2,765 research outputs found

    Organizing sustainable development

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    The role and meaning of sustainable development have been recognized in the scientific literature for decades. However, there has recently been a dynamic increase in interest in the subject, which results in numerous, in-depth scientific research and publications with an interdisciplinary dimension. This edited volume is a compendium of theoretical knowledge on sustainable development. The context analysed in the publication includes a multi-level and multi-aspect analysis starting from the historical and legal conditions, through elements of the macro level and the micro level, inside the organization. Organizing Sustainable Development offers a systematic and comprehensive theoretical analysis of sustainable development supplemented with practical examples, which will allow obtaining comprehensive knowledge about the meaning and its multi-context application in practice. It shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to students at an advanced level, academics and reflective practitioners in the fields of sustainable development, management studies, organizational studies and corporate social responsibility

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    The Pragmatic Development of a Carbon Management Framework for UK SMEs

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    The UK's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 is challenged by critics citing current government strategies as inadequate, marked by a lack of concrete action and aspirational guidelines. Notably, businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which constitute about half of all business emissions, are pivotal to this goal. Yet, existing policies and standards often neglect the significant role of SMEs, who face barriers such as limited knowledge and resources in implementing carbon management practices. This thesis explores the development of a novel carbon management framework specifically designed for medium-sized organisations in the UK to address these problems. The research adopts a practical approach through collaboration with an industry partner, facilitating a case study for real-world application. Adopting a mixed-methods research design grounded in pragmatism, the study commenced with a qualitative study in the form of a focus group. This exploratory phase, critical for understanding SME challenges, yielded rich data revealing key management themes in strategy, energy, and data. The framework design was supported by a materiality assessment and input from key stakeholders on three major iterations. The final framework comprises three phases: establishing a baseline carbon footprint, creating a carbon reduction plan, and strategically implementing this plan. The validation process, conducted at Knowsley Safari, successfully tested the initial two phases but faced constraints in fully assessing the third phase due to time limitations. While the research achieved its primary aim of developing a novel carbon management framework for SMEs, it encountered limitations, notably in time and the generalisability of findings due to reliance on a single case study. Future research could test the framework across diverse SME settings to establish its broader applicability and effectiveness in aiding the UK's net-zero emission goals

    Why Climate Change Adaptation is Elusive: The Lived Reality of Farming Households in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar

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    Farming households in the Global South are vulnerable to climate change because of their livelihoods’ direct link to the natural environment. Farm households adapt to climate through altering their farming practices and by diversifying their livelihoods through the non-farm sector and migration. However, previous research has suggested that most of these adaptations are incremental, meaning they may not address the root cause of climate change vulnerability in the long term. The aim of this thesis is to assess these claims using the experiences of farm households in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone, a highly climate-stressed region. According to fieldwork conducted in the Central Dry Zone, farmers’ responses to climate change vary considerably. In many cases, although farmers may be aware of the effects of climate change, their livelihood adaptations are motivated by a wider array of concerns, which mitigate or even subvert their capacities to respond to climate challenges. These mixed responses, and the notable reluctance of many farmers in the Central Dry Zone to take adaptive measures to the clear and present risks of climate change, forms the central problem this research seeks to resolve. The thesis argues that these outcomes can be explained through the adoption of a broad-based livelihoods approach which acknowledges that although climate change is an important factor influencing famers’ decision making, other factors are also involved, and these are often prioritized over climate risks. This highlights the position of climate change on farmers' daily lives by emphasising the significance of geographical context and local traditions in relation to making decisions about rural livelihoods, farming, non-farm activities and migration. These findings underscore the need to recognise and comprehend how multiple stresses interact with climate effects to exacerbate the vulnerability of rural households and spotlight the importance of understanding the underlying causes of vulnerability. This perspective is crucial for understanding how farmers and agriculture-dependent communities respond to climate risks. Using the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar as a case study, the research generates an analytical framework that explains why farming households respond to climate change incrementally while being aware of it

    Conducting Online Focus Groups - Practical Advice for Information Systems Researchers

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    Video-based online focus groups (OFGs) present an emerging opportunity for Information Systems (IS) researchers to circumvent spatial and temporal constraints in collecting rich data. They enable researchers to overcome interpersonal and operational challenges arising from face-to-face (F2F) focus groups (FGs) by allowing participants, who are located anywhere in the world, to share their personal experiences from behind their screens. However, the realization of the full potential of OFGs for IS research is currently hampered by challenges and uncertainty over best practices when conducting such FGs. Consequently, we offer a detailed account of our own experiences with seven OFGs in the context of digital platforms. In supplementing our own experiences with those of others reported in extant literature on (online) FGs in and beyond the IS discipline, we (a) arrive at hurdles inherent to the OFG method, (b) derive lessons learned from our own experience with OFGs, and (c) prescribe actionable advice to researchers who are interested in conducting OFGs in the future

    Making sense of solid for data governance and GDPR

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    Solid is a new radical paradigm based on decentralising control of data from central organisations to individuals that seeks to empower individuals to have active control of who and how their data is being used. In order to realise this vision, the use-cases and implementations of Solid also require us to be consistent with the relevant privacy and data protection regulations such as the GDPR. However, to do so first requires a prior understanding of all actors, roles, and processes involved in a use-case, which then need to be aligned with GDPR's concepts to identify relevant obligations, and then investigate their compliance. To assist with this process, we describe Solid as a variation of `cloud technology' and adapt the existing standardised terminologies and paradigms from ISO/IEC standards. We then investigate the applicability of GDPR's requirements to Solid-based implementations, along with an exploration of how existing issues arising from GDPR enforcement also apply to Solid. Finally, we outline the path forward through specific extensions to Solid's specifications that mitigate known issues and enable the realisation of its benefits
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