Building a competitive advantage through sustainable operations strategy

This paper addresses an important gap in sustainability and technology management studies: the strategies for sustainable operations. Based on analysis of cases from automotive, textile, chemical, and food processing industries, the authors discuss the responses companies take to environmental and social pressures when aiming at increasing profitability. Our findings show that adaptations of traditional operations strategy frameworks can be useful when developing and assessing sustainability strategy for operations. Lastly, we also offer definitions for ‘sustainable operations strategy’ and ‘sustainable technology’ as those are not yet established in the literature. We consider the contribution of this article to be linked to the development and evaluation of sustainable operations strategies, which will invariably include the choice and use of technologies

Understanding manufacturing companies' environmental decision making structures

This paper provides an understanding of the current environmental decision structures within companies in the manufacturing sector. Through case study research, we explored the complexity, robustness and decision making processes companies were using in order to cope with ever increasing environmental pressures and choice of environmental technologies. Our research included organisations in UK, Thailand, and Germany. Our research strategy was case study composed of different research methods, namely: focus group, interviews and environmental report analysis. The research methods and their data collection instruments also varied according to the access we had. Our unity of analysis was decision making teams and the scope of our investigation included product development, environment & safety, manufacturing, and supply chain management. This study finds that environmental decision making have been gaining importance over the time as well as complexity when it is starting to move from manufacturing to non,manufacturing activities. Most companies do not have a formal structure to take environmental decisions; hence, they follow a similar path of other corporate decisions, being affected by organizational structures besides the technical competence of the teams. We believe our results will help improving structures in both beginners and leaders teams for environmental decision making across the different departments

8 steps for managing green innovation in the automotive industry

The car is dead, long live the car! We are about to celebrate 100 years of Ford model T, the most iconic symbol of the popularisation of cars as the means of personal mobility. The automotive industry is going through an incredible journey of redefining its purpose and the traditional characteristics of its products. More than ever, car manufacturers will need to develop and effectively implement a meaningful green innovation strategy if they want to survive in the new automotive era

Green operations strategy of a luxury car manufacturer

This paper investigates the strategic environmental decisions of a luxury car manufacturer. Through case study research, the investigation sheds light on why and how the company is adopting green technologies. Being pressured by different stakeholders to become greener, luxury car manufacturers carry significant opportunities for environmental improvement given the nature of their manufacturing processes and products. Because of their low-volume production, manufacturers may be able to increase output and still reduce overall emissions when compared to high-volume manufacturers. In the case study company this was found to be possible only because of new ideas brought by a change in ownership. Luxury manufacturers may also be a test-bed for the development and experimentation of green technologies as part of a strategic approach to environmental initiatives. This paper contributes to the fields of green technology adoption and operations strategy in automotive manufacturing groups

The greening of a luxury car manufacturer

Within the context of sustainability in operations management the aim of this paper is to investigate the environmental initiatives and decisions of a British manufacturer of luxury cars. Through case study research, our investigation sheds light on why and how the company is taking environmental decisions for manufacturing, the origin of ideas for environmental improvement, and how they are measuring environmental performance. The knowledge contributions are in the field of sustainability in operations management, mostly related to environmental decision making

Challenges and opportunities for reverse logistics initiatives in the automotive industry

This paper investigates the main strategies automotive companies adopt to address the issue of dealing with end-of-life vehicles and spare parts. Furthermore, it investigates the reasons behind take-back strategies, i.e how and why automotive companies undertake initiatives in reverse logistics. The research findings indicate that companies are trying to respond to the end-of-life legislation based on cost-effective approaches as well as corporate environmental responsibility. Outsourcing is used when expertise is found to extract value from scrap and there is cooperation with suppliers and vendors to facilitate the dismantling of cars and recycling of parts

The 'Apocalyptic' Paul: An Analysis and Critique with Reference to Romans 1-8

The claim that Paul is an ‘apocalyptic’ theologian is often made and often criticised. The most common critique, however, has been terminological in nature, since ‘apocalyptic’ is taken to imply a relationship to Jewish apocalypses. Yet advocates of the apocalyptic Paul use the term to signal a connection to an interpretive genealogy—primarily descended from Ernst Käsemann and J. Louis Martyn—and to affirm a set of theological convictions in relation to Paul’s gospel. This invites a different engagement with the apocalyptic reading of Paul, leaving aside questions of nomenclature to explore those genealogical claims, and to examine how well those theological convictions are grounded in Paul’s letters. Consequently, the aims of this thesis are twofold. First, to provide a more accurate account of the developments and disagreements within the contemporary apocalyptic reading which are often obscured by appeals to the same past interpreters and by a common subscription to the ‘apocalyptic’ label. This is accomplished in Part 1 by detailed examination of the works of William Wrede, Albert Schweitzer, Ernst Käsemann, J. Christiaan Beker, Martinus de Boer, J. Louis Martyn, Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Douglas A. Campbell. Part 2 analyses these findings and provides a detailed portrait of the contemporary apocalyptic reading of Paul. Second, making use of that portrait, this thesis provides the first detailed exegetical critique of the contemporary apocalyptic reading of Paul. This critique, constituting Part 3, is calibrated to the different reading strategies deployed by apocalyptic readers of Paul, and explores the unity of Rom 1-8, the textual evidence for motifs of cosmic conflict, and the significance of Paul’s personifications of sin, death and flesh. A number of apocalyptic emphases can be defended from those chapters, but the apocalyptic reading is also shown to be hampered by a number of false antitheses and from too selective a reading of Paul

“It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood”: The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective

Marriage between first cousins is highly stigmatized in the West and, indeed, is illegal in 31 US states. But is the hostility to such marriage scientifically well-grounded