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Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Gunilla Albinsson and Kerstin Arnesson

The purpose of this article is to show how a model for sustainable learning has been formed in the meetings between practitioners and researchers.

1532

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to show how a model for sustainable learning has been formed in the meetings between practitioners and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

With the point of departure in an interactive research approach, the authors have worked with learning and common knowledge development. Empirical data were collected from nine learning seminars, which were carried out within the framework of an EU project.

Findings

It is shown by means of empirical examples from an ongoing EU project how the pedagogic method of learning seminars came to be a mediating tool for reciprocal learning between researchers, project leaders and project participants.

Originality/value

The learning seminars constituted an important part of a reflexive learning process where the learning consists of both practicable and theoretically anchored knowledge. Together with the project participants, the authors developed a model for sustainable learning. This model consists of a reflection model, which rests on four fundamental conditions; pedagogic leadership, the learning group, problem areas/situation and time aspects. This article fills a significant knowledge gap in terms of the development of learning within organizations.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2011

Keith Bevis

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for sustainable learning that can be used to target training resources more effectively. The focus is the automotive supplier chain…

2491

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for sustainable learning that can be used to target training resources more effectively. The focus is the automotive supplier chain where skills development is an urgent problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A number of different surveys have been combined to draw out government, employer and staff approaches to training. From these a model was developed and its elements tested on a further group of small to medium‐sized companies (SMEs).

Findings

From the initial surveys the outcomes of training across this segment of the industry were mostly unknown, unmeasured and often unpredictable. This result was in keeping with wider research which has indicated that even in large enterprises some 60 per cent of training budgets lack quantifiable targets to achieve. Amongst the smaller SMEs the skills needs were different to those of the larger enterprises.

Practical implications

A model has been presented that can support sustainable learning. More specific criteria could be used to target training resources selectively. If an enterprise is ready, motivated and receptive; if training is only given to selected suitable staff whose achievement is subsequently recognised; if the training is relevant and focused; then the sustained learning will lead to measureable outcomes that relate to the enterprise's goals.

Originality/value

The model provides a framework of criteria to target training more effectively. This is potentially a new way to focus skills development. The companies most likely to meet these criteria will be the competitive and innovative companies. The results can be adapted and applied also to most European SMEs.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2020

Saad Mahmood Qureshi Qureshi

By using experiential learning theory, this study aims to examine how students engage in sustainable living practices that can improve their sustainability literacy and…

1501

Abstract

Purpose

By using experiential learning theory, this study aims to examine how students engage in sustainable living practices that can improve their sustainability literacy and behaviours. It also explores their motivations and enablers. In doing so, the research seeks to develop a curriculum model that may assist educators in designing learning activities for sustainable living.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study is conducted with 38 second-year undergraduate students on a sustainability-related module. Students are asked to engage in sustainable living practices for a six-week period. Descriptive statistics and inductive/thematic analysis are carried out on students’ reflective reports.

Findings

The results reveal five top sustainable living practices for students. The use of technology is revealed as an important enabler. Sustainable living motivations and approaches, and new skills are revealed. A sustainable living curriculum model is developed as a student-centric approach for fostering sustainability values.

Practical implications

The findings have implications for those teaching sustainability on the design of their learning content and activities by taking a student-centric approach to sustainable living. It also encourages active reflection throughout using an incremental learning process.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the existing literature by showing different choices and approaches for students’ sustainable living that can be considered when designing curriculum and educational activities to encourage maximum interaction in sustainable living. It develops a new curriculum model specific to sustainable living, and also builds on the concept oflearning by living”, an extension of learning by doing.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Chanita Rukspollmuang, Jaratdao Reynolds and Praphan Chansema

Initiating a practical model for embedding transformative learning in education that will promote sustainable development is a challenge for higher education. Siam University…

Abstract

Initiating a practical model for embedding transformative learning in education that will promote sustainable development is a challenge for higher education. Siam University decided to assign a task force with the mission to work with communities in order to propose guidelines of learning for sustainability (LfS) based on real-life experiences. Selected communities which have agreed to be the community living labs for teaching and learning activities of the university were chosen based on the Bray and Thomas’ Cube Model. There are differences in sizes (number of members), locations (urban, suburban), and histories (old settlement with long history and rich culture and the newly settlement communities consisting of migrated members). Community-based participatory research (CBPR) was applied in the study. The initial model was developed from the synthesis of experiential work with communities in sustainability-related projects. After revision, the “Learning for Sustainability Action Model” was proposed. Success factors in implementing the model were also suggested.

Details

Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2022
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-484-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 September 2009

Peter Docherty, Mari Kira and Abraham B. (Rami) Shani

A work system may be said to exhibit social sustainability if it utilizes its human, social, economic, and ecological resources with responsibility. This entails using these…

Abstract

A work system may be said to exhibit social sustainability if it utilizes its human, social, economic, and ecological resources with responsibility. This entails using these resources in a non-exploitive way, regenerating them, and paying due attention to the needs and ambitions of its stakeholders in the short- and long-term. For most presently existing organizations attaining and maintaining sustainability requires a midcourse correction, a transformation process. This chapter reviews the main concepts regarding sustainability and previous research of organizational development in this context. It presents a four-phase model for this transformation process and illustrates the model's application in four different contexts. The results are discussed and directions for further research are presented.

Details

Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-547-1

Article
Publication date: 4 October 2022

Yixin Sun and Jacky Hong

This study aims to examine how expatriates’ knowledge can be adopted to transform the mental models at the subsidiary level and develop a sustainability-driven learning

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how expatriates’ knowledge can be adopted to transform the mental models at the subsidiary level and develop a sustainability-driven learning organization in the context of emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs).

Design/methodology/approach

Through an inductive interpretive analysis of three Haier subsidiaries from developing countries, this study compares between old and new understandings of sustainability and examines how expatriates’ knowledge can facilitate shifts toward the new to foster a sustainability-driven learning organization.

Findings

The authors find that subsidiary employees face strategic and operational ambiguity concerning sustainability issues and that a mix of dissemination and reinforcement routines that align with headquarters’ expectations are used to maintain a continuous sustainability-driven learning pattern. Though EMNE subsidiaries may have contrasting understandings of sustainability, expatriate knowledge transfer can help change subsidiaries’ mental models and thus create sustainable capabilities and mindsets that form a sustainability-driven learning organization at the subsidiary level.

Originality/value

This study reveals the potential in applying expatriate knowledge transfer to transforming sustainable mental models in building sustainability-driven learning organizations.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2018

Javier Castro-Spila, Rosa Torres, Carolina Lorenzo and Alba Santa

The purpose of this paper is to devise an experimental lab like infrastructure in the higher education connecting social innovation with sustainable tourism.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to devise an experimental lab like infrastructure in the higher education connecting social innovation with sustainable tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to model a laboratory of social innovation and sustainable tourism lab (SISTOUR-LAB), the method of agile research was employed. This method involves the creation of successive and accumulative prototypes of four kinds: conceptual, relational, functional and transferable. Thus, agile research enables the integration of different social perspectives into the same prototype in a recursive manner.

Findings

The SISTOUR-LAB is a work-based learning strategy that allows for the development of a mapping process on tourism vulnerabilities (linked to opportunities for social innovation); the development of experimental training in prototyping social innovations on sustainable tourism; the design of hybrid social innovation business models linked to sustainable tourism; and the development of a relational model of evaluation linking together social innovation competencies with processes of transition toward sustainable tourism.

Research limitations/implications

The SISTOUR-LAB is a prototypical lab that combines social innovation and sustainable tourism in an experimental setting. The SISTOUR-LAB has been modeled based on the agile research method, but it will be necessary to test it empirically to stabilize the model. Once stabilized, the model shall lead to a better understanding of the relationship between work-based learning, social innovation and sustainable tourism in the area of higher education.

Practical implications

The SISTOUR-LAB has four implications: teachers: the SISTOUR-LAB provides teachers with a setting for the development of experimental education models that connect the problems of conventional tourism with social innovation in order to foster new learning environments oriented toward sustainable tourism; students: the SISTOUR-LAB enhances the employability of students since it connects them with agents and demands of touristic transition, while also fostering entrepreneurial development by means of improving the acquisition of social entrepreneurship competences for sustainable tourism; organizations: the SISTOUR-LAB provides an experimental setting for the prototyping of social innovations so as to assist organizations in the formulation of models, prototypes and evaluations that facilitate the transition toward sustainable tourism; policymaking: the SISTOUR-LAB promotes the design of evidence-based public policies, which fosters inclusive models of innovation and the regional monitoring of transitions toward sustainable tourism.

Originality/value

There exist little reference to the link between social innovation and sustainable tourism in the academic and institutional literature. The SISTOUR-LAB is a work-based learning strategy that fosters the structuring of experimental relations between social innovation and sustainable tourism by integrating touristic organizations to the development of competencies in higher education. The SISTOUR-LAB has programmatic and prospective value. It can be considered as a guide for the development of generative competencies, i.e. competencies that generate social innovations that impact chain triggers transitions toward sustainable tourism.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2023

Muneza Kagzi, Sayantan Khanra and Sanjoy Kumar Paul

From a technological determinist perspective, machine learning (ML) may significantly contribute towards sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to synthesize prior…

Abstract

Purpose

From a technological determinist perspective, machine learning (ML) may significantly contribute towards sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to synthesize prior literature on the role of ML in promoting sustainability and to encourage future inquiries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts a systematic review of 110 papers that demonstrate the utilization of ML in the context of sustainable development.

Findings

ML techniques may play a vital role in enabling sustainable development by leveraging data to uncover patterns and facilitate the prediction of various variables, thereby aiding in decision-making processes. Through the synthesis of findings from prior research, it is evident that ML may help in achieving many of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

Originality/value

This study represents one of the initial investigations that conducted a comprehensive examination of the literature concerning ML’s contribution to sustainability. The analysis revealed that the research domain is still in its early stages, indicating a need for further exploration.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 October 2015

Azizah Ahmad

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive…

Abstract

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

Details

Sustaining Competitive Advantage Via Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and System Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-764-2

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 February 2020

Patrick A. Müller, Thomas Bäumer, Jan Silberer and Stefan Zimmermann

Learning about sustainable development in dedicated curricula can be beneficial for students’ personal and professional development and societies alike. However, for various…

2139

Abstract

Purpose

Learning about sustainable development in dedicated curricula can be beneficial for students’ personal and professional development and societies alike. However, for various reasons the implementation of sustainable development modules in existing curricula can be difficult in many fields of study. This paper aims to propose an alternative route to give students the chance to learn about sustainable development without the need to change the structure of their study program.

Design/methodology/approach

The current paper elaborates on the idea that many fields of study have mandatory courses on empirical research methods and these courses can function as a platform to teach applied empirical research methods in combination with education on sustainable development. A three-phase model is proposed to implement sustainable development topics in existing curricula, taking students’ current methodological competency level into account.

Findings

The proposed model provides a chance to combine education on sustainability with thorough training in scientific research methods. Example projects and evaluation results from an existing social science curriculum and its integration into a real-world laboratory on sustainable energy use illustrate the different phases and their goals.

Originality/value

The model offers the opportunity to implement education on sustainability into existing curricula without the need for difficult structural changes. It extends students’ learning on sustainability without impairing their learning of research methods. A discussion of the model’s limitations and boundary conditions helps to understand its potential use cases and challenges.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 68000