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Book part
Publication date: 20 October 2015

Mohammad Shamsuddoha

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured…

Abstract

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

Details

Sustaining Competitive Advantage Via Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and System Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-707-3

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Abstract

Details

Economic Growth and Social Welfare: Operationalising Normative Social Choice Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-44451-565-0

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2020

Hong Zhang, Lu Yu and Wenyu Zhang

This study is aimed to explore the dynamic performance incentive model for a flexible PPP contract to handle uncertainties based on supervision during the long-time concession…

Abstract

Purpose

This study is aimed to explore the dynamic performance incentive model for a flexible PPP contract to handle uncertainties based on supervision during the long-time concession period, so as to ensure operation performance and benefits of the public sector while protecting the economic benefit of the private sector, thus avoiding unnecessary renegotiation.

Design/methodology/approach

The microeconomic and principal–agent theories and relevant studies on the basic incentive model and flexible contract are fully utilized. The procedure for developing the dynamic incentive model and the assumptions about the quantitative relationships among fundamental variables or factors are first proposed. The static incentive model without incentive parameter adjustment and then the dynamic incentive model allowing incentive parameter adjustment are successively developed. Finally, the propositions regarding the valid adjustment ranges of the incentive parameter with respect to the economic, social and hybrid benefits of the public sector and the economic benefit of the private sector are suggested.

Findings

The dynamic incentive model enables to achieve a flexible contract to handle uncertainties on the PPP project to ensure the benefits of the public sector while protecting the benefit of the private sector. The economic, social and hybrid benefits of the public sector and the economic benefit of the private sectors can be respectively realized through adjusting the reward–punishment coefficient under different adjustment ranges and different importance. The incentive model is able to ensure the benefits of the public sector while protecting the benefit of the private sector by controlling the private sector's effort level unknown to the public sector.

Originality/value

The dynamic incentive model helps implement a flexible PPP contract to handle uncertainties during the operation period, thus controlling the effort level of the private sector and ensuring the benefits of the public sector while protecting the economic benefit of the sector. It enables to clarify the quantitative relationships between the operation performance, the benefits of the stakeholders, the effort level of the private sector and the reward–punishment coefficient. This study contributes to the domain knowledge of the incomplete contract theory for designing a flexible PPP contract with dynamic incentive and supervision mechanism by applying the microeconomic and principal–agent theories.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 27 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2023

Jihyun Lee

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of consumers’ moral preferences between moral and economic benefits and consumers’ moral and rational behaviour intentions…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of consumers’ moral preferences between moral and economic benefits and consumers’ moral and rational behaviour intentions based on moral decision-making models of previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Respondents were asked to answer a questionnaire measuring moral and economic benefits, consumers’ moral preferences and moral and rational behaviour intention after reading a stimulus describing imaginary fashion brand A’s unethical activities.

Findings

Moral and economic benefits directly and significantly affect moral and rational behaviour intention. Homo economicus evoked by an economic benefit had a negative effect on moral behaviour intention.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused only on a moral benefit and an economic benefit as factors evoking consumers’ moral preferences. This study was also conducted only in a Korean context and considered a specific industry. In future research, the results of this study should be extended to design the “possibility of punishment” to encourage moral behaviour by discouraging the effect of homo economicus. The results have implications for companies such as social enterprises and charities that want to promote consumers’ moral behaviour.

Originality/value

This study provides evidence on why ethical consumers do not always make ethical decisions by confirming that homo economicus has a significant influence on not only rational behaviour intention but also moral behaviour intention.

Details

International Journal of Ethics and Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9369

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2018

Sheila Namagembe, S. Ryan and Ramaswami Sridharan

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between five green practices and firm performance. In addition, this paper investigates the influence of each green…

2024

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between five green practices and firm performance. In addition, this paper investigates the influence of each green practice on environmental performance, economic benefits, and economic costs.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected based on a cross-sectional survey of owner/managers of 200 manufacturing SME firms in Uganda, Africa. SPSS was used to find descriptive means and test relationships between green practices and performance outcomes. Structural equation modelling was used to test for the influence of each practice on performance outcomes. The structural equation modelling results were obtained using the Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling software. Results were compared with similar studies conducted in developing countries.

Findings

Different green practices affect different performance dimensions in different ways across different industries. For example, eco-design and internal environmental management practices significantly influence environmental performance; green purchasing and internal environmental management practices significantly influence economic benefits; and internal environmental management practices affect economic costs. Overall internal environmental management is the key to positive outcomes across the three performance criteria. The authors show how the results obtained vary from similar studies conducted in developing countries and explain possible reasons for the difference.

Research limitations/implications

Africa is a rapidly industrialising nation faced with difficult choices between economic growth and increased pollution. Because SMEs represent the majority of manufacturing firms, they are the main polluters. Hence, better understanding of the costs and benefits, both environmental and economic, is important to encourage green practice adoption for the betterment of community health and prosperity.

Originality/value

Despite numerous studies on the relationships between green practice adoption and performance outcomes, only a few studies include both economic costs and benefits in addition to environmental performance. The study covers five green supply chain practices, whereas most similar studies are limited in the number of practices examined. The African context is unique and important because industrial development and environmental protection goals are in conflict. Similar studies are predominant in an Asian context which is more developed than Africa. The findings and comparisons raise important questions for further research in relation to the roles of national regulations, geographical markets and industry types in furthering green practices in manufacturing.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 December 2001

Sardas M.N. Islam

Abstract

Details

Optimal Growth Economics: An Investigation of the Contemporary Issues and the Prospect for Sustainable Growth
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-44450-860-7

Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2015

Charles J. Coate and Mark C. Mitschow

Economic activity is typically provided by three distinct sectors. For-profit entities seek to maximize owner profit by providing various goods and services. The not-for-profit…

Abstract

Economic activity is typically provided by three distinct sectors. For-profit entities seek to maximize owner profit by providing various goods and services. The not-for-profit sector consists of private or quasi-public entities that provide goods and services without regard to making an explicit profit. Government entities extract resources from the economy and redistribute them to achieve certain public goods.

Recently a fourth or gray sector has developed that combines elements of the other three. As a corporate form that explicitly sacrifices profit maximization to advance some predetermined social good, benefit corporations are one example of this gray sector. Owners are aware of this dual mission but still invest as the social objectives are consistent with their personal goals. Thus, the benefit corporation can be viewed as a for-profit entity subject to an explicit social welfare constraint.

Since the late 1960s governments have spent trillions of dollars on a wide variety of social welfare programs. Nevertheless, poverty persists and government altruism may have made poverty more intractable in some respects. Economic logic suggests that providing social welfare transfer payments with few work or training requirements can make recipients dependent and enable dysfunctional behavior. Over time this may rob recipients of opportunities for labor and self-sufficiency.

Benefit corporations are typically viewed as a form of socially responsible investment that leverages the economic advantages of market-based systems. To date, however, little has been written about the benefit corporation’s potential ethical dimensions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a moral argument based in Catholic Social Teaching to support the use of benefit corporations as a substitute for some government service programs. Our arguments are centered on the primary principle of Human Dignity and will include, but not be limited to: Work, Solidarity and there role social and economic society as well as the Role of Government or Subsidiarity (including the Welfare State).

Details

The Ethical Contribution of Organizations to Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-446-1

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Economic Growth and Social Welfare: Operationalising Normative Social Choice Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-44451-565-0

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2011

Walid El Ansari and Edward Andersson

The costs and benefits of patient/public involvement in health, social and political settings are important determinants of whether people and organisations participate. However…

886

Abstract

Purpose

The costs and benefits of patient/public involvement in health, social and political settings are important determinants of whether people and organisations participate. However, actual costs and benefits of public participation are rarely measured other than as proxies or as only “measuring the measurable”. This paper aims to examine whether economic analysis poses a threat or an opportunity for future public participation.

Design/methodology/approach

This inquiry is based on original research by INVOLVE (literature review of participation costs/benefits; qualitative interviews with “think tanks”, participants and managers of participation projects) that examined the options for measuring monetary costs and benefits of public participation.

Findings

The case against measuring includes: mainstream economic theory is unable to explain participation; mainstream economic models are unsuitable for appropriately assessing participation costs and benefits; participation benefits are beyond economic value; and, economic values of participation may be misinterpreted and misused. Conversely, the case for measuring includes: economic measurement is necessary because public participation constitutes investments of public resources; there is a need to improve the evidence base on which participation decisions are made; the lack of economic information about participation causes problems; and neo‐classical economics is not the only available option for measuring participation costs/benefits.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations and implications for granting bodies, researchers/health economists, evaluators/administrators, and donor‐commissioned evaluations are discussed.

Originality/value

There is a need for innovative indicators that capture the costs and benefits of public participation, as well as appropriate resources for the economic analysis of such initiatives.

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2020

Zhixia Zang, Ke Tan, Xue Yang, Chengjue Wang and Geng Li

This study aims to investigate the factors and mechanism which influence the doctor’s social and economic benefits from the perspective of social capital.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the factors and mechanism which influence the doctor’s social and economic benefits from the perspective of social capital.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper mainly investigates the factors and mechanism influencing the doctor's social and economic benefits from the perspective of social capital and then constructs a doctor's social capital model and discusses the effects of doctor's social capital on their economic and social benefits; what is more, this paper also considers the moderating effect of patients’ group behavior.

Findings

The results show that the doctor's social capital has a positive and significant effect on doctor's economic benefits, while it has a negative and significant effect on doctors' social benefits. Patients’ group behavior plays an important moderating role; in particular, the number of online patients of doctors can effectively strengthen follow-up patients’ positive perception of the doctor capital, while the number of offline patients has a negative effect on doctors’ economic benefits, but it can reduce its negative impact on doctors’ social benefits by establishing trust between patient and physician.

Originality/value

This paper enriches the relevant research of social capital theory in the medical field and broadens the research about online health care. For platforms, they should give more attention to doctors and their income issues, which is of great significance for their healthy and sustainable development.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

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