Chamari Pamoshika Jayarathna, Duzgun Agdas, Les Dawes and Marc Miska
Businesses produce corporate sustainability information in support of the decision-making of their stakeholders through sustainability reporting. However, the use of such…
Abstract
Purpose
Businesses produce corporate sustainability information in support of the decision-making of their stakeholders through sustainability reporting. However, the use of such information has been limited because of the broadness of sustainability indicators used in sustainability reports. This study aims to identify sector-specific sustainability indicators and priorities based on the material issues of the logistics sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an exploratory study using 64 sustainability reports from the logistics sector. Qualitative content analysis was performed using Leximancer software to identify key themes and material concepts of sustainability reports.
Findings
The results showed that the most important indicators of the logistics sector are economic performance and energy, yet sustainability reports appear to focus more on reporting social sustainability information. Of the several sustainability measures, environmental and social factors dominated the reporting (8 economic, 62 environmental and 58 social). This discrepancy can also imply inconsistencies in sustainability reporting.
Practical implications
Identifying sector-specific indicators enables assessing the impact of sustainability issues on value creation and performance comparison among similar organizations. This is also beneficial in ensuring consistency of sustainability reporting, which is a prerequisite for policymaking in sustainable logistics.
Originality/value
Prior studies emphasized that no sector-specific sustainability indicators were established in the literature and standardized indicators are needed to ensure the comparability of results. This study addresses this gap by identifying sector-specific sustainability indicators based on the material issues of the logistics sector.
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Chamari Pamoshika Jayarathna, Duzgun Agdas and Les Dawes
Despite the wide use of quantitative assessment to identify the relationship between green logistics (GL) practices and the sustainability performance (SP) of firms, results of…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the wide use of quantitative assessment to identify the relationship between green logistics (GL) practices and the sustainability performance (SP) of firms, results of these studies are inconsistent. A lack of theoretical foundation has been cited as a potential reason for these contradictory findings. This study aims to explore the relationship between GL practices and SP qualitatively and to provide a theoretical foundation for this link.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a multi-methodology approach, the authors used the grounded theory method (GTM) to investigate perceived relationships through qualitative analysis and adopted the system thinking (ST) approach to identify causal relationships using causal loop diagrams (CLDs).
Findings
The authors identified different sustainability practices under three major categories: logistics capabilities, resource-related practices and people-related practices. This analysis showed the relationships among these practices are non-linear. Based on the results, the authors developed three propositions and introduced a theoretical foundation for the relationship between GL practices and SP.
Practical implications
Managerial personnel can use the theoretical foundation provided by this study when making decisions on GL practices adoption. This theoretical foundation suggests applying a holistic approach that can help optimize SP by selecting suitable practices. On the other hand, researchers can use a multi-methodology approach suggested by this study to explore complex social issues.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the knowledge from a methodology perspective as no previous studies have been conducted to identifying the relationship between GL practices and SP by combining GTM and ST approaches. This combination can be extended to build system dynamics models for sustainable logistics impacts bringing novelty to the research field of sustainable logistics.
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Didem Dizdaroglu, Tan Yigitcanlar and Les Dawes
As a consequence of rapid urbanisation and globalisation, cities have become the engines of population and economic growth. Hence, natural resources in and around the cities have…
Abstract
Purpose
As a consequence of rapid urbanisation and globalisation, cities have become the engines of population and economic growth. Hence, natural resources in and around the cities have been exposed to externalities of urban development processes. This paper introduces a new sustainability assessment approach that is tested in a pilot study. The paper aims to assist policy‐makers and planners investigating the impacts of development on environmental systems, and produce effective policies for sustainable urban development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces an indicator‐based indexing model entitled “Indexing Model for the Assessment of Sustainable Urban Ecosystems” (ASSURE). The ASSURE indexing model produces a set of micro‐level environmental sustainability indices that is aimed to be used in the evaluation and monitoring of the interaction between human activities and urban ecosystems. The model is an innovative approach designed to assess the resilience of ecosystems towards impacts of current development plans and the results serve as a guide for policy‐makers to take actions towards achieving sustainability.
Findings
The indexing model has been tested in a pilot case study within the Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. This paper presents the methodology of the model and outlines the preliminary findings of the pilot study. The paper concludes with a discussion on the findings and recommendations put forward for future development and implementation of the model.
Originality/value
Presently, there is a few sustainability indices developed to measure the sustainability at local, regional, national and international levels. However, due to challenges in data collection difficulties and availability of local data, there is no effective assessment model at the micro‐level that the assessment of urban ecosystem sustainability accurately. The model introduced in this paper fills this gap by focusing on parcel‐scale and benchmarking the environmental performance in micro‐level.
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Kirsten Victory, Arry Tanusondjaja, John Dawes, Magda Nenycz-Thiel and Jenni Romaniuk
New product introductions, particularly line extensions (LEs), are common in consumer goods categories. Despite their commonality, the success of LEs are not guaranteed. The…
Abstract
Purpose
New product introductions, particularly line extensions (LEs), are common in consumer goods categories. Despite their commonality, the success of LEs are not guaranteed. The purpose of this study is to provide brands that introduce LEs a benchmark about what success to expect.
Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates the success of 36,994 LEs in each quarter for the first three years after introduction. Four indicators are calculated using consumer panel data to benchmark how long LEs survive (failure rate), how competitive they are in the category (market share) and how they are adopted by category buyers (penetration and repeat buyer rate).
Findings
Most LEs survive after the first year, but many cease to exist or perform well in the long term. Around 50% of LEs fail a year after launch, but this failure rate halves once seasonal LEs are removed. Failure rates start to approach 80% after three years. Most LEs do not perform better than existing products. Around three in four LEs have a market share or penetration near or below the category norm. Although this percentage decreases the longer after launch, most LEs are still below the category norm.
Practical implications
These new product success benchmarks provide guidelines to practitioners about what success the “typical” LE will achieve. This research can help guide new product investment decisions because it provides context on what is feasible to achieve.
Originality/value
Four market success measures are used, a departure from past benchmarking research which uses practitioner evaluation on metrics seldom used in practice. The authors provide guidelines about when and how to measure LE and new product success more broadly.
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Jiju Antony, Michael Sony and Olivia McDermott
Organizations use Industry 4.0 readiness models to evaluate their preparedness prior to the implementation of Industry 4.0. Though there are many studies on Industry 4.0 readiness…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations use Industry 4.0 readiness models to evaluate their preparedness prior to the implementation of Industry 4.0. Though there are many studies on Industry 4.0 readiness models, the dimensions of readiness differ. Besides, there is no study empirically validating the readiness model in different sectors or types of organization. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the dimensions of the Industry 4.0 readiness model and subsequently evaluate the criticality of these dimensions in manufacturing, service, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an exploratory sequential mixed method design. In phase one, 37 senior managers participated through a purposive sampling frame. In phase two, 70 senior managers participated in an online survey.
Findings
The results of the study indicated that the Industry 4.0 readiness model has 10 dimensions. Further, the criticality of the dimensions as applied to different sectors and type of organizations is put forward. This study will help manufacturing, services, SMEs and LEs to evaluate Industry 4.0 readiness before commencing the deployment of Industry 4.0.
Practical implications
The findings can be very beneficial for Industry 4.0 practitioners and senior managers in different organisations to understand what readiness dimensions need to be considered prior to implementation of Industry 4.0 technology.
Originality/value
This paper makes an attempt to conceptualize the Industry 4.0 readiness model and utilizes an exploratory mixed method for critically evaluating the dimensions related to the model.
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Chunbao Liu, Weiyang Bu, Dong Xu, Yulong Lei and Xuesong Li
This paper aims to improve performance prediction and to acquire more detailed flow structures so as to analyze the turbulence in complex rotor-stator flow.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to improve performance prediction and to acquire more detailed flow structures so as to analyze the turbulence in complex rotor-stator flow.
Design/methodology/approach
Hydraulic retarder as typical fluid machinery was numerically investigated by using hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)/large eddy simulation (LES) models CIDDES Algebraic Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulation (LES) (WMLES) S-Ω and dynamic hybrid RANS/LES (DHRL). The prediction results were compared and analyzed with a RANS model shear stress transport (SST) k-omega which was a recommended choice in engineering.
Findings
The numerical results were verified by experiment and indicated that the predicted values for three hybrid turbulence models were more accurate. Then, the transient flow field was further analyzed visually in terms of turbulence statistics, Reynolds number, pressure-streamline, vortex structure and eddy viscosity ratio. The results indicated that HRL approaches could capture unsteady flow phenomena.
Practical implications
This study achieves both in performance prediction improvement and better flow mechanism understanding. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) could be used instead of flow visualization to a certain extent. The improved CFD method, the fine computational grid and the reasonable simulation settings jointly enhance the application of CFD in the rotor-stator flow.
Originality/value
The improvement was quite encouraging compared with the reported literatures, contributing to the CFD playing a more important role in the flow machinery. DHRL provided the detailed explanation of flow transport between rotor and stator, which was not reported before. Through it, the flow mechanism can be better understood.
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Johanna Sumiala, Katja Valaskivi, Minttu Tikka and Jukka Huhtamäki