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1 – 10 of 28Contemporary 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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As the size of the population is growing and the capacity of the planet Earth is limited, human beings are searching for sustainable and technology-enabled solutions to support…
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As the size of the population is growing and the capacity of the planet Earth is limited, human beings are searching for sustainable and technology-enabled solutions to support society, ecology and economy. One of the solutions has been developing smart sustainable cities. Smart sustainable cities are cities as systems, where their infrastructure, different subsystems and different functional domains are virtually connected to the information and communication technologies (ICT) and internet via sensors and devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), to collect and process real-time Big Data and make efficient, effective and sustainable solutions for a democratic and liveable city for its various stakeholders. This chapter explores the concepts and practices of sustainable smart cities across the globe and explores the use of technologies such as IoT, Blockchain technology and Cloud computing, etc. their challenges and then presents a view on business models for sustainable smart cities.
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Chih-Yu Ting, Chung-Huang Huang and Allen H. Hu
More than 30 legal recyclables were proclaimed by Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan of those producers and importers are liable for paying a Resource…
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More than 30 legal recyclables were proclaimed by Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan of those producers and importers are liable for paying a Resource Recycling Fee (RRF). The Resource Recycling Management Fund determines both the tariff of RRF and the subsidy rate for recycling activities based on a predetermined pricing formula and collects the revenue to finance its collection and disposal. While contemplating on whether to proclaim waste mattress as a legal recyclable, EPA is facing several critical challenges, particularly the lack of data required for setting a tariff–subsidy mix. In this chapter we critically review the formula and propose an innovative pricing rule. Also, we develop a science-based approach to demonstrate how a tariff–subsidy mix could be determined under the circumstance of data deficiency. By doing so, we avoid not only the difficulty in solving the nonhomogeneous and nonautonomous first-order difference equation that governs the stock accumulation of waste mattress but also the distributed lag model of multiperiods linking quantity of mattress discarded and the quantity of new mattress sold. Such an approach could be applied to the durables for recycling pricing particularly when relevant data are limited.
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Andreia De Bem Machado, João Rodrigues Dos Santos, António Sacavém and Maria Jose Sousa
Cities are becoming smarter and more optimized because of digital transformation, reducing costs, increasing safety, attracting investment, ensuring sustainability, and increasing…
Abstract
Cities are becoming smarter and more optimized because of digital transformation, reducing costs, increasing safety, attracting investment, ensuring sustainability, and increasing viability. As a result of this optimization, they are becoming smart cities. Smart cities use the Internet of Things’ devices, such as connected sensors, lights, and smart meters, to improve infrastructure and design by gathering and analyzing real-time citizen data. In this research, different conceptions of smart cities and their interconnections with digital transformation are presented. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to analyze how digital transformation may help manage smart cities. As a result, a thorough and integrated evaluation of the SCOPUS database will be conducted in order to address the following questions: (1) What are smart cities? (2) What is digital transformation? (3) How does digital transformation help to manage smart cities? The results point out that technologies and digital abundance, which include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and Internet of Things, play a crucial role in managing a controlled and automated infrastructure in smart cities. These favor the development of suitable places to live, work, and have fun, with a better quality of life for everyone.
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