Search results

Sustainability practices and reporting have consistently evolved over the years with trends towards more holistic approaches with respect to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). In the real estate sector over the last decade, GRESB (formerly known as Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) has become the leading global ESG benchmarking tool for real asset investments. However, it has attracted limited research, and this underpins this works’ motivation for the exploration of the perspectives of real estate stakeholders relating to the uptake and use of GRESB.

The approach used in this study is qualitative in nature, adopting a phenomenological research design to capture the essence of the lived experiences of purposely sampled participants. This is done through an interpretative phenomenological analysis of semi-structured interviews.

Legislation, regulation and risk management are the main motivations for engaging with ESG-related issues. The main benefit of GRESB is benchmarking, while the main weaknesses lie in the data collection and the undeveloped social component. Within data, the major challenges are observed for the transparency of performance data and overreliance on policies instead of performance. GRESB would benefit from the inclusion of (1) more detailed sustainability benchmarks relating to social and governance components, and (2) social value metrics in their overall assessment.

Policymakers need to develop or support globally recognised reporting standards to increase the quality, accuracy and comparability of ESG information.

This is the first study on ESG reporting using a phenomenological research design.

This paper aims to examine the current level of application of problem structuring methods, a distinct domain within the wider analytical decision-support discipline of operational research (OR), in dealing with complex problem situations in organisations and societies.

The paper has reviewed the relevant literature on problem structuring methods by analysing articles on practical applications that have been published in discipline-based journals over the past 15 years. The aim was to identify the extent to which OR practitioners use particular problem structuring methods and tools and the way that this is done in OR interventions.

The results show that the main problem structuring methods and tools have maintained their popularity and are frequently used as analytical approaches within a facilitated modelling environment. At the same time, new methods have been proposed, and these are typically integrated within multi-methodological frameworks that often include the use of more traditional OR techniques. On the other hand, even though problem structuring methods are now quite well-established in Europe and in other parts of the world, they do not seem to enjoy the same level of acceptance or recognition in the USA.

The paper provides an up-to-date account of the application of problem structuring methods as a means of handling increased problem complexity and highlights the contribution that this important field of work can make in dealing with the complex problems and challenges the world faces in the current turbulent environment.