Combining research and design: a methodological view of the path to sustainable development

This essay sketches a conceptual framework of a method for investigations into sustainable development issues by combining a method for scientific research with a method for designing. These kinds of investigation should not only focus on the development of a new theory explaining what sustainable development is, it also needs to focus on how sustainable development can be realized. Firstly, the two methods are described separately. After a comparison of the methods, the conceptual framework is sketched as a phase model and finally a translation of this conceptual framework into a more practical guideline is given. In practice, the practitioner does not follow a given phase model. The practitioner needs building blocks to build his own pattern. To guide the practitioner in building his own structure, some ‘rules’ or guidelines are needed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Sustainability performance analysis of small and medium sized enterprises: Criteria,methods and framework

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in any economy as they contribute to GDP and employment. However, sustainability (right combination of economic, environmental and social) of SMEs is a major concern as they prioritize economic performance over environmental and social to remain competitive. Majority of prior researches on SMEs' sustainability either look at the impact of a few limited enablers (e.g. lean, green, innovation etc.) on sustainability performance or the effect of pressures and barriers on the sustainability performance. There is a clear gap of a holistic and robust framework for sustainability performance analysis in order to measure and improve sustainability performance. This research bridges this knowledge gap by addressing two research questions – what practice and performance criteria are being considered for sustainability performance analysis in a broad environmental, economic and social context, how are they related, and what methods are being used to derive the relationship between sustainability practices and performance. These research questions are addressed through a systematic literature review of 58 papers, published between 2005 and 2018 in leading journals. First, an objective content analysis is undertaken in order to identify sustainability practices and performance criteria along with their frequency of usage in prior research. Second, the correlation among the variables is studied. Third, the methods for analyzing the relationships of the criteria are identified. Finally, a framework for analysing correlation of SMEs’ sustainability practices and performance in order to measure and improve performance using statistical modeling approach is proposed.     

Sustainable Development of Electrical and Electronic Equipment: User‐driven Green Design for Cell Phones

Communication and cooperation with consumers are key to sustainable development. This article considers the environmental and user benefits of producing a sustainable product design that enable users' involvement and encourages the use of sustainable products to enhance environmental value. Depending on users' sensitivity to ecodesign for energy‐related products, six environment evaluation criteria may structure their perceptions of cell phone attributes (monitor, panel, battery, shell, modeling, lens and fingerprint). Innovative methods are needed for effective communication, as well as to encourage consumer participation in designing sustainable products that satisfy their needs. The design of product attributes appears able to enhance the sustainable development of products, through users' awareness of various environmental characteristics. This study thus proposes a unique method to understand product design structures and make cell phone design decisions that feature individualized designs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

THE LABOUR FOOTPRINT: A FRAMEWORK TO ASSESS LABOUR IN A COMPLEX ECONOMY

As addressing labour becomes crucial in the move towards sustainability, there is the need for assessment tools suitable for current complex economic systems. This article presents an input–output based framework (‘labour footprint’) for evaluating labour issues behind the production of different economic commodities, including entire supply chains. In line with the guidelines of the International Labour Organization, six labour issues are considered: collective bargaining, forced labour, child labour, gender inequality, hazardous work, and social security. This conceptual article sets to (a) define this footprint's labour dimensions, (b) cite relevant data sources, (c) describe its calculation, (d) illustrate its application through a case study, and (e) discuss this framework's relevance from ‘conscious consumption’, ‘supply chain responsibility’, and regulators' standpoints. Since it advances the evaluation of fundamental labour issues and the scope of multi-criteria analyses, this footprint may be a valuable tool for sustainability assessments.     

Creating sustainable corporations

Corporate industrial activities of the past are environmentally unsustainable. Many of today's environmental crises are rooted in an unsustainable pattern of industrialization. Sustainable economic development can be ushered in only if corporations, the main economic engines of the future, are made environmentally sound. This can be facilitated through ‘total environmental management,’ and ‘sustainable organizational design’. Although many companies have embraced the practice of environmental management, few have seriously engaged the idea of sustainability. Those that do might reap competitive and financial benefits.     

Innovation pathways at the Base of the Pyramid: Establishing technological legitimacy through social attributes

Two challenging imperatives we face today are the amelioration of global poverty and reducing environmental impacts such as global climate change. This article discusses these challenges in the ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BOP), impoverished socio-economic groups from underdeveloped regions that have traditionally been excluded from economic participation. Drawing on the BOP, global value chain and latecomer literature, we propose five innovation pathways for social and environmental improvement within poor communities. We extend Geel’s (2002) new socio-technical landscape framework, Hall et als' (2011) and Hall and Martin’s (2005) framework for innovative uncertainties and Aldrich and Fiol’s (1994) legitimization processes by proposing a ‘hurdles and levers analysis,’ suggesting that in addition to overcoming technological and commercial hurdles, social attributes play a key role in BOP innovation dynamics. Two illustrative cases are presented; an initiative to replace candles and kerosene lanterns with semiconductor white light-emitting-diodes (WLEDs) in various BOP locations; and the development of naturally colored cotton in poor regions of Brazil for sale locally and abroad. We argue that social uncertainties in particular may act as ‘levers’, compensating for initial technological and commercial deficiencies, thus providing technology developers time to improve. The paper concludes with implications for policy and future research.     

INTERPRETATIONS ON AUTOMATIC: A DIFFERENT VIEW OF STRATEGIC ISSUE DIAGNOSIS*

Models of strategic decision-making and environmental scanning typically assume that decision-makers diagnose issues actively, using conscious and intentional effort to identify and to interpret potentially significant events, developments and trends. This article establishes that conditions in organizations put decision-makers ‘on automatic’in their diagnosis of strategic issues, with direct implications for the process and content of strategic action. Implications for theory and practice are established.     

Organizational structure and effective environmental management

Success in ‘greening’ a business organization is likely to depend on an appropriate environmental management structure being developed in accordance with the general structure of the organization and then receiving the appropriate support from senior and middle management. The failure to assure such a relationship may provide an explanation of the development of gaps between policy and practice. This article explores differing choices in the structure of the environmental function in a number of UK regional electricity companies and how these choices impact upon the management of environmental issues, producing different outcomes. The paper argues that the environmental structure that is, either consciously or by default, adopted by a company would seem to have some impact on how environmental issues are perceived and dealt with by that company. Therefore, such a decision has the capacity to shape environmental strategy in its implementation and possibly even its conception. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Industrial ecology and some implications for rural SMEs

In a project at Western Norway Research Institute, the concept of industrial ecology (IE) is used as a framework for environmental performance of small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Norway. The main goal of the project ‘Green SMEs’ is to identify existing and future environmental challenges for rural SMEs. The focus is on external demands coming from the surroundings of the individual businesses. Examples of issues being dealt with are industrial wastes becoming sources of raw materials for other industries, design and material choice for disassembly and reuse, development of industrial ecosystems, and industrial metabolism. This paper presents actual examples of industrial ecosystems and also some cases illustrating the problems small remotely located firms meet when the principles of IE are to be applied. These problems include the inability to participate in efficient industrial ecosystems (webs) with exchange of wastes to raw materials. Larger companies, often being more centrally located, have greater chances at identifying and attracting other businesses which they can co‒operate with in finding usage for their wastes. The ‘cluster’‒properties of efficient industrial ecosystems can therefore be a limiting factor in the development of such systems in rural areas. Small companies also have less opportunities to be proactive in establishing industrial ecosystems also merely due to the smaller scale of their operations. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.     

Towards commercial and environmental excellence: A green portfolio matrix

This article examines the strategic framework and options available for product strategy towards commercial and environmental excellence. It defines the environmental dimension as a ‘moving target’, explores a conceptual framework to integrate commercial and environmental dimensions and elaborates a ‘green portfolio matrix’. The proposed matrix is also empirically investigated as to its practical validity by using a set of secondary data including twelve product cases. Using the matrix, a company can diagnose its existing product mix from an environmental point of view, and furthermore can establish future ‘targets’ for an environmentally-friendly product portfolio. In addition, the matrix can be used as a framework for comparative analyses between strategic business units or for longitudinal assessment of a specific business entity.     

Greening work–life balance: Connecting work,caring and the environment

The emerging field of green work–life balance (growing from the work–life balance and sustainability fields) largely centres its analysis around the organisational benefits of green work–life balance policies. Consequently, it often focuses on the way in which individual behaviours can reduce the environmental footprint of the organisation. This paper argues that the gendered assumptions underpinning the research mean that the nascent field of green work–life balance has failed to theorise the way in which personal, community, environmental and organisational needs interconnect. Specifically, it has failed to address the way in which ‘care’—for people and the environment—lacks recognition because of gender norms of carework. This paper proposes a theoretical framework of green work–life balance that centres both environmental and people care. This theoretical framework can be used to inform both research and practice, including the way in which unions bargain and campaign for green clauses and just transition.     

地方理论:城市空间发展的再生理论

地方理论(Sense of Place)在城市与景观空间规划与发展领域中,代表着对环境研究的一种新角度和新方法,代表着当代城市与景观规划与设计研究的新视野。地方理论强调人与环境之间的感知、认知和记忆关联,是一种空间的再生产策略和方法。本文以地方理论为本体,探讨地方理论的本质内涵、构成体系及解构城市空间再生的方法论维度,如地方实践模式、地方再现模式、再现地方模式以及地方理论在城市规划与设计中的区位活化观、设计活化观、遗产活化观、形态活化观、产业活化观等再生设计策略,从而丰富和完善地方理论体系及城市规划与景观规划设计理论体系。     

Changing consumer behaviour through eco-efficient services: an empirical study of car sharing in the Netherlands

In this paper ‘innovation’ is discussed as a strategy to change consumer behaviour to reduce the environmental impact of consumption. Innovation aims to improve the ‘production process’ of certain end results or ‘units of service’ for the consumer, which is defined as the ‘consumption technology’. This concept includes the entire organization of how these units of service are produced. ‘Eco-efficient services’ are introduced as an innovation strategy, based on theoretical considerations through which more eco-efficient consumption technologies and less environmentally damaging consumption behaviour could be realized. This strategy is explored through an empirical consumer behaviour study on commercial car sharing services in the Netherlands. Based on an inventory of the environmental effects of this approach, as exemplified by the car sharing schemes, it can tentatively be concluded that the eco-efficient services concept offers an interesting framework for reconsidering the current consumption practice and for generating innovative activities in industry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Critical social science and emancipation: II,development and application

How can industrial relations scholars engage with practice while remaining critical? Part I argued that a notion of real interests establishes the grounds for action. This notion can be developed in terms of differing dimensions of interests. These dimensions are illustrated using concrete examples. The dimensions do not provide direct answers in specific instances; personal judgement remains essential. But they provide some tools for thinking about these issues. They also help to identify the conditions under which intervention is unproblematic and hence where institutional reform in industrial relations and ‘uncritical management studies’ more generally can be acceptable from a critical point of view.     

Lost in time and space: temporal and spatial challenges facing older workers in a global economy from a career capital perspective

This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges facing older workers in a global economy. A distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital of older workers is made. This distinction is then used to highlight potential temporal and spatial challenges for older workers in their later life careers. We draw on empirical evidence from existing studies of older workers and their careers. The contribution of this paper to human resource management debates is threefold. Firstly, we contribute to debates in the HRM(Human Resource Management) literature about intelligent careers and career capital by distinguishing between high and low career capital to explain the polarisation of older workers’ careers. Secondly, we synthesise career capital issues with spatial and temporal aspects of international labour markets to conceptualise the key issues and challenges which create potential boundaries for older workers when navigating later life careers thereby contributing to ‘boundary-focused scholarship’ (Inkson, K., Gunz, H., Ganesh, S., & Roper, J. (2012). Boundaryless careers; Bringing back boundaries, Organization Studies, 33, 323–340). Finally, we develop a series of propositions to provide a basis for further research into the issues of space and time relevant to older ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital workers, their careers and HRM.     

MANAGERIAL ISSUES IN CLOSING THE LOOP

The consequences for corporations striving to meet the new requirements of ‘closing the loop’ are investigated. An integrated managerial framework is developed to manage products over their complete life cycle. Effectively managing systems for ‘closing the loop’ requires a careful examination of the complex web of markets, government regulations, consumer behavior, supplier relationships and their impact on the value chain of an individual corporation. The underlying assumption is that developing a systematic framework of managerial issues for managing products over their complete life cycle is necessary to cope with the increased complexity caused by the tools related to ‘closing the loop’. Although managerial issues are the focus in this paper, this does not imply that changing consumer behavior or a more incentive and innovation oriented regulatory approach are not of importance. Without such an approach only a few pioneers will follow a closed loop system.     

Research design: the methodology for interdisciplinary research framework

Many of today’s global scientific challenges require the joint involvement of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds (social sciences, environmental sciences, climatology, medicine, etc.). Such interdisciplinary research teams face many challenges resulting from differences in training and scientific culture. Interdisciplinary education programs are required to train truly interdisciplinary scientists with respect to the critical factor skills and competences. For that purpose this paper presents the Methodology for Interdisciplinary Research (MIR) framework. The MIR framework was developed to help cross disciplinary borders, especially those between the natural sciences and the social sciences. The framework has been specifically constructed to facilitate the design of interdisciplinary scientific research, and can be applied in an educational program, as a reference for monitoring the phases of interdisciplinary research, and as a tool to design such research in a process approach. It is suitable for research projects of different sizes and levels of complexity, and it allows for a range of methods’ combinations (case study, mixed methods, etc.). The different phases of designing interdisciplinary research in the MIR framework are described and illustrated by real-life applications in teaching and research. We further discuss the framework’s utility in research design in landscape architecture, mixed methods research, and provide an outlook to the framework’s potential in inclusive interdisciplinary research, and last but not least, research integrity.     

Environmental regulation and innovation driving ecological design in the UK automotive industry

The theory of ecological modernization asserts that economic and environmental goals can be integrated within a framework of industrial modernity. Its central tenet is that environmental regulation can stimulate the application of ‘clean’ technologies or techniques. Ecological modernization also contends that environmental regulation can offer business benefits from innovation through improved product design and economic performance. The EU End of Life Vehicles Directive (ELVD) reflects many of these principles, as it compels all car manufacturers to ‘take back’ and dismantle vehicles at the end of their useful lives and to remove the hazardous substances from the production process. Each component will then be either reused or recycled. The legislation forces designers to introduce ‘clean design’ and ‘design for disassembly’ practices. In light of this, we examine the impact of the directive on UK automotive component manufacturers. We find limited evidence that the EU ELVD Directive has driven product innovation beyond short‐term, incremental technological trajectories. We therefore conclude that a more radical approach, in line with the ‘dematerialization’ thesis by Dobers and Wolff (1999), is needed to generate more radical, ecological design solutions within the UK automotive industry. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Do the ecoinnovation and ecodesign strategies generate value added in munificent environments?

Within innovation strategies, ecodesign and ecoinnovation are becoming very relevant in recent years as they seek to reduce the environmental impact of both products and production processes by using new technologies and ways of working that contribute to sustainable development and at the same time help to promote the competitiveness of companies. In this framework, the objective of this paper is to analyze the impact that the strategies of environmental innovation in products and processes have on the profitability and the market value of the companies, considering the moderating role that the munificence of the industry has in this relationship. Using the generalized method of moments, the results obtained from a sample of 6,454 international companies during the period 2002–2017 show that although environmental innovation strategies do not entail higher returns, they are well valued by the capital market. This was especially true in environments with greater economic growth and availability of resources, that is, in munificent environments.     

Implementing chemicals policy: leaders or laggards?

Prioritization of regulatory agency resources remains a key issue in the management of industrial pollution. This is likely to become increasingly important as a new EC chemicals policy is implemented and measures are introduced to achieve the OSPAR zero emissions target. The Environment Agency (England and Wales) has updated the Operator Pollution and Risk Assessment (OPRA) scheme, but it still includes no quantitative measurement of operator attitudes towards environmental regulation. This is important because regulated firms' attitudes are known to affect regulatory behaviour. This study explores the attitudes of environmental managers from 142 chemical sector companies regulated under Integrated Pollution Control. Analysis of responses from a questionnaire survey revealed a number of regulatory typologies. A ‘conservative’ cluster exhibited satisfaction with the current regulatory system and rejected change. ‘Progressive’ cluster members recognized shortcomings and welcomed change. This methodology could be used alongside OPRA to support decisions necessary to prioritize regulatory resources. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.