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Article
Publication date: 17 April 2009

Kumba Jallow

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dichotomy of radicalism and reformism in the corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability literature, where the reform position…

1141

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dichotomy of radicalism and reformism in the corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability literature, where the reform position is described as mainstream, where sustainability is delivered by governance mechanisms, regulation and planning, internalising costs, and redesigning industrial processes. Radical critiques of this position argue that reformists have “claimed” the CSR debate and therefore disempowered those who would bring about more fundamental changes. The alternative radical position is described as a countercurrent, an ecocentric approach requiring change in economic and political systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews some of the thinking in this area to assess whether a truly radical position is possible to affect change or whether the forces of incrementalism allow gentle resistance to the status quo, which will be more effective in closing the sustainability gap.

Findings

The paper maps some of the models described within it to assess where each lies in the radical‐reformist continuum.

Research limitations/implications

The findings should allow an assessment of the possibilities for CSR to become more radical in approach. However, this needs further empirical testing.

Originality/value

The mapping is an original contribution to the area.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2022

Attila Pohlmann, Diego Grijalva, Fabrizio Noboa and Johanna Andrango

Associated with status, excess and wastefulness, the consumption of luxury is perceived as the antithesis to sustainable development. Entrepreneurs create business cases to…

Abstract

Purpose

Associated with status, excess and wastefulness, the consumption of luxury is perceived as the antithesis to sustainable development. Entrepreneurs create business cases to mediate positive sustainability changes, which transform markets and institutional arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to propose the concept of value-in-impact as an interface concept to integrate perspectives from entrepreneurship, marketing and ecological economics. It provides interdisciplinarily applicable, generalizable concepts to describe social entrepreneurs’ personal motivations to reconfigure market structures to produce sustainability change.

Design/methodology/approach

The case of Ecuadorian luxury chocolate manufactory To’ak is described in the context of the three pillars of sustainability, chocolate producers and cacao suppliers. Thematic analysis of the founders’ personal narratives provides insight regarding their motivation to use ostensibly antithetical luxury marketing for rainforest preservation and to foster self-reliant communities.

Findings

To’ak pays premium prices to create incentives to community farmers to propagate the rare, DNA-certified cacao exclusive to their products, thereby marginalizing oppressive suppliers. The company’s founders are motivated to excellence in the chocolate industry, having witnessed the loss of the cultural meaning of cacao, rainforest degradation and the dissipation of associated communities. The case study findings illustrate how value-in-impact is interpreted as purposeful configuration of value-in-use and value-in-exchange on luxury markets to produce positive sustainability change.

Originality/value

The notion of value-in-impact describes higher order conceptualizations in business research. It encompasses a holistic understanding of the dynamics within and between societal and natural ecosystems. Its application at the marketing/entrepreneurship interface can lead to improved management and policy decisions.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 September 2007

Angela Franz‐Balsen and Harald Heinrichs

Sustainability communication is evolving as a new interdisciplinary field of research and professional practice. The purpose of this paper is to point out the advantage of…

3588

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainability communication is evolving as a new interdisciplinary field of research and professional practice. The purpose of this paper is to point out the advantage of applying theoretical frameworks and related research instruments for an adequate sustainability communication management on campus. It also aims to highlight the normative constraints and challenges (participation) that differentiate sustainability communication from public relations.

Design/methodology/approach

An interdisciplinary theoretical framework and empirical studies (quantitative/qualitative; audience research) were used for the design of a context‐sensitive sustainability communication management concept for the University of Lüneburg‐

Findings

Empirical data clearly showed that disciplinary cultures (including their gender specificity) are highly relevant for sustainability attitudes. Continuous visibility of sustainability efforts on campus is critical for people's attitudes and engagement. Campus community members can be characterized by degrees of “sustainability affinity” vssustainability distance”. Too much sustainability‐campaigning is counterproductive, whereas listening to campus community members' ideas and needs seems appropriate.

Research limitations/implications

There is a need for qualitative data to assess “communication culture”

Practical implications

A balanced theoretically, empirically and normatively grounded communication management is recommended in order to establish a participatory communication culture.

Originality/value

The application of sustainability communication theory, including participation research, in the context of higher education for sustainable development is overdue; thesis: sustainability communication wants to initiate structural changes on campus, but is itself dependent on visible structural change in order to be effective.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2021

Galina Berjozkina and Yioula Melanthiou

Education can provide learners with the necessary awareness, values and skills to understand the complexity of sustainability. This study aims to analyse the extent to which…

Abstract

Purpose

Education can provide learners with the necessary awareness, values and skills to understand the complexity of sustainability. This study aims to analyse the extent to which sustainability concepts have been implemented in higher education programmes in the tourism and hospitality fields.

Design/methodology/approach

For the purpose of the current study, data on all tourism and hospitality programmes offered in Cyprus higher education institutions (HEIs) at the Bachelor level was obtained. Analysis was conducted on publicly available programme descriptions, learning outcomes, program content and syllabi and course descriptions.

Findings

The study finds that sustainability concept implementation in undergraduate hospitality and tourism degree programmes is at a developing stage. The majority of the HEI follow trends and offer sustainability courses either as compulsory or elective courses, but concept implementation in programme learning outcomes and programme descriptions is relatively limited.

Originality/value

This paper presents a review of data and evidence on sustainability concept implementation in tourism and hospitality education in Cyprus.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 June 2020

Mauro Fracarolli Nunes, Camila Lee Park and Ely Laureano Paiva

The study investigates the interaction of sustainability dimensions in supply chains. Along with the analysis of sustainability trade-offs (i.e. prioritizing one dimension to the…

1659

Abstract

Purpose

The study investigates the interaction of sustainability dimensions in supply chains. Along with the analysis of sustainability trade-offs (i.e. prioritizing one dimension to the sacrifice of others), we develop and test the concept of cross-insurance mechanism (i.e. meeting of one sustainability goal possibly attenuating the effects of poor performance in another).

Design/methodology/approach

Through the analysis of a 20-variation vignette-based experiment, we evaluate the effects of these issues on the corporate credibility (expertise and trustworthiness) of four tiers of a typical food supply chain: pesticide producers, farmers, companies from the food industry and retail chains.

Findings

Results suggest that both sustainability trade-offs and cross-insurance mechanisms have different impacts across the chain. While pesticide producers (first tier) and retail chains (fourth tier) seem to respond better to a social trade-off, the social cross-insurance mechanism has shown to be particularly beneficial to companies from the food industry (third tier). Farmers (second tier), in turn, seem to be more sensitive to the economic cross-insurance mechanism.

Originality/value

Along with adding to the study of sustainability trade-offs in supply chain contexts, results suggest that the efficiency of the insurance mechanism is not conditional on the alignment among sustainability dimensions (i.e. social responsibility attenuating social irresponsibility). In this sense, empirical evidences support the development of the cross-insurance mechanism as an original concept.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 40 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2003

Mariano Torras

Employing World Bank data, this article finds that the observed worldwide transition from industrial to service activity has an insignificant long‐term impact on global…

Abstract

Employing World Bank data, this article finds that the observed worldwide transition from industrial to service activity has an insignificant long‐term impact on global de‐materialization. Unlike earlier studies that focus on actual material flows for specific sectors, this study considers economy‐wide sectoral composition changes from 1960 to 1998 for 206 countries, and infers some future scenarios based on observed trends. Sensitivity analysis under alternative assumptions about technological change and average industry material intensity indicates that, unless de‐materialization is “weakly” defined, a leveling off of world gross domestic product at some time this century will probably be required to achieve it.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 September 2021

Giacomo Manetti, Marco Bellucci and Stefania Oliva

This article aims to contribute to the critical accounting literature by reviewing how previous studies have addressed the topic of dialogic accounting (DA), examining the main…

5449

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to contribute to the critical accounting literature by reviewing how previous studies have addressed the topic of dialogic accounting (DA), examining the main themes investigated and discussing potential further developments of the DA research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study builds on a systematic literature review of 186 research products indexed on Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar that were published between 2004 and 2019 in 55 accounting or non-accounting scientific journals and 14 books.

Findings

First, a content analysis of each contribution informs a classification in terms of research design, methodology, geographical setting and sector of analysis. Second, a bibliometric analysis provides several visual representations of the network of research products included in our review using bibliographic coupling, cooccurrence and coauthorship analyses. Third, and most importantly, the main narrative review discusses the development of the research strand on DA from the seminal works that introduced the topic, through the core of critical contributions inspired by the struggle between democracy and agonism, to the most recent contributions, in which new topics emerge and innovative methodologies are applied to the study of DA.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this manuscript is twofold. In addition to providing a systematic, bibliometric and narrative review of the evolution of nearly two decades of literature on DA, the present study is intended to collect ideas for further research and to discuss how the advent of new technologies and the peculiarities of various institutional contexts can shape the future research agenda on this critical form of accounting.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 34 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2014

T.V. Grissom, M. McCord, D. McIlhatton and M. Haran

The purpose of this paper, which is the first of a two-part series, is to build upon the established research on environmental economics and sustainability theory developed by…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper, which is the first of a two-part series, is to build upon the established research on environmental economics and sustainability theory developed by Ramsey (1928), Weitzman (2007) and Gollier (2010). The Ramsey-Weitzman-Gollier model, with the contribution of Howarth (2009) and Nordhaus (2007a, b), focuses on discount rate development for environmental and long-term assets, linking discounted utility analysis embedded in the CCAPM model of Lucas (1978) to the policy concerns associated with the valuation of public and sustainable resources. This paper further investigates these issues to the rates structure appropriate for exhaustible resources with a particular emphasis on urban land, based upon the differentiation of strong and weak form sustainability concepts constrained by the objectives of the sustainable criterion of Daly and Cobb (1994).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper integrates the concepts of discount rate development for environmental and long-term assets and discounted utility analysis to the policy concerns associated with the valuation of public and sustainable resources. It develops new theoretical insight in order to allow the theoretical formulation of discount and capitalization rates that can be empirically applied and tested.

Findings

The paper provides theoretical support for a new approach concerned with the development of capitalization and discount rates in the valuation of non-renewable resources. A key concern of valuing non-renewable or limited resource endowments (in space or time) is the problem of irreversible investment or irrevocable decision implementation as suggested by Arrow-Fisher (1974), Krautkraemer (1985) and Daly and Cobb (1994). It investigates the challenge with developing capitalization rates and valuation of depleting resources temporally, within the constraints of sustainability. To achieve this, an optimal control discounting procedure subject to a sustainable objective statement is employed – in this context it suggests that sustainability should be treated as an alternative to traditional growth and the maximization of near-term returns.

Originality/value

This paper extends the construct of developing rates structures appropriate for the valuation of exhaustible resources. It places a conceptual emphasis on urban land development. The measures developed and the insights gained may serve as a basis for future research on the optimal levels of sustainable development appropriate for different nations.

Details

Property Management, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

Michael Getzner

Weak sustainability indicators often suffer from their unrealistic and inadequate assumption of substitutability between natural capital and man‐made capital. Defining sustainable…

3140

Abstract

Weak sustainability indicators often suffer from their unrealistic and inadequate assumption of substitutability between natural capital and man‐made capital. Defining sustainable development in these terms is almost trivial; measurement problems as well as methodological and sociological issues may be considered as major flaws of operationalizing weak sustainability indicators. On the other hand, strong sustainability indicators rely on physical measures. This ecological economics approach concedes that the economy is embedded in matter and energy flows ultimately limited by solar energy input and the Earth’s capability to produce renewable resources and to cope with emissions of all kinds. Drawing on the example of regional environmental resources, ground‐water in Austria, some thoughts on strong regional sustainability indicators are presented.

Details

Environmental Management and Health, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-6163

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Jiang Jiang, Eldon Y. Li and Li Tang

Trust plays a crucial role in overcoming uncertainty and reducing risks. Uncovering the trust mechanism in the sharing economy may enable sharing platforms to design more…

Abstract

Purpose

Trust plays a crucial role in overcoming uncertainty and reducing risks. Uncovering the trust mechanism in the sharing economy may enable sharing platforms to design more effective marketing strategies. However, existing studies have inconsistent conclusions on the trust mechanism in the sharing economy. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of different dimensions of trust (trust in platform and trust in peers) in the sharing economy.

Design/methodology/approach

First, we conducted a meta-analysis of 57 related articles. We tested 13 antecedents of trust in platform (e.g. economic benefits, enjoyment, and information quality) and eight antecedents of trust in peers (e.g. offline service quality and providers’ reputation), as well as their consequences. Then, we conducted subgroup analyses to test the moderating effects of economic development level (Developed vs Developing), gender (Female-dominant vs Male-dominant), platform type (Accommodation vs Transportation), role type (Obtainers vs Providers), and uncertainty avoidance (Strong vs Weak).

Findings

The results confirm that all antecedents and consequences significantly affect trust in platform or peers to varying degrees. Moreover, trust in platform greatly enhances trust in peers. Besides, the results of the moderating effect analyses demonstrate the variability of antecedents and consequences of trust under different subgroups.

Originality/value

This paper provides a clear and holistic view of the trust mechanism in the sharing economy from an object-based trust perspective. The findings may offer insights into trust-building in the sharing economy.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

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