Environmental Management Services Research Articles

The Influence of Transformational Leadership and Communication on Employee Performance

Evidence suggests that transformational leadership and effective communication can positively impact employee performance. Effective communication plays a crucial role in translating the vision and goals of transformational leaders into actionable plans and tasks for employees, which can positively impact employee performance. This research analyzes the impact of transformational leadership and communication on employee performance in one of the companies providing architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management consulting services in Bandung. The research method used is quantitative, with a descriptive and verification approach. The sample used was 100 employees of a staff company engaged in Bandung's architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management services. We tested the data using validity and reliability tests and then analyzed it using path analysis. Research results indicate that transformational leadership and communication significantly influence employee performance. Transformational leadership and communication influence 81.0% of employee performance, while the remaining 19.0% is caused by other variables or factors that were not researched. This research focuses on transformational leadership and effective communication to improve employee performance. It contributes to increasing effectiveness and communication, which has implications for improving employee performance, especially in the environmental management consulting services sector. By investing in leadership development and promoting effective communication strategies, organizations can create an environment that maximizes employee potential and enhances performance. This research only discusses transformational leadership and effective communication to improve employee performance. However, several factors can still enhance performance, and this research only uses a small sample, so the results cannot be generalized.

The Influence of Transformational Leadership and Work Motivation on Employee Performance

This research is motivated by the significant competition between construction service providers in the Civil Water sector. This research was carried out in Bandung to learn about and analyze transformational leadership and communication on employee performance in one of the companies operating in Bandung's architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management consulting services. Employee performance generally focuses on transformational leadership and communication. The research method used is quantitative, with a descriptive and verification approach. The sample used was 100 employees at a company engaged in architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management services in Bandung. The research results show valid results for each statement item with a value of 0.3, and reliable results show a value above 0.7. For transformational leadership, (X1) is 0.784, Communication (X2) is 0.789, and Employee Performance (Y) is 0.780. From the value (R Square), it is known that the influence of transformational leadership (X1) and communication (X2) on employee performance (Y) is 0.810 or 81.0%. Leadership (X1), Communication (X2), and Employee Performance (Y) are in the relatively good category. The direct influence of transformational leadership (X1) is 13.3%. The direct influence of Communication (X2) is 32.1%. Employee performance is influenced by transformational leadership and communication by 81.0%, while the remaining 19.0% is caused by other variables or other factors that were not researched. From the research results above, it can be concluded that transformational leadership and communication significantly influence employee performance in one of the companies operating in the architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management consulting services in Bandung. The practical implications of these findings are that professionals in this field can enhance employee performance by adopting transformational leadership and effective communication strategies.

Influence Of Transformational Leadership And Work Motivation On Employee Performance

This research is motivated by the significant competition between construction service providers in the Civil Water sector. This research was carried out in Bandung to learn about and analyze transformational leadership and communication on employee performance in one of the companies operating in Bandung's architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management consulting services. Employee performance generally focuses on transformational leadership and communication. The research method used is quantitative, with a descriptive and verification approach. The sample used was 100 employees at a company engaged in architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management services in Bandung. The research results show valid results for each statement item with a value of 0.3, and reliable results show a value above 0.7. For transformational leadership, (X1) is 0.784, Communication (X2) is 0.789, and Employee Performance (Y) is 0.780. From the value (R Square), it is known that the influence of transformational leadership (X1) and communication (X2) on employee performance (Y) is 0.810 or 81.0%. Leadership (X1), Communication (X2), and Employee Performance (Y) are in the relatively good category. The direct influence of transformational leadership (X1) is 13.3%. The direct influence of Communication (X2) is 32.1%. Employee performance is influenced by transformational leadership and communication by 81.0%, while the remaining 19.0% is caused by other variables or other factors that were not researched. From the research results above, it can be concluded that transformational leadership and communication significantly influence employee performance in one of the companies operating in the architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental management consulting services in Bandung. The practical implications of these findings are that professionals in this field can enhance employee performance by adopting transformational leadership and effective communication strategies.

Rural Households' Demand Status for Mitigation of Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC Invasion and Its Determinant Factors in Ethiopia: Empirical Evidence from Afar National Regional State.

Ethiopia is among the world's poorest nations, and its economy is growing extremely slowly; thus, the government's budget to manage environmental amenities is not always sufficient. Thus, for the provision of environmental management services such as the eradication of Prosopis juliflora, the participation of local households and other stakeholders is crucial. This study is therefore initiated with the objective of assessing rural households' demands for mitigating Prosopis juliflora invasion in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was employed to obtain the 313 sample rural households that were used in the analysis, and those sample households were selected randomly and independently from the Amibara and Awash Fentale districts of Afar National Regional State, Ethiopia. In doing this, a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model was used to determine factors affecting rural households' demands for mitigating Prosopis juliflora invasion. Consequently, as per the inferential statistical results, there was a significant mean/percentage difference between willing and nonwilling households for the hypothesized variables, except for some variables such as farm experience; years lived in the area, distance from the market, and dependency ratio. Furthermore, the seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model result indicates that sex, family size, tenure security, livestock holding, frequency of extension contact, and years lived in the area were important factors influencing the willingness to participate in Prosopis juliflora management practices positively, whereas age, off-farm/nonincome, and bid value affected willingness to pay negatively and significantly. Hence, to improve the participation level of households, policymakers should target these variables.

Role of the community in the granting of blue flag certification at Tombo beach (Guarujá, Brazil)

In 2009, Tombo Beach in Guarujá (Brazil) received Blue Flag Certification, an ecological seal granted to beaches that meet environmental conservation requirements. Tombo Beach’s certification was the third in the program’s history in Brazil. Started in 1987, the Blue Flag Program is one of the most critical ecological seals created for the sustainable development of beaches and marinas that adopt careful water quality treatment, environmental education and information, environmental management, security, and other services. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of the requirements above by visitors to Tombo Beach to determine their participation in maintaining certification. To this end, structured questionnaires were used in interviews carried out in April in Tombo Beach, resulting in 300 interviews. Analysis of the data obtained through interviews (n=300) indicated restricted knowledge on the part of attendees regarding the requirements set out in the Blue Flag Program, demonstrating critical deficiencies, especially about environmental education programs. Furthermore, we sought to discuss the benefits of certification in increasing the attraction of visitors to disseminate the culture of accreditation on Brazilian beaches.

AÇÕES DE MITIGAÇÃO E COMPENSAÇÃO AMBIENTAL DOS IMPACTOS CAUSADOS PELA CONSTRUÇÃO DA BR-242/TO

The road network in Tocantins is of fundamental importance for the development of productive and expansion activities in the state. The BR-242 / TO highway that will be the object of this research is located in the southeast of the State of Tocantins, and will interconnect and serve three states of the Brazilian federation, Bahia, Tocantins and Mato Grosso, with an extension of 262 km, passing through the municipalities from Taguatinga, Paranã and Peixe. The objective of this study is to describe and evaluate the environmental compensation actions of the impacts on fauna, flora and water resources, originated from the implementation of the highway (BR-242/TO). The results of the Vegetation Suppression and Flora Rescue report were used; the results of the Wildlife Removal and Rescue report; and the report of the Water Bodies Monitoring Program produced between the years 2016 and 2019 within the scope of the execution of environmental management services for the construction works of the BR-242 / TO highway. The environmental management implemented in the construction of the highway has brought positive results with its programs for rescuing fauna, flora, collecting seeds and collecting water samples from rivers to analyze water quality. The mitigation and compensation measures implemented before, during and after the work, can drastically reduce the environmental impacts to the environment, resulting in environmental sustainability to the work, gains for the environment and for the communities surrounding the built enterprise.

Transforming Institutions to Connect Land and Water for Healthy Communities

ABSTRACTInterconnected global environmental and societal risks threaten the health of human and ecological communities. Institutions are avenues through which people can mobilize to respond, but institutional landscapes are fragmented. We focus on the need for institutional change in environmental management and water services to better connect land and water in the United States. Using a historical institutionalist approach and insights from sustainability transitions research, we analyze four diverse examples of connecting land and water occurring across public and private institutions where people are putting innovative perspectives and principles into practice: National Environmental Policy Act, Engineering with Nature®; Water Utilities as Anchor Institutions, and Growing Water Smart. Comparative analysis of these examples focuses on the particular risks these institutions are responding to, how each connects land and water to promote healthy communities, the institutional transformations that are occurring, how problems are being reframed, how leadership and mobilization are driving change, what tools help bridge multiple boundaries, and what new ways of knowing and action strategies are emerging. Our examples focus on transformations within and between institutions in recognition of their importance for driving larger system change. Findings reinforce previous research on the critical role of human agency and boundary spanning in facilitating and steering sustainability transitions.

Evaluating the role of spatial landscape literacy in public participation processes and opinions on environmental issues and ecosystem services.

Little is known about how spatial literacy influences mapping and decision-making related to environmental management and ecosystem services. We assessed the role of spatial landscape literacy in participatory environmental management and ecosystem service assessments in peri-urban Bogota, Colombia. Spatial landscape literacy (SL) was evaluated by testing stakeholder's ability to locate specific landscapes and landmarks. We then assessed if opinions on environmental decisions and ecosystem services were significantly related to SL. We used an online instrument to capture 2,397 respondent's socioeconomic characteristics, SL, ecosystem service perceptions, and opinions concerning relevant environmental issues. We evaluated and measured respondents' self-perceived SL and ability to locate four landscapes in an integrated online map. Positional accuracy was calculated using a Spatial Landscape Literacy Index (SLI). We then tested for effects of socio-demographics on SLI, modeled the relationship between socio-demographics and SL, and tested the relationship between respondents' SL and their opinions on relevant environmental issues and ecosystem services. We found that about 75% of the respondents correctly located 2 of the 4 landscapes. The SLI model was also poorly predicted by socio-demographic variables. However, we found significant relationships between SLI and opinions concerning the environment. No relationship was found between respondents' levels of active participation in local governance and SLI. Overall, SL was little affected by education levels. Participatory processes using maps should ideally measure SL and not assume a priori that participants are spatially literate. Further research is needed to evaluate how spatial technologies and understanding stakeholder's values towards the environment can democratize participatory-based decision-making.

"Our job is to break that chain of infection": Challenges environmental management services (EMS) staff face in accomplishing their critical role in infection prevention.

Contaminated surfaces in healthcare settings contribute to the transmission of nosocomial pathogens. Adequate environmental cleaning is important for preventing the transmission of important pathogens and reducing healthcare-associated infections. However, effective cleaning practices vary considerably. We examined environmental management services (EMS) staff experiences and perceptions surrounding environmental cleaning to describe perceived challenges and ideas to promote an effective environmental services program. Qualitative study. Frontline EMS staff. From January to June 2019, we conducted individual semistructured interviews with key stakeholders (ie, EMS staff) at 3 facilities within the Veterans' Affairs Healthcare System. We used the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) framework (ie, people, environment, organization, tasks, tools) to guide this study. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for thematic content. In total, 13 EMS staff and supervisors were interviewed. A predominant theme that emerged were the challenges EMS staff saw as hindering their ability to be effective at their jobs. EMS staff interviewed felt they understand their job requirements and are dedicated to their work; however, they described challenges related to feeling undervalued and staffing issues. EMS staff play a critical role in infection prevention in healthcare settings. However, some do not believe their role is recognized or valued by the larger healthcare team and leadership. EMS staff provided ideas for improving feelings of value and job satisfaction, including higher pay, opportunities for certifications and advancement, as well as collaboration or integration with the larger healthcare team. Healthcare organizations should focus on utilizing these suggestions to improve the EMS work climate.

Leveraging a multidisciplinary oversight committee to ensure USP and compliance at a Veterans Affairs health system.

Producing compounded sterile preparations (CSP) of the highest quality and ensuring safe hazardous drug handling are well-established priorities for pharmacy departments. Maintaining compliance with United States Pharmacopeia general chapters 797 and 800 (USP <797> and <800>) must also be a priority for health-system leadership. This report describes how a pharmacy-driven multidisciplinary committee was created to provide USP <797> and <800> oversight within a multicampus Veterans Affairs health system and the facility and safety outcomes achieved. The Veterans Health Administration required facilities to establish an oversight committee to ensure USP-compliant CSP procedures and the safe handling of hazardous drugs in all aspects of the medication-use process. Spearheaded by the pharmacy department, the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) chartered the CSP Advisory Committee to achieve this goal.The membership was composed of department heads in the areas of pharmacy, nursing, environmental management services, engineering, facility planning, safety, industrial hygiene, employee health, supply chain services, infection control, and quality management and the health system's director's office. The medication safety officer served as the executive secretary for the advisory committee and was responsible for agenda development, minutes, and coordinating timely follow-ups on action items; the VAPAHCS deputy director served as chair. Monthly meetings were conducted to receive updates on targeted sterile compounding and hazardous drug handling objectives: environmental controls and monitoring, compliance with regulatory requirements, staff competency, hazardous drug exposure event analyses, and development of well-defined health-system policy to guide practice. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to USP <797> and <800> compliance facilitated communications, created engagement, and ensured completion of action plans.

The Impact of Perceived Value and Group Norm on Environmentally Friendly Behavior of Mangrove Reserves in Coastal Cities: The Mediating Role of Tourism Satisfaction

Du, P.; Zhang, C., and Yang, L., 2020. The impact of perceived value and group norm on environmentally friendly behavior of mangrove reserves in coastal cities: The mediating role of tourism satisfaction. In: Liu, X. and Zhao, L. (eds.), Today's Modern Coastal Society: Technical and Sociological Aspects of Coastal Research. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 111, pp. 243–247. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.With the rapid development of China's coastal cities, mangrove conservation faces various environmental influences brought on by the thousands of visitors. This study proposes the hypothesis that latent variables such as environmental knowledge, perceived value, group norms, and satisfaction have significant positive effects on environmentally friendly behavior and refine influencing aspects and paths. The Mangrove Nature Reserve of Shenzhen is used as the study area, and the following model analysis results are found: (1) Perceived value contributes the most to environmentally friendly behavior, (2) group norms have the second-greatest effect on environmentally friendly behavior, which indicates that tourists in the same group are easily affected by the people around them; and (3) tourism satisfaction mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge and environmentally friendly behavior. The findings could help managers of mangrove conservation recognize the paths for influencing environmentally friendly behavior and improve the level of environmental management and tourism services.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 9 No. 1

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (EMSD) would like to thank the following reviewers for reviewing manuscripts from November 1, 2019, to February 1, 2020. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Many authors, regardless of whether EMSD publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Macrothink Institute appreciates the following reviewers’ rigorous and conscientious efforts for this journal. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review during this period. Daniel Badulescu, University of Oradea, RomaniaDavid Layfield, University of Maryland University College Asia., JapanGandhi Escajadillo Toledo, IVUDS, PeruGiacomo Chiesa, Politecnico di Torino, ItalyHebin Lin, International Environmental Management Services Ltd (IEMS), USAImen Hassen, University of Tunis El Manar, TunisiaKhan R. Rahaman, Khulna University, BangladeshMohammad Aghababaei, Washington State University, USANaeema Mohamed Alhosani, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, United Arab EmiratesPankaj Maheshwari, University of Nevada, USASadegh Poozesh, University of Kentucky, USA

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8 No. 4

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (EMSD) would like to thank the following reviewers for reviewing manuscripts from August 1, 2019, to November 1, 2019. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Many authors, regardless of whether EMSD publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Macrothink Institute appreciates the following reviewers’ rigorous and conscientious efforts for this journal. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review during this period. Christiane do Nascimento Monte, Universidade Federal Fluminense, BrazilFarhaoui Mohamed, National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water, MoroccoGiacomo Chiesa, Politecnico di Torino, ItalyHayssam Mohamed Ali, King Saud University, EgyptHebin Lin, International Environmental Management Services Ltd (IEMS), USAMona M. Amin Abdel-Fatah, National Research Center in Egypt, EgyptMurat Eyvaz, Gebze Institute of Technology, TurkeySattar Sattary, Southern Queensland University, Australia

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8 No. 3

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (EMSD) would like to thank the following reviewers for reviewing manuscripts from May 1, 2019, to August 1, 2019. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Many authors, regardless of whether EMSD publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Macrothink Institute appreciates the following reviewers’ rigorous and conscientious efforts for this journal. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review during this period. Anna Rita Bernadette Cammerino, University of Foggia, ItalyChristiane do Nascimento Monte, Universidade Federal Fluminense, BrazilDaniel Badulescu, University of Oradea, RomaniaFarhaoui Mohamed, National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water, MoroccoGiacomo Chiesa, Politecnico di Torino – Department of Architecture and Design, ItalyHayssam Mohamed Ali, King Saud University, EgyptHebin Lin, International Environmental Management Services Ltd (IEMS), USAHengky Halim, Universiti Utara Malaysia, MalaysiaJephias Mapuva, Bindura University, ZimbabweMona M. Amin Abdel-Fatah, National Research Center in Egypt, EgyptRocsana Tonis (Bucea-Manea), Spiru Haret University, Romania

The Copepod Acartia tonsa Dana in a Microtidal Mediterranean Lagoon: History of a Successful Invasion

The Lagoon of Venice has been recognized as a hot spot for the introduction of nonindigenous species. Several anthropogenic factors as well as environmental stressors concurred to make this ecosystem ideal for invasion. Given the zooplankton ecological relevance related to the role in the marine trophic network, changes in the community have implications for environmental management and ecosystem services. This work aims to depict the relevant steps of the history of invasion of the copepod Acartia tonsa in the Venice lagoon, providing a recent picture of its distribution, mainly compared to congeneric residents. In this work, four datasets of mesozooplankton were examined. The four datasets covered a period from 1975 to 2017 and were used to investigate temporal trends as well as the changes in coexistence patterns among the Acartia species before and after A. tonsa settlement. Spatial distribution of A. tonsa was found to be significantly associated with temperature, phytoplankton, particulate organic carbon (POC), chlorophyll a, and counter gradient of salinity, confirming that A. tonsa is an opportunistic tolerant species. As for previously dominant species, Paracartia latisetosa almost disappeared, and Acartia margalefi was not completely excluded. In 2014–2017, A. tonsa was found to be the dominant Acartia species in the lagoon.

Phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes across habitats

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a genotype to produce multiple phenotypes depending on the environmental conditions and it can allow persistence of populations in heterogeneous habitats or under climate change. Therefore, phenotypic plasticity can play a major role in the divergence of populations across habitats. Trade-offs in plant performance in various habitats can give rise to the evolution of specialized ecotypes which are locally adapted (specialized) populations of the same species in distinct environments. According to the specialization hypothesis, specialization of ecotypes to either relatively favorable or unfavorable habitats results in increased or decreased phenotypic plasticity, respectively. The presence of phenotypic plasticity differences among ecotypes can be easily detected by examining their performances at home (native) versus foreign (alien) environments in reciprocal field experiments. In this meta-analysis, I compared phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes specialized in favorable and unfavorable habitats to test the specialization hypothesis by extracting data from 47 empirical studies. Log response ratio (LRR) and plasticity index ( PI v ) were used as effect sizes to detect and quantify significant differences in phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes across habitats. The overall result indicated that it was failed to find an effect of habitat origin on phenotypic plasticity expression of ecotypes. Specialization to either favorable or unfavorable habitats may not alter phenotypic plasticity expression in ecotypes. The interplay between phenotypic plasticity and specialization is quite complex and results of this study may shed light into these two important evolutionary mechanisms in plant ecology which have implications for biodiversity conservation, environmental management, agricultural industry, and ecosystem services.

Informacinės sistemos išvystymas elektros energijai taupyti išmaniajame būste

Information systems play an important role in smart home management. They collect monitoring data for devices connected to a wireless network (e.g., sensors, lights, thermometers). Such systems are classified as complex modern electronic services management systems that can provide environmental management services in a smart home. However, in order for smart devices to be able to use energy efficiently, additional software modules are needed to make these devices more efficiently used. The purpose of our research work is to develop the functions of the information system, enabling the estimation of electrical energy consumption in the smart housing system and the use of forecasting data for controlling electricity costs.

Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

Propuesta de un indicador de capacidad de absorción del conocimiento (ICAC-COL): evidencia empírica para el sector servicios en Colombia

&lt;p&gt;La “capacidad de absorción” es una capacidad dinámica reconocida por desarrollar habilidades de aprendizaje y explotación del conocimiento externo. Esta investigación propuso un Indicador de Capacidad de Absorción para Colombia denominado (ICAC-Col), utilizando los datos de la Encuesta de Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica realizada en Colombia, EDITS III para el sector servicios. Los resultados arrojan un nivel insuficiente de capacidad de absorción del conocimiento en el sector servicios, resaltando los sectores de transporte aéreo y servicios de gestión ambiental por poseer mayores capacidades para administrar el conocimiento, reflejando la necesidad de políticas públicas que impulsen actividades de gestión del conocimiento.&lt;/p&gt;

An integrated system for urban environmental monitoring and management based on the Environmental Internet of Things

There have been a growing number of environmental problems associated with the rapid development of cities. Common environmental monitoring methods are unable to meet the dynamic needs of urban environmental management. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides a new way to improve urban environment monitoring and management. The Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT) makes it possible to sense, acquire, process, and transfer environmental information over a large area in real time. In this paper, we present an integrated system for urban environment monitoring and management by referring to the EIoT concept. We developed and tested the system by monitoring water, soil, air, noise, and some other environmental factors on the campus of our research institute. The system can obtain real-time environmental information in situ and express and publish its outcomes in different formats. Moreover, the system is extendible for additional sensors and environmental factors, and to cover larger areas to achieve better urban environmental monitoring and management services for the construction of sustainable cities.