Sustainability reporting: An approach to get the right mix of theory and practicality for local actors
- Authors: Graymore, Michelle
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 6, no. 6 (2014), p. 3145-3170
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- Description: Many local government or regional plans have “a sustainable future for our community” as a goal. However, few local or regional governments have a sustainability reporting tool in place that enables them to understand how far along the pathway to sustainability their community is. There are a range of reasons for this, including current sustainability indicators and indices not matching the needs or capacity of local actors. This paper argues that a collaborative approach to developing sustainability reporting tools, that involves sustainability experts and local actors working together, will be more successful at developing a tool that has a theoretical basis with locally relevant indicators, which is practical for informed decision making. This process will also build the sustainability reporting capacity of local actors. This collaborative approach was tested in South West Victoria, Australia, resulting in a locally relevant, practical and theoretically sound sustainability reporting tool that met the needs of local actors. This outcome shows that a collaborative approach can overcome some of the barriers to sustainability reporting for local actors; however, further testing is required.
- Description: C1
- Authors: Graymore, Michelle
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 6, no. 6 (2014), p. 3145-3170
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Many local government or regional plans have “a sustainable future for our community” as a goal. However, few local or regional governments have a sustainability reporting tool in place that enables them to understand how far along the pathway to sustainability their community is. There are a range of reasons for this, including current sustainability indicators and indices not matching the needs or capacity of local actors. This paper argues that a collaborative approach to developing sustainability reporting tools, that involves sustainability experts and local actors working together, will be more successful at developing a tool that has a theoretical basis with locally relevant indicators, which is practical for informed decision making. This process will also build the sustainability reporting capacity of local actors. This collaborative approach was tested in South West Victoria, Australia, resulting in a locally relevant, practical and theoretically sound sustainability reporting tool that met the needs of local actors. This outcome shows that a collaborative approach can overcome some of the barriers to sustainability reporting for local actors; however, further testing is required.
- Description: C1
Does ISO 9000 certification benefit service firms?
- Chen, Yan-ying, Wu, Long, Zhai, Qing-guo
- Authors: Chen, Yan-ying , Wu, Long , Zhai, Qing-guo
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability Vol. 11, no. 21 (Nov 2019), p. 18
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- Description: This paper examines whether ISO 9000 certification benefits service firms in terms of their financial performance and promotes sustainable improvement. We argue that in a developing country setting such as China, the massive benefits brought by the signalling effect of the certification can discourage firms' motivation to fully implement the standard of certification and lead to the decline of investment on productivity-improving activities. In other words, the certification may have negative effects on the productivity of certified firms. We investigate 89,024 firms in Chinese service industries to assess the impacts of the certification on sales, productivity and profitability of these firms. To address the potential selection bias of ISO 9000 certification, the Propensity Score Matching method and Coarsened Exact Matching method were used. Our key findings are that the ISO 9000 certification does help to increase the total amount of sales, but it decreases the productivity and profitability of these certified service firms. We also find that earlier certifiers seem to gain larger advantage in sales but more reduction in productivity, and firms with higher level of technology intensity seem to obtain a larger increase in sales and less productivity loss after receiving their ISO 9000 certification.
- Authors: Chen, Yan-ying , Wu, Long , Zhai, Qing-guo
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability Vol. 11, no. 21 (Nov 2019), p. 18
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper examines whether ISO 9000 certification benefits service firms in terms of their financial performance and promotes sustainable improvement. We argue that in a developing country setting such as China, the massive benefits brought by the signalling effect of the certification can discourage firms' motivation to fully implement the standard of certification and lead to the decline of investment on productivity-improving activities. In other words, the certification may have negative effects on the productivity of certified firms. We investigate 89,024 firms in Chinese service industries to assess the impacts of the certification on sales, productivity and profitability of these firms. To address the potential selection bias of ISO 9000 certification, the Propensity Score Matching method and Coarsened Exact Matching method were used. Our key findings are that the ISO 9000 certification does help to increase the total amount of sales, but it decreases the productivity and profitability of these certified service firms. We also find that earlier certifiers seem to gain larger advantage in sales but more reduction in productivity, and firms with higher level of technology intensity seem to obtain a larger increase in sales and less productivity loss after receiving their ISO 9000 certification.
True cost accounting of food using farm level metrics : a new framework
- Sandhu, Harpinder, Jones, Adele, Holden, Patrick
- Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder , Jones, Adele , Holden, Patrick
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 10 (2021), p.
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- Description: The application of true cost accounting (TCA) at farm level requires a common framework and metric for measuring, capturing and valuing sustainability. We propose such a framework and farm metric that build on the four capitals—natural, social, human and produced—that are essential for sustainability. The framework is developed by reviewing the scientific and technical literature on various approaches and tools that have been used to measure farm sustainability. We use quantifiable aspects of sustainability in the farm metrics. The farm sustainability metrics comprise four capitals with 11 categories and 33 indicators. These indicators can be assessed using bio-physical assessment, descriptive or quantitative methods. Once this information is compiled for a farm, then some of the categories can be monetised to reflect all the costs and benefits of using state-of-the-art TCA. There is a need to establish benchmarks and standards for each of the four types of capitals and indicators for the comparison of food systems. We believe the use of this comprehensive framework and farm metrics will help to correct several deficiencies of the current food system. We conclude by highlighting the benefits and limitations in the use of farm metrics. Measuring all positive and negative externalities at farm level can shift global food systems towards sustainability. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder , Jones, Adele , Holden, Patrick
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 10 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The application of true cost accounting (TCA) at farm level requires a common framework and metric for measuring, capturing and valuing sustainability. We propose such a framework and farm metric that build on the four capitals—natural, social, human and produced—that are essential for sustainability. The framework is developed by reviewing the scientific and technical literature on various approaches and tools that have been used to measure farm sustainability. We use quantifiable aspects of sustainability in the farm metrics. The farm sustainability metrics comprise four capitals with 11 categories and 33 indicators. These indicators can be assessed using bio-physical assessment, descriptive or quantitative methods. Once this information is compiled for a farm, then some of the categories can be monetised to reflect all the costs and benefits of using state-of-the-art TCA. There is a need to establish benchmarks and standards for each of the four types of capitals and indicators for the comparison of food systems. We believe the use of this comprehensive framework and farm metrics will help to correct several deficiencies of the current food system. We conclude by highlighting the benefits and limitations in the use of farm metrics. Measuring all positive and negative externalities at farm level can shift global food systems towards sustainability. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Bottom-up transformation of agriculture and food systems
- Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 4 (2021), p. 1-13
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- Description: The global agenda for sustainable development includes the alleviation of poverty and hunger by developing sustainable agriculture and food systems. Intensive farming systems and its variations, such as sustainable intensification or ecological intensification, are currently being pro-moted as technologies that can improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental im-pacts. However, these are focused only on per-hectare productivity with growing negative impacts on local culture and the environment. This study identifies the negative impacts of crop-and live-stock-based farming systems on the Indo-Gangetic plains, as well as in the USA, China, and South America as an example of key challenges in global agriculture. These impacts are classified into environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. An alternative paradigm is proposed to over-come some of the shortcomings of current global agriculture. This new bottom-up paradigm is based on three indicators that are fundamental to achieve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. These are divided into technical, geographic, and social indicators and have been analysed for four farming systems—low-input, high-input, organic, and desired farming systems. Seven global geographic regions have been analysed in terms of their socio-economic indicators and status of agriculture in order to develop pathways for the implementation of the new paradigm. The pathway for change suggested in this paper includes a focus on research and training, policy and institutional changes, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and changes in production models that consider scale and sustainability metrics and include inno-vations in consultation with all stakeholders. This new paradigm has the potential to direct global efforts towards more local and regional solutions, which are community driven and constitute a ‘bottom-up’ approach. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 4 (2021), p. 1-13
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The global agenda for sustainable development includes the alleviation of poverty and hunger by developing sustainable agriculture and food systems. Intensive farming systems and its variations, such as sustainable intensification or ecological intensification, are currently being pro-moted as technologies that can improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental im-pacts. However, these are focused only on per-hectare productivity with growing negative impacts on local culture and the environment. This study identifies the negative impacts of crop-and live-stock-based farming systems on the Indo-Gangetic plains, as well as in the USA, China, and South America as an example of key challenges in global agriculture. These impacts are classified into environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. An alternative paradigm is proposed to over-come some of the shortcomings of current global agriculture. This new bottom-up paradigm is based on three indicators that are fundamental to achieve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. These are divided into technical, geographic, and social indicators and have been analysed for four farming systems—low-input, high-input, organic, and desired farming systems. Seven global geographic regions have been analysed in terms of their socio-economic indicators and status of agriculture in order to develop pathways for the implementation of the new paradigm. The pathway for change suggested in this paper includes a focus on research and training, policy and institutional changes, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and changes in production models that consider scale and sustainability metrics and include inno-vations in consultation with all stakeholders. This new paradigm has the potential to direct global efforts towards more local and regional solutions, which are community driven and constitute a ‘bottom-up’ approach. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Factors affecting the organizational adoption of blockchain technology : extending the technology–organization– environment (TOE) framework in the Australian context
- Malik, Saleem, Chadhar, Mehmood, Vatanasakdakul, Savanid, Chetty, Madhu
- Authors: Malik, Saleem , Chadhar, Mehmood , Vatanasakdakul, Savanid , Chetty, Madhu
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 16 (2021), p.
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- Description: Blockchain technology (BCT) has been gaining popularity due to its benefits for almost every industry. However, despite its benefits, the organizational adoption of BCT is rather limited. This lack of uptake motivated us to identify the factors that influence the adoption of BCT from an organizational perspective. In doing this, we reviewed the BCT literature, interviewed BCT experts, and proposed a research model based on the TOE framework. Specifically, we theorized the role of technological (perceived benefits, compatibility, information transparency, and disintermediation), organizational (organization innovativeness, organizational learning capability, and top management support), and environmental (competition intensity, government support, trading partners readiness, and standards uncertainty) factors in the organizational adoption of BCT in Australia. We confirmed the model with a sample of adopters and potential adopter organizations in Aus-tralia. The results show a significant role of the proposed factors in the organizational adoption of BCT in Australia. Additionally, we found that the relationship between the influential factors and BCT adoption is moderated by “perceived risks”. The study extends the TOE framework by adding factors that were ignored in previous studies on BCT adoption, such as perceived information trans-parency, perceived disintermediation, organizational innovativeness, organizational learning capa-bility, and standards uncertainty. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Malik, Saleem , Chadhar, Mehmood , Vatanasakdakul, Savanid , Chetty, Madhu
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 16 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Blockchain technology (BCT) has been gaining popularity due to its benefits for almost every industry. However, despite its benefits, the organizational adoption of BCT is rather limited. This lack of uptake motivated us to identify the factors that influence the adoption of BCT from an organizational perspective. In doing this, we reviewed the BCT literature, interviewed BCT experts, and proposed a research model based on the TOE framework. Specifically, we theorized the role of technological (perceived benefits, compatibility, information transparency, and disintermediation), organizational (organization innovativeness, organizational learning capability, and top management support), and environmental (competition intensity, government support, trading partners readiness, and standards uncertainty) factors in the organizational adoption of BCT in Australia. We confirmed the model with a sample of adopters and potential adopter organizations in Aus-tralia. The results show a significant role of the proposed factors in the organizational adoption of BCT in Australia. Additionally, we found that the relationship between the influential factors and BCT adoption is moderated by “perceived risks”. The study extends the TOE framework by adding factors that were ignored in previous studies on BCT adoption, such as perceived information trans-parency, perceived disintermediation, organizational innovativeness, organizational learning capa-bility, and standards uncertainty. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Employee voice : the missing factor in sustainable hrm?
- Paulet, Renee, Holland, Peter, Bratton, Andrew
- Authors: Paulet, Renee , Holland, Peter , Bratton, Andrew
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 17 (2021), p.
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- Description: Sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM), has the potential to facilitate organi-sations development of principles, policies and practices for the challenges of the 21st century. How-ever, to do this we argue a fundamental element in this process has yet to be fully addressed and incorporated into the theory and practice of sustainable HRM; this is employee voice. Additionally, the actual and potential role of trade unions in facilitating employee voice is yet to be conceptualised within sustainable HRM literature. We argue that the development of effective employee voice mechanisms is vital in the implementation and maintenance of sustainable HRM. In this conceptual paper, we outline the nature of the voice architecture, the impact of the employment relationship on voice mechanisms, how it can be effectively measured, and propose a framework for further exploring these concepts. These key factors we identify as critical in implementing and assessing the effectiveness of the relationship between employee voice and sustainable HRM, to potentially serve as a basis of future research into sustainable HRM. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Paulet, Renee , Holland, Peter , Bratton, Andrew
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 17 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM), has the potential to facilitate organi-sations development of principles, policies and practices for the challenges of the 21st century. How-ever, to do this we argue a fundamental element in this process has yet to be fully addressed and incorporated into the theory and practice of sustainable HRM; this is employee voice. Additionally, the actual and potential role of trade unions in facilitating employee voice is yet to be conceptualised within sustainable HRM literature. We argue that the development of effective employee voice mechanisms is vital in the implementation and maintenance of sustainable HRM. In this conceptual paper, we outline the nature of the voice architecture, the impact of the employment relationship on voice mechanisms, how it can be effectively measured, and propose a framework for further exploring these concepts. These key factors we identify as critical in implementing and assessing the effectiveness of the relationship between employee voice and sustainable HRM, to potentially serve as a basis of future research into sustainable HRM. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Addition of activated carbon into a cattle diet to mitigate GHG emissions and improve production
- Al-Azzawi, Mohammed, Bowtell, Les, Hancock, Kerry, Preston, Sarah
- Authors: Al-Azzawi, Mohammed , Bowtell, Les , Hancock, Kerry , Preston, Sarah
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 15 (2021), p.
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- Description: Globally, the most problematic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of ruminant livestock is methane (CH4), with a global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide. This work considers the emissions and production effects of powdered activated carbon (PAC) at 0.5% by dry matter (DM) on methanogenic rumen flora as the major source of dairy cattle enteric methane emissions. In total, 180 dairy cattle located in Brymaroo, Queensland (QLD), Australia, were studied in a three-cycle repeated measures ANOVA format with a 4 week primary interval. Emissions eructated during milking and in faecal deposits were measured, and in addition, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to determine the collective populations of prokaryotic bacteria and archaea as well methanogenic communities for each treatment. Moreover, 0.5% PAC addition reduced CH4 emissions by 30-40% and CO2 emissions by 10%, while improving daily milk production by 3.43%, milk protein by 2.63% and milk fat by 6.32%, on average for the herd (p < 0.001 in all cases). rRNA gene sequencing showed populations of methanogenic flora decreased by 30% on average with a corresponding increase in the nonmethanogenic species. We strongly advocate further on-farm trials with the dietary addition of PAC in ruminant diets to mitigate emissions while maintaining or improving productivity. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Al-Azzawi, Mohammed , Bowtell, Les , Hancock, Kerry , Preston, Sarah
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 15 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Globally, the most problematic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of ruminant livestock is methane (CH4), with a global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide. This work considers the emissions and production effects of powdered activated carbon (PAC) at 0.5% by dry matter (DM) on methanogenic rumen flora as the major source of dairy cattle enteric methane emissions. In total, 180 dairy cattle located in Brymaroo, Queensland (QLD), Australia, were studied in a three-cycle repeated measures ANOVA format with a 4 week primary interval. Emissions eructated during milking and in faecal deposits were measured, and in addition, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to determine the collective populations of prokaryotic bacteria and archaea as well methanogenic communities for each treatment. Moreover, 0.5% PAC addition reduced CH4 emissions by 30-40% and CO2 emissions by 10%, while improving daily milk production by 3.43%, milk protein by 2.63% and milk fat by 6.32%, on average for the herd (p < 0.001 in all cases). rRNA gene sequencing showed populations of methanogenic flora decreased by 30% on average with a corresponding increase in the nonmethanogenic species. We strongly advocate further on-farm trials with the dietary addition of PAC in ruminant diets to mitigate emissions while maintaining or improving productivity. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Modeling the compaction characteristics of fine-grained soils blended with tire-derived aggregates
- Soltani, Amin, Azimi, Mahdieh, O’Kelly, Brendan
- Authors: Soltani, Amin , Azimi, Mahdieh , O’Kelly, Brendan
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 14 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
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- Description: This study aims at modeling the compaction characteristics of fine-grained soils blended with sand-sized (0.075–4.75 mm) recycled tire-derived aggregates (TDAs). Model development and calibration were performed using a large and diverse database of 100 soil–TDA compaction tests (with the TDA-to-soil dry mass ratio ≤ 30%) assembled from the literature. Following a comprehensive statistical analysis, it is demonstrated that the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry unit weight (MDUW) for soil–TDA blends (across different soil types, TDA particle sizes and compaction energy levels) can be expressed as universal power functions of the OMC and MDUW of the unamended soil, along with the soil to soil–TDA specific gravity ratio. Employing the Bland– Altman analysis, the 95% upper and lower (water content) agreement limits between the predicted and measured OMC values were, respectively, obtained as +1.09% and −1.23%, both of which can be considered negligible for practical applications. For the MDUW predictions, these limits were calculated as +0.67 and −0.71 kN/m3, which (like the OMC) can be deemed acceptable for prediction purposes. Having established the OMC and MDUW of the unamended fine-grained soil, the em-pirical models proposed in this study offer a practical procedure towards predicting the compaction characteristics of the soil–TDA blends without the hurdles of performing separate laboratory compaction tests, and thus can be employed in practice for preliminary design assessments and/or soil– TDA optimization studies. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Soltani, Amin , Azimi, Mahdieh , O’Kelly, Brendan
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 13, no. 14 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This study aims at modeling the compaction characteristics of fine-grained soils blended with sand-sized (0.075–4.75 mm) recycled tire-derived aggregates (TDAs). Model development and calibration were performed using a large and diverse database of 100 soil–TDA compaction tests (with the TDA-to-soil dry mass ratio ≤ 30%) assembled from the literature. Following a comprehensive statistical analysis, it is demonstrated that the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry unit weight (MDUW) for soil–TDA blends (across different soil types, TDA particle sizes and compaction energy levels) can be expressed as universal power functions of the OMC and MDUW of the unamended soil, along with the soil to soil–TDA specific gravity ratio. Employing the Bland– Altman analysis, the 95% upper and lower (water content) agreement limits between the predicted and measured OMC values were, respectively, obtained as +1.09% and −1.23%, both of which can be considered negligible for practical applications. For the MDUW predictions, these limits were calculated as +0.67 and −0.71 kN/m3, which (like the OMC) can be deemed acceptable for prediction purposes. Having established the OMC and MDUW of the unamended fine-grained soil, the em-pirical models proposed in this study offer a practical procedure towards predicting the compaction characteristics of the soil–TDA blends without the hurdles of performing separate laboratory compaction tests, and thus can be employed in practice for preliminary design assessments and/or soil– TDA optimization studies. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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