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This paper aims to contribute to a developing literature on continuous improvement (CI), enabled by Lean Six Sigma (LSS), in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports on the key learning points arising from the initial steps taken by an Irish university on its CI journey.

A case study strategy was adopted following a participatory research approach. This approach supports reflexivity and also provides access to all relevant documentation and staff within the case university. Thematic analysis was supported by data reduction and display techniques.

The introduction of a LSS approach rather than a reliance on lean alone introduced a structured methodology (DMAIC) that supported simplification of a number of administrative processes. A number of specific improvements were achieved including: Cycle time and cost reduction; customer or employee satisfaction; and rework and error reduction. The findings support the importance of the Readiness Factors as identified by Antony (2014), with particular insight into the role of senior and middle management, the impact of training and deployment of expertise.

This paper is based on an ongoing, longitudinal, empirical study of a single case study in Ireland.

This paper tracks the development of CI in a HEI in a longitudinal manner and adds to the emerging the literature in this area. The paper evaluates the role of management at various levels, analyses the use of LSS tools and techniques and evaluated the role of training and capacity building. Implications for Management are shared including: design and role of training programmes, role of champions at various organisational levels, including key functional areas and sustaining momentum.

The paper aims to examine a strategic decision model and its potential value for assisting academic institutional leaders in addressing climate change by making better informed sustainability investment decisions.

Although the vast majority of engagements have focused on IT project selection and prioritization, it will be demonstrated that there is direct applicability to capital investment decisions related to sustainability. Examples of the results are provided with instructions on how to implement a similar approach for organizations challenged with selection and prioritization of sustainability projects. Finally, the model is assessed critically in terms of challenges and lessons learned from client projects.

The strategic decision model has been found to provide a broader framework for decisions, i.e. both qualitative and quantitative. At the same time, the methodology used with the model engages more stakeholders in the process to help build consensus regarding investment and project decisions. As a portfolio-based model, relative value and risk can be viewed easily to enable focus on what the stakeholders believe to be key projects. This perspective and the functionality of the application enable action to be taken by the decision maker to possibly reduce project risk and/or increase potential value of specific projects.

It was determined that additional research, data collection and application development would be necessary if the model were to be used for benchmarking for sustainability planning investment decisions.

The paper proposes that colleges and universities consider the use of the portfolio decision model and, where appropriate, implement the model as part of their sustainability program. The anticipated benefits of this action would include: greater involvement of key stakeholders in support of required organizational change, improvement in the quality of investment decisions, increased success of sustainability projects and data which will enable future benchmarking.

Given this emergent leading role of universities in championing sustainability efforts, the purpose of this paper is to provide college and university leaders a tool to address the challenges related to investment decisions targeted at sustainability projects, such as environmental footprint reduction in support of achieving sustainability for their respective institutions.

We have long been obsessed with the dream of creating intelligent machines. This vision can be traced back to Greek civilization, and the notion that mortals somehow can create machines that think has persisted throughout history. Until this decade these illusions have borne no substance. The birth of the computer in the 1940s did cause a resurgence of the cybernaut idea, but the computer's role was primarily one of number‐crunching and realists soon came to respect the enormous difficulties in crafting machines that could accomplish even the simplest of human tasks.

The paper attempts to frame the challenge of managing the transition to a sustainable economy by way of a conceptual model consisting of a zero-footprint regulatory regime and a sustainability fund.

A conceptual model of the sustainable industrial revolution has been developed based on the learnings from industries such as originators (mining), farming, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and chemicals and long-lasting artefacts against an overall perspective.

It is suggested to have an institutional structural mechanism in place to ensure that footprint is minimized through recycling including refurbishing, resale or transformation. This includes management of recycling businesses through execution of a zero-waste regulatory regime that will build and use a sustainability fund.

The limitations of the paper are arising out of the topic being an issue of gigantic proportions with immense complexity. An attempt has been made to bring out the inescapability and the imperative of a sustainable industrial revolution.

This paper presents practical aspects such as collusion between trash and recycling businesses, land use and social aspects of criticality of public support. If implemented, the suggested model can make a paradigm shift in the way firms, industry and governments can handle the challenge of sustainability.

The value of this conceptual paper lies in an attempt to extend the learning organization framework to the concept of a regulatory model for sustainability that is not limited to the definition of a firm but stands extended to industries and to the economics, land use and demographics of the planet.

Formal, planned communication between all types of libraries and “telling the state's library story” resulted in the largest single appropriation of new money to libraries, from the state lottery, in Georgia history. This climax follows a string of funding accomplishments including a 20 percent increase in materials grants, maintenance, and operating funds over an eight‐year period. Describes the strategies so successfully used at the state level to communicate funding needs and increase library capital and operating funds.