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1 – 10 of 11Myriam Ertz, Shashi Kashav, Tian Zeng and Shouheng Sun
Traditionally, life cycle assessment (LCA) has focused on environmental aspects, but integrating social aspects in LCA has gained traction among scholars and practitioners. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Traditionally, life cycle assessment (LCA) has focused on environmental aspects, but integrating social aspects in LCA has gained traction among scholars and practitioners. This study aims to review key social life cycle assessment (SLCA) themes, namely, drivers and barriers of SLCA implementation, methodology and measurement metrics, classification of initiatives to improve SLCA and customer perspectives in SLCA.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 148 scientific papers extracted from the Web of Science database were used and analyzed using bibliometric and content analysis.
Findings
The findings suggest that the existing research ignores several aspects of SCLA, which impedes positive growth in topical scholarship, and the study proposes a classification of SLCA research paths to enrich future research. This study contributes positively to SLCA by further developing this area, and as such, this research is a primer to gain deeper knowledge about the state-of-the-art in SLCA as well as to foresee its future scope and challenges.
Originality/value
The study provides an up-to-date review of extant research pertaining to SLCA.
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Ahmad Khodamipour, Hassan Yazdifar, Mahdi Askari Shahamabad and Parvin Khajavi
Today, with the increasing involvement of the environment and human beings business units, paying attention to fulfilling social responsibility obligations while making a profit…
Abstract
Purpose
Today, with the increasing involvement of the environment and human beings business units, paying attention to fulfilling social responsibility obligations while making a profit has become increasingly necessary for achieving sustainable development goals. Attention to profit by organizations should not be without regard to their social and environmental performance. Social responsibility accounting (SRA) is an approach that can pay more attention to the social and environmental performance of companies, but it has many barriers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify barriers to SRA implementation and provide strategies to overcome these barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors identify barriers to social responsibility accounting implementation and provide strategies to overcome these barriers. By literature review, 12 barriers and seven strategies were identified and approved using the opinions of six academic experts. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) has been used to identify significant barriers and find textual relationships between them. The fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method has been used to identify and rank strategies for overcoming these barriers. This study was undertaken in Iran (an emerging market). The data has been gathered from 18 experts selected using purposive sampling and included CEOs of the organization, senior accountants and active researchers well familiar with the field of social responsibility accounting.
Findings
Based on the results of this study, the cultural differences barrier was introduced as the primary and underlying barrier of the social responsibility accounting barriers model. At the next level, barriers such as “lack of public awareness of the importance of social responsibility accounting, lack of social responsibility accounting implementation regulations and organization size” are significant barriers to social responsibility accounting implementation. Removing these barriers will help remove other barriers in this direction. In addition, the results of the TOPSIS method showed that “mandatory regulations, the introduction of guidelines and social responsibility accounting standards,” “regulatory developments and government incentive schemes to implement social responsibility accounting,” as well as “increasing public awareness of the benefits of social responsibility accounting” are some of the essential social responsibility accounting implementation strategies.
Practical implications
The findings of the study have implications for both professional accounting bodies for developing the necessary standards and for policymakers for adopting policies that facilitate the implementation of social responsibility accounting to achieve sustainability.
Social implications
This paper creates a new perspective on the practical implementation of social responsibility accounting, closely related to improving environmental performance and increasing social welfare through improving sustainability.
Originality/value
Experts believe that the strategies mentioned above will be very effective and helpful in removing the barriers of the lower level of the model. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time, this study develops a model of social responsibility accounting barriers and ranks the most critical implementation strategies.
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Gavriel Dahan and Michal Levi-Bliech
The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of two characteristics of supply chain management (SCM) (resilience and integration) on new product performance (NPP…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of two characteristics of supply chain management (SCM) (resilience and integration) on new product performance (NPP) via the mediation of marketing innovation orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was designed by the quantitative method, and the research model was developed based on the resource-based view (RBV) theory of 211 managers from Israeli firms using SmartPls3 software.
Findings
The main finding that emerges from this study is that marketing innovation orientation serves as a full mediator in the relationship between supply chain resilience (SCR) and NPP as well as in the relationship between supply chain integration (SCI) and NPP. Thus, companies that wish to achieve a competitive advantage over their rivals should improve and strengthen their marketing innovation orientation. By doing so, they enhance the relationship between SCM and NPP.
Practical implications
The findings provide an applicable guideline for marketing managers. Managers should be ready to adapt to customers’ demands, environmental changes and, most importantly, disruptive events in a dynamic environment.
Originality/value
The current study sheds light on the mechanism for NPP via integrating suppliers, customers and the organization. So, managers should adopt SCR and integration to strengthen their marketing innovation orientation in order to achieve NPP.
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Lucrezia Sgambaro, Davide Chiaroni, Emanuele Lettieri and Francesco Paolone
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the most recurrent variables characterizing the collaborative relationships of industrial symbiosis (IS) (hereinafter also referred to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the most recurrent variables characterizing the collaborative relationships of industrial symbiosis (IS) (hereinafter also referred to as “anatomic” variables) established in the attempt to adopt circular economy (CE) by collecting evidence from a rich empirical set of implementation cases in Italy.
Design/methodology/approach
The current literature on IS was reviewed, and a content analysis was performed to identify and define the “anatomic” variables affecting its adoption in the circular economy. We followed a multiple-case study methodology investigating 50 cases of IS in Italy and performed a content analysis of the “anatomic” variables characterizing each case.
Findings
This research proposes the “anatomic” variables (i.e. industrial sectors involved, public actors involvement, governmental support, facilitator involvement and geographical proximity) explaining the cases of IS in the circular economy. Each “anatomic” variable is discussed at length based on the empirical evidence collected, with a particular reference to the impact on the different development strategies (i.e. “bottom-up” and “top-down”) in the cases observed.
Originality/value
Current literature on IS focuses on a sub-set of variables characterizing collaboration in IS. This research builds on extant literature to define a new framework of five purposeful “anatomic” variables defining IS in the circular economy. Moreover, we also collect and discuss a broad variety of empirical evidence in what is a still under-investigated context (i.e. Italy).
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A.M.D.S. Atapattu, Chandanie Hadiwattage, B.A.K.S. Perera and Dilakshan Rajaratnam
The circular economy concept emerged as the resolution to the destructive linear economy practices. Nevertheless, the transition to a circular built environment is hindered due to…
Abstract
Purpose
The circular economy concept emerged as the resolution to the destructive linear economy practices. Nevertheless, the transition to a circular built environment is hindered due to the ambiguities of the economic value of the concept. Conversely, numerous decision-making tools are applied in the construction industry in assessing economic alternatives, even if there is a gap in utilising these tools in appraising circular economic practices. Hence, this study investigates the potential benefits of applying proven decision-making practices, particularly criteria scoring matrices, in developing circular built environments.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was followed to achieve the aim of the study. A conceptual design of a criteria scoring matrix was developed with a comprehensive literature survey. Semi-structured interviews of a three-round Delphi expert survey were employed to assess the matrix qualitatively and develop the matrix further. Data were analysed using the content analysis method.
Findings
The lack of a value assessment tool in economically assessing the circular economy principles is a key barrier to transcending to a circular built environment. In addressing this issue, this study develops a criteria scoring matrix for circularity value assessment during the design stage of a construction project.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the theory by developing a criteria scoring matrix to measure the economic contribution of circular economy principles. Further, this research contributes to the practice by allowing construction alternatives to be selected, balancing the potential economic return options of a project with the project's contribution to a circular economy.
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Na Zhang, Bon-Gang Hwang, Xiaopeng Deng and Fiona Tay
The Singapore construction sector is promoting performance improvement by implementing collaborative contracting (CC). For CC's successful implementation, there is a need to sieve…
Abstract
Purpose
The Singapore construction sector is promoting performance improvement by implementing collaborative contracting (CC). For CC's successful implementation, there is a need to sieve out the critical success factors (CSFs). Hence, this paper aims to explore factors influencing the adoption of CC and investigate the potential performance improvement by implementing CC.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the literature review, 23 CSFs were identified and packaged to a questionnaire to evaluate the CSF's priority as well as CC's potential impact on the project performance. After prior validation, 165 potential respondents were drawn from survey list by using simple random sampling. Finally, 31 valid responses were received.
Findings
The survey result showed that the top five CSFs are mutual trust, all parties to commit fully, openness between parties, commitment to a win–win attitude and resource availability. The majority of respondents hold that CC implementation would improve overall project performance, decision effectiveness, cost, time, quality and risk performance.
Research limitations/implications
Directors, project managers, contractor managers and site engineers have different perceptions of CSFs. Also rather than meeting the same requirements in the implementation of CC, there are differences among projects with different values.
Originality/value
This study provides an in-depth understanding of the CSFs for industry practitioners adopting CC and CC's potential impact on project performance. This study is also helpful for authorities to formulate effective policies to push the implementation of CC.
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Barış Armutcu, Veland Ramadani, Jusuf Zeqiri and Leo-Paul Dana
There is limited research examining the relationship between social media and green food purchasing behaviour. In the current study, we examine the factors that affect consumers’…
Abstract
Purpose
There is limited research examining the relationship between social media and green food purchasing behaviour. In the current study, we examine the factors that affect consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour in Türkiye.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from the participants by survey method were analysed using Smart PLS 4.0 with IBM SPSS 26 and PLS to run SEM.
Findings
Our findings have revealed that from all the structural elements in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), only attitude and perceived behavioural control contribute to consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour, while subjective norms do not contribute to consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour. Additionally, it was found that social media usage (SMU) and digital marketing interactions (DMI) have a positive and significant effect on green food purchasing behaviour. More information, experiences, opinions and recommendations on green foods in social media channels can encourage consumers to buy more green food.
Originality/value
This study first evaluates the applicability of the TPB model in explaining green food purchasing behaviour. This study is extended with two new factors included in the original framework of the TPB model, namely, SMU and DMI.
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Naga Swetha R, Vimal K. Shrivastava and K. Parvathi
The mortality rate due to skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades. Early detection and treatment of skin cancers can save lives. However, due to visual resemblance…
Abstract
Purpose
The mortality rate due to skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades. Early detection and treatment of skin cancers can save lives. However, due to visual resemblance of normal skin and lesion and blurred lesion borders, skin cancer diagnosis has become a challenging task even for skilled dermatologists. Hence, the purpose of this study is to present an image-based automatic approach for multiclass skin lesion classification and compare the performance of various models.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors have presented a multiclass skin lesion classification approach based on transfer learning of deep convolutional neural network. The following pre-trained models have been used: VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, ResNet101, ResNet152, Xception, MobileNet and compared their performances on skin cancer classification.
Findings
The experiments have been performed on HAM10000 dataset, which contains 10,015 dermoscopic images of seven skin lesion classes. The categorical accuracy of 83.69%, Top2 accuracy of 91.48% and Top3 accuracy of 96.19% has been obtained.
Originality/value
Early detection and treatment of skin cancer can save millions of lives. This work demonstrates that the transfer learning can be an effective way to classify skin cancer images, providing adequate performance with less computational complexity.
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Purva Mhatre-Shah, Vidyadhar Gedam and Seema Unnikrishnan
The aim of this study is to understand the environmental benefits and economic savings associated with adoption of circular economy in the construction sector. The research…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to understand the environmental benefits and economic savings associated with adoption of circular economy in the construction sector. The research findings will support different stakeholders and decision makers to develop business models based on responsible consumption of resources and build sustainable business models.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses mixed methodology wherein inventory for life cycle assessment and life cycle costing for environmental and economic impacts is based on primary data using on-site visits for qualitative and quantitative data.
Findings
Different types of land transportation infrastructures are compared for their environmental impacts. It is found that bridges have the highest environmental impacts as compared to tunnels, roads and railways. Further, the results affirm the environmental and economic benefits of adopting circular economy practices.
Originality/value
This is one of a kind research that compares the environmental and economic tradeoffs of adopting circular economy in different types of land transportation infrastructures.
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Nazanin Eisazadeh, Frank De Troyer and Karen Allacker
The aim is to holistically assess the environmental performance of windows and analyse how their design and characteristics contribute to the overall performance of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim is to holistically assess the environmental performance of windows and analyse how their design and characteristics contribute to the overall performance of the building/space. This study focuses on the performance of windows in patient rooms hosting less mobile people.
Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates the life cycle environmental impacts of different glazing types, window frames and fire safety doors at the product level. This article also presents a building-integrated environmental analysis of patient rooms that considers the multiple functionalities of windows by incorporating dynamic energy analysis, comfort and daylighting performance with a life cycle assessment (LCA) study.
Findings
The results indicate that the amount of flat glass is the main contributor to the environmental impacts of the glazing units. As for the patient rooms, global warming shows the most significant contribution to the environmental costs, followed by human toxicity, particulate matter formation and eutrophication. The key drivers for these impacts are production processes and operational energy use. This study highlights the significance of evaluating a wide range of criteria for assessing the performance of windows.
Originality/value
An integrated assessment approach is used to investigate the influence of windows on environmental performance by considering the link between window/design parameters and their effects on energy use/costs, daylighting, comfort and environmental impacts. The embodied impacts of different building elements and the influence of various design parameters on environmental performance are assessed and compared. The environmental costs are expressed as an external environmental cost (euro).
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