Gary S. Insch, Karen Yvonne Green and Diana Franz
The study investigates the current changes and future challenges in management practice as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to creative destruction theory, industry…
Abstract
Purpose
The study investigates the current changes and future challenges in management practice as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to creative destruction theory, industry disruptions (e.g., advancements in technology) combined with economic shocks (e.g., effects of the pandemic) often force impacted industries to undergo significant changes in order to survive. Therefore, it is important to investigate the changes on current and future management practice in the post-Covid world.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study uses semi-structured interviews with 20 experienced public accounting leaders (PAL) whose titles include partner, director, CFO, senior manager, and manager.
Findings
This study provides PAL perspectives on the challenges of managing in an increasingly hybrid environment, the shift of the organizational structure of firms, the changes in responsibilities/skill sets needed at all levels of the firm, and the expectation that these challenges will continue to evolve.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by showcasing how management practice (through the lens of accounting leaders) has significantly changed. The accounting profession was deemed an essential industry and continued in operation throughout the COVID pandemic. This study identifies six issues that will continue to influence management practice and provides topics for future research.
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The hotel sector in South Africa is also aware of the detrimental impact of its activities on the environment. As a result, it has taken steps to mitigate such effects, evidenced…
Abstract
The hotel sector in South Africa is also aware of the detrimental impact of its activities on the environment. As a result, it has taken steps to mitigate such effects, evidenced by implementing green hotel practices. ‘Green hotels’ refers to lodging establishments that try to consume less energy, water and materials while still offering high-quality services. Unfortunately, although the hotel sector contributes significantly to employment and economic growth globally, its activities harm the environment through pollution, overuse of natural resources and solid and liquid waste.
This chapter discusses the concepts of green hotels and green practices. This chapter also highlights the need for green practices and identifies a case study on green hotels and practices in a South African context. This chapter found that the green hotel sector implements green practices, such as water-saving practices due to the risk of water insecurity, the growing demand for sustainability and the necessity to boost revenues. Green hotels and practices are a step to actualise the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12 and 13, which focus on clean water and sanitation and climate change, respectively. The study underscores the importance of green practices and how South Africa responds to the challenge. It is believed that hotels contribute significantly to environmental degradation, but they can also help to preserve the environment through their activities through green practices. Strategies like adopting green practices would be a remedy to mitigate pollution and its effects on environmental sustainability.
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Lorena Carrete, Raquel Castaño, Reto Felix, Edgar Centeno and Eva González
The purpose of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of deeper motivations and inhibitors of green consumer behavior in the context of emerging economies. Based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of deeper motivations and inhibitors of green consumer behavior in the context of emerging economies. Based on the findings, it aims to provide implications for marketers and policy making.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an ethnographic approach, in‐depth interviews and observational data were used to study 15 Mexican families from four urban regions of Mexico with different incomes. Thematic analysis was used to develop and validate themes and codes.
Findings
The findings highlight three dominant themes related to uncertainty in the adoption of environmentally‐friendly behaviors: consumer confusion, trust and credibility, and compatibility. Overall, green behaviors seem to be ingrained in the traditional heritage of savings and frugality rather than based on strong environmental values. It is suggested that the factors that drive consumers from positive attitudes and intentions to the actual adoption of green behaviors are a combination of perceived personal benefits, decreased perceived risk and uncertainty, a sense of control over costs, and a decomposition and reconstruction of deeply embedded cultural values and practices.
Practical implications
Policy makers and marketers are advised to build on collaborative efforts in order to facilitate comprehension and adoption of environmentally‐friendly behaviors and green products. In order to construct modernity alongside environmental responsibility, it seems indispensable to provide affordable lower‐priced alternatives for the low‐income segments of the market which constitute the vast majority of the population in emerging economies.
Originality/value
Being one of very few available qualitative studies on green consumer behavior, this study delves into the tension between modernity and traditional heritage in the context of emerging economies.
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Provides a broad overview of quality assurance in Western Europe,highlighting some of the issues central to recent changes and futuredevelopments. Touches on issues such as: how…
Abstract
Provides a broad overview of quality assurance in Western Europe, highlighting some of the issues central to recent changes and future developments. Touches on issues such as: how should quality be defined and assessed? Who should assess it? How do the arrangements for providing an external check on teaching quality differ across Europe? In discussing the underlying policy driver – accountability – controversial issues such as the link between quality assessment and funding are touched on. Concludes that, while no pan‐European solution is practically possible, there is potential for co‐operation and the transfer of good practice.
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Bartosz Sawik, Javier Faulin and Elena Pérez-Bernabeu
The purpose of this chapter is to solve multi-objective formulation for traveling salesman and transportation problems. Computations are based on real data for the road freight…
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to solve multi-objective formulation for traveling salesman and transportation problems. Computations are based on real data for the road freight transportation of a Spanish company. The company was selected because of its importance in Spanish economy and market. This company is important in the whole country; however, it has its higher importance in the northern part of Spain. The requirements for these models are the minimization of total distance and the CO2 emissions. To achieve this, it is required to know and carry out the minimization of the total distance traveled by the trucks during the deliveries. The deliveries are going to be executed between the different locations, nodes, in the region, and Elorrio, where the depot is situated. The data have been used to decide the best route in order to obtain a minimization of cost for the company. As it was mentioned earlier, the problems are focused on the reduction of the amount of CO2 emissions and minimization of total distance; by studying different parameters, the best solutions of route transportation have been obtained. The software used to solve these models is CPLEX solver with AMPL programming language.
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Sara E. Green, Julia Barnhill, Sherri Green, Diana Torres Hawken, Loretta Sue Humphrey and Scott Sanderson
Purpose – The purpose of this work is to explore ways in which parents of children with disabilities actively seek to create a place for themselves and their children within…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this work is to explore ways in which parents of children with disabilities actively seek to create a place for themselves and their children within supportive communities of others – despite structural and attitudinal barriers.
Methodology – Semi-structured, interactive interviews were conducted with six mothers and six fathers of older teens and young adults with severe impairments. Interview transcripts were analyzed for themes related to barriers to social participation and strategies used to create and sustain communities of supportive others.
Findings – Results suggest that, while there are indeed many barriers to social participation, these mothers and fathers have successfully utilized a variety of strategies in order to create a sense of community for themselves and their children including: garnering support from family; creating enclaves of “wise” individuals; and active social networking. Findings also suggest that children with disabilities can provide opportunities for parental community involvement in unexpected ways.
Limitations, implications and value – The sample is small and selective and the study used retrospective interviews to examine parental memories. Despite these limitations, the narratives of these parents provide a provocative look at the potential role of personal agency in the community experiences of parents of children with disabilities. The stories told by these parents clearly suggest that it takes concerted effort to construct a village in the face of significant barriers to social participation. Once created, however, that village of supportive others can provide life enhancing support for children with disabilities and their families.
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Heidi Steinour and Sara E. Green
The goal of this chapter is threefold: to bring the context of disability into literature on fathering; to bring voices of fathers into scholarship on parenting children with…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this chapter is threefold: to bring the context of disability into literature on fathering; to bring voices of fathers into scholarship on parenting children with disabilities; and to examine what individual stories about a very particular kind of fatherhood might reveal about the cultural narrative of the good father, and the reflexive nature of cultural narratives and individual stories.
Methods and Approach
Transcripts of in-depth, life course interviews with 14 parents of seven young adults, and older teens with severe impairments associated with a variety of diagnoses were analyzed using narrative analysis strategies. Transcripts of the fathers’ interviews provided primary data and transcripts of the mothers’ interviews were used as supplemental material.
Findings
Fathers included in this study drew from normative notions of masculinity and widely circulating cultural narratives of fatherhood, even while participating in caregiving tasks that are at odds with this narrative. Five specific narrative tensions that highlight cultural understandings of the “good father” were evident in these stories: (1) evoking masculinity in the context of care work; (2) providing financial security in the context of the high cost of disability; (3) maximizing potential in the context of realistic expectations; (4) protecting in the context of uncertainty and helplessness; and (5) finding a “new normal” in the context of the unexpected.
Value/Importance
Findings add to what is known about mothering children with disabilities. Results also add a new dimension to fatherhood studies by illustrating how widely circulating cultural narratives of fatherhood are adapted in stories about fathering children with life-long assistance needs, and how individual stories might serve as a platform for social change.
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The purpose of this paper is to introduce and test a model for numerical evaluation of the effectiveness of green practices implemented in two industrial supply chains (SCs). Two…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and test a model for numerical evaluation of the effectiveness of green practices implemented in two industrial supply chains (SCs). Two real case applications were made: footwear and metal-mechanics industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method is quali-quantitative modeling. By literature review, a model based on three constructs was proposed (green strategy, green innovation, and green operations), organized in 16 categorical indicators, prioritized with analytic hierarchy process. Three practitioners of each focal companies assessed the indicators fulfilling scales (very good to very bad).
Findings
The overall performance reached 51 and 57 percent, respectively of the maximum possible. The indicators that most jeopardized the performance were complexity management and communication, barriers to green supply chain management, green products, and green market (first case) and innovation in processes, and green market (second case).
Research limitations/implications
The model cannot be generalized or extended to other SCs. Further refinement and testing are required.
Practical implications
Managers and practitioners can improve the eco-efficiency of SC, focusing on the green practices that should be prioritized in greening strategies for the entire chain.
Social implications
Improvement of eco-efficiency is positively correlated with corporate social responsibility.
Originality/value
The model can produce a numerical overall value that represents the level or degree of implementation of green practices in the context of a SC management.
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The purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date and structured insight into the literature published during the past decade on sustainable green supply chain management. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date and structured insight into the literature published during the past decade on sustainable green supply chain management. It also suggests trends for future research based on the research issues identified through systematic and comprehensive analysis of previous studies in the area of green and sustainable supply chain management.
Design/methodology/approach
A state-of-the-art literature review is carried out by systematically collecting the existing literature over a period of 10 years (2005-2014) and categorizing it on the basis of attributes such as stages in supply chain, methodology and the industries/sectors under consideration. The classification of literature is also done according to the geographic region and year of publication.
Findings
There has been an increased interest among researchers and practitioners in the area of sustainable green supply chain management in the past decade. A need for achieving sustainability through adoption of greener practices has been universally felt, owing to an increasing environmental and ecological complexity. The review reveals that there exists a need to address behavioural issues like human resource management and supply chain partner relationship management. Moreover, reverse logistics, closed-loop supply chain management and waste management are areas that need special focus to achieve environmental sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
The current review focuses on research trends in the past 10 years only. Moreover, papers from only good quality, peer-reviewed journals are considered in the study.
Originality/value
Most of the previous reviews have either focused on specific issues related to sustainable supply chains only or green supply chains. The present study collectively takes into consideration papers both from green supply chain management as well as from sustainable supply chain literature that have a prime focus on environmental sustainability.
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On the evening of 22 December 1988 the world lost one of its most dedicated environmental leaders. Chico Mendes, born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, was shot down by ranchers as he…
Abstract
On the evening of 22 December 1988 the world lost one of its most dedicated environmental leaders. Chico Mendes, born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, was shot down by ranchers as he walked out of the back door of his home in Xapuri, Brazil. Although Mendes achieved worldwide recognition for his efforts to protect the Amazonian rain forest and, in fact, has been proclaimed an “eco‐martyr,” his original and foremost concern was securing workers' rights for the indigenous people of the forest and preserving the land they lived on.