by conceptualizing a reliable and scientific framework and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the four methods of the P4S framework. During COVID-19, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) based performances and compensation schemes have gained more importance. Finally, these proposed methods contribute to the adaptation of ESG-based compensation schemes while considering the local and individual differences of organizations
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Wilson, Elizabeth. "Regional sustainable development frameworks: Tools for sustainability planning in the English regions." Spatium, no. 10 (2004): 19–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/spat0410019w.
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Regional Sustainable Development Frameworks (RSDFs) have been prepared in each of the 8 English regions as a means of progressing sustainable development at the regional level. Promoted by central government, which has emphasised the overarching role of the Frameworks as a key reference for all regional plans, strategies and policies, their preparation and use in practice has offered scope for innovation and variety which are revealing of the relationships and tensions between various interests at the regional level. This paper assesses the effectiveness of the Frameworks, focusing in particular on their use in practice in appraising the sustainability of other regional plans and strategies, and their role in resolving conflicts. The paper also examines their role in integrating a consistent understanding of sustainable development, and reflects on the implications for different meanings of sustainability. It draws on work commissioned by the English Regions Network from CAG Consultants and Oxford Brookes University. A central aim of the research project was to evaluate how effective RSDFs have been in providing a direction and a vision for regional activity to progress sustainable development.
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Jones, Peter, David Hillier, and Daphne Comfort. "Assurance of the leading UK food retailers' corporate social responsibility/sustainability reports." Corporate Governance 14, no. 1 (January 28, 2014): 130–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/cg-03-2011-0027.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an exploratory assessment of the employment of assurance in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)/Sustainability reports published by the UK's top ten food retailers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with an outline of the characteristics of assurance and the empirical information for the paper is drawn from the assurance material in the CSR/Sustainability reports posted on the internet by five of the selected retailers. Findings – The findings reveal considerable variation in the nature and the scope of the assurance processes undertaken, at best the accent is on limited assurance and some concerns are expressed about the independence of the assessment process. The paper concludes that these concerns can be seen to reduce the reliability and credibility of the assurance process. Originality/value – The paper provides an accessible review of how the UK's top ten food retailers are employing external assurance statements as part of their CSR reporting and as such it will interest academics, managers within the retail industry and those professionals and consultants who work with the industry.
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Lau, Leung Kwok Prudence, and Pak Yin Ophios Chow. "The Right to Landscape: Social Sustainability and the Conservation of the State Theatre, Hong Kong." Sustainability 11, no. 15 (July 25, 2019): 4033. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11154033.
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This study analyses research gaps and identifies potential new research topics concerning the adoption of social sustainability values when conserving historic buildings, with a focus on the State Theatre (the Theatre) in Hong Kong. Despite becoming a Grade 1 historic building in March 2017, the Theatre has since faced an uphill battle, sustained only through public participation and widespread pressure on heritage authorities. In the process, problems with local heritage policy and the bureaucratic procedures of technocratic administrative bodies have been brought to light. Based on in-depth interviews with members of the local community, stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and heritage consultants, and using government policies and media reports, this study unveils and analyses issues related to the conservation of the Theatre using a humanised anthropological approach. The results highlight the need for a more socially sustainable future for cultural capital by integrating the notion of the cultural landscape with heritage conservation in Hong Kong.
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Kwon, Minyoung, Erwin Mlecnik, and Vincent Gruis. "Business Model Development for Temporary Home Renovation Consultancy Centres: Experiences from European Pop-Ups." Sustainability 13, no. 15 (July 28, 2021): 8450. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13158450.
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Local authorities (LAs) play an essential role in diffusing home energy renovation measures. However, there are rare business models developed for local authority actions. This paper aims to develop a critical review of the way that local authorities developed business models for pop-up centres where consultants can encourage home energy renovation measures. From 2017 to 2021, participatory research was conducted in collaboration with seven LAs from the UK, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Although local authorities could use business model approaches for the development of pop-up home renovation consultancy centres, we noticed that LAs could not apply specific strategies to fit various customer segment groups. Therefore, a traditional business model needs to be investigated further for local authority activities.
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Baporikar, Neeta, and Rosalia Fotolela. "Strategic Brand Management in SMEs for Competitive Advantage." International Journal of Applied Management Theory and Research 2, no. 1 (January 2020): 16–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijamtr.2020010102.
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This study aimed to explore how SME owner-managers perceive their roles in marketing and brand management as a strategic approach to enhance their competitiveness to ensure profits, growth, and sustainability. For any organization to grow and thrive it is essential to become customers first choice and for that it is critical to communicate their brand content through effective and strategic brand management. Hence, adopting a qualitative, exploratory approach, 10 owner-managers of SMEs and entrepreneurs in Windhoek, Namibia, were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interview protocol. Findings reflect that SME brand strategies both in modern and traditional aspects enhance company growth. The study also proposes a framework that is of practical significance for future entrepreneurs, SMEs and brand consultants to enable SMEs to create and develop their brands for better and competitive positioning in the markets. The unique contribution of this study is how SME-focused brand strategies can act as a driver and provide impetus to profits, growth, and sustainability.
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Raj, Alok, and Samir K. Srivastava. "Sustainability performance assessment of an aircraft manufacturing firm." Benchmarking: An International Journal 25, no. 5 (July 2, 2018): 1500–1527. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bij-01-2017-0001.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a composite index (CI) to evaluate the sustainability performance of an aircraft manufacturing firm using Fuzzy Best Worst Multi Criteria (FBWM) decision-making approach. It identifies a wide range of sub-dimensions and their attributes to measure sustainability in a multi-echelon supply chain. Design/methodology/approach FBWM, a hybrid multi-criteria decision making method, relies on multiple sub-dimensions and attributes for assessment of sustainability. Sub-dimensions and attributes are identified from a detailed literature review and inputs from 17 experts. The weights are evaluated using best worst method (BWM). Quantitative measurements are very difficult for attributes like living conditions, noise emission, etc., so the performance of attributes are assessed using Fuzzy logic. The proposed methodology is validated with the case study of a single unit of an Indian aircraft manufacturing firm. Findings Economic concerns emerge as the most influential dimension of sustainability in the aerospace sector. The results reveal that the firm considered in the case study is “Very Sustainable.” Firm’s performance ratings are excellent in three out of 79 attributes considered for the study. Further, 24 weaker (least performing) attributes are identified with the help of fuzzy performance index. These require managerial action for improvements. Research limitations/implications The present study is based on inputs from a small group of managers in a single firm in India. It can be extended to a large group of executives in other firms like Boeing, Airbus, etc. for testing the validity of the proposed methodology and generalization of the findings. Practical implications Managers, consultants and audit agencies can use the proposed CI developed in this paper for evaluating the sustainability performance of a firm. It assists managers to identify weaker attributes for which they may plan and prioritize their activities for improvements. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to measure sustainability in an aircraft manufacturing firm. The paper proposes a novel framework based on fuzzy BWM, for assessing sustainability performance.
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Celadyn, Magdalena. "Integrative Design Classes for Environmental Sustainability of Interior Architectural Design." Sustainability 12, no. 18 (September 9, 2020): 7383. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12187383.
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The paper considers the adjustments of the interior architectural design education model toward its compliance with the principles of sustainability, since the currently provided scheme does not effectively employ the sustainability multi-dimensional concept as a substantial determinant of interior architectural design. The conventional interior architectural design curriculum requires corrections, to provide students with systematized knowledge on sustainability issues, as well as appropriate abilities and skills to create buildings’ interior spaces with high environmental performance. The modifications are considered using the example of a curriculum realized within the Faculty of Interior Design affiliated with the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. These improvements of the curriculum structure comprise the establishment of a compulsory course on environmentally sustainable interior architectural design, offering to the undergraduate students comprehensive theoretical knowledge on the multi-dimensional aspects of sustainability and the introduction of professional design tools, including simplified versions of multi-criterial environmental evaluation systems, as a supportive educational means, as well as learning tools comprising interdisciplinary environmental-responsibility-oriented design workshops or seminars led by green building consultants and professionals involved in practicing sustainable interior design. This paper discusses the innovative concept of integrative design classes (IDC), realized within the practical modules of courses on Building Construction and Environmentally Sustainable Architectural Design, both delivered to undergraduate interior design students. The paper analyses these integrative design classes as a supportive project-based learning technique to develop the students’ ability to accomplish sustainable design strategies for resource efficiency, waste management effectiveness, optimization of indoor environment quality parameters as well as pro-environmental education. The results of the conducted integrative design classes proved that they are a driver for developing technically and formally innovative designs, allowing the students to establish a link between theoretical knowledge on sustainability in interior design and its practical implementation.
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Ph.D, Haitham Jahrami, and Mohammed Buheji Ph.D. "Reporting a Success Story in the Context of Public Sector: Factors That Matters." Journal of Public Administration and Governance 2, no. 3 (September 29, 2012): 96. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v2i3.2470.
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Given the unclear nature of defining any business success stories in the literature, the present article examines the use of factor analytic techniques on the evaluations of 32 success stories presented by different organisations in the 1st National Forum for success stories in Bahrain held in October, 2011. Standard evaluation forms were designed by an independent expert’s panel incorporating 15 items. Each success story was evaluated by 6-8 public administration consultants. Data were subjected to EFA techniques using Maximum Likelihood Extraction with Promax Rotation, 239 evaluation forms were examined. Three factors were retained by the analysis (a) clarity, (b) competitiveness and (c) sustainability. Recommendations are proffered for future practice as regards of analytic and evaluative decisions of success stories and reporting it in an empirical language. Numerous lectures, guidelines and descriptions exist to aid writing a success story; nonetheless, these remain to be an ‘opinion’ or a ‘reflection’ of their writer. The findings of the analysis in this research reveal that three factors are considered essential for an effectively reported success story: (a) clarity, (b) competitiveness and (c) sustainability.
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Lee, Jun-Yen, and Ching-Hsing Chang. "Efforts toward Creating a Sustainable Business Model: An Empirical Investigation of Small-Scale Certified Forestry Firms in Taiwan." Sustainability 11, no. 9 (May 1, 2019): 2523. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11092523.
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Forest certification plays a notable role in promoting sustainability. This certification shows that forestland holders have adopted innovative practices toward realizing sustainable business models. Relatively little analysis has been devoted to identifying the efforts of transforming a conventional business model into a sustainable version through the application of forest certification. This paper examines the elements of a sustainable business model: value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture in certified forestland holders’ business operations. Empirical results have confirmed that certification signifies a successful sustainability transformation within adopting firms. However, these small organizations struggle with obtaining know-how regarding sustainable forest management. There needs to be adequate external support, such as government consultants or academic researchers, in order to successfully adopt third-party forest certification. However, while practicing sustainable forest management activities will not guarantee premium prices, the certification has, in some rare cases, helped to develop a new niche market. Good communication with stakeholders has improved firms’ relationships with local residents, but more channels of communication are still needed to activate green consumers.
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Darcy, Colette, Jimmy Hill, TJ McCabe, and Philip McGovern. "A consideration of organisational sustainability in the SME context." European Journal of Training and Development 38, no. 5 (May 27, 2014): 398–414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ejtd-10-2013-0108.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider organisational sustainability in the small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME) context focussing on a resource-based view. The paper overlays two contrasting perspectives: those of the SME and human resource (HR) perspectives to allow for the development of a composite model of organisational sustainability for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper overlays four models of Carson’s (1985, 1990) small firm evolution and unique characteristics of SMEs; Wright et al.’s (2001) pertaining to the application of the resource-based view of the firm perspective to strategic HR and Boudreau and Ramstad (2005) model of effectiveness, efficiency and impact of talentship. The paper, in particular, considers the human resource management (HRM) perspectives pertaining to the overlay and considers how these might impact organisational sustainability. Findings – An outcome of the paper is the development of a composite model to the SME and HR perspectives of organisational sustainability and its applicability to the SME context. Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests a number of emergent areas for future research. Future research should focus on the intangible aspects and softer elements of the organisational resource base. The majority of work in this area is grounded in the positivist paradigm. Future research should consider a pluralists perspective and draw on traditions of the post-positivist paradigm, for example, social constructionism. Practical implications – SME-support agencies and consultants who work with SMEs need, therefore, to work with them in assessing their competency spectra and then to help them develop the talent pools required to effect continued growth and success. In doing so SMEs need to be guided towards a better understanding of the traditional temporal cycle of recruitment; in essence, they need to ensure that they have the right competency set in situ in the early stages of the firms’ development. Originality/value – This paper is unique in its approach to the examination of sustainability within the context of SMEs and, in particular, the HRM aspects which contribute towards organisational survival, growth and sustainability.
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Babatunde, Solomon Olusola, Damilola Ekundayo, Chika Udeaja, and Uthman Olawande Abubakar. "Stakeholder perceptions of drivers for, and barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria." Open House International 45, no. 4 (August 31, 2020): 373–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ohi-05-2020-0037.
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Purpose Although several studies have been undertaken on sustainability within infrastructure projects, limited attention has paid to the drivers for, and the barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects through empirical study, particularly in Nigeria. Therefore, this study aims to identify and examine the drivers that promote sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects and assess the barriers to the full integration of sustainability practices into current Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was targeted on four different stakeholders’ organizations. They were public sector authorities, concessionaires, consultants and banks already undertaking PPP infrastructure projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. The obtained data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Findings The study identified 17 drivers that promote the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects. The analysis of the total ranking of the drivers in Nigeria revealed the top five ranked drivers to be: consideration of long-term performance; contractual arrangements; incentives for new market penetration; award criteria; and selection criteria, respectively. The study further identified 11 barriers to sustainability integration in PPP infrastructure projects and the top five ranked barriers in Nigeria are as follows: comprehensive sustainability procurement guidelines; no enabling environment; education needs; uncertain economic environment; and a lack of clear government policy, respectively. The results of the Kruskal–Wallis test conducted on both the 17 identified drivers for, and the 11 barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects revealed that there is no significant statistical difference in both rankings from the perceptions of the aforementioned four different respondents’ groups. Research limitations/implications The study provides empirical insights on the knowledge and awareness of drivers which could lead to a greater uptake in sustainability measures by the stakeholders in Nigerian PPP projects; it also identified barriers to overcome. Originality/value The importance of the incorporation of sustainability in public procurement cannot be over-emphasized. It is anticipated that the study will be of great value to PPP stakeholders involved in sustainability decision-making processes when delivering sustainable PPP projects.
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Hassanain, Mazen. "An Overview of the Performance Improvement Initiatives by the Ministry of Health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing 54 (January 1, 2017): 004695801770787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0046958017707872.
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Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health (MOH) use corporate performance improvement methodologies to develop and implement performance improvement initiatives designed to continue building on the Ministry’s vision of transforming hospital operations and instituting a culture of quality and performance focused on the “patient first” principle. We evaluated the feasibility of setting up a performance improvement unit (PIU) within the MOH to apply the principles of Lean Six Sigma and to change management methodologies. The MOH collaborated with external consultants to implement PIU initiatives in 4 steps: PIU Setup, PIU Capability Building, High-Impact Project Implementation, and Project Sustainability and Knowledge Transfer. PIU units were setup across the 13 provinces over 90 days. The process included the promotion of knowledge sharing to strengthen the skill set of Saudi health care professionals and develop local performance improvement champions within the MOH who could lead, implement, and sustain future projects. Implementation was a challenge; though, early results from the High-Impact Project Implementation phase were encouraging. However, the sustainability of PIU interventions was poor, with performance improvement processes returning to baseline levels within 9 months. This case study shows that PIU implementation is a feasible approach for improving health care delivery in Saudi Arabia. Poor sustainability despite initial success highlights the need to further improve the engagement, incentivization, and training of team leaders and members to achieve long-term success with the program.
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Machaka, Rowan Kushinga, Lakshmanan Ganesh, and James Mapfumo. "Compliance with the Requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines in Zimbabwe: A Case Study." Journal of Sustainable Development 9, no. 5 (September 27, 2016): 121. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v9n5p121.
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This research set out to find out how well projects are complying with the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines in Zimbabwe. Data was collected from EIA reports completed between 2007 and 2012. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the experiences of practitioners in the EIA sector. The results show that EIA reports contain below 65% of required information for decision making. Critical sections of the EIA report are the most deficient. Compliance varies significantly between consultants, stage of EIA process and size of project. Recommendations are: need to review and expand the existing guidelines and promote their use, building objectivity into the EIA report review process, upholding professional standards of practice for the consultants, improvement of compliance monitoring and enforcement, the use of economic incentives and disincentives other than enforcement to promote compliance, increased awareness raising of EIA in the business sector, and increased political will and transparency.
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Shokouhyar, Sajjad, Mohammad Reza Seddigh, and Farhad Panahifar. "Impact of big data analytics capabilities on supply chain sustainability." World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 17, no. 1 (January 6, 2020): 33–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/wjstsd-06-2019-0031.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model to explain the impact of big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) on company’s supply chain sustainability (CSCS). The secondary objective of the study is to assess the relationship between different dimensions of supply chain sustainability and companies’ BDAC. Design/methodology/approach This research was carried out by conducting a survey among 234 pharmaceutical companies in Iran (a case study of Iran), using a standard questionnaire of BDAC and United Nations (UN) online self-assessment on supply chain sustainability. However, the respond of managers of 188 companies were usable in this research. Smart PLS3 was used to employ partial least squares method to examine the validity and reliability of the measurement and structural model. Findings The results of this study demonstrate that BDAC have a strong impact on both pharmaceutical supply chain sustainability, and the dimensions including vision, engage and internal. It is found that the relationships between BDAC and the other dimensions of supply chain sustainability including expect, scope and goals are not significant but positive. Research limitations/implications Research on the relationship between BDAC and CSCS, especially in the pharmaceutical supply chain, is scanty, and this gap is highlighted in developing countries and the pharmaceutical supply chain that plays a prominent role in public health. This paper discusses several important barriers to forming a sustainable supply chain and strong BDA capabilities. Practical implications This paper could be a guide to managers and consultants who are involved in big data analytics and sustainable development. Since UN urges companies do the online self-assessment, the results of this paper would be attractive and useful for UN global compact specialists. Originality/value No study has directly measured the relation between BDAC and CSCS and different dimensions of CSCS, using a comprehensive survey throughout all pharmaceutical companies in Iran. Moreover, this research assesses the different dimensions of BDA capabilities and supply chain sustainability. This paper represents the facts about situation of sustainability of pharmaceutical supply chain and BDAC in these companies, and discloses several related issues that are serious barriers to forming a sustainable supply chain and strong BDAC. In addition, this paper provided academic support for UN questionnaire about CSCS and used it in the survey.
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Hira, Anil. "Introduction: Journal of Developing Societies’ Special Issue on Corporate Social Responsibility." Journal of Developing Societies 36, no. 3 (September 2020): 261–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0169796x20948002.
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In the introduction to this special issue, we point to the large-scale failure of existing corporate social responsibility systems to address ongoing global environmental and labor standards issues. Competing codes, absent harmonization, conflicted and limited auditing and transparency, and an almost complete lack of enforcement mean that the considerable efforts by corporations and their partner international organizations, consultants, and NGOs have not led to any objectively measurable improvements in outcomes. If anything, ongoing labor and environmental disasters and conflicts threaten to undermine the positive intentions and resources dedicated to improving conditions for workers in the South as reflected in anti-immigrant and anti-globalization populist outbreaks in the North. This volume offers a series of ideas about how to begin to reform the system to move towards sustainability and decency in environmental and labor conditions.
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Frostenson, Magnus, and Sven Helin. "Ideas in conflict: a case study on tensions in the process of preparing sustainability reports." Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal 8, no. 2 (May 2, 2017): 166–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sampj-02-2015-0015.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand conflicts in sustainability reporting (SR) preparation. Design/methodology/approach In the preparation of SRs, the logic of financial rationality is often assumed to take precedence over the logic of sustainability. Based on an explorative qualitative case study of a large Swedish retailer, the paper problematizes this view. Over a reporting cycle, employees and consultants involved in the preparation process are interviewed. Conflicting ideas about SRs are identified and analyzed through the lens of institutional logics. Findings The study identifies five tensions in SR preparation. These tensions relate to conflicting ideas of what an SR is, how it should be written and how it should be used. Among findings, a conflict of logics can be found as the basis of at least one tension. However, tensions may also emerge within a shared sustainability logic. Research limitations/implications A contribution of the study is that it sets its finger on the actual fieldwork with SRs. The study shows that it is unreasonable to claim that SRs are “self-evidently” captured by management according to financial rationality. Possibly, the nature of the studied firm, a company within the pharmaceutical and health sector, implies a stronger sustainability logic than in other firms. Practical implications According to the study, the results of an SR preparation process are highly dependent on the sometimes conflicting ideas of preparers and others within the company. It is of high importance to identify and clarify such conflicting ideas already in the beginning of the process, to link the SR to the corporate social responsibility strategy of the firm, and to involve top management in the process. Originality/value The study identifies underlying tensions in SR preparation. It also introduces a theoretical framework that makes it possible to analyze tensions in the preparation process.
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Gray, Glen L., Won Gyun No, and David W. Miller. "Internal Auditors' Experiences and Opinions Regarding Green IT: Assessing the Gap in Normative and Positive Perspectives." Journal of Information Systems 28, no. 1 (December 1, 2013): 75–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.2308/isys-50694.
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ABSTRACT Organizations' sustainability and environmental compliance activities are escalating. Information technology (IT) is an essential environmental compliance component under the rubric of green IT, which can include the designing, manufacturing, implementing, and disposing of IT components and the supporting electrical and cooling infrastructure. Green IT has numerous compliance, governance, and control issues, and management needs assurance that green IT metrics reported to management, regulators, and other stakeholders are accurate, complete, and timely. Boards, executives, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) view internal auditors as control experts. This paper summarizes a survey of internal auditors as to what internal auditors should be doing in this domain and what they are actually doing. The results indicate that even though internal auditors believe that they should be more involved in green IT activities, their current involvement is limited to the traditional role as assurance provider, not as facilitators or consultants. The results also suggest that internal auditors' current involvement in green IT activities varies depending on the types of environmental sustainability strategies practiced by their organizations, whereas their perceived roles in green IT activities did not. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from the authors on request.
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Henn, Rebecca. "Border Patrol: Professional Jurisdictions in Sustainable Urban Environments." Enquiry A Journal for Architectural Research 7, no. 1 (March 27, 2013): 4–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.17831/enq:arcc.v7i1.72.
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According to the United Nations, our world is becoming more populated, more urban, more connected, more globalized, and more complex. With this physical and social complexity comes a need for increased coordination in negotiating our urban futures. Environmental design and planning professionals have worked for decades according to traditional institutionalized role structures. Sustainability—in considering a wider variety of stakeholders—promises not only to include more members in the typical design and construction team (e.g., sustainability consultants, community representatives, technical specialists, etc.), but also to change the jurisdiction of tasks (e.g., project management, decision making, design leadership, etc.) taken on by actors in traditional roles (e.g., owner, architect, contractor, etc.). This paper examines how a wider social concern for environmental and social sustainability has affected the design and construction industry. Organizational and sociological theories suggest that professions are “bound to a set of tasks by ties of jurisdiction... [P]rofessions make up an interacting system... and a profession’s success reflects as much the situations of its competitors and the system structure as it does the profession’s own efforts” (Abbott 1988: 33). Abbott also suggests that “larger social forces” affect the structuring of professional boundaries. Treating sustainability as a “larger social force,” this paper examines current understandings of professional boundaries in the planning, design, and construction of our environments. It answers questions of how professionals renegotiate roles, responsibilities, and compensation when dealing with an uncertain change in traditional processes.The qualitative data stem from three university building projects. Each project was proposed ab initio without a mandate to achieve LEED Certification, but this complex criterion was subsequently added at different phases of design for each project. The in situ reconfiguration of existing responsibilities—and assignment of new responsibilities—shows how professionals integrate new practices and processes to achieve both environmentally and professionally sustainable futures.
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Metaxas, Ioannis N., Dimitrios E. Koulouriotis, and Stefanos H. Spartalis. "A multicriteria model on calculating the Sustainable Business Excellence Index of a firm with fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS." Benchmarking: An International Journal 23, no. 6 (August 1, 2016): 1522–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bij-07-2015-0072.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated methodology for benchmarking the sustainability of organizations. The fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods have been used for this purpose. The FAHP is used to determine the weights of the criteria by decision makers, and the rankings of the alternatives are determined by TOPSIS. The proposed instrument is used to calculate the Sustainable Business Excellence Index (SBEI) and its potential impact on the formulation of firm strategy. To demonstrate the applicability of the model, illustrative examples are presented. Design/methodology/approach – After a careful literature review, a sustainable business excellence framework is created and a fuzzy system is developed to assess firms’ sustainability. Finally, the SBEI is computed. Findings – The results indicate that the suggested fuzzy approach is feasible for benchmarking the sustainability of organizations. It allows the decision makers to express their opinion regarding the importance of criteria and evaluate each alternative and then have this input coordinated in a quantitative fashion. Research limitations/implications – Practitioners and consultants can use the instrument for conducting quality management benchmarking within and across organizations. Researchers can use the instrument in future studies for further theory development in this area. Originality/value – As far as the authors are aware, no previous study research has assessed the SBEI of an organization with fuzzy sets. As such, it responds to a number of contemporary challenges in the business excellence theory, most importantly the broad need to identify agile organizations.
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Hassan, Afrah, and Majid Yahya. "Cost optimization for public school building projects during design stage using value engineering." MATEC Web of Conferences 162 (2018): 02033. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201816202033.
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During the past ten years, various systems of building components have been applied in public school projects in Iraq, with no systematic method used for selection and evaluation, but only based on the designer’s experience. This paper displays evaluation and selection techniques based on value engineering methodology to find the optimal cost for school building projects in Iraq during design stage. The most important criteria for performance, constructability and sustainability criteria, which based on the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design used in this assessment were obtained from a survey of 49 professional designers and consultants, adoption of the Super Decisions Software Program, which uses analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for determining the relative importance of the main criteria and sub-criteria, that allows the decision-makers to evaluate the suitable alternatives of design for the external wall system in Iraq’s school buildings was built.
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Grant, Terri, and Gaontebale Nodoba. "Sustainable Business Practices for Sustainable Futures." International Journal for Innovation Education and Research 1, no. 4 (December 31, 2013): 10–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol1.iss4.122.
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The Professional Communication Unit (PCU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has developed innovative, multimodal teaching approaches that aim to contribute to the notion of corporate citizenship. Two separate course partnerships strive to equip senior commerce students with graduate attributes valued in business and government. Course one involves a partnership with environmental consultants who collaborate with staff to mentor students during their institutional investigation of sustainable business practices. Course two involves collaboration between students, staff and small business owner-managers. It focuses on sustainability practices of the chosen SME in relation to the triple bottom line. The model aims to prepare students for societal challenges in the workplace and to offer technical support to these SMEs to increase their competitiveness. In the wake of global financial and environmental crises, this article amplifies the need for collaborative partnering as all constituents aim to remain relevant and sustainable in the 21st century.
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Amador, Sarah, Claire Goodman, Louise Robinson, and Elizabeth L. Sampson. "UK end-of-life care services in dementia, initiatives and sustainability: results of a national online survey." BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 8, no. 4 (October 14, 2016): 424–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2016-001138.
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BackgroundPeople living and dying with non-cancer diagnoses, including dementia, have poorer access to generalist and specialist palliative care than people with cancer, and experience worse outcomes in terms of pain and symptom control, and quality and experience of care. In the UK, the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) ran a national survey of services for end-of-life care for people with dementia (2008) in which 16 services were identified, and reported on case studies and examples of good practice. We updated the NCPC survey to review progress in previously identified services, identify factors that lead to sustainable services and identify new initiatives in this area of care.MethodsAn online survey was developed and piloted before use. Initiatives were contacted via targeted (N=63) and open call invitations. The survey was made up of 5 sections. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics.Results15 services responded. They engaged in a wide range of activities predominately providing direct care (80%) and workforce development/advisory or educational activities (87%). Results suggest that sustainability of services is reliant on clinicians with a leadership role and wider system support through funding mechanisms and a minimum level of integration within normal service provision.ConclusionsRecent initiatives are largely built on the expertise of the nursing profession (with or without input from medical consultants), and driven mainly by the charity and hospice sector. This has generated a potential new model of care provision in end of life dementia care, ‘Hospice-enabled Dementia Care’.
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Gluszak, Gawlik, and Zieba. "Smart and Green Buildings Features in the Decision-Making Hierarchy of Office Space Tenants: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Study." Administrative Sciences 9, no. 3 (July 19, 2019): 52. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/admsci9030052.
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In the paper, we investigate the role of smart building or green building innovations on the Polish real estate market using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method on the group of experts (consultants, managers, brokers) that are active on the office market in Krakow (study area). The findings point towards the highest relevance of the localisation factor, but also at the relatively low importance of the features of a sustainable building: building automation and information technology systems, as well as energy efficiency or certification. The findings suggest that despite the growing interest in sustainability and technological advancement amongst office market participants in Krakow, the relative importance of smart and green building features in their decision-making processes is relatively low. The study has some interesting practical implications. The knowledge regarding the relative importance of decision criteria can be valuable for developers and investors because the anticipation of tenants’ expectations is directly linked with return on investment and innovation premiums.
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Wang, Chen, Lincoln C. Wood, and Li Tien Teo. "TROPICAL VERTICAL GREENERY SYSTEMS: IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, BIOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND INFLUENTIAL CRITERIA." Journal of Green Building 11, no. 4 (September 2016): 57–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.11.4.55.1.
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Recent studies on vertical greenery systems (VGS) mainly focus on thermal performance, acoustics effects, energy savings and environmental sustainability. There are very few studies on tropical VGS irrigation systems, plants' characteristics, and favorable installation locations, indicating that architectural professionals may lack sufficient guidance to support their design work. Through two descriptive case studies and a questionnaire survey of VGS-related professionals including gardeners, mechanical and electrical engineers, consultants, contractors, and developers, this research developed a knowledgebase for tropical vertical greenery systems irrigation systems and determined the suitability of different types of vertical greenery systems according to the biophysical characteristics of plants. The suitability for various plant characteristics has been identified to help potential users while considering vertical greenery systems irrigation systems. Suitable locations, orientations and microclimatic conditions for vertical greenery systems irrigation systems to prevent system failure have been determined. Further research focused on establishing the technical requirements for irrigation scheduling is recommended to improve the application efficiency.
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Singer-Brodowski, Mandy, Katrin Grossmann, Stephan Bartke, Sandra Huning, Theresa Weinsziehr, and Nina Hagemann. "Competency-oriented education for sustainable development." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 19, no. 7 (November 5, 2018): 1299–316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-12-2017-0223.
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Purpose Energy poverty can be seen as a relatively new, but typical sustainability problem in which various dimensions (ecology, society and economy) are interlinked and in part conflict with each other. Moreover, the variety of involved stakeholders (planners, tenants, housing companies, private landlords, energy consultants, etc.) represents conflicting aims for solving this problem. This paper aims to present a systematic linkage between higher education for sustainable development (HESD) and education about energy poverty yet. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative comparative case study approach with a similar didactic approach is used. Findings Based on the literature about HESD and an overall model in general didactics, ten criteria were identified and used for an overall reflection about similar courses dealing with the topic of energy poverty. The criteria covered the learning goals, the didactical approaches and the institutional support in the forms of organisation in the courses. Research limitations/implications There was no competency measurement of the students in the described courses. Practical implications There was no evaluation of the development of students’ key competencies for sustainability. However, the reflections of students and teachers revealed a positive development regarding the students’ learning process, especially because they worked on a real-world sustainability problem: energy poverty. Originality/value This contribution describes how university courses on energy poverty were designed and implemented at five German universities. Against the background of general criteria for HESD, it reflects on the experiences that the use of this concept evoked. Through a comparison of the five courses against these criteria, the paper outlines strengths and weaknesses of the approach and closes with recommendations and requirements for designing further courses.
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Robertson, Fiona. "Social network influences on integrated reporting adoption and implementation – a UK perspective." Journal of Global Responsibility 12, no. 3 (May 7, 2021): 317–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jgr-08-2020-0080.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose This paper aims to investigate social influences on the UK integrated reporting (<IR>) adoption and implementation. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 36 senior executives actively involved in <IR> within 17 organisations. Findings Main social influences on adoption externally were reported design consultants and to a lesser extent, external auditors, primarily to legitimise <IR>. Internal influences were board support for <IR>, with the main driver being the mind-set of the CFO/Chairman to drive sustainability throughout the organisation or to regain trust in society. Social influences aiding further diffusion at the implementation stage came from three external sources: business networks; report design consultants; and external auditors. Internal influences in driving <IR> diffusion within organisations were identified in five functional areas, with finance, sustainability and communications functions exerting the greatest external influence on the diffusion of <IR>. Research limitations/implications This research study was limited by the small sample of organisations that participated, although significant efforts were made to ensure that the sample incorporated the majority of early adopter UK organisations who demonstrated best practice in <IR>. Therefore, the findings are specific to the research context and do not represent statistical generalisations. Practical implications Empirical evidence identifying social influences from a practitioner perspective provides recommendations as to how <IR> may be further diffused in the future. Social implications <IR> creates the potential to significantly improve the long-term health of corporations and the external environment they impact through consideration of the three indivisible and integrated dimensions of sustainable development, the economy, society and the environment and can contribute to a sustainable society by providing the opportunity for organisations to respond to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This highlights the significance of the research, which aims to gain insights into <IR> social influences which can assist in the adoption and implementation of <IR>. Originality/value This is the first comprehensive study of social influences on the <IR> adoption and implementation practices in the UK. It incorporates recommendations to improve the likelihood of subsequent adoption and diffusion of <IR> based on the findings.