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The purpose of this paper is to describe a sustainability certification system and label based on an independent, full life cycle assessment of conventionally produced goods from “cradle to grave”.

The design approach used comprised five phases: review of presently available third party environmental certification systems regarding their suitability for use as a sustainability certification tool for conventionally produced goods; identification of desirable scientific and consumer design criteria for a sustainability certification system and label; identification of key performance indicators for sustainability; description of an independent sustainability certification system based on the desirable design criteria, in particular an independent full life cycle assessment; and market trials of the sustainability label to test consumer reactions and commercial benefits of independent sustainability certification using two commercial case studies in Australia and New Zealand.

None of the third party environmental certification systems reviewed was suitable for use as a sustainability certification tool. Desirable design criteria for a sustainability certification system centred on an independent, full life cycle assessment of operations from “cradle to grave”. A total of eight safety and 12 sustainability key performance indicators were proposed to specifically assess sustainability performance. An instantly recognizable logo comprising a “Green Tick” inside a circle, reminiscent of a government “stamp of approval”, was used as a sustainability label. Market trials of certified household products and lamb meat in Australasia confirmed positive consumer reactions to the “Green Tick” label, and considerable commercial benefits for the companies that used it on their products.

The “Green Tick^™” sustainability certification system and label addresses an identified gap in the market by providing an easily recognizable, independent, life cycle based sustainability certification of consumer products. Market trials indicated that there was measurable consumer support for independent sustainability labelling, and significant commercial benefits for companies whose products qualified for sustainability labelling.

The paper describes the world's first‐ever independent sustainability certification system and label. It is based on third party, full life cycle assessment of products, in accordance with the European Commission's view that sustainability labelling should be based on independent, full life cycle assessments of products. Market trials of the label in the Australasian FMCG sector indicated that consumers responded positively to an easily recognizable, independent sustainability label, and that independent sustainability certification and labelling have significant commercial potential for manufacturers of genuinely sustainable products.

This study aims to investigate causes of sustainability failures of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems in Botswana.

The research employed qualitative and quantitative methods, including literature review and secondary data analysis to understand trends relating to Botswana, and a survey to identify gaps leading to certification sustainability failures, focusing on; motives for certification, causes of decertification and issues in the certification process.

ISO 9001 adoption in Botswana is slow, with low acceptance rate in the public sector at 13% compared to the private sector at 87%. Termination rates have been high at 55% over two decades. Manufacturing dominates certification with 45% of total certification. While micro and small companies struggle to sustain certification, often failing within 2 years, medium-sized companies demonstrate better sustainability, lasting beyond 6 years. Product/service quality and process improvement drive certification while decertification is influenced by management factors, financial constraints, and process management. The study recommends a model for effective integration of ISO 9001.

Integrated systems are crucial for consistent process performance and continual improvement in all sectors for sustainable organizational success. Although the ISO 9001 Quality Management System has shown positive impacts globally, the impact of its adoption in Botswana remains questionable with high failure rates post implementation. There appears to exist a significant gap in development, implementation, and maintenance of the QMS. The public domain has no evidence of any past investigation on causes of sustainability failures of ISO 9001 post certification. The current study sought to close that knowledge gap.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on two aspects. First, to analyse the spread of labelled environmental certification in food products, considering both private labels and producer brands with reference to the Italian and German markets. Second, to outline how environmental certification can affect the vertical organisation of food supply chains.

The method used is based on an empirical analysis carried out in two sample cities: Milan for Italy and Bonn for Germany, examining ten and seven retailers, respectively, using the case studies approach, through an ad hoc questionnaire. The authors analysed two cases related to fruit and vegetables and ichthyic products, in order to assess the effect of the standards provided by the sustainability certification on the vertical organisation of the supply chains.

The certifications focus on three main areas: ichthyic products; tropical products; and fruits and vegetables. They are much more widespread on private label items, rather than on the industrial brands. The German market is more “sensitive” to sustainability issues than the Italian market. Environmental certification leads to a reorganisation of the supply chain relationships, determining a higher bilateral dependency among the supply chain agents, a reduction in product uncertainty, and an increased degree of vertical coordination.

The paper analyses, through a new perspective, the environmental issues of food products, quantifying the spread of labelled environmental certification and comparing Italy and Germany. The vertical reorganisation of the supply chains involved the adoption of production rules, connected to environmentally‐friendly practices, and the introduction of a new form of transaction governance.

The paper suggested a sustainability indicators framework for industrial parks in contexts where information is weakly reliable or insufficient. The authors tried to cover those gaps and construct an indicators framework by answering the following research questions: can a combination of “adopted international” certifications be locally implemented in the Mexican context to reflect the level of regional sustainability of clusters of companies? How sustainable individual performance can be extended to a cluster of companies through collaborative strategies? What is the level of agreement on key success factors for implementing voluntary certification scheme in Mexican Industrial Parks? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In order to provide a more realistic set of sustainability indicators for Mexican Industrial Parks, the authors first carried out an analysis of secondary information sources for matching sustainability indicators with available related data which is reported by companies along their certification processes. The main purpose of doing this was to construct the indicator framework, which was explored empirically in the second phase of this research. During such phase, the authors validated the indicators framework by means of surveys and interviews to gather the perceptions of Mexican business managers selected from United Nations indicators which were coupled to available certifications in Mexico.

It has been observed that the sustainability indicators framework can be adopted from international structures to the local/regional situation when companies have framed their performance under international certifications allowing to count with a minimum of indicators to be used for sustainability development tracking.

Sustainability indicators in industrial parks is not an addressed topic in Latin America. Mexico can be taken as an example for the other Latin American countries in sustainability trends and shows the current context of the use of this tool for measurement.

Rating tools for the built environment were designed to engage consumers and enhance sustainability and resilience. However, the intended outcomes of these rating systems appear to have limited implementation in the residential new housing market in Australia. The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ motivations and experiences who have purchased houses that are situated in a sustainability-based certified development and will have been required to comply with mandatory dwelling certification.

The paper explores the awareness and perception of sustainability ratings and whether the motivations for purchasing in the sustainably certified development have heightened their awareness of sustainability and the resilience of new housing. This has been investigated through a pilot study of consumers who have purchased land in a certified estate and built a new home, through an online survey.

The findings reveal that the rating systems are at present not having the desired influence as first thought; that is, to inform consumers of the sustainability of a dwelling or property and to instigate trust of the environmental credentials of the property.

This illuminating case study of participants who have purchased a sustainable rated development demonstrates that regardless of their concern for environmental issues, consumers have both low awareness and trust in the ratings. Despite this, consumers do seek value from these credentials to the overall property.

This study aims to illustrate the disconnect in engagement between developers, builders and new home buyers in relation to sustainability certification and implementation.

This research aims to empirically investigate the influence of stakeholders on the corporate decision of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications and how that influence differs across different certification types.

The paper utilizes a survey of 1,268 industrial enterprises in China, using logistic regressions to analyze corporate decision towards management standards use.

The results show that stakeholder influence varies across different management standard certifications. Foreign customers and neighboring community are significant drivers for ISO 9001 certification. Foreign investors, being publicly listed, and neighboring community each demonstrate a significant impact on ISO 14001 certification. Only being publicly listed shows significant explanatory power for certifying with OHSAS 18001.

This study does not touch upon performance issues. The relationship between stakeholder pressure, certifications, and performance would be interesting to explore.

Information disclosure may be an effective tool to motivate firms to be more responsible for environment and society. Furthermore, measures should be taken to raise stakeholder awareness of corporate occupational health and safety (OH&S).

Although sustainability management demands attention to the three pillars of sustainability, empirical research tends to focus on only one aspect of it when studying standardized management practices use. This study investigates all three pillars using a unified framework. Furthermore, existing studies have focused predominantly on developed countries. The paper conducts research in China, one of the major developing economies. Lastly, the paper utilizes firm-level data on corporate sustainability management, which is hard to obtain in China.

Sustainability certifications can support green innovation in important consumer sectors such as food and beverage. This research interrogates how certified companies communicate sustainability claims online and whether these practices differ from non-certified counterparts. The purpose of the study is to understand if certification stands to alter online communication about sustainability.

A discourse analysis of the websites and social media accounts of three highly-rated Canadian B Corps and three matching non-certified companies inductively identified 5 types of sustainability claims: transparency, brand story, green materials/processes, community engagement and sourcing partnerships. A comparative analysis was used to determine if certification alters corporate sustainability communication practices of firms.

The findings indicate that sustainability certifications alter external online sustainability communication. Of the 457 sustainability claims coded in the sample, 67.6% are from certified firms. Attaining certification also alters the areas of communication focus, increasing communication about the socially oriented community engagement dimension, which is often underrepresented.

The research contributes to the understanding of sustainability communication among privately held small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are currently underrepresented in the literature. The unique sampling used in this study considers how communication is altered post-certification as a novel way to understand the impacts of sustainability certifications.

This study aims to propose a framework for Halal Food Sustainable Traceability, with the purpose of investigating the implementation of traceability and sustainability within organizations operating in the halal food industry as well as exploring the impact of these practices on organizational performance. This study examines the meat processing sector in Indonesia, focusing on medium to large-scale industrial operations. The rationale for this investigation stems from Indonesia’s substantial potential in the competitive worldwide halal food industry.

The research framework has been developed by an extensive review of relevant literature, with a specific emphasis on the cycle of the halal food sustainable traceability framework. This cycle encompasses four key stages, including the roles played by authorities, the process of standardization, the implementation phase and the importance of collaboration. The study analyses and validates data using partial least square-structural equation modeling and empirically tests the theoretical framework using 109 Indonesian halal food industry data.

The research identifies potential obstacles and difficulties that may arise during different phases of the halal food sustainable traceability framework. Concerns regarding authority, standardization, implementation and collaboration are among these. In addition, strategies for overcoming these obstacles are deliberated upon, including knowledge sharing, transparency, ongoing reporting and strategic collaboration.

The present study introduces a Halal Sustainable Traceability Framework that incorporates the principles of halal, traceability, sustainability and their effects on organizational performance. This study offers significant perspectives on the difficulties and resolutions pertaining to the traceability and sustainability of halal food in Indonesia.

The purpose of this study was to explore strategies used by developers of master-planned housing development projects in Victoria, Australia, for obtaining certification under the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) EnviroDevelopment (ED) sustainable development certification programme. To be awarded ED certification, a development must demonstrate that it meets the assessment criteria within at least four of the six ED “leaves”. These leaves relate to its performance in terms of energy, water, materials, waste, community and ecosystems. This study explored how developers make choices regarding sustainability features they build into the planning, design and management of their developments to gain the leaves needed for ED certification. Having this certification is valued by developers as it can be used to demonstrate the sustainability credentials of their developments to potential house buyers, the validity of which is backed up by a trusted independent non-profit organisation (UDIA).

The study sought to quantify the preferential weightings of nine developers in selecting ED “leaves” and the strategies they use for meeting the assessment criteria needed to obtain selected ED leaves. This was done using a novel data collection and analysis method, the analytical hierarchical process (AHP), which relies on respondents, in this case, developers of ED certified development projects, making pairwise comparisons between choices of different development factors associated with the different ED “leaves”.

The most highly preferred ED leaves were found to be community, energy and ecosystems. “Community facilities” and “on-site transportation” were the two most highly weighted factors associated with the community leaf. Energy, the next most preferred leaf, was most highly weighted on “saving on operational costs” for the consumers (home buyers). Here consumer demand factors seem to be driving preferences. The ecology leaf was the next most preferred, with “existing site conditions” being the most highly weighted factor for this leaf. For sites that already contain significant areas of indigenous habitat, such as wetlands, selecting this leaf would seem to be an attractive, and potentially lower cost, option. Existing ecologically significant natural areas that are preserved, and where necessary enhanced, can be used for marketing purposes and serve in fulfilling planning open-space contribution requirements. The developers were more indifferent to the water, waste and materials leaves; however, the water leaf was rated slightly higher than the other two and was most strongly associated with “recycled water” and opportunities for “water conservation”, another example of demand factors driving preferences.

The results of this study reveal the preferences of a small sample of developers in terms of how they weigh different factors in making decisions about acquiring sustainability certification for residential master-planned development projects through the UDIA’S ED programme. The findings provide insight into the types of decisions developers make in the process of seeking ED certification, which includes considerations of site characteristics, costs, predicted effectiveness of different interventions and usefulness for marketing and other factors in terms of which ED leaves to pursue and how to acquire them to gain ED certification. The study also tested the AHP method as a methodological tool for addressing this question. Modifications in how data are collected using the on-line survey can be made to allow the method to be more easily used with larger respondent sample sizes. Collection of more focussed data elicited from respondents with specific areas of expertise, for example, specialists in energy, water, landscape architecture and planning, ecology and other relevant areas of knowledge, should also been considered.

The purpose of this paper is to present the development of an action and assessment framework to make sustainability in German facility management (FM) transparent, measurable and assessable.

The underlying research project’s approach to develop the new action and assessment framework consisted of a three-step methodology: to define and substantiate sustainability in FM, to operationalise and quantify sustainability in FM and to validate the developed system draft through an initial pilot study.

The main result of the presented research project is a set of 24 criteria, organised into the separate areas of environmental, economic and sociocultural quality, as well as the quality of FM organisation and the sustainability of building/contract-specific facility services. The assessment methodology reflects the strategic approach of a plan–do–check–act loop to create a transparent and objective appraisal and a practical action framework.

The outcome of the study is initially only a measurement and assessment framework. To transform the finalised system draft and assessment tool into a certification system, further steps of development are necessary.

The newly developed action and assessment framework is able to cure the blind spot that the relevant players (building owners, users and service providers) suffer from while developing, purchasing and comparing concepts for sustainable FM. The results and practical experiences of its initial pilot study show that this new framework can make the building operation phase and its processes transparent, measurable and assessable.

The guideline is also able to establish a crucial basis for the development of corporate sustainability strategies and sustainability reporting. This is an important step in closing the existing gap in numerous corporate social responsibility reports.

Due to its assessment methodology and the calibration of its criteria, this new action and assessment framework both diversifies and completes the range of existing sustainability certification systems.