Sustainable Mission Research Articles

Sustainable Micro-Social Enterprises in India: A Quantitative Study of Crucial Factors Leading to Their Financial Sustainability

Social enterprises strive to create social value by providing innovative solutions to various socio-economic and developmental problems. Given the harsh economic terrain, the key question is how these organizations traverse the path to financial sustainability to fulfil their social mission. Thus often challenged to either change scope or shut down. There is a dearth of research on micro-social enterprises and their strategies for financial sustainability. This study gathered data through an online survey platform from 121 social enterprises, which were more than 3 years of age based in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Further, crucial insights were obtained by analyzing this data using two statistical software: Jamovi and PROCESS Macro of SPSS for serial mediation. The findings demonstrate that growth orientation positively and significantly influences financial sustainability, both directly, and indirectly through; product & service innovation, social capital and external funding, which was observed individually and in serial mediation. Thus revealing that all these factors have partial mediation on financial sustainability. However, the influence of growth orientation with all these factors is way higher than it does individually. There are several crucial paths for financial sustainability, however, the most crucial one is when growth orientation is in tandem with product & service innovations. By harnessing the synergies between growth-oriented strategies and intermediary variables, social enterprises can navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and advance their dual mission of financial sustainability as well as their social mission.

Making a Mobile-Based Social Media Information System for Environmentalists with Flutter and AWS

This research explores an effective role in environmental conservation through technological innovation. This study aims to design and develop a mobile-based social media application by utilizing Flutter technology and AWS architecture. The research focuses on managing user data securely and efficiently through AWS services. This research uses an applied method based on the Scrum framework, emphasizing technology integration for environmental preservation and AWS implementation for data security. The results showed successful application development in line with the company's environmental sustainability mission. The data management system ensures safe and efficient handling of user information. The study concludes with a summary of findings, emphasizing the positive impact of technology on environmental initiatives.

The Coproduction of Health Framework: Seeking Instructive Management Models and Theories.

At the beginning of the 21st century, multiple and diverse social entities, including the public (consumers), private and nonprofit healthcare institutions, government (public health) and other industry sectors, began to recognize the limitations of the current fragmented healthcare system paradigm. Primary stakeholders, including employers, insurance companies, and healthcare professional organizations, also voiced dissatisfaction with unacceptable health outcomes and rising costs. Grand challenges and wicked problems threatened the viability of the health sector. American health systems responded with innovations and advances in healthcare delivery frameworks that encouraged shifts from intra- and inter-sector arrangements to multi-sector, lasting relationships that emphasized patient centrality along with long-term commitments to sustainability and accountability. This pathway, leading to a population health approach, also generated the need for transformative business models. The coproduction of health framework, with its emphasis on cross-sector alignments, nontraditional partner relationships, sustainable missions, and accountability capable of yielding return on investments, has emerged as a unique strategy for facing disruptive threats and challenges from nonhealth sector corporations. This chapter presents a coproduction of health framework, goals and criteria, examples of boundary spanning network alliance models, and operational (integrator, convener, aggregator) strategies. A comparison of important organizational science theories, including institutional theory, network/network analysis theory, and resource dependency theory, provides suggestions for future research directions necessary to validate the utility of the coproduction of health framework as a precursor for paradigm change.

A great start? Sustainability mission statements affect consumer behavior

A great start? Sustainability mission statements affect consumer behavior

The role of blockchain technology in the sustainability of supply chain management: Grey based dematel implementation

Decentralized, transparent, immutability, irreversible, autonomy, open source, anonymity, ownership and uniqueness, source, contract automation are at the forefront of the features that allow blockchain technology to be accepted within the sectors. Thanks to these features, it has an important potential in terms of applicability, as well as in supply chain management, as in many other fields. In this study, the compatibility and impact level of the features of blockchain technology with the sustainability of supply chain management are investigated. Within the scope of supply chain management, effective information sharing, integration between processes, trustworthy, systematic data management, auditability, transparency, strong relationship between stakeholders, high efficiency, quick answer, ability to increase sustainability, transition to digitization, uncertain legal status, new technology, integration compatibility with other technologies, optimizing time parameters are evaluated. In the results obtained with the Grey Relational Analysis-based DEMATEL method, effective information sharing, integration between processes, systematic data management, quick answer, uncertain legal status, new technology, and integration compatibility with other technologies are included in the group affecting other criteria. Within the scope of the study, the characteristic features of blockchain technology for supply chain management are interpreted with relationship map and graph diagram. The study provides both theoretical and practical contributions by drawing attention to the compatibility of the blockchain in supply chains, and guides the employees in the supply chain line on how they can best guide their companies and on which parameters they can gain by enabling them to adopt blockchain technology. With blockchain technology, it offers the opportunity to achieve higher efficiency with less time, less cost and faster response, which can realize its sustainability mission, which includes each of the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Missions and mission-oriented innovation policy for sustainability: A review and critical reflection

The concept of ‘sustainability missions’ has recently received increasing attention in the academic literature. Broadly defined as a collective ambition to strengthen systemic preparedness and adaptive capacity for various policy challenges, the concept of sustainability missions invites critical reflection due to its rise in usage and popularity. In this spirit, we discuss five challenges that limit the ability of the missions concept to guide progress on meaningful change. First, much of the academic literature takes the concept for granted by using it as a descriptor or normative goal, without the skeptical perspective that would challenge the perpetuation of old ways of thinking about societal problems. Second, the concept is policy-centric and thus tends to endorse a top-down approach to complex problems that otherwise elude centralization. Third, scholarly treatment of the concept often undervalues the role of non-government stakeholders like businesses and communities. Fourth, the literature often fails to acknowledge that sustainability missions involve picking industrial ‘winners’ – a strategy with historically mixed results. Finally, scholars frequently neglect the unpredictability of sustainability mission implementation, a risk magnified in the case of totalizing goals like economic or social-systemic transformation. These five limitations, among others, work against the stated goals of sustainability missions and hinder theoretical development. This article describes a way forward for research and practice utilizing the concept.

Influence of Mission and Vision on Financial Sustainability of NGOs in Kenya

Purpose: The organization's vision and mission are the first step of any strategic planning process. They are used as a context for development and evaluation of planned and emergent strategies. Vision statements have been tremendously accepted as a crucial part of the strategic management process for organizations of all types for profit, a multinational or a small and medium scale enterprise. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of mission and vision of financial sustainability of NGOs in Kenya.
 Methodology: A desktop literature review was used for this purpose. Relevant seminal references and journal articles for the study were identified using Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria entailed papers that were not over 10 years old.
 Findings: Mission statements are good in capturing corporate level strategy in terms of scope, boundaries and value creation. They are a broad overarching statements around which other strategic principles like vision, strategic capabilities, strategic intent, objectives and goals, core values, standards of behavior as well as business models evolve. A good vision facilitates growth in an organization will make sense to the organization’s citizens and expand their minds in terms of possibilities while at the same time remaining feasible. An effective organizational vision and mission statement translates directly into an organization’s success which can be measured by continued competitive advantage, improved sales, solid leadership, greater employee commitment, increased shareholder value.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practices: The study recommended that NGOs should implement mission and vision as planning strategies. This is because vision and mission significantly influence organizational performance. Moreover, NGOs’ strategic leadership should ensure that the vision and mission of the organization are effectively communicated and adapted by all employees.

한국선교신학회의 오늘의 실천적 과제

The Korean Mission Theological Society has played an important role in the Korean church and the mission academia for the past 30 years, presenting the right pastoral hall of the Korean church and correcting the essence and life of the church. The Society has devoted in establishing mission theology through the presentation of the right mission. The church and mission site have been linked to the church, providing the right mission view to help God’s mission and to help missionaries. The Korean Mission Theological Society should present directions for the church and mission site to devote to God’s mission through deeper research on the Bible and mission work for more advanced development. And should present the view of God’s creation world conservation through ecological-Mission research such as climate change. It is necessary to provide academic direction and to have connection with missionaries and churches so that they can handle sustainable missions through the mission-regional studies of the rapidly changing mission sites in the post pandemic era.

Sustainable and Innovative Packaging Solutions in the Fashion Industry: Global Report

The fashion industry generates packaging waste through the entire supply chain. Although brands are making efforts to improve packaging sustainability as demands for low-impact packaging are rising, there is a lack of empirical evidence of innovative packaging solutions among fashion retailers. This study represents the first global report on sustainable packaging innovation in the fashion sector. A data-mining approach was utilized to gather a sample of 400 international fashion brands that advertise sustainable packaging solutions across five continents. The sustainability of the packaging solution was evaluated for each brand based on three factors: sustainability mission, the availability of packaging data, and the actual sustainability of the package. The results showed that 57% of brands have made evident progress in the sustainable packaging area; 34% of brands have initiated the transition from conventional to improved packaging; the remaining brands have committed to rethink (1%) or to improve (8%) their packaging in the future. By providing comprehensive state-of-the-art evidence about practical achievements in the sustainable packaging field, this global report intends to help academics and practitioners to evaluate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of existing packaging products and to design circular packaging that minimizes these impacts.

0248 The Influence of Circadian Shifts on Post Mission Event Subjective Fatigue during a 72H Live-Fire Mission Simulation

Abstract Introduction Circadian misalignment from sustained 24/7 operations and sleep loss are common occurrences in military operations, and operational demands can often lead to high levels of fatigue. Although the relationship between the circadian system and fatigue is well characterized, the relationship between magnitude of the circadian shift and fatigue during operational mission events has not been widely explored. Methods Twenty-one male participants aged 23.3±3.9 years (mean±SD) were recruited from a sample of active-duty Soldiers. The study consisted of a single day baseline data collection and then a month later the Soldiers participated in a sustained live-fire mission simulation consisting of a pre-mission day, the 72-hour live-fire exercise, and post-mission day. During the simulation, Soldiers completed the following mission events: Tactical Stress Marksmanship Assessment (TSMA), Individual Shooter Scenario (ISS), Small Unit Performance Analytics (SUPRA), Reconnaissance (RECON), infiltration and extraction ruck-march (INFIL/EXFIL RUCK), and RAID, to model actual combat or operational activities. Subjective fatigue was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) after each mission event. Circadian phase was measured by salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) at baseline and then again following the post-mission day. Half-hourly saliva samples were collected under dim light (<10lux) sedentary conditions. The circadian phase shift was calculated as the difference between the two DLMO collections. Results Twenty of the twenty-one participants advanced their circadian rhythm with a total mean shift of 0.91±0.88 SD hours. Of the six mission events, significant correlations were found between the magnitude of the phase shift and subjective fatigue for three of the events. The magnitude of the circadian phase shift was negatively correlated with fatigue for RECON r=-0.59 (p=0.008), RAID r=-0.55 (p=0.01), and EXFIL RUCK r=-0.44 (p=0.046). The amount of sleep in the 24 hours prior to each of these events had no significant correlation. Conclusion For the RECON, RAID, and RUCK, we found that the greater the magnitude of the phase shift, the less fatigue individuals endorsed. Yet, there was no significant relationship with sleep prior to the events. This suggests a potential greater need to consider the impact of the circadian system on military operations, especially with regard to circadian effects on fatigue. Support (If Any) Department of Defense Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP); DEVCOM SC

Exploring the professionalisation of further education teachers in England

ABSTRACT The paper captures the professionalisation of teachers in the further education sector by shining a light on their everyday struggle to uphold their ethical goals in support of their students in a climate of performative and regulatory expectations. It reports on a small-scale qualitative study in which the six participants were either on the Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education course (PGCE in PCE) or on the Masters degree in Professional Practice and Lifelong Education (MA PPLE). They were therefore either student teachers or experienced teachers with different lengths of experience. Students were asked to rank order a set of cards and clarify their decisions. Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken in which the participants were asked to bring artefacts of their choice (potentially from their course of study). Reflection points included the construction of self as teacher and the tensions and impact of a range of expectations nationally and locally. Participants shared responses to continuous change in the sector, their institutions and within their practices. All expressed a common and sustained mission to make a difference, no matter how small, to their students’ lives.

Deep-Space Optical Navigation Exploiting Multiple Beacons

Ground facilities relying on traditional radiometric tracking are reaching saturation due to the growth of satellites launched into space. As such, autonomous navigation is one of the main enabling technologies for sustainable deep-space missions. This paper tackles the deep-space optical navigation problem exploiting multiple beacons to estimate the observer position independently from ground. The paper derives the least-squares solution and the analytical covariance to the deep-space navigation problem exploiting multiple beacons. The perturbations in the line-of-sight directions as well as in the objects ephemeris are incorporated into the covariance formulation. Then, the geometrical interpretation of the perturbations models, the navigation solution, and the navigation covariance are elaborated. The sensitivity of the navigation accuracy to the number of beacons is assessed by virtue of a test case, showing the correspondence between the numerical and the analytical solutions. Eventually, the paper shows the comparison of the navigation accuracy exploiting multiple beacons against two optimal beacons.

Sustainability at Universities as a Determinant of Entrepreneurship for Sustainability

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of universities in promoting sustainability and sustainable development goals among Indian students as future entrepreneurs, supporting the mission of sustainability. Using PLS-SEM (n = 422), we checked the influence of three constructs related to the university’s role, i.e., campus sustainability, environmental sustainability, and education on sustainability at the university, on attitudes towards sustainability among students, on one hand, and on the intention to start entrepreneurship for sustainability, on the other hand. We also looked into the impact of attitude towards sustainability-related entrepreneurship on the intention to start entrepreneurship for sustainability, as well as into the mediating role of attitude on the relationship between the three mentioned constructs and sustainability entrepreneurial intentions. Results suggest that campus sustainability and education on sustainability positively influence the attitude towards sustainability of the students. Additionally, campus sustainability and environmental sustainability influence students to start entrepreneurship for sustainability. Further, a positive attitude towards sustainability-related entrepreneurship impacts the sustainability entrepreneurial intentions. Attitude towards sustainability mediates the relationship of campus sustainability and environmental sustainability with the sustainability entrepreneurial intentions. The study will be helpful for the universities, students, researchers, and curriculum developers to understand the role of educational institutes and its policies towards sustainability in shaping the intentions towards sustainable entrepreneurship.

M.Sc. in Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation. Sustainable mission for education in heritage

This paper will focus on three topics regarding sustainability and heritage. It reflects on the effects on the long-term maintenance and improvement of heritage buildings through energy-efficient interventions. It also addresses how the mindful use of resources and energy in the refurbishment of historic buildings can contribute towards the preservation of finite resources and the environment for future generations. Furthermore, the current state-of-the-art in long-term preservation, aided by new data collected through digital technologies in heritage conservation is discussed. The paper concludes with the presentation of a new Masters’ programme in Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation and its development, and poses the question can an efficient knowledge transfer to future stakeholders by higher education be achieved in order to further the development in sustainability and gain new impulses in the responsibility for cultural heritage.

Earth observation and geospatial big data management and engagement of stakeholders in Hungary to support the SDGs

ABSTRACT To support the monitoring and reporting processes during implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, well-developed, commonly recognized Earth observations and geospatial data, methods, innovations, committed professionals, and strong sustainability policies are necessary. This article informs the readers on the Earth observation and geoinformation developments and innovations, and on the engagement of profession, academy and governance to support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Hungary. Description, analyses and critical assessments are given on the elements selected from Hungarian sustainable-oriented Earth observation and geospatial novelties: (a) Working Group for Sustainable Development mission and national sustainability-policy, (b) international partnerships, domestic activities and achievements, (c) status of the professional education, (d) spatial databases and services to support implementation of the sustainable development, (e) a case study on the internationally recognized soil geoinformation system, (f) national Earth Observation Information System and perspectives of its applications for monitoring the sustainability. The article conclusion strongly advises the Hungarian realization of (a) institutionalization of the Earth observation and geospatial tools and capacity for sustainable development, (b) their use in integration with statistical data, (c) establishment of national spatial information infrastructure and (d) development and spreading of the use of big data.

Perspectives, implementability and measurability of ethical principles in management

Ethical behaviour in companies is built on principles, rules, values and resources. As integrative ethics, the macro level ensures a long-term and sustainable orientation of the company in the context of business ethics. The macro level ensures that the company can change its role from “expactant” to “creator” with regard to corporate ethics. The mezzo level prevents unethical behaviour in companies by offering them the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour in the context of (government) guidelines. Finally, the micro level is considered essential. It creates the systemic preconditions for companies to be able to fulfil their ethical duties and take responsibility for their actions. Partnerships and networks play a central role in this context. Against this background, the existence of a regulatory framework, the measurement of ethical corporate behaviour with the help of standards and reporting, the existence of a sustainable corporate mission statement as well as the availability of necessary resources and the documentation of sustainable behaviour in the company can be derived from the literature as central success factors for the implementation of ethical standards in companies. These factors are compared by means of empirical research with a focus on the packaging industry in Germany, Switzerland and Austria so that the existence of a guiding regulatory framework in society and a sustainable corporate mission statement emerge as the final and particularly relevant characteristics for an ethically-sustainable company, the referencing of one’s own behaviour to sustainability indices, the use of the same (in particular the Dow Jones Sustainability (DJSI) and the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE4 Good) indices) in reporting, the reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the formulation of the corporate objective and the use of voluntary standards in sustainability reporting.

Risks in Nepalese Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): A Review of Best Practices

This article aims to analyze possible risks in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Nepal during the loan disbursement decision. Effective risk management allows MFIs to capitalize on new opportunities and to minimize threats to their financial viability. MFIs consciously take a risk to fulfill their dual mission of sustainability and outreach to the poor. Consequently, they are exposed to a spectrum of risks which include institutional risk, operational risk, financial risk, and external risk. MFIs need to manage these risks for their survival and sustainability. They take risks every day by lending money to people without credit histories, without business records, and often without collateral. Each MFI takes risks to operates as a successful microfinance institution. But it is important to take calculated risks. Risk Management is always focused on the process of taking calculated risks. It includes both the prevention of potential problems and the early detection of problems. Risk management is an ongoing process of systematically identifying, measuring, monitoring, and managing risks in MFIs. It is important to ensure that MFIs operate in a safe, responsible, and sound manner towards their mission.

Indoor air pollutants, comfort parameters and their interactions in the context of sustainable development of the built environment

In the frame of the 2030 Agenda, adopted also by Romania, Good Health and Well-being for people is the third of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) settled by the United Nations General Assembly. Because human health concerns are in the core of the mission of sustainability, health and sustainable development are strongly interlinked. Numerous worldwide studies specify that many health problems are associated with the air pollutants and their interactions with comfort parameters. Therefore, the approaches towards more sustainable buildings or construction products must take into consideration potential human exposure to pollutants and associated health effects. Our studies were conducted in various type of spaces -offices, residential and educational, by the monitoring of the pollutants’ concentrations and the comfort parameters. Regarding to the CO2 concentration, it was observed that the recorded average values were between 888 and 1668ppm, in offices, between 1053 and 1389 ppm, in residential, and between 1720 and 4302ppm, in educational spaces, in all cases above the limit of 800ppm. The average values of CO concentration varied between 0.35 and 3.90 ppm, under the limit of 50 ppm. It was observed that the temperature and relative humidity have a determinant influence on the level of monitored pollutants.

Koopman Mode Analysis of agent-based models of logistics processes.

Modern logistics processes and systems can feature extremely complicated dynamics. Agent Based Modeling is emerging as a powerful modeling tool for design, analysis and control of such logistics systems. However, the complexity of the model itself can be overwhelming and mathematical meta-modeling tools are needed that aggregate information and enable fast and accurate decision making and control system design. Here we present Koopman Mode Analysis (KMA) as such a tool. KMA uncovers exponentially growing, decaying or oscillating collective patterns in dynamical data. We apply the methodology to two problems, both of which exhibit a bifurcation in dynamical behavior, but feature very different dynamics: Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) logistics and ship fueling (SF) logistics. The MTF problem features a transition between efficient operation at low casualty rates and inefficient operation beyond a critical casualty rate, while the SF problem features a transition between short mission life at low initial fuel levels and sustained mission beyond a critical initial fuel level. Both bifurcations are detected by analyzing the spectrum of the associated Koopman operator. Mathematical analysis is provided justifying the use of the Dynamic Mode Decomposition algorithm in punctuated linear decay dynamics that is featured in the SF problem.

Crowdfunding for sustainability ventures

Sustainable entrepreneurship is raising and already providing a response to environmental, social and economic issues. However, it is still at disadvantage when seeks funding from traditional providers of capital. Crowdfunding has opened a new possibility for closing such funding gap. This study investigates the role of crowdfunding as a creative source of capital for ventures with sustainable orientation. The analysis seeks to understand to what extent project characteristics influence the ability to raise funds on the world leading reward-crowdfunding platform, and, importantly, to explain their survival post-campaign. Results show that the perceived sustainable mission positively influences the outcome of the campaign. An average survival rate over 70% after one year of operations suggests the creation of healthy sustainability ventures through crowdfunding. Furthermore, a higher percentage of female co-founders improves the chances of success during and after the crowdfunding campaign. The paper discusses implications for the success of crowdfunding campaigns and their development post-campaign in sustainable entrepreneurship. • Crowdfunding is an effective creative fundraising tool for sustainability ventures. • Sustainability initiatives are 70% likely to survive after crowdfunding campaign. • High ratios of female founders foster crowdfunding success and survival likelihood. • Ventures donating to charitable causes deliver better crowdfunding campaigns. • Diverting profits to charitable donations makes ventures' survival less likely.