Value chain performance improvement for sustainable mango industry development in Pakistan

The article is devoted to the study of the formation of sustainable economic development of industrial enterprises. The purpose of the work is to identify the key factors and mechanisms contributing to the sustainable development of industrial enterprises in modern conditions. The paper examines the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, as well as their interrelationships. As a result of the research, the main directions of the formation of sustainable economic development of industrial enterprises have been identified, including the introduction of innovations, energy efficiency improvement, human capital development and environmental modernization of production. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the development of an integrated approach to the formation of sustainable development of industrial enterprises, taking into account the specifics of the current economic situation.

The purpose of this study is to determine the interests of stakeholders and their influence on the strategic guidelines for the sustainable development of industrial enterprises in the Russian fuel and energy complex. Environmental safety is one of the components of the corporate strategy implementation for the sustainable development of industrial enterprises. The significance of this component is determined not so much by the regulatory institutional impact as by the transformation of economic agents’ behavior in the market: consumers, partners, investors, competitors who are stakeholders. This study defines the composition of stakeholders for Russian industrial enterprises leading in the field of sustainable development based on the results of ESG-ratings. It also identifies their priority interests and the sustainable development goals of industrial companies. Based on the analysis of open reports on the sustainable development of Russian industrial enterprises, the article identifies the key goals of sustainable development for stakeholders of Russian industrial enterprises in the fuel and energy complex. An analysis of the mechanism for organizing interaction with stakeholders shows that for most stakeholder groups, interaction is implemented through the non-financial reporting of companies. The study concludes that a proactive approach will enable companies to identify sustainable development issues with the greatest long-term potential, and thus to create a system of preventive strategic action.

The paper focuses on the main directions of the transition to the sustainable development of industrial enterprises based on digital technology. To fulfill the principles of sustainable development related to responsible consumption and lean production, digital technological approaches are proposed to minimize environmental damage. A study related to the current application of digital technology in industrial enterprises has shown an insufficient level of implementation of advanced technological solutions based on digitalization. In particular, the bulk of digital technology belongs to broadband Internet, while more advanced digital technologies are rarely implemented. To introduce advanced technological directions based on digital solutions in the industry, we propose methods based on process, industry, and technological approaches to ensure the sustainable development of Russian industrial enterprises. The use of digital technology will reduce the consumption of resources in industrial enterprises, ensure effective environmental monitoring, reduce the environmental damage caused, etc. The research pays special attention to the use of digital technologies that allow tracking the entire life cycle of a product from production to disposal. The research substantiates the necessity of creating conditions for the interest of all participants in this process and the importance of the transition to sustainable development based on the digitalization of industrial enterprises, considering economic feasibility. Based on the proposed approaches, the basic principles of sustainable development of industrial enterprises using digital technology will be implemented.KeywordsSustainable developmentIndustryDigital technologyEconomyInnovationsJEL ClassificationO33L52Q56Q57

The green and sustainable cyclic development of the global automotive industry has become an important issue, and the synergy between digitalisation and greening is becoming more and more obvious. The automotive industry is a resource-intensive industry with a long supply chain and complex material structure. Therefore, it is crucial to fully integrate and interact the information of the whole value chain of automotive products in a standardised way to promote the sustainable management of automotive products. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) proposed by the EU and other regions has attracted much attention as an enabler for a transparent and traceable value chain as well as for improving the management of the entire product life cycle. China has already started the exploration of digital product passports for the battery, textile, and steel industries, while the research on automotive product passports is still in a relatively early stage. In this paper, we propose the concept of 'vehicle circularity ID' for automotive digital product passports, and describe for the first time the information required to realise a sustainable and circular value chain. An vehicle circularity ID requires the identification of stakeholders, linkages to other industries, and a systematic approach. By systematically investigating the attributes and characteristics of automotive products at each stage of their lifecycle, we constructed a four-category model for the Vehicle Circularity ID that includes basic information, sustainability and circularity, maintenance, and value chain actors, and reversed the process of constructing the Vehicle Circularity ID by collection-interaction-processing-access. Interaction-Processing-Access' integrated technology implementation route. The conceptual model and technological route of the Vehicle Circularity ID constructed in this paper can, on the one hand, provide information about the potential of sustainable management of automobiles in terms of DPP, which can help to enhance the sustainable development of product cycle, and on the other hand, help policy makers and practitioners to implement the Vehicle Circularity ID.

Study and evaluation on sustainable industrial development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

The purpose of this study is to form strategic environmental guidelines to ensure the sustainable operation and development of industrial enterprises. The paper focuses on carrying out a structural analysis of the environmental policy of Russian industrial enterprises, identifies factors influencing environmental conditions, and defines directions for the formation of a sustainable development policy. Environmental adaptation is based not only on legislative and management mechanisms, but also on the needs of end users for greening and balancing overall benefits and individual satisfaction. The paper emphasizes the need to meet environmental requirements throughout the entire chain of management process, which will ensure the sustainable development of industrial enterprises. The study concludes that such a system would increase the number of enterprises declaring environmental values.

Agriculture is important for most of the world’s poor population not only as a source of income but defense against hunger. Over the last three decades, agricultural supply chain organizational structures in developing countries have increasingly become complex and transformed because of the emergence of competitive, fast-moving business environments. These changes have particularly affected several food value chains, creating in some cases positive effects, and resulting in the exclusion of smallholders who are unable to meet specific supply chain requirements. This counteracts the achievement of development goals by disrupting associated distributional effects to excluded smallholders in developing countries. Evidence suggests that affected smallholders respond by switching marketing channels and shifting to organizational network relationships. This consequently intensifies the formation of dualistic systems in which both modern and local value chains coexist. However, since the mid-1990s, the focus of development analysts and researchers has been on the expansion and inclusion of smallholders in modern value chains. This has resulted in total neglect of local value chains, which remain a significant source of income for many rural populations and ensure effective food delivery that meets culturally diverse needs in developing countries. Only recently has agribusinesses’ and development analysts’ attention been placed on local value chains yet, some key knowledge and research areas remain unaddressed.
\nIndeed, our understanding of how local value chains are organized and function within dualistic systems remains generally limited. In particular, little is known about the role of socially constructed concepts such as gender-relations and decision-making power in driving value additions. Understanding these fundamentals is important for the postulation of policies for agricultural and local value chain upgrading and equitable distribution of wealth. Besides, smallholders continuously face external and internal contingencies that affect their competitiveness along food systems. Theory posits that the effects of changing business environments on smallholder performance can be mitigated by fitting supply chain network that includes vertical, horizontal and lateral relationships. However, the associations between these constructs as postulated theoretically remain generally underexplored, especially for smallholders in African food sectors. Frameworks and empirical analyses that holistically and simultaneously analyze these associations are rare. Furthermore, over the last two decades, there has been increasing attention of donors, governments and researchers to strengthen collection actions through producer groups in developing countries. Producer groups are widely viewed as valuable institutional arrangements for smallholders to cope with/overcome market inefficiencies arising from changing business environments. However, little is known about the effect of membership in producer groups on smallholder performance in fishery subsectors. Overall, bridging these gaps is important to understand and posit practical implications on how to promote alternative development models and smallholders’ opportunities in dynamic food systems.
\nOn this account, this dissertation fills these gaps by analyzing the links between organizational structures, gender roles, and performance of smallholders in African local value chains. The dissertation consists of three main papers that are based on two types of data from the Nigerian shrimp and prawn sector. First, qualitative data was obtained between December 2017 and January 2018 from 48 respondents in three States namely; Akwa-Ibom, Delta and Lagos. The second data includes two sets of quantitative data obtained from the survey of 405 producers and 238 processors in Akwa-Ibom, Ondo and Lagos States between May and August 2018. 
\nThe first paper aims to uncover how local value chains in dualistic food systems are organized, depicting the predominant governance themes, gender roles for value addition, and necessary upgrading strategies for smallholders in Africa. Failure of existing studies to capture the evolution and multiplicity of governance structures, and hidden social constructs has resulted in mixed findings on the organization and drivers of local value chains. Using qualitative data obtained from 3 in-depth focus group discussions and 21 key informant interviews, we rely on the global value chain approach to map local value chain’s organization distinctively from modern value chains. We make a conceptual contribution by extending this approach to include a gendered dimension of the value web approach, which we developed. This allows for simultaneous analysis of the roles of governance schemes and hidden gender relations in driving local value chains. 
\nOur main results reveal that competitive traders, the mutual dependence between production and processing segments and strategic business activities of female processors were crucial for the chain’s functioning. Results from the Net-maps show that the predominant marketing channel is long: producer–women processors/marketer–trader–retailer–consumer, however, analysis of the governance dimensions shows the importance of the relational governance between producers and women processors that allows for better coordination of supply and marketing activities at the supply-base. Further analysis of the gendered value-web highlights the vital roles women play in ensuring value additions and smooth flow of products along the chain. Women processors act as financial buffers for producers, points of contact and precursors to all midstream value additions in the value web.
\nThe second paper builds on the results and implications of the first paper. Here, we suggest a comprehensive quantitative research framework to determine the relationship between changing business contingencies, organizational supply chain networks and smallholder performance. While supply chain contingencies and organizational complexities have been widely studied in organizational theory literature, it only became a subject of quantitative analysis in recent times. Still, several conceptual and research shortcomings exist in the literature such as the neglect of the concurrent fit of organizational strategies to both external and internal contingencies, lack of comprehensive analysis of organizational networks, and less focus on multiple tiers. Hence, we use a variance-based structural equation model to analyze the quantitative data from producers and women processors. We first take a cue from contingent resource-based theory and netchain approach to conceptualize the influence of both external (market turbulence, technological progress, distrust and power asymmetry) and internal (human and financial resources) contingencies on organizational relationships and performance, extending an existing empirical model. We then empirically test the so-called “Contingency-Netchain-Performance” (CNP) framework, on two tiers to derive valid and comprehensive evidence comparable across the tiers. 
\nResults from the estimations indicate that both external and internal contingencies significantly influence adaptational change in organization supply chain network, which in turn contributes to smallholders’ performance. All the smallholders’ external contingencies influence the formation of tighter vertical coordination but their influences differ on horizontal and lateral relationships. More importantly, results reveal that smallholders’ internal contingencies concurrently influence their organizational network structures and performance. However, the influence of both external and internal contingencies on organizational networks seems to differ across tiers while supply chain vertical relationships tend to intensify the formation of closer network structures. Several conceptual, theoretical and practical contributions emerged from the successful application of the CNP framework in this study.
\nIn the third paper, we examined the selectivity-corrected role of fisher groups on the capture and technical efficiency of artisanal shrimpers in Africa. We empirically identify factors that influence shrimpers’ decision to belong to fisher groups and estimate the effect of membership on capture and technical efficiency. Methodological augmentation using Greene’s stochastic production frontier method and propensity score matching that correct for selection bias, allows us to account for different technological set if any, and sample selection bias from both observed and unobserved factors. We use quantitative data of 353 producers that operate outboard engines, comprising of 95 members and 258 non-members. We found that the overall participation in fisher groups is positively determined by shrimpers’ socioeconomic characteristics; female participation in shrimp-related groups; and infrastructural facilities like credit and tarmacked roads. The stochastic results reveal that technical efficiency scores remain consistently higher for members regardless of how biases were corrected. Although technical efficiency scores for members and nonmembers tend to be over-estimated if selectivity is not appropriately controlled, our findings suggest that participation in fisher groups is important for smallholders with below-average performance and positively related to increases in catch and technical efficiency.
\nImportant lessons and conclusions were derived from the results of this dissertation. The papers confirm that organizational network structures matter for smallholders’ upgrading and local value chain development in Nigeria. Our results confirm strong influences from highly dynamic external and internal contingencies on the formation of dense and complex organizational network structures in which vertical and network relationships are dependent. By ali

There is a synergistic potential between heritage and tourism which can offer a type of special interest tourism. However, despite the potential, it also brings out conflicts that result in negative socio-cultural impacts. Therefore, sustainability issues should be considered in developing heritage tourism. There are three dimensions incorporate in Sustainable Development, which are environment, economic, and social. As sustainable tourism was derived from sustainable development, thus the three dimensions of sustainable development are also applied in sustainable tourism development, especially in sustainable heritage tourism. Generally, the relationships between the three aspects of sustainable development are assumed to be compatible and mutually supportive. However, among the three dimensions of sustainable development, social sustainability is the least developed and often is proposed in relation to ecological or economic sustainability. There have been efforts to address and incorporate the social dimension of sustainability into standard setters, planners, and practitioners in many diverse areas such as forest certification, organic agriculture, conventional agriculture, urban and regional planning, corporate social and environmental management, reporting, and responsibility and fair-trade certification. However, there are still few studies of the social dimension in tourism development. To achieve sustainable tourism development, we cannot neglect the social dimension and only focuses on the economic and environmental dimensions. Social sustainability is not absolute or constant which has to be considered as a dynamic concept, which will change over time in a place. The purpose of this study exploring the key aspects of sustainable tourism development social dimension which is linked to theoretical and on how we should define and understand the fluid concept of the social dimension in tourism sustainability that can also be applied in heritage tourism. This research is using a systematic literature review to identify social dimension aspects or themes of sustainable development, sustainable tourism development, and sustainable heritage tourism. The preliminary findings show that there are few studies of the social dimension of sustainable tourism development. Therefore, it is rather difficult to obtain related articles of the social dimension, especially in the tourism subject fields. To this point, 160 works of literature were obtained and after screening, assessing, and selecting against the criteria for eligibility, there were 19 pieces of literature selected. Selected literature was reviewed to explore how the social dimension aspect in sustainable development debates is variously understood and how it constructs a social pillar. This research compiles a cross-disciplinary major theoretical concept from sustainable development, sustainable tourism development, heritage tourism, political sociology, economic theory, social theory, governance, and urban development to build a new multi-dimensional inquiry into the subject of social sustainability. Thus, this research gives a comprehension of the aspects of social sustainability which contributes to the improvement of the fluid concept of social tourism sustainability, especially in heritage tourism.

The governance of coffee trade is influenced by disparities in market power and the interdependence among actors within the value chain. In Central Aceh District, dominant actors in the value chain exert significant influence over governance structures, shaping price determination, quality standards, and trading practices. This study aims to analyze the type of governance of the Gayo arabica coffee value chain in Central Aceh District. The research was conducted in two sub-districts, Pegasing and Silih Nara. The method used was a survey of 83 main actors in the Gayo arabica coffee value chain, namely farmers, intermediary traders, cooperatives, exporters, and roasters. The data were analyzed using the Gereffi value chain governance approach. The results showed that cooperatives, exporters, and roasters are the most dominant actors (key actors) in the Arabica coffee value chain in Central Aceh District. Most of Gayo Arabica coffee is exported as green beans by cooperatives and exporting companies, while a smaller portion is distributed to coffee roasters for processing into roasted and ground coffee. The governance type of Gayo arabica coffee value chain in Central Aceh District is categorized as modular governance, characterized by high complexity in the transaction process, high codification of information, and high capability to supply. Upgrading value chain governance and sustainability requires support and collaboration from all actors involved.

Financial returns for different actors in a teak timber value chain in Paklay District, Lao PDR

Sustainable development is an objective necessity for the effective functioning of society. In the scientific works of both foreign and domestic economists, the discussion on the essence and methods of assessing sustainable development continues. The relevance of the article relies upon the consideration that the study of the problems of sustainable development at the level of industrial enterprises, in particular the development of scientific and methodological recommendations for determining the system of goals and assessing the level of sustainable development of industrial enterprises, is yet insufficiently elaborated. The aim of the article is to improve the theoretical foundations of sustainable development by developing scientific and methodological recommendations, defining a system of goals and assessing the level of sustainable development of industrial enterprises. To achieve this aim, a number of tasks are solved: an analysis of the theoretical foundations of sustainable development is carried out; on the basis of the system method of research, the factors of influence and criteria-indicators of sustainable development of enterprises are determined; according to the conception of management by goals, making use of the program-target method, a system of goals for sustainable development of industrial enterprises is defined; a hierarchy of the goals of sustainable development of enterprise has been built; the global (main) goal and sub-goals of sustainable development of industrial enterprises are formulated; on the basis of graph theory, a tree of goals (graphs) for sustainable development of industrial enterprises has been built; on the basis of the theory of utility, a multi-criteria model of integral assessment of sustainable development of enterprises has been proposed. The global (main) goal of enterprise development is formulated as «Achieving sustainable development of industrial enterprises». The tree of sustainable development goals of enterprises is a graph, the vertices of which are the goals, and the edges (arcs) are the connections between them. Depending on the purpose of the study, as well as the degree of specification of goals, it is possible to build many variants of the tree of goals, which will identify and illustrate various compromise alternatives for achieving goals. A system of criteria-indicators that characterize the achievement of the set goals has been formulated. As a criterion for achieving the goal, it is proposed to use a multi-criteria utility function. For an integral assessment of sustainable development, it is expedient to use the additive utility function, which makes it possible to calculate the integral indicator of sustainable development of enterprise. This, in turn, makes it possible to analyze the dynamics of sustainable development over a number of years, as well as to compare enterprises with each other.

This study on ‘Value Chain Analysis of Dry Fish in North-East Region of India’ has been conducted in 2015 with specific objectives—(i) to map the value chain of dry fish in North-East region of the country, (ii) to analyse cost and margins of actors in value chain of dry fish, (iii) analyse impact of value chain of dry fish on income of small-scale processors, (iv) examine the status, institutional credit and socioeconomic factors that influence value chain actors’ decision to use institutional credit and (v) to suggest appropriate upgrading and development strategies to enhance the value chain performance. For capturing primary data, two major fish landing centres such as Digha, West Bengal and Veraval, Gujarat and 12 dry fish trading centres from the Northeastern states such as Assam, Manipur and Tripura have been selected. The sample comprises altogether 555 respondents including 136 processors, 75 wholesalers, 123 retailers, 156 labourers and 65 consumers. In this article, core processes of dry fish value chain, core and supporting value chain activities, value chain map showing the flow as well as inter-relationships and linkages among the chain actors of the dry fish products, sub-value chains, status of infrastructural facilities along the value chain, cost and margins of different chain actors, value chain performance and present status of institutional financing along the dry fish value chain and measures for upgradation of dry fish value chain are highlighted.

Agricultural value chains can be understood as the systems of people, organizations and activities needed to create process and deliver agricultural products from producers to consumers. Over time and due to huge changes that have happened in the surroundings, agricultural value chains have become very integrated and complex. Small farmers can prosper by joining in modern higher-level agricultural value chains, but there are numerous obstacles, as well. The work presents the typology of organizational models for agricultural production that consists of the models organised by producers, agribusiness companies (processors, retail chains, and intermediaries), facilitators (governments, non-governmental organisations) and completely integrated models, established by some big companies. None of these models provides ideal solutions from the perspective of small producers. However, they say that the institutions, such as cooperatives and small farmers' organisations, present important mechanisms for including small producers in modern value chains and realizing the cooperation with agribusiness companies and other important players. This is also important for decision-makers and governmental bodies that should create a suitable environment and provide support so that small farmers and their organisations can integrate in modern value chains in a successful way.

Various critical global issues, including global warming and poverty, have been recognized and identified by the United Nations (UN) as drivers for unsustainability. Consequently, the UN established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the aim of seeking universal peace and larger freedom by balancing the three dimensions of sustainable development, i.e. economic, social and environmental. A particular attention SDGs pay is in eradicating poverty as this is considered one of the greatest global challenges. Poverty is not only an economic matter as it also has an impact on the social and environmental dimensions. A strategy to tackle poverty is to foster industry development. However, a holistic point of view is necessary by also considering stakeholders otherwise, it becomes a neoliberal solution. Despite the fact that some research has been conducted, e.g. case studies and surveys of sustainable practices, there is a lack of industrial sustainable development as a framework to tackle sustainability issues. Thus, this paper proposes a framework for industrial sustainable development under a socially inclusive approach within the context of the Mexican manufacturing industry. The framework proposal is based on state-of-the-art literature review conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases.

The inequity of benefits among actors in the Indonesian patchouli value chain has been taking place for decades. This phenomenon has made distillers unable to guarantee the patchouli oil quality, one of the essential things in the global market. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of modernization of distillation units and applications of a nonlinear return on investment (ROI) equity model to the financial performance of actors in the value chain to help the government together with the actors making the correct decisions and policies in the development of patchouli oil business. The study was done in the Gayo Lues District, Aceh, Indonesia. The findings indicate that the distillers get the least benefits (the lowest ROI) among actors in the Gayo Lues value chain. Moreover, modernization of the distillation units can increase the ROIs of the actors in the value chain. But, to observe how to establish equity among the actors, a nonlinear ROI equity model was developed. To make ROIs of the actors equal, outputs of the model recommend that the ideal patchouli oil share ratio between farmers and distillers is around 3.3 – 3.4: 1. Outputs of the model also suggest that both net gross and profits per kg of medium middlemen should be increased, while both net and gross profits per kg of large middlemen should be decreased.