Sustainable Capability Research Articles

Process improvement dynamics under constrained resources: managing the work harder versus work smarter balance

AbstractThis paper considers the problem of managing process improvement when resources are constrained. The paper develops a system dynamics model that formalizes the critical interaction between first‐ and second‐order improvements as options for governing production. Both first‐ and second‐order improvement are effective in boosting short‐term organizational performance, whereas only second‐order improvement builds sustainable capability. Analytical results characterize the optimal trade‐off between these options (working harder and working smarter). Simulation results show how pressuring the workforce to work harder can set off a vicious cycle of deteriorating process capability that squeezes out improvement activity. Results also highlight the key role of process capability as a form of organizational slack and demonstrate tipping points in the dynamics of process improvement. By moving from causal loops to a simulating model, this paper provides an example of how formal quantitative modeling can lead to important insights not discovered with causal loop diagramming alone. Copyright © 2012 System Dynamics Society.

Preliminary Exploration and Analysis of Agro-Ecological Footprint Calculation in Huanggang

The ecological footprint is a quantitative method which can measure the sustainable development of ecological. In this way, we can conclude the impact degree of human activities on the environment. In this paper, the study region is Huanggang which is in Hubei province. Based on the introduction of ecological footprint, we calculate and analyze the agro-ecological footprint of Huanggang.The results show that the agro-ecological footprint of Huanggang is: 1.728252hm2/person.The available ecological capacity is 0.314946hm2/person; Per capita ecological deficit is up to1.413306hm2/person.This result shows that the agriculture development of Huanggang is in the state of unsustainable, meanwhile, we proposed some countermeasures to improve the agriculture sustainable capability of Huanggang.

The North American Third-Party Logistics Industry in 2011: The Provider CEO Perspective

The North American Third-Party Logistics Industry in 2011: The Provider CEO Perspective

Research on Sustainable Development Evaluation System of Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects Based on AHP

This thesis has made a systematic study on the sustainable development capability evaluation system of LIP from the five aspects of economy, ecology, society, technology and management. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is also used to provide quantitative basis for decision-makers. In the end, Yan-shan conservancy which is being constructed is used to demonstrate the application.

Study on the Sustainable Development Ability Based on Provinces in China

In combination with regional economics and development economics theory，this paper built an evaluation index system on regional sustainable development capability from the 15 indexes by the angles of economic development level, social development level, resources and environmental conditions, and gave an comprehensive evaluation on the sustainable development ability in each province of China with the data of 2010 years. The results showed that the sustainable development ability in each province of China had risen ceaselessly as the economic and social development level；But the difference of sustainable development ability in each province is great, and over time, this difference has not been narrowing. Overall, the sustainable development ability in the east is strong, and that in the western region is very weak

Online applied dual-use biosecurity education: a case study from the University of Bradford

Reflecting a consensus that emerged at the 2008 Meeting of States Parties of the Biological Weapons Convention on the importance of ensuring that those working in the biological sciences are aware of their obligations under the Convention and relevant national legislation and guidelines; and in regard to the consensus on the importance of awareness raising and education and training programmes, and of the role that these can play in assisting in the implementation of the Convention, this paper highlights how novel online e-learning approaches can efficiently and effectively be deployed in building a sustainable worldwide capability in this much neglected area of education and training. It provides examples of the development and evolution of education and training resources, notes the importance of standing agenda items for the intersessional process of the BWC between the Seventh and Eight Review Conferences and the range of opportunities that therefore arise for States Party and civil society collaboration in building capacity and achieving sustainability in this area.

Dynamic service integration for reliable and sustainable capability provision

The move towards network enabled capability (NEC) by the UK Ministry of Defence is designed to achieve enhanced military effect through the networking and coherent integration of existing and future resources including sensors, weapon systems and decision-makers to achieve a more flexible and responsive military. This article addresses the existing reliability and sustainability issues of large-scale military systems and proposes new architectural approaches of dynamic service integration for NEC to adapt to evolution occurring in services and capability for constructing next-generation software-intensive military systems. The reliability and performance of the proposed architectural approaches have been verified through modelling and simulation of service-oriented architecture for NEC and demonstrated through developing and testing a NEC system for a region surveillance capability scenario. The experimental results indicate that the proposed architectural approaches provide a high level of reliability and sustainability in the provision of NEC.

Change process: a key enabler for building resilient SMEs

Resilience is seen as a key organisational capability for sustainability in the current turbulent environment. At the same time, for organisations to be more sustainable and resilient, the delivery of innovative responses to the market through continuous change and improvement is necessary. If small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for over 70% of the world's production, and there is a growing mandate to create sustainable SMEs, then instilling, developing and implementing change capabilities is paramount in making progress towards sustainability and resilience. Therefore, this article aims to demonstrate that change management process capability is fundamental to creating resilience in SMEs. This study is based on a multiple case study methodology through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 232 senior managers in 37 manufacturing SMEs across Europe. This article demonstrates that sustainability and resilience in SMEs will be enhanced by (1) ability to embrace organisational and people dimensions as well as operational aspects of change management, and (2) paying attention to long-term planning and external communication to drive change proactively. This article builds a bridge between the theoretical starting point, the results of empirical research and the usability of the presented findings in practice in order to contribute to the development of more resilient SMEs.

How green is my outsourcer? Measuring sustainability in global IT outsourcing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the intersection of sustainability and global IT outsourcing (GITO). GITO is well established as a business practice towards reducing costs and improving performance. Sustainability issues related to carbon footprint and greenhouse gases are increasingly important for all organizations. Responsible and economic energy management is a critical business capability and environmental responsibility in global outsourcing.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on empirical work undertaken in the UK and North America together with content analysis of public data from leading GITO providers, this paper presents a model for measuring sustainability in outsourcing.FindingsThe research findings demonstrate a growing environmental maturity in GITO firms, as measured against external recognized standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative, the Carbon Disclosure Project, the UN Global Compact and the ISO environmental and social responsibility standards.Practical implicationsIn the context of social, economic and political discussions regarding sustainability, this paper contributes to our practical and theoretical understanding of GITO providers and the impact of environmental issues in outsourcing.Social implicationsConsumers, governments and society at large demonstrate increasing expectations for sustainability from all organizations. Outsourcers can provide improved sustainability capability to their buyers in this important area.Originality/valueEnvironmental and social responsibility in global outsourcing has received little attention in academic research. This paper provides a starting point for further investigation of the role of sustainability in outsourcing.

From green to sustainability: Information Technology and an integrated sustainability framework

Sustainability has increasingly become important to business research and practice over the past decades as a result of rapid depletion of natural resources and concerns over wealth disparity and corporate social responsibility. Within this realm, the so-called triple bottom line seeks to evaluate business performance on its impacts on the environment and interested stakeholders besides profitability concerns. So far, Management Information Systems research on sustainability has been somewhat constrained in the realm of green IT, which focuses mostly on the reduction of energy consumption of corporate IT systems. Using the resource-based view as the theoretical foundation, the manuscript develops an integrated sustainability framework, illustrating the integration of human, supply chain, and IT resources to enable firms develop sustainability capabilities, which help firms deliver sustainable values to relevant stakeholders and gain sustained competitive advantage. Particularly, the role of automate, informate, transform, and infrastructure IT resources are examined in the development of sustainability capabilities. The work calls for a bold new role of IT in sustainability beyond energy consumption reduction. Implications for future research and management practice on IT and sustainability are also discussed.

Developing sustainable leadership capability in the Victorian State and public library sector

There have been substantial changes in the labour market over the past few years and survey results indicate 60% of staff will leave public library service over the next decade. While this creates opportunities for library staff, limited training budgets and a focus on compliance and specific library skills training have led to a gap in the formal development of leadership skills. This paper explores the impetus for action and describes the strategies implemented to develop and support leaders for the future at the State Library of Victoria and within Victorian public libraries. It also considers the impact of these initiatives and the learnings. More specifically, it details the establishment of the Shared Leadership Program in 2006 by the State Library. The library recognised that leadership, at all levels of the organisation, was essential to successfully deliver a new extensive program of work and to prepare the workforce to adapt to changing roles and expectations. Learning Forums were also implemented to provide further opportunities to grow individual and collective leadership capabilities. In 2009, the Shared Leadership Program was extended to the Victorian public library network.

The Sustainable Capability Research on Copper- and Iron-Based Oxygen Carrier

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a new kind of efficient method to separate CO2. At present, most of CLC research focuses on the development of oxygen carriers. The sustainable capability is the one of important standards to evaluate performance of oxygen carrier. The iron- based and copper- based oxygen carrier were chosen in this paper. The comparative study between the analytically pure oxygen carriers and the prepared oxygen carriers with Al2O3 were made according to the reactivity of reduction and oxidation. The data was obtained by the TGA, SEM and XRD. The results show that the prepared carriers with Al2O3 are greatly improved both in reaction ratio and sustainable capability, and Fe- based oxygen carrier is better than the Cu- based oxygen carrier in the sustainable capability.

Building a collaboration capability for sustainability: How Gap Inc. is creating and leveraging a strategic asset

1 Building a Collaboration Capability for Sustainability: How Gap Inc. is Creating and Leveraging a Strategic Asset Christopher G. Worley Center for Effective Organizations Marshall School of Business University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089 Phone: 213-740-9814 Email: cworley@marshall.usc.edu Ann E. Feyerherm Graziadio School of Business and Management Pepperdine University Los Angeles, CA 90045 Phone: 310-568-5598 Email: ann.feyerherm@pepperdine.edu Darryl Knudsen Director of Public Policy and Stakeholder Engagement Gap Inc.. 2 Folsom Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: 415-427-6480 Email: Darryl_knudsen@gap.com June, 2010

Multidimensionality: building the mind/brain infrastructure for the next generation knowledge worker

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a new understanding of the multidimensionality of the knowledge worker of the future, and develop an approach to building the mind/brain infrastructure in support of sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe many dimensions of the mind/brain are explored as they specifically relate to knowledge work in a changing, uncertain, complex, anxious (CUCA) environment. Along the way four tenets are forwarded that directly impact the knowledge worker, leading to a discussion of building the infrastructure (capacities) of the mind/brain in support of sustainability.FindingsAs the close relationship among the characteristics of the Net Generation and those characteristics that support survival in a CUCA world is looked at, it appears that the future of knowledge work is close at hand and in the right hands. There is already a level of co‐evolving with the environment that is occurring in the Net Generation. Four tenets are forwarded and supported: in a CUCA environment capacity is more important than capability for sustainability over time; through continuous connectivity and engagement in conversation and dialogue (a search for meaning), the Net Generation is developing a wide array of shallow knowledge; knowledge workers coming of age in the global world are mentally stimulated by interactions involving diverse views, perspectives, concepts and cultures and are not bounded by local ideas; and thoughts and feelings can nurture, develop, and change the infrastructure of the mind/brain/body system. Eight capacities that support sustainability are introduced.Originality/valueThe paper looks at the new (Net) generation of knowledge workers from the viewpoint of the mind/brain. It introduces the idea of capacities in support of building the mind/brain infrastructure.

Environmental sustainability in the third‐party logistics (3PL) industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document the extent to which large third‐party logistics (3PL) companies have committed themselves to environmental sustainability goals. It also aims to examine the sustainability initiatives undertaken by those companies and the impact of those initiatives on the 3PL and their customers. Finally, the research seeks to examine the impact of the global recession of 2008‐2009 not only on the commitment of the 3PL to their sustainability goals but also on how the recession impacted 3PL customer interest in such goals.Design/methodology/approachThe data upon which this paper is based was generated in two annual surveys of the chief executive officers of 40 large 3PL companies operating in North America, Europe, and the Asia‐Pacific region. These surveys were conducted in 2008 and 2009 and were part of a long‐term series of annual surveys that began in 1994.FindingsThe findings indicate that nearly all of the companies involved in the surveys have made substantial commitments to environmental sustainability goals during the past several years and that they have launched a broad range of related projects that have had quite positive impacts on those companies. Despite the recession, none of the 3PL scaled back their commitment to those goals; in fact, many launched new sustainability projects during that period. 3PL customers have also shown increasing interest in the environmental sustainability capabilities of the 3PL.Originality/valueThe paper effort represents the first large‐scale effort to document the commitment of large 3PL to environmental sustainability goals.

Life Cycle Cost Accessment of Thermal Power Project under Sustainable Development

Enterprise sustainable development emphasizes coordination of the development of economy, environment and society. The life cycle cost based on the sustainable development controls the engineering cost as well as environmental pollution and damage. The thermal power plant burns large amount of fossil fuels and discharge pollutants which cause serious pollution. Therefore the pollution control and ecological conservation make up important parts of construction and production cost, both of which are key parts of life cycle cost. This paper uses analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to estimate the life cycle cost and helps the enterprise to make social or temporal comparison and potentiality exploitation and to improve its sustainable development capability.

Sustainable Development Capability in the Huangshui River Basin in Qinghai Province Based on Analyzing the Ecological Footprint

Based on the ecological footprint theory and calculation method,in this paper the ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity in the Huangshui River Basin in Qinghai Province during the period from 2000 to 2005 are estimated.The results show that the per capita ecological footprint was gradually increased from 1.426 5 hm2 in 2000 to 1.659 6 hm2 in 2005,the per capita ecological carrying capacity was decreased from 1.116 8 hm2 in 2000 to 1.056 9 hm2 in 2005,the per capita ecological deficit was increased from 0.443 8 hm2 in 2000 to 0.729 5 hm2 in 2005,and the ecological pressure index was increased from 1.45 in 2000 to 1.78 in 2005.All these facts reveal a downtrend of ecological status.It is predicted that the per capita ecological deficit and the ecological pressure index will be increased to 0.943 2 hm2 and 2.07 respectively in 2010,and the ecology in the Huangshui River Basin will be in an extreme insecurity if the current development mode is not changed.Moreover,with the increase of diversity index of ecological footprint from 1.03 in 2000 to 1.29 in 2005,the ecological footprint of ten thousand yuan GDP was decreased from 2.702 3 hm2 in 2000 to 2.215 6 hm2 in 2005,the development capacity was increased from 1.46 in 2000 to 2.14 in 2005,and it is predicted that the development capacity will be increased to 2.71 in 2010.Some measures and countermeasures are put forward for achieving sustainable development in the Huangshui River Basin based on the sustainable development theory.

An evaluation framework for viable business models for m-commerce in the information technology sector

This paper presents a study of the characteristics of viable business models in the field of Mobile Commerce (m-commerce). Mobility has given new dimensions to the way commerce works. All over the world various stakeholder organisations are consistently probing into the areas where m-commerce can be exploited and can generate revenue or value for them, even though some of those implementations are making the business environment more complex and uncertain. This paper proposes a viable business model evaluation framework, based on the VISOR model, which helps in determining the sustainability capabilities of a business model. Four individual cases were conducted with diverse organisations in the Information Technology sector. The four cases discussed dealt with mobile business models and the primary data was collected via semi structured interviews, supplemented by an extensive range of secondary data. A cross-case comparative data analysis was used to review the patterns of different viable business components across the four cases and, finally, the findings and conclusions of the study are presented.

Striking the Right Balance: How to Rebuild the Afghan National Police

A well-trained, professional police force dedicated to upholding the rule of law and trusted by the population is essential to fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan and creating stability. However, the police programmes in Afghanistan have often been dominated by different national agendas and hampered by too few resources and lack of strategic guidance. These issues pose an enormous challenge for the Afghan government and the international community in rebuilding the police. This article argues that it is imperative that the international effort strike a balance between the short-term needs of fighting an insurgency and the long-term needs of establishing an effective sustainable policing capability when building up the police force – and that the process must not be subject merely to satisfying current security challenges or traditional state-building needs.

Crisis management: a strategic and tactical leadership imperative for organisational sustainability

Crisis management is a strategic and tactical leadership imperative which can positively or negatively impact an organisation's or a nation's competitive capability and potential for long-term success, survival, and sustainability. Therefore, crisis management should be integrated into the overall strategic and tactical plans of organisations and nations. Organisational leaders should use a crisis management process which is capable of being consistent and easily replicated. In this article, the authors propose a seven step crisis management process which aligns well with the classical/traditional strategic management process. In addition, we offer an example of the integration of crisis management into an organisational strategic plan. Also, we make recommendations for future crisis management research.