36,800 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Improving sustainability performance through supplier relationship management in the tobacco industry
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how tobacco manufacturing companies can improve their sustainability performance via effective supplier relationship management (SRM).
Design/methodology/approach: This study has adopted a single case study of an international tobacco company. The primary data involved semi-structured interviews with participants from the case company who are familiar with sustainable SRM in the tobacco industry and are engaging in various techniques to improve sustainability performance.
Findings: The drivers for sustainable SRM commonly identified in literature are observable within the case company. There is also clear evidence of integrating sustainability in its SRM processes. However, the perception of sustainability as a requirement to meet stringent regulations limits its scope and drive in pursuing sustainable SRM. It has also limited supplier sustainability evaluation and performance metrics. Furthermore, the findings of this paper reinforce the importance of a procurement team’s ability to work with other functional teams in implementing sustainable SRM. The findings also contribute to the emerging literature on the impact of sustainability on supplier segmentation and multi-tier supplier management.
Research limitations/implications: This study provides insight into the varying SRM methods used in the tobacco industry to ensure compliance and improve sustainability performance. However, further research is required to explore the generalisability of the findings of this study derived from a single case study.
Originality/value: The tobacco industry is an under-researched industry, particularly in terms of sustainable operations and supply chain management practices. The findings of this study seem to be relevant to those comparable industries with stringent regulations as well
Feeding Ourselves Thirsty: How the Food Sector is Managing Global Water Risks
The global food sector faces extraordinary risks from the twin challenges of water scarcity and water pollution. Growing competition for water, combined with weak regulations, failing infrastructure, pollution and climate change impacts threaten the sector's water security and contribute to a water availability emergency that was recently ranked the world's "top global risk" by the World Economic Forum.This report examines how water risks affect the profitability and competitive positioning of 37 major food sector companies in four industries: packaged food, beverage, meat and agricultural products. It evaluates and ranks these companies -- the majority of which are U.S. domiciled and publicly-traded -- on how well they are positioned to anticipate and mitigate these risks, as well as contribute to improved water resource management.The report provides recommendations for how analysts and investors can effectively evaluate food sector companies on their water risk exposure and management practices. It also provides recommendations for how food companies can improve water efficiency and water quality across their operations and supply chains to reduce risks and protect water resources
Environmental and productivity management: the business sustainability syndrome
Original article can be found at: http://www.inderscience.com/ Copyright Inderscience Enterprises Limited. DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2009.021578Every organisation must ensure that its responsibilities are encompassed within its legal, social and economic domains. Environmental and productivity issues thus need to be entwined to form the foundation of such an effective corporate strategy. The inter-relationships of sustainability, growth and the improvement in quality of life are discussed through a stakeholder approach where "green‟ yardsticks are explored and related to productivity. A framework for analysis is constructed, illustrating the flow from inputs, through processes, to outputs and, ultimately, to outcomes, highlighting impacts on society. Such a perspective can be perceived as the contemporary sustainability vision through sensible resource utilisation.Peer reviewe
The sweet spot in sustainability: a framework for corporate assessment in sugar manufacturing
The assessment of corporate sustainability has become an increasingly important topic, both within academia and in industry. For manufacturing companies to conform to their commitments to sustainable development, a standard and reliable measurement framework is required. There is, however, a lack of sector-specific and empirical research in many areas, including the sugar industry. This paper presents an empirically developed framework for the assessment of corporate sustainability within the Thai sugar industry. Multiple case studies were conducted, and a survey using questionnaires was also employed to enhance the power of generalisation. The developed framework is an accurate and reliable measurement instrument of corporate sustainability, and guidelines to assess qualitative criteria are put forward. The proposed framework can be used for a company’s self-assessment and for guiding practitioners in performance improvement and policy decision-maki
Eco Global Evaluation: Cross Benefits of Economic and Ecological Evaluation
This paper highlights the complementarities of cost and environmental evaluation in a sustainable approach. Starting with the needs and limits for whole product lifecycle evaluation, this paper begins with the modeling, data capture and performance indicator aspects. In a second step, the information issue, regarding the whole lifecycle of the product is addressed. In order to go further than the economical evaluations/assessment, the value concept (for a product or a service) is discussed. Value could combine functional requirements, cost objectives and environmental impact. Finally, knowledge issues which address the complexity of integrating multi-disciplinary expertise to the whole lifecycle of a product are discussing.EcoSD NetworkEcoSD networ
Dynamic real-time risk analytics of uncontrollable states in complex internet of things systems, cyber risk at the edge
The Internet of Things (IoT) triggers new types of cyber risks. Therefore,
the integration of new IoT devices and services requires a self-assessment of
IoT cyber security posture. By security posture this article refers to the
cybersecurity strength of an organisation to predict, prevent and respond to
cyberthreats. At present, there is a gap in the state of the art, because there
are no self-assessment methods for quantifying IoT cyber risk posture. To
address this gap, an empirical analysis is performed of 12 cyber risk
assessment approaches. The results and the main findings from the analysis is
presented as the current and a target risk state for IoT systems, followed by
conclusions and recommendations on a transformation roadmap, describing how IoT
systems can achieve the target state with a new goal-oriented dependency model.
By target state, we refer to the cyber security target that matches the generic
security requirements of an organisation. The research paper studies and adapts
four alternatives for IoT risk assessment and identifies the goal-oriented
dependency modelling as a dominant approach among the risk assessment models
studied. The new goal-oriented dependency model in this article enables the
assessment of uncontrollable risk states in complex IoT systems and can be used
for a quantitative self-assessment of IoT cyber risk posture
The Human Capital Dimensions of Sustainable Investment: What Investment Analysts Need to Know
This paper identifies a number of questions that need to be answered if the growing interest in building investment portfolios of firms that follow socially and environmentally sustainable practices is to be successful in transforming the financial institutions and analysts from a liability to an asset in expanding the number of sustainable firms in the economy. Evidence from three decades of research on "high performance workplace practices" is reviewed that identifies what is required for firms to align human capital and financial strategies. A longer term research and education agenda is presented for answering the remaining open questions
Recommended from our members
Socio-technical transitions towards environmental sustainability through green ICT
We adopt the broad conceptualisation of Green Information Communication Technology (ICT) used by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), incorporating perspectives on Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) which has currency with both business practitioners and policy makers. The objective of our research is to develop a theory of the institutional mechanisms that underpin socio-technical transitions to environmental sustainability through the direct, indirect and systematic effects of Green ICT in and across organisational fields. We construct our theory by drawing on published research in several disciplines focusing on the organisational field of the ICT industry. We present a mechanism-based theoretical model that explains how institutional change in organisational fields can evoke appropriate socio-technical transitions and organisational responses to Green ICT. Systems researchers agree that Green ICT can help lower GHG emissions directly, through energy efficiencies and indirectly by enabling environmentally sustainable business processes. If this research is to be of theoretical or practical relevance it must recognize that government organizations and business enterprises may not adopt policies and strategies on Green ICT because it is rational or moral to do so rather, a web of social, and institutional mechanisms interact to produce the outcomes observed in practice
- …