Improve Sustainability Performance Research Articles

The Mediating Roles of Block Chain Technology Practices on Green Supplier Development Process Towards Sustainability Performance: Indonesia Green Industry Level IV

Implementation of block chain technology has many benefits for some green industries, but there are also cautionary to implementation can be sustained continuously. This paper seeks to advance research development related to green supply chain and block chain technology especially regarding green supplier development process. The purpose of this research is the block chain practices can improve and affect sustainability performance on the green supplier development process. Researchers took 48’s of green industry level IV in Indonesia use their approach and analyzed hypothesis in statistically. The results of this study stated have significant impact of block chain practices can be variable to improve sustainability performance on the green supplier development process. This framework can be the basis for the suggestion Green Industry Level IV in maintaining sustainability performance in Indonesia.

ISO 9001 and Supply Chain Integration Principles Based Sustainable Development: A Delphi Study

Driven by the increasing stakeholder and societal pressures, organizations and supply chains face the multi-dimensional challenges of not only integrating economic, environmental and social agendas into their management systems but also driving continual sustainability performance improvement. Aiming to support organizations in this sustainable development challenge, this paper explores the strategic management principles of ISO 9001 and supply chain integration from the lens of triple bottom line sustainability. Derived from theoretical synergies, a conceptual framework for integration, measurement, and improvement of triple bottom line sustainability is constructed and a business diagnostic tool introduced to facilitate the implementation of the framework. The developed conceptual framework and diagnostic tool are verified through an expert panel-based Delphi study and positive relationships formulated between the management principles of ISO 9001, supply chain integration and sustainability management. The facilitating and catalyzing role of quality management and supply chain management principles for integration and improvement of organizational sustainability is outlined.

On-farm assessment of different rice crop management practices in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, using sustainability performance indicators

The intensification of rice production in the Mekong delta (MKD) has helped to address food security in Vietnam and in the region. However, the overuse of inputs coupled with the rising production costs are making it increasingly difficult for smallholder rice farming in the MKD to remain economically and environmentally sustainable. Thus, there is a widely recognized need to improve the sustainability of rice cultivation in the delta. Since 2003, the Vietnam Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development has led several initiatives to improve rice crop management practices in the MKD, including the ‘One Must Do, Five Reductions’ (1M5R) integrated technology package and the ‘Small Farmer Large Field’ (SFLF) model. Under the SFLF model, some contract farming with high-quality rice exporters in MKD are also based on Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) standards, such as GlobalGAP and VietGAP, that farmers must follow for accreditation.As part of an adaptive research platform, we conducted a household survey of GAP (VietGAP and GlobalGAP), SFLF and conventional (CNV) farmers in Can Tho province in the MKD and established replicated production-scale field trials of 1M5R, with an emphasis on further reducing seed and pesticide inputs by applying limits on their use. We assessed the sustainability performance of 1M5R and the three different management approaches for rice production (i.e. GAP, SFLF and CNV) over two rice cropping seasons using eight farm-level Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) performance indicators.We demonstrated that application of 1M5R with clear limits for input use can substantially improve the sustainability of rice production in the MKD through reducing inputs that can have environmentally negative impacts (i.e. fertilizers and pesticides). In the treatment fields, mean total production cost per season fell by 23% (203 USD ha−1) and mean net income increased by 19% (175 USD ha−1), resulting in a 28% increase in the benefit: cost ratio. Five of eight farm-level SRP indicators showed an improvement in sustainability performance, whilst yield, labor productivity and water productivity were maintained. Farmers implementing GAP and SFLF management approaches were slightly more sustainable than CNV farmers, although there is scope for further improvement, especially with regards to reducing rice seed and pesticide application rates. We propose possible strategies to increase adoption of more sustainable crop management practices in the MKD.

Improving sustainability performance of heating facilities in a central boiler room by condition-based maintenance

Executing a successful maintenance plan during the operation period is one of the essential parts to improve the performance of energy systems. The plan is conventionally regulated by periodic inspections and reactive repairs. In this study, we introduce the condition monitoring of major facilities in a central boiler room, steam boiler, by predictive maintenance techniques such as thermography and vibration analyses. We have diagnosed thermal and vibrational defects, and we used diagnosis results for quantitative estimation of the resource saving by courtesy of fault correction in the system. The probable troubleshooting program does not include only resource saving, but also the environmental, economic, technical, and social aspects. Such various impacts have been measured in the form of life cycle and sustainability assessments.The results revealed that the maintenance program with condition monitoring and probable troubleshooting is more sustainable than the periodic one. The new program can save 591312 kWh of gas and power consumption and 151795 Liter of water consumption in a boiler room in our case study. This is equivalent to the cost saving of 2330 US dollars in resource consumption and 35400 US dollars in maintenance cost. Moreover, the sustainability performance can be improved at least 28%. Such a decent performance improvement implies that the condition monitoring and the predictive maintenance can be a successful strategy in boiler rooms for better sustainability performance.

Sustainability Performance of Certified and Non-certified Smallholder Coffee Farms in Uganda

The transition toward sustainable agricultural production can be supported with improved insight into the performance of existing farming systems. The Sustainability Assessments of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) framework published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides a comprehensive and harmonised framework to assess and compare farming systems. We used the indicator-based SAFA consistent Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART) Farm Tool to analyze and compare the sustainability performance of certified organic and fair trade as well as non-certified smallholder farms in Uganda. Using the respective sustainability scores, we analyzed the synergies and trade-offs between sustainability themes using the non-parametric Spearman correlation test. We find that certification is associated with improved sustainability performance of smallholder coffee farms. It enhances the achievement of governance goals through its influences on group organization and collective capacities - this results in positive effects on other sustainability dimensions. Major synergies were observed between social and governance themes, and between economic and environmental themes. Although, the extent and distribution of the synergies and trade-offs varied among farms, they were consistent between the production systems. These results show that the production systems can potentially have more influence on the sustainability performance than certification per se.

Development of causal model of sustainable hospital supply chain management using the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Map (IFCM) method

Purpose: Service industry is a massive sector accounting for about two-thirds of GDP of developed economies and is the field of an intensive competition between service companies and their supply chains. As a result, service supply chain management has become a subject of growing interest to researchers and business analysts. Healthcare industry is among the largest service industries with the highest potential for improvement in sustainability performance. The purpose of this study was to identify the concepts influencing the sustainability of hospital supply chain and provide a causal model for sustainable supply chain of hospital service.Design/methodology/approach: In this study, concepts that influence the sustainability of a hospital service supply chain were identified by in-depth interviewing of 18 experts in hospitals of Kerman, Iran. Delphi method was used to reorganize the initial concepts into 15 concepts. Finally, the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Map (IFCM) method was used to develop the causal model of sustainable supply chain management for hospital service.Findings: Delphi method was used to reorganize 68 initial concepts into 15 concepts Contains: demand management, resource and capacity management, customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, service management, information management, financial performance management, Attention to the environment, contamination, energy consumption, legal requirements, employees, community and stakeholders, social accountability and business ethics. The results indicate that service delivery management is highly central among other concepts.Originality/value: with focusing on concepts such as service management, and capacity and resources management, The sustainability of the hospital supply chain can be improved.

Embedding sustainability in lean six sigma efforts

Abstract The emphasis on the concept of sustainability in businesses and operations is growing either due to increasing public interest, regulatory pressures, or corporate social responsibility. However, where and how to integrate sustainability needs further development for broadening its applications. Using Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) principles in sustainability studies is becoming popular in research and practice. The common approach in these studies is to identify a sustainability project followed by current state sustainability performance assessment, and then work towards improving sustainability performance using LSS tools. The goal of this study was to develop a model framework to fully embed sustainability into any LSS project building on current practices. The wide coverage of LSS, its effectiveness record, and its overlap with sustainability goals establish the foundation for expanding LSS methodology to include sustainability concepts. The proposed framework is not specific to an industry, but is intended to be applicable to the wide spectrum of projects where LSS can be applied. Examples were provided from manufacturing and construction industries in the study. The existing methodologies are framed to target only sustainability initiatives while the presented framework aims to integrate sustainability into any type of improvement initiative. Furthermore, existing methodologies focus almost solely on environmental and economic sustainability, whereas the presented study includes social dimension too. Both academicians and professionals will benefit from the presented framework as it provides a different perspective than what is found in literature enabling broader applications, together with concrete steps and examples demonstrating its implementation, use, and potential benefits.

Corporate sustainability performance improvement using an interrelationship hierarchical model approach

AbstractThis study: (i) contributes to screening less important corporate sustainability attributes, (ii) proposes an interrelationship and hierarchical model based on the focal firm in the electronic industry's approach, and (iii) compares the performance and importance levels to identify performance improvement attributes. Prior studies neglected performance improvement with interrelationships and hierarchical structure analytical models built on multi‐attributes. Hence, this study proposes to integrate exploratory factor analysis to eliminate less important attributes, adopts a fuzzy synthetic method to address the hierarchical model, and the fuzzy synthetic and the decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory methods to trace the attributes' importance and performance levels. The importance and performance level discrepancies indicated improvement. The social image, corporate culture and stakeholder management led to economic activities. The results indicate that top management support and manager attitude and behaviour are the drivers of corporate sustainability performance improvement.

Moderating the Role of Firm Size in Sustainable Performance Improvement through Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In the context of the Chinese government’s strategy for sustainable development, the study of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) for enterprises has important practical significance. Drawing data from 172 Chinese firms, the model studied the moderating role of firm size on the SSCM practices and the sustainable performance of the firms (economic, environmental, and social), using hierarchical regression analysis on SPSS 22.0. The results suggest that SSCM practices and firm size are positively related to the firm’s environmental and social performance. Firm size moderates the effect of SSCM practices on economic performance. Additionally, SSCM internal practices have a significant positive impact on the economic performance of large enterprises, but not so much on the economic performance of the Small and medium enterprises(SMEs). This paper proposes a comprehensive SSCM practice performance model that identifies firm size as a moderating role. Through research on the moderating effect of firm size, the implementation and recommendation of SSCM for different firm size are given.

Industrial sustainability: Modelling drivers and mechanisms with barriers

Abstract Sustainability's relevance is constantly increasing among industrial decision makers, policy-makers and scholars. To improve sustainability performance, firms must adopt industrial sustainability measures. These have been proven to positively impact on overall firm's performance, but their rate of adoption is still low, and barriers to their adoption need to be properly tackled by drivers. This work is based on a review of literature on drivers to sustainability and to the areas of occupational health and safety, eco efficiency, and energy efficiency, and contributes to industrial sustainability research presenting a novel framework of drivers. The framework comprehends a model of drivers and a model of mechanisms: the former encompasses previous literature contributions and aims to characterize drivers for the adoption of measures in all areas of industrial sustainability; the latter aims to evaluate if a driver may tackle specific barrier or boost the action of another driver. We conducted a preliminary validation of the framework in nine Italian manufacturing firms. Regarding model of drivers, capacity to represent, usefulness and ease of use were evaluated; concerning model of mechanisms usefulness and ease of use were evaluated. Results seem to be sound with an overall positive evaluation of the framework by all the interviewees. Model of drivers was appreciated for its structure and completeness, and for its ability to enhance knowledge and awareness; model of mechanisms was considered useful for properly foster the adoption of a measure within the firm. The framework could be useful for industrial decision makers and policy-makers to better direct resources and efforts to foster the adoption of industrial sustainability measures.

Amultiple-perspective approach for the assessment and learning of ultrasound skills.

Ultrasound has become a core skill in many specialties. We evaluated the learning and assessment of ultrasound skills in Obstetrics-Gynaecology in a series of eight studies. In the clinical setting, we found that trainees as well as experienced clinicians struggle with technical aspects of performance such as image optimization. We examined how to improve these aspects of performance in the simulated setting by determining mastery learning levels and exploring learning curves for novices. We then examined how to improve the efficiency of training as well as transfer of learning through the use of dyad practice as compared with single practice. We found that the use of simulation-based training focusing on technical aspects of performance in addition to clinical training led to sustained improvements in performance after two months of clinical training in all aspects of performance. In addition, we found an interaction effect between initial simulation-based training and subsequent clinical training on trainees’ need for supervision. These findings suggest that simulation-based training can work as preparation for future learning rather than merely as added learning. Finally, we found that the use of simulation-based initial training led to a large decrease in patients’ discomfort, improvements in their perceived safety and confidence in their ultrasound operator. However, simulation-based training comes at a cost and in the final study we developed a model for conducting cost-effectiveness studies and provided data from an example study on how to link training costs with quality of care.

Social sustainability in the oil and gas industry: institutional pressure and the management of sustainable supply chains

This article addresses certain gaps highlighted in the literature relating to the investigation of supplier selection through a theoretical lens, based on contextual factors, institutional pressure, and industrial features. Consequently, this article sheds light on how a government’s strategic plans can drive organisations to incorporate elements of social sustainability into their supply chains. A successful case from Oman which demonstrates the social dimension of sustainability in selecting suppliers in the oil and gas sector is presented, along with the government’s role and the mechanisms it has applied. A survey of purchasing, procurement and supply chain managers in Oman’s major oil and gas organisations was conducted, along with interviews. The results of this research were further analysed through the lens of institutional theory, addressing a genuine research gap. It was found that: (a) coercive governmental pressure is not sufficient to truly develop socially sustainable practices in organisations if the organisations themselves do not show initiative, as this leads to compliant rather than innovative practice; and (b) policy makers need to be aware that coercive pressure alone does not lead to continuous improvement of social sustainability performance, due to the ceiling effect, i.e. organisations meeting only the minimum governmental requirements

Exploring links between the sustainability performance of urban public transport and land use in international cities

Sustainability is a major driver of world policy for cities, and public transport is said to be a more sustainable mode of travel than other modes. But how do public transport (PT) systems in different cities compare to each other? This paper measures the relative sustainability of public transport systems between cities rather than between modes within cities. However, its primary focus is to explore the extent to which public transport sustainability is influenced by land use. Do cities with low-density land use automatically have poor sustainability performance? Do high-density megacities always have good sustainability performance relative to other cities? Does land use mean some cities cannot improve sustainability performance? These are some of the questions this research seeks to explore through an empirical study of land use and PT sustainability metrics using correlation/cross sectional and regression analyses. 
 Results suggest that westernized, developed countries (Western Europe, North America, and Oceania) have good environmental and social sustainability performance but poor service effectiveness and economic performance. Asia and Latin America perform the other way around, better on economic and service effectiveness and worse on social and economic performance. Eastern Europe is the one region with higher sustainability performance all around. Prague, Dakar and Tokyo are at the top of 98 cities studied, while Dubai, Shizuoka (Japan), Denver, and Johannesburg perform the worst.
 
 Land-use results show that population and job density present the highest correlation with PT sustainability metrics, implying that about a third of overall sustainability performance of public transport in cities might be explained by land use. Higher-density land use improves sustainability performance. A wider range of land-use indicators is more strongly correlated with the service effectiveness categories of sustainability indicators and to less strongly correlated with the economic sustainability indicators, suggesting that Western cities with poor service effectiveness and economic sustainability performance should densify cities to address sustainability challenges. 
 
 Policy implications and areas for future research are explored.

Sustainability Performance of an Italian Textile Product

Companies are more and more interested in the improvement of sustainability performance of products, services and processes. For this reason, appropriate and suitable assessment tools supporting the transition to a green economy are highly necessary. Currently, there are a number of methods and approaches for assessing products’ environmental impact and improving their performances; among these, the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach has emerged as the most comprehensive and effective to achieve sustainability goals. Indeed, the LCT approach aims to reduce the use of resources and emissions to the environment associated with a product’s life cycle. It can be used as well to improve socio-economic performance through the entire life cycle of a product. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) are undoubtedly the most relevant methodologies to support product-related decision-making activities for the extraction and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, reuse, maintenance, recycling and final disposal. While LCA is an internationally standardized tool (ISO 14040 2006), LCC (except for the ISO related to the building sector) and S-LCA have yet to attain international standardization (even if guidelines and general frameworks are available). The S-LCA is still in its experimental phase for many aspects of the methodological structure and practical implementation. This study presents the application of LCA and S-LCA to a textile product. The LCA and S-LCA are implemented following the ISO 14040-44:2006 and the guidelines from UNEP/SETAC (2009), respectively. The functional unit of the study is a cape knitted in a soft blend of wool and cashmere produced by a textile company located in Sicily (Italy). The system boundary of the study includes all phases from cradle-to-gate, from raw material production through fabric/accessory production to the manufacturing process of the product itself at the Sicilian Company. Background and foreground processes are taken into account using primary and secondary data. The analysis evaluates the environmental and social performances related to the specific textile product, but also outlines the general behaviour of the company. The case study also highlights pro and cons of a combined LCA and S-LCA to a textile product in a regional context.

Quality management of nuchal translucency ultrasound measurement in Australia.

Nuchal translucency measurement has an established role in first trimester screening. Accurate measurement requires that technical guidelines are followed. Performance can be monitored by auditing the distribution of measurements obtained in a series of cases. The primary aim is to develop an accessible, theory-based educational program for individuals whose distribution of measurements at audit falls outside an acceptable range, and assess operator performance following this intervention. Operators whose nuchal translucency measurement distributions fall outside a normal range (38-65% above the median) were expected to undergo a teleconference tutorial. Accessible from anywhere in Australia, the one hour tutorials were run by a senior sonographer (to explain technical ultrasound aspects) and the audit program manager (to explain the audit process). In 2011, 83 operators attended the teleconference tutorials. Compared to a random comparison group of operators meeting standard in 2011, teleconference tutorial attendees were significantly more likely to: (i) operate in rural or regional, rather than metropolitan, centres (P=0.001); (ii) be less experienced (P<0.0005); and (iii) have lower annual scan numbers (P=0.0012). Improvement in nuchal translucency measurement quality was seen after one audit cycle and was maintained over subsequent years. The mean percentage of the study cohort reaching standard over the five-year audit was 77.8% which was not statistically different from the average for the comparison cohort of all other audited operators (79.3%; P=0.61). Teleconference tutorials are a convenient, accessible and effective way to obtain immediate and sustained improvement in operator performance.

Targeting potassium channels to treat cerebellar ataxia.

ObjectivePurkinje neuron dysfunction is associated with cerebellar ataxia. In a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), reduced potassium channel function contributes to altered membrane excitability resulting in impaired Purkinje neuron spiking. We sought to determine the relationship between altered membrane excitability and motor dysfunction in SCA1 mice.MethodsPatch‐clamp recordings in acute cerebellar slices and motor phenotype testing were used to identify pharmacologic agents which improve Purkinje neuron physiology and motor performance in SCA1 mice. Additionally, we retrospectively reviewed records of patients with SCA1 and other autosomal‐dominant SCAs with prominent Purkinje neuron involvement to determine whether currently approved potassium channel activators were tolerated.ResultsActivating calcium‐activated and subthreshold‐activated potassium channels improved Purkinje neuron spiking impairment in SCA1 mice (P < 0.05). Additionally, dendritic hyperexcitability was improved by activating subthreshold‐activated potassium channels but not calcium‐activated potassium channels (P < 0.01). Improving spiking and dendritic hyperexcitability through a combination of chlorzoxazone and baclofen produced sustained improvements in motor dysfunction in SCA1 mice (P < 0.01). Retrospective review of SCA patient records suggests that co‐treatment with chlorzoxazone and baclofen is tolerated.InterpretationTargeting both altered spiking and dendritic membrane excitability is associated with sustained improvements in motor performance in SCA1 mice, while targeting altered spiking alone produces only short‐term improvements in motor dysfunction. Potassium channel activators currently in clinical use are well tolerated and may provide benefit in SCA patients. Future clinical trials with potassium channel activators are warranted in cerebellar ataxia.

Backtracking Algorithm-based Disassembly Sequence Planning

Disassembly sequence planning (DSP) is one of the core research themes of product life cycle design. Effective DSP can reduce product life cycle costs as well as their environmental effects and provides a theoretical future foundation for recycling and improving sustainability performance. The problem with current heuristic artificial intelligence algorithms is that the outcome may have a local extremum; therefore, it may not generate the exact or even the approximate optimum solution. For a specific sequence planning problem, some algorithm parameters need to be adjusted in order to generate a perfect solution. In this study, the objective is to create new DSP by integrating a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) based on backtracking algorithms. First, the relationship between DSP and the CSP was analysed. Then, the DSP was converted into a CSP based on a disassembly constraint graph (DCG). The solution flowchart of DSP and the CSP-associated algorithms, based on backtracking algorithms, are presented in this article for a dishwasher recycling case study. The outcome of this study shows that the created method can effectively find all of the feasible disassembly sequences as well as the optimum sequence for recycling. Ultimately, these results can be effectively applied to more appliances for future use.

Competitive Advantage: Mediator of Diversification and Performance

Study relates to the correlation between diversification strategy and corporate sustainability performance, many of them are conducted in service industry. In this study, it is explained about competitive advantage that also becomes the important attention on the creation of corporate sustainability performance. But study relates to mediating effect of competitive advantage on the correlation of diversification and corporate sustainability performance, has not reviewed especially in-service industry and it becomes the focus of this study. The study is conducted by case study on Building Automation System industry in Indonesia as one of service industries that needs corporate sustainability performance. There are 43 directors of business unit which is taken their data by questionnaire as respondent, with using Structural Equation Model analysis. This finding is stated that corporate sustainability performance can be achieved well through the implementation of diversification strategy. But, competitive advantage is unable mediating diversification strategy on the improvement of corporate sustainability performance. This finding is useful to support Indonesia government’s program in facing issue of “Saving Energy”, through the review of Building Automation System industry.

Employees’ involvement in continuous improvement processes of the enterprises in Poland – barriers and the ways of reducing them

In the writing, the results of empirical studies regarding the barriers of regular employees’ involvement in continuous improvements processes of the enterprises in Poland and the ways of breaking the barriers identified on the basis of the related literature and the author’s researches in this matter were presented. Because of the fact that the examined managers and regular employees of companies were of slightly different opinions regarding the researched phenomenon, in the final compilation of the main barriers, the barriers determined by both - the first and the second group of respondents were included. This issue strongly fits into the subject of companies’ sustainable development because without the effective involvement from the employees’ part in these processes, there is no sustainable performance (including CSR) or successful continuous improvement of the companies.

Exploring the characteristics of sustainable business practice in small and medium-sized enterprises: Experiences from the Australian manufacturing industry

Abstract With small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being responsible for a significant proportion of global pollution, there are increasing calls for this type of businesses to engage in ‘sustainable business practice’. However it is still unclear what this term actually means in day to day operations. This study identifies key characteristics of sustainable business practice for SMEs through evaluating the experiences of senior decision makers from 13 companies engaged in lean and green practices in Queensland, Australia. Through a systematic literature review and an exploratory study, nine characteristics emanating from the three themes of environmental stewardship, process excellence, and sustainability oriented-culture were established. Furthermore, this study build on natural-resource-based view (NRBV) theory to present a ‘Natural Resources Based View Plus’ (‘NRBV+’) model that includes an additional strategy of ‘regenerative development’. These findings can immediately assist SMEs to evaluate their practices, and in doing so, identify sustainability performance improvement opportunities. It is proposed that these findings also have implications for addressing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of responsible consumption and production.