Food waste,catering practices and public procurement: A case study of hospital food systems in Wales

This article aims to address the need for more comprehensive studies on sustainable food systems through a case study of hospital food waste in Wales, UK. Based on a mixed-method research approach that focused on the links between hospital food waste, catering practices and public procurement strategies, the article shows that the hospital meal system, in the case studied, is responsible for overall levels of food waste that greatly exceed the official percentages provided by the Health Board. In addition to showing the theoretical benefits of research that accounts for the complex interrelations between different stages of the food chain, the study raises the need for a more integrated political approach that mobilizes all actors in the food system around a shared vision for sustainable development.     

Is all turnover intent the same? Exploring future job preference and environmental considerations

This study approaches turnover intent in a novel way by incorporating both environmental and internal organizational factors together to create a more nuanced view of what drives turnover. The analytical focus is on senior-level employees in four agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services. The findings show that internal organizational factors partially explain decisions to change jobs, but agency and time differences remain even after controlling for those factors. It also finds that the decision to leave government is driven by different factors than the decision to move to other jobs within government.     

Staking Cosmopolitan Claims: How Firms and NGOs Talk About Supply Chain Responsibility

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly hold firms responsible for harm caused in their supply chains. In this paper, we explore how firms and NGOs talk about cosmopolitan claims regarding supply chain responsibility (SCR). We investigate the language used by Apple and a group of Chinese NGOs as well as Adidas and the international NGO Greenpeace about the firms’ environmental responsibilities in their supply chains. We apply electronic text analytic methods to firm and NGO reports totaling over 155,000 words. We identify different conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism in this discourse: a legalistic approach to cosmopolitanism for Apple and a group of Chinese NGOs and a moralistic approach for Adidas and Greenpeace. We argue that these differences connect to the roles that the firms are expected and perhaps willing to take in SCR: legalistic discourse connects to a governmental function of rule development and enforcement; in contrast, moralistic discourse connects to a citizenship function that focuses on doing good to the global community. We discuss implications for companies’ non-market strategies and future research.     

Using metaphors in new brand design

This paper addresses an important gap in brand development. While attention has been rightly focused on consumer understanding of brand imagery, insufficient attention has been given to how the firm's managers create, understand and communicate to each other something so intangible as a future brand's vision. We demonstrate how using metaphors in brand design enhances the ability of a cross‐functional team to create a coherent brand vision: facilitating both creativity and its communication. Brand visions are vital given the essential periodic improvements and mutations brands must undergo, without sacrificing the integrity and values which drive their purchase. Management complexity arises because brand development happens in a multi‐disciplinary environment. Moreover these different managers must translate the intangible meanings held by consumers into very tangible product and service specifications. The role and nature of metaphor in this process is examined in detail. We then provide practical examples of how this technique has been used with managers in a variety of branding tasks.     

Connecting business with the agricultural landscape: business strategies for sustainable rural development

Agribusiness enterprises link rural landscapes to global and regional markets. The nature of these business–landscape relationships is vital to the sustainability transition. Decisions by farmers and agriculture policymakers aggregate to changes in the ecology of landscapes, but the influence of food supply system businesses on rural landscape sustainability also requires scrutiny. This article uses four international cases to present a conceptual framework for investigating how different business strategies can support agricultural landscape sustainability. Insights from North America, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and Denmark inform the framework dimensions of horizontal/territorial and vertical/systemic business–landscape relationships. Three types of business model that promote rural sustainability are highlighted: provenance, cogovernance, and placemaking. These models engage strategies such as environmental management systems, certification, ecosystem and landscape services, and spatial planning. Research directions that will improve understanding about how business can engage with rural stakeholders for more sustainable rural landscapes are identified, including the need for cross disciplinary perspectives incorporating social, ecological, and business knowledge.     

The strategic implications of clarifying how marketers interpret “brands”

This paper is concerned with clarifying how brand strategies can be developed. By reviewing the evolution and rationale for manufacturer and distributor brands, it enables marketers to consider which branding route is most appropriate. Criteria to decide between being a manufacturer's brand or supplying distributor brands are addressed. To follow either of these routes the organisation must clarify its understanding of the brand asset and four broad interpretations are discussed. There would appear to be two key componenets characterising brands and through the use of a two dimensional matrix, a method to identify the type of brand and guide brand strategy development is presented.     

A Commissioner's Tale: Avery Hill Student Village, University of Greenwich

Avery Hill was one of the first Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects in higher education. It illustrates some possible opportunities for the sector to increase its capital investment and demonstrates that commissioning PFI projects involves more than identifying capital costs and transferring risks. It also signifies the benefits of an experience of procurement and a commitment to ride through the peaks and troughs of a tortuous process.     

Effectively Facilitating Gender Transition in the Workplace

Issues surrounding gender identity in the workplace are sensitive and complex. One of the more challenging scenarios for employers is facilitating the gender transition process. Effectively communicating with co-workers and clients about the change, modifying personnel documents at the appropriate time, and dealing with more mundane issues such as restroom usage and dress code represent the tip of the iceberg. This paper is a comprehensive review of the literature to help employers aptly manage the transition process, so as to retain employees’ sense of fair treatment and acceptance at work.     

Evaluation of a dairy agri-environmental programme for restoring woody green infrastructure

Pastoral landscape woody vegetation provides ecosystem services, but potentially competes for space, light and nutrients that could provide additional farm production. A questionnaire determined the values and behaviours of New Zealand dairy farmers to evaluate voluntary agri-environmental programmes for restoring woody vegetation. Findings indicate the area is increasing, while the composition and configuration of networks are changing and redistributing. Farms with little are losing more, and those with more are gaining. Farmers are planting new areas to increase their public ecosystem services, but may not provide these services through planting and management. Barriers include insufficient private woody vegetation ecosystem services, and low rates of growth of native plants. Government incentive programmes are ineffective in overcoming barriers. Farmers may be motivated by stronger evidence of valued ecosystem services, information about their benefits and drawbacks and how to support services through planting and management. However, a targeted environmental stewardship scheme is required to overcome barriers to planting, with government and the dairy industry working together to develop and maintain a landscape-scaled woody vegetation network on private and public land. Such networks would build sustainability and resilience into dairy farming, leading to an equitably sharing of benefits and costs of their public ecosystem services.