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1 – 10 of over 64000Contemporary 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.
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Mirjana Pejić Bach, Berislav Žmuk, Tanja Kamenjarska, Maja Bašić and Bojan Morić Milovanović
This paper aims to explore and analyse stakeholders’ perceptions of the development priorities and suggests more effective strategies to assist sustainable economic growth in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore and analyse stakeholders’ perceptions of the development priorities and suggests more effective strategies to assist sustainable economic growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the World Bank data set, which collects various stakeholders’ opinions on the UAE development. First, the exploratory factor analysis has been applied to detect the main groups of development priorities. Second, the fuzzy cluster analysis has been conducted to detect the groups of stakeholders with different attitudes towards the importance of extracted groups of priorities. Third, clusters have been compared according to demographics, media usage and shared prosperity goals.
Findings
The two main groups of development priorities have been extracted by the exploratory factor analysis: economic priorities and sustainability priorities. Four clusters have been detected according to the level of motivation when it comes to the economic and sustainability priorities: Cluster 1 (High economic – High sustainability), Cluster 2 (High economic – Medium sustainability), Cluster 3 (High economic – Low sustainability) and Cluster 4 (Low economic – Low sustainability). Members of the cluster that prefer a high level of economic and sustainability priorities (Cluster 1) also prefer more diversified economic growth providing better employment opportunities and better education and training for young people in the UAE.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations stem from the survey being conducted on a relatively small sample using the data collected by the World Bank; however, this data set allowed a comparison of various stakeholders. Future research should consider a broader sample approach, e.g. exploring and comparing all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries; investigating the opinions of the expatriate managers living in the UAE that are not from GCC countries; and/or including other various groups that are lagging, such as female entrepreneurs.
Practical implications
Several practical implications were identified regarding education and media coverage. Since respondents prioritize the economic development factors over sustainability factors, a media campaign could be developed and executed to increase sustainability awareness. A campaign could target especially male citizens since the analysis indicates that males are more likely to affirm high economic and low sustainability priorities than females. There is no need for further diversification of media campaigns according to age since the analysis did not reveal relevant differences in age groups, implying there is no inter-generational gap between respondents.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by comparing the perceived importance of various development goals in the UAE, such as development priorities and shared prosperity indicators. The fuzzy cluster analysis has been used as a novel approach to detect the relevant groups of stakeholders in the UAE and their developmental priorities. The issue of media usage and demographic characteristics in this context has also been discussed.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the role of human resources management (HRM) on economic sustainability in Jordanian banks. To achieve this goal, data were collected from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of human resources management (HRM) on economic sustainability in Jordanian banks. To achieve this goal, data were collected from 23 Jordanian banks listed at the ASE from 2014 to 2019.
Design/methodology/approach
A regression model was employed using four independent variables that represent the HRM (i.e. managing the environment of human resources, human resources acquisition and preparation, human resources assessment and development and human resources compensation) and using economic sustainability as the dependent variable. The study also controlled for banks’ age, size, leverage and return on equity.
Findings
Results show that all independent variables are positively correlated with economic sustainability. The results imply that HRM is an important tool to enhance economic sustainability within the banking sector.
Originality/value
This study provides practical implications for banks’ managers, future researchers and policymakers. This is achieved by investigating the impact of the independent variables, including managing the human resources environment, the acquisition and preparation of human resources, the assessment and development of human resources and the compensation of human resources on the economic, social and environmental sustainability in Jordanian banks.
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Pragya Arya, Manoj Kumar Srivastava and Mahadeo P. Jaiswal
Research on sustainability has progressed from a singular focus on one aspect to a simultaneous focus on more than one aspect of the triple bottom line. However, there is a dearth…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on sustainability has progressed from a singular focus on one aspect to a simultaneous focus on more than one aspect of the triple bottom line. However, there is a dearth of research that explains why sustainability-related decisions in business often do not bear the expected results. Research that provides managers with a tool to achieve environmental sustainability of logistics without compromising the economic sustainability is scarce. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to bridge the above gaps and to explore the factors that affect investment in technology to balance environmental and economic sustainability of logistics. A model based on system dynamics approach explains the simultaneous interplay of these factors. Simulating the model helps the managers of logistics function decide the size of investment in technology, to achieve environmental efficiency without negatively influencing the economic performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A model based on system dynamics approach explains the simultaneous interplay of these factors. Simulating the model helps the managers of logistics function decide the size of investment in technology, to achieve ecological efficiency without compromising with the economic performance.
Findings
Collaboration with regulatory authorities and with players within the same industry and across industries is a must so that eco-logistics does not become an economic burden for businesses. The decision to invest in technology for eco-logistics is further accentuated if the technology promises some added economic benefits.
Research limitations/implications
From a theoretical perspective, the research has added to the less extensive literature on system dynamics modelling, which is a mixed methodology, combining both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The research is also one of the few attempts that have attempted to simultaneously study more than one aspects of sustainability in business, quantitatively through simulation. Simulation was demonstrated through a single case study, Future works can aim to apply the causal loop diagram to firms in varied sectors.
Practical implications
The managers can use the causal loop diagram to assess the environmental performance of logistics and decide on appropriate level of investment to balance ecological and economic performance of logistics.
Originality/value
The causal loop diagram has been developed through primary data collection via semi-structured interviews. The results were validated by presenting them to respondents to ensure they represent their view points. The results are, therefore, practical and original. This research does not build upon an existing data set or aims to test the applicability of any existing model. The model for this research has been developed from the grass-roots level.
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Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic sustainability of football clubs is accepted as a principle of the development of sports business. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct a study with the aim of examining economic sustainability in the field of sports club management.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study adopted a qualitative approach to research and used semi-structured interviews in order to develop a framework for the economic sustainability of football clubs. A total of 13 members of football clubs in the Iranian premier league participated in this study.
Findings
The findings highlighted the fact that a number of factors, including media and social networks, entrepreneurship and development of club business, commercialization of the club, privatization, investment and ownership, strategic communication plan, financial management and management instability, promoted the economic sustainability of football clubs and improved their financial performance.
Originality/value
This study highlighted the importance of the changes in the structure of football clubs and the strategic plans for promoting entrepreneurship and commercialization. Moreover, it underlined the major role of the environmental and management components of football clubs in their financial sustainability.
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Ismail Khan, Yuka Fujimoto, Muhammad Jasim Uddin and Muhammad Asim Afridi
This study aims to examine sustainability reporting through the lens of global reporting initiative (GRI) standards in developing economies, particularly in Pakistan, from the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine sustainability reporting through the lens of global reporting initiative (GRI) standards in developing economies, particularly in Pakistan, from the perspective of stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and system theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and quantitative analyses on economic, social and environmental areas of sustainability reporting based on the GRI standards are applied across 57 organizations listed on the Pakistan stock exchange over the years 2016–2020.
Findings
The results from the content analysis and descriptive statistics show that overall sustainability reporting increased persistently over time and limited organizations disclose economic, social and environmental sustainability based on GRI standards. Moreover, the result from the two-tailed correlation analysis shows positive relations between economic, social and environmental sustainability reporting.
Research limitations/implications
Following the GRI standards, the regulators, government and policymakers need to assess the sustainability reporting based on GRI standards to improve corporate operations' transparency, stakeholder trust and legitimacy. The organizations should move beyond the compliance of regulatory norms and adopt the globally accepted sustainability GRI standards to improve sustainability reporting. The same kind of sustainability reporting is also advised for other countries with similar backgrounds and sustainability challenges.
Social implications
The integrated sustainability reporting framework based on GRI standards enables the organizations to work as a system of interconnected economic, social and environmental sustainability to resolve the issue of sustainability reporting, ensure the trust of multiple stakeholders and legitimize their business operations in society.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge and thorough review of literature, this is the first study that examines the sustainability reporting based on GRI in the developing country of Pakistan to extend the findings of previous studies from conventional sustainability reporting to the globally accepted GRI based sustainability reporting. Using system theory, this study provides an additional contribution to the consideration concerning sustainability reporting based on GRI standards in the context of Pakistan.
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Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah, Esther Ahenkorah, Ebenezer Afum, Essel Dacosta and Zhongxing Tian
This study primarily explores the influence of green warehousing, logistics optimization and social values and ethics on supply chain sustainability and economic performance. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study primarily explores the influence of green warehousing, logistics optimization and social values and ethics on supply chain sustainability and economic performance. The study further examines the mediating role of supply chain sustainability between economic performance and green warehousing, logistics optimization and social values and ethics.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a quantitative research approach where survey data are collected from 200 managers of manufacturing companies in Ghana. The dataset is analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling software (PLS-SEM) SmartPLS 3.
Findings
The results show that green warehousing and logistics optimization negatively influence economic performance but improves economic performance through supply chain sustainability. It is further discovered that social values and ethics have a positive influence on supply chain sustainability and economic performance.
Originality/value
This paper proposes and tests a theoretical model that explores the relationships between green warehousing, supply chain sustainability, economic performance, logistics optimization and social values and ethics through the resource dependency theory (RDT) in the manufacturing firms in Ghana.
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A conceptual and analytical approach is presented to reconcile weak and strong sustainability. It involves a reconsideration of the conception of total capital from an ecological…
Abstract
A conceptual and analytical approach is presented to reconcile weak and strong sustainability. It involves a reconsideration of the conception of total capital from an ecological‐economic system perspective. In particular, natural capital is classified into non‐renewable resources, renewable resources that are harvested, and those that are not used in production. Strong sustainability is defined in terms of constant environmental quality. Weak sustainability is characterised by non‐decreasing value of aggregate income and environmental quality, and formalised in terms of a “preference‐based social value function”. Ecosystem resilience and basic human needs are introduced as minimum sustainability requirements, and a “sustainability‐based social value function” is proposed, which is sensitive to potentially irreversible changes at the boundaries of the restricted opportunity space. It implies higher values associated to the trade‐offs between income and the environment than the preference‐based function, and the fact that sustainable development is only feasible if both minimum criteria are fulfilled.
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The paper aims to examine the extent to which the genre of the sustainability report has evolved due to the increased emphasis placed on the economic value of addressing…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the extent to which the genre of the sustainability report has evolved due to the increased emphasis placed on the economic value of addressing environmental and social problems.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the concept of genre, this paper compares the most recent sustainability reports of ten global companies to earlier versions of these same companies' sustainability reports.
Findings
A concerted effort to define sustainability in terms of economic value is evident in the opening sections and chief executive letters. More recent reports illustrate an increase in efforts to advance the business case for sustainability, including attempts to provide measurable economic outcomes from various sustainable activities and initiatives. In sum, while sustainability reports still convey a company's efforts to comply with environmental and social regulations, sustainability reports are showing an increase in communicating the direct economic benefits that sustainable actions can bring to the company.
Originality/value
The paper provides a new approach, in the form of genre analysis, to the study of sustainability reporting. The findings from this paper suggest further lines of inquiry, including the need to examine the relation between the global reporting initiative and the emphasis on economic value, to explore the intersection of materiality and the shift toward economic value, and to consider the influence of economic pursuits on the public perception and definition of sustainability.
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