Assessing the carry-over effects of both human capital and organizational forgetting on sustainability performance using dynamic data envelopment analysis

Many studies have documented that human capital, which is a result of professional knowledge accumulation, continuously improves sustainability performance over time. Organizational forgetting is the loss of such professional knowledge, and it results in lower sustainability performance. Thus, human capital and organizational forgetting can be respectively treated as good and bad carry-overs. Both human capital and organizational forgetting may reflect business cycle fluctuations. The data envelopment analysis model has not been employed to examine the impact of either human capital or organizational forgetting on sustainability performance in multi-stages. The aim of this study is to develop a three-stage approach to incorporate the carry-over effects of both human capital and organizational forgetting and the effects of business cycle fluctuations on overall and term sustainability performance using data from Taiwan’s 16 major industrial sectors. The study finds that the carry-over effects of human capital and organizational forgetting lead to accurate estimations of sustainability performance and illustrates that the development of the industrial economy is a critical factor for adjusting human capital. Governments should implement economic stabilization policies and increase investment in education and safe capital to improve human capital accumulation and enhance sustainability performance

A literature review of sustainable consumption and production:A comparative analysis in developed and developing economies

Sustainable consumption and production is identified as one of the essential requirements for sustainable development. Due to different economic conditions and socio-cultural factors, sustainable consumption and production requires a diverse focus in developing and developed economies. To date, few efforts have been made to systematically compare the status of sustainable consumption and production and its direction from the perspective of developing and developed economies. This paper provides a literature review of published articles in international scientific journals related to sustainable consumption and production between 1998 and 2018 inclusive. Three carefully designed questions are proposed and answered in this article, forming the basis for conducting a comprehensive comparative analysis of the differences and challenges in sustainable consumption and production practices within developed and developing economies. The findings strongly suggest that countries in Europe hold international leadership in sustainable consumption and production practices. This finding, alongside others, is analyzed and discussed in greater detail in this paper, resulting in the articulation of gaps and future research opportunities in the current body of the literature

Investigating the effect of carbon tax and carbon quota policy to achieve low carbon logistics operations

Developing a low-carbon economy and reducing carbon dioxide emission have become a consensus for both academics and practitioners. However, the existing literature did not pay enough attention in interrogating the impacts of Carbon Tax (CT) and Carbon Quota (CQ) policy on distribution costs and carbon dioxide emission in the field of vehicle routing problem. Moreover, the investigated subsidies factor is also incomplete. This research stands on the position of the company to study the impact of CT and CQ policy on aforementioned two aspects. A mathematical model is developed to achieve the best low carbon vehicle routing under the optimal policy. The optimization goal of this research is to minimize the total cost that includes vehicle-using, transportation, CT, CQ, and raw material subsidy costs. An improved optimization algorithm, namely Genetic Algorithm-Tabu Search (GA-TS), is proposed to solve a given business case. In the simulation experiments, GA-TS and a traditional GA are compared and the results show the advantage of GA-TS on reducing the total cost and carbon dioxide emission. Furthermore, the experiments also explore the total cost and carbon dioxide emission under three scenarios (Benchmark, CT and CQ), incorporating four policies: CT, Carbon Tax Subsidy (CTS), CQ, and Carbon Quota Subsidy (CQS). It is concluded that CQS is the ideal policy to minimize distribution cost and carbon dioxide emission. In addition, the impact of vehicles’ capacities on the total cost and carbon dioxide emission is also analyzed in this research. This research also aimed at assisting practitioners in better formulating delivery routes, as well as policy makers in developing carbon policies. Finally, the limitations and the future research directions of this research are also discussed

Analysis of Degradation of Sb2Se3 Thin Film Solar Cells Deploying a Time-Dependent Approach Linked with 1D-AMPS Simulation

In this paper, we have developed a time-dependent model to study defect growth in the absorber layer of Sb2Se3 thin film solar cells. This model has been integrated with the AMPS-1D simulation platform to investigate the impact of increasing defect density at different positions within the Sb2Se3 layer on the electrical parameters of the solar cell. We adopted the Gloeckler standard model for thin films in AMPS to represent Sb2Se3 materials. The study focuses on tracking the degradation of device performance parameters as donor-like mid-gap states accumulate in the Sb2Se3 layer over time. We monitored the variation of key electrical parameters, including efficiency (η), fill factor (FF), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and short-circuit current (Jsc), at three different positions: the interface with CdS, the bulk of the Sb2Se3 layer, and the interface with the top contact. These positions are susceptible to increasing defect density during prolonged operation and irradiation. To pinpoint the most sensitive part of the Sb2Se3 layer to defect accumulation, we divided the layer into three sub-layers. Our simulation results highlight that the CdS/Sb2Se3 interface is the most vulnerable position in the cell when it comes to defect accumulation. The practical implication of this study is that special attention should be given to the CdS/Sb2Se3 interface during material deposition and the development of high-stability Sb2Se3 thin film solar cells.

Knowledge management in sustainable supply chain management: improving performance through an interpretive structural modelling approach

Sustainable supply chain management is one vital element in achieving competitive advantage in business management and knowledge management is seen to be one key enabler. However, in previous studies the interrelationships between knowledge management and sustainable supply chain management are still under-explored. This study proposes a set of measures and interpretive structural modelling methods to identify the driving and dependence powers in sustainable supply chain management within the context of knowledge management, so as to improve the performance of firms from the textile industry in Vietnam. The research result indicated that learning organisation, information/knowledge sharing, joint knowledge creation, information technology and knowledge storage are amongst the highest driving and dependence powers. These attributes are deemed to be most-effective to enhance the performance of firms. To further enhance the value of this research, theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed in this study

Building a hierarchical framework of corporate sustainability transition challenges using the qualitative information approach

Purpose: This study aims to form a valid measure and hierarchical framework to achieve corporate sustainability transitions (CSTs). Design/methodology/approach: The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) is applied to validate and eliminate challenges in sustainability transition regarding qualitative information. Fuzzy interpretive structural modeling (FISM) is used to build a hierarchical framework under uncertainties. Findings: This study finds that technology investment, data management, eco-management and sociospatial embedding challenges are the highest hierarchical framework levels and affect CST. Practical implications: A lack of awareness and knowledge, a lack of commitment, a lack of strategy, tolerance of unsustainable practices, a lack of stakeholder participation and a fragmented market are perceived as the challenges that show the highest driving and dependence power. These challenges serve as a reference for government and construction firms in the transition to sustainable corporate practices. Originality/value: Unsustainable corporate practices have caused large amounts of energy consumption, resource depletion and environmental impacts. There are challenges in transitioning to corporate sustainability that must be addressed. The most significant challenges that need to be solved to facilitate the transition to corporate sustainability are identified and arranged in a hierarchical model. By identifying the hierarchical relationships among the challenges, a theoretical framework that extends the existing models is developed to assist decision-makers

The influence of knowledge management on adoption intention of electric vehicles: perspective on technological knowledge

Purpose: Technological innovation is one of the remarkable characteristics of electric vehicles (EVs). This study aims to analyze how consumers' technological knowledge affects their intention to adopt EVs. Design/methodology/approach: Original data were collected via a survey of 443 participants in China. An extended technology acceptance model was constructed to identify the factors influencing consumers' intention to adopt EVs and related technological knowledge pathways. Findings: The results show that consumer technological knowledge is positively and significantly related to EVs' perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived fun to use and consumers' intention to adopt EVs. In addition, no direct and significant relationship is found between perceived fun to use and willingness to adopt EVs, from the technical knowledge dimension. Practical implications: Imparting consumers with EV technological knowledge and usefulness may be an effective way to enhance their awareness and willingness to use EVs. Moreover, the role of females in the decision to adopt EVs should not be ignored, especially in decisions to purchase a family car. Originality/value: Prior studies lack a technological knowledge-based view, and few studies have discussed how to explore the effects of consumer technological knowledge about EVs on their adoption intention. This study fills the research gap

A cause and effect model for digital sustainable supply chain competitiveness under uncertainties:Enhancing digital platform

This study provides insights into digitalization in sustainable supply chain management by establishing a structural set of attributes with causal interrelationships among them, as well as by reporting empirical findings on successful criteria for footwear supply chain practices in Indonesia. Sustainable supply chain management and digitalization are mutual benefits. However, there are unclear cause and effect interrelationships. This study aims to critically pinpoint digitalization to approach sustainability and is designed to help firms achieve supply chain competitiveness. The fuzzy Delphi method and fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory are utilized, due to the fuzziness associated with human decision making and the complexity and uncertainty in the supply chain. Five aspects and seventeen criteria are validated. The findings indicate that four aspects, including digital platform effectiveness, digital communication belonging to the supply chain digitalization perspective, labour conditions, and manufacturing processes, are important to sustainable supply chain management. The top causal criteria, including logistics integration, logistics optimization, delivery speed, proactive action, and real-time inventory, are considered to assist firms in implementing better practices

Dynamic and causality interrelationships from municipal solid waste recycling to economic growth, carbon emissions and energy efficiency using a novel bootstrapping autoregressive distributed lag

This study contributes to estimate the municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling effect on environmental quality and economic growth in the United States. Few studies have been given to macro-level aggregate analysis through national scale MSW recycling, environmental, and economic indicators. This study employs bootstrapping autoregressive distributed lag modeling for investigating the cointegration relationship among MSW recycling, economic growth, carbon emissions, and energy efficiency utilized quarterly data from 1990 to 2017. The result implies that a one percent increase in MSW recycling contributes to economic growth and reduce carbon emissions by 0.317% (0.157%) and 0.209% (0.087%) in the long-run (short-run). Similarly, a one percent improvement in energy efficiency stimulates economic growth by 0.489% (0.281%) and mitigates carbon emissions by 0.285% (0.197%) in the long-run (short-run). A higher per capita income and population growth caused higher emissions by 0.197% and 0.401% in the long-run. The overall results reveal stronger impacts in the long-run than the short-run with significant convergence towards long-run equilibrium, suggesting a prominent long-run transmission of economic and environmental fallouts. This study confirms a uni-directional causality from MSW recycling to economic growth, carbon emissions, and energy efficiency. These outcomes signify that any policy intervention related to MSW recycling produces significant changes in the level of economic growth and carbon emissions. The finding provides valuable insight for policymakers to counteract carbon emissions through recyclable waste management that simultaneously create significant economic value