Responsible leadership : proceedings of the Corporate Responsibility Research (CRR) 2009 Conference

Huomautus: Teoksella on useita tekijöitäfi=vertaisarvioimaton|en=nonPeerReviewed

Value co-creation through digital technology in developing economies : reflections from Indonesian agri-food E-commerce chain

PhD ThesisValue co-creation (VCC) has supported the expansion of research in marketing by embracing service innovation within the digital-driven era. However, a small number of studies provide a comprehensive examination of VCC through digital technology from the perspective of multiple local market actors at developing economies at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market. This research explores the role of digital commerce in VCC with the empirical focus on the Indonesian horticulture industry, moving towards e-commerce for marketing innovation. This research aims to: (1) explore VCC manifestation within the local BOP market, (2) discover the role of e-commerce in the exchange process of co-creation at the local BOP market, (3) explore the dimensions of VCC of engagement amongst the local e-commerce supply chain actors of BOP, and (4) investigate the causes and effects of customer engagement to VCC of using e-commerce in this marketplace. This research adopted a mixed-method approach of qualitative semi-structured interviews and a quantitative survey. VCC identified as occurring in a newly emerging e-commerce marketing channel via the interaction amongst channel members. Inclusive, collaborative, and empowerment ideology contribute to market scripting scenario by local entrepreneurs who identify as ‘socio-entrepreneurs’. This research argues that the exchange logic underpinning this new transformative business approach of digitally enabled VCC in local BOP markets is akin to a ‘social justice logic’. For consumers, digital technologies create online ‘consumption communities’ where information is exchanged concerning product provenance and food preparation opportunities supporting online purchases and innovation in value chain ‘pull’ strategies. The research indicates that customer VCC behaviour was influenced by the significant effects of customer-related VCC resources of social expertise and openness, customer motivation, and its effects on value-in-use, willingness-to-engage, positive emotions, and behavioural intentions. Finally, the results highlight the moderating role of customer age and the length of engagement in VCC processes on these relationships.Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP

A Contingency Approach for Supply Chain Preparedness to Pursue Circular Economy Business Models

A growing stream in circular economy (CE) research is about circular economy business models (CEBM). It suggests how firms could learn to adopt unique material and product designs, newer business models, value chain networks and potential enablers that satisfies CE ideologies about economic, environment, and society. However, the understanding about how firms could integrate CEBM practices at internal, supply chain, and external levels is limited. Given the rising complexities in supply chains, the goal of this dissertation is to: (a) understand the landscape of CE concepts within the supply chain management context, and consequently (b) comprehend how firms’ preparedness about their internal, end-to-end supply chains and external environment, help them in pursuing business models that are guided by CE principles. In this dissertation, the first study provides an inclusive understanding of CE in a supply chain management context using bibliometric-network analysis. One key insight suggests CEBM is a promising theme within CE but remains unexplored in supply chain context. Using contingency theory lens, the second study identifies factors related to a focal firm’s CEBM practice as the response, its contingencies as context, its supply chain preparedness as output, and its CEBM performance as a consequent outcome. Using multi-industry multi-tier supply chain case-study method, the study explores how supply chain preparedness is related to CEBM practices and CEBM performance, and the factors upon which this relationship is contingent. A set of propositions and a contingency research framework is proposed. The research implications shall benefit scholars of transdisciplinary interests and serve as a guiding tool for practitioners and consultants presently acting upon CEBM implementation in their supply chain systems

Energy Supply within Sustainable Agricultural Production: Challenges, Policies and Mechanisms

Providing the security of a broad-based energy and slowing the speed of climate change are the main challenges today of the basic of legal framework to stimulate the development of alternative energy sources. Energy from renewable sources is one part of the system, which not only enables to provide energy self-sufficiency, but also contributes to the reduction heating of the Earth’s atmosphere. International climate agreements indicate the need to intensify the prevention of global warming and accelerate the reduction in CO2 emissions. The implementation of such challenging plans as outlined in the European Green Deal or "Fit for 55," among others, entails the almost complete elimination of GHG emissions in the energy sector, which can be very challenging for some member states. In the EU, the preferred direction of development of RES use is distributed generation and increasing the share of the use of by-products and organic waste for the production biofuels. This creates great opportunities for rural areas, which until the last century were identified with agriculture and the production of food or raw materials. While the role of agriculture will not diminish, as incomes are rising in relatively poor countries with a high elasticity of demand for food, these areas will increasingly perform a number of other important functions as well. The production of energy raw materials and energy, which is no longer a mere idea, but is becoming, thanks to the development of new technologies, a mainstream energy sector that can make contribution to improving energy security and achieving climate neutrality

Sustainability assessment of energy systems

This research project set out to develop and apply a framework for assessing how energy systems may be structured to help society progress towards sustainability. The general intent was to outline a way to decide upon the things that matter in order to make better decisions that will lead to positive near- and long-term outcomes. There are various ways of reaching the goal described above, and the path chosen in this dissertation centred on Gibson’s (2006) sustainability assessment framework, an approach to integrated sustainability-based decision-making. In order to contribute to extending and specifying Gibson’s approach to sustainability assessment for energy undertakings, this project developed a theoretical framework grounded in various forms of complexity and energy. The journey described in the dissertation begins with an exploration of the complexity of science, the subject of Chapter 2. We live in a world characterized by inherent uncertainty, multiple worldviews, conflicting values, power dynamics and a whole host of other challenges to science and decision-making. Many of the environmental and human challenges we currently face have arisen in part because we do not sufficiently respect the limits to knowledge and the personal biases we all bring to the table. Chapter 2 develops a framework for knowledge generation and decision-making situated within its social context, and operationalizes this framework through the process of criteria specification. Drawing from multiple sources of data – particularly documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews and observation – the criteria specification cycle provided the means of and determining and deciding upon the things that matter in a given case and context. The complexity of science is only half the story emerging from the complex systems literature. From a different perspective, it is evident that we live in a world of complex dynamics and interconnections, and it is important to ensure that whatever energy paths we set out on recognize these dynamics. Fortunately, there is a wide range of literature relating to the characteristics of complex systems in general, as well as their energy and material flows in societies. These literatures are explored in Chapter 3 to develop an understanding of and guidelines for managing complex systems to the extent possible and appropriate. Building on the theory developed in Chapters 2 and 3, the discussion in Chapter 4 began to develop an understanding of energy systems and energy decision-making and was structured around three general questions: (1) what is the energy problem? (2) what are the characteristics of an appropriate and constructive relationship with energy? and (3) how can the necessary and desired sociotechnical systems changes be achieved. These questions were largely addressed through an exploration of the soft energy path and transition management and led to two sets of guidelines designed to address energy systems structure and change. The theoretical framework developed over Chapters 2-4 was consolidated into a proposed set of sustainability criteria for energy undertakings. The sustainability criteria set represents the principal theoretical contribution of the dissertation to the academy and the broader assessment community, and outlines a suite of generally desirable system attributes and actions for achieving progress towards sustainability, as opposed to an acceptability threshold. The proposed sustainability criteria are primarily intended for application regarding energy undertakings at a wide variety of scales, but are much more broadly relevant. In a manner that is more iterative than can be described in this abstract, the sustainability assessment framework described in this dissertation was applied in, and enriched through, four distinct case studies that assessed (1) the 2006 Ontario Integrated Power Systems Plan proposed by the Ontario Power Authority. The Integrated Power Systems Plan was originally framed as a coal versus nuclear problem, as opposed to a critical appraisal of power systems planning; and in doing so it underplayed potential for conservation, demand management, increased renewable energy, and social change; (2) a small-scale biodiesel operation in Barbados. The plant owner collected used cooking oil from restaurants, roadside stands, and individual homes, and converted it into biodiesel using a first-generation processing technology known as transesterification. (3) a sugarcane-ethanol plant in the Tietê-Jacaré Watershed of São Paulo, Brazil. The sugarcane ethanol mill harvests approximately 21,000 hectares of sugarcane crops from seven municipalities and produces hydrated ethanol for domestic markets, and sugar for domestic and international markets; and (4) the agricultural and energy systems in Senegal. Senegal suffers from significant deforestation and soil fertility decline coupled with demographic change. The many interconnections between the energy and agricultural systems require an integrated assessment of both. Each individual case study stands alone in providing novel insights emerging from application of the framework in the particular case and context. At the more general level, five important insights emerged from the case studies, including: (1) the benefits of, and need for, maintaining a flexible unit of analysis so as to improve problem structuring; (2) the importance of grounding an assessment within its context; (3) the benefits of seeking integration and positive indirect effects; (4), the need to plan for and develop energy bridges towards feasible and desirable energy futures; and (5), the need for caution in the face of thresholds and uncertainty. The individual and general insights from the case studies were incorporated into the most recent version of the sustainability assessment framework described in this dissertation. The framework is suitable for application, with specification for particular case and context, to all types of energy systems at all scales.

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

E-Business Training Strategies for Profitability in Small and Midsize Enterprises

E-business skills are an essential part of the global market, yet many small and mid-size enterprise leaders lack the necessary training to become competitive. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore e-business training strategies small and mid-size enterprise leaders use to increase profitability. The participants comprised 5 small and mid-size enterprise leaders in a metropolitan area in the Gambia who have increased profitability using e-business tools and training strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents. Thematic and content analysis were used to analyze the data. Three themes emerged: strategies for owner self-training on e-business tools, strategies for staff training on e-business tools, and strategy for using YouTube, seminars, and webinars for training. A key recommendation includes utilizing social media for advertising and communicating with consumers and YouTube as a training resource. The implications for positive social change include the potential for small and mid-size enterprise leaders to increase employment, reduce poverty, and improve the livelihood of individuals through increased productivity and profitability