Helena Ranängen, Thomas Zobel and Andrea Bergström
The purpose of this paper is to design a case study to explore how a mining and construction company, located in the Zambian Copperbelt, practices corporate social responsibility…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design a case study to explore how a mining and construction company, located in the Zambian Copperbelt, practices corporate social responsibility (CSR), which has a vital role to play in the mining industry because of its importance in a range of areas including: the local economy, avoiding a negative impact on the environment and society and occupational safety. This is especially true in the developing parts of the world. Numerous initiatives, guidelines and tools have been made available for CSR practice but very little is known about the usefulness of the new CSR-standard International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was designed to explore how a mining and construction company, located in the Zambian Copperbelt, practices CSR within the health area and to discuss the possible merits of ISO 26000 for CSR development in the mining industry in the developing world.
Findings
Our findings show that, despite the fact that ISO 26000 is primarily a series of guidelines, it can be used to evaluate and improve a company’s CSR practice even if that company is already considered as a frontrunner within CSR. The standard can give valuable advice when designing community development programs and allocating the use of charity donations. Further, our study has shown that traditional management systems based on occupational health and safety standard 18001 and ISO 14001 can rather effectively support actions and expectations in ISO 26000.
Research limitations/implications
The research context is Zambia, so there might be limitations when applying the results to other cultural and geographical settings.
Practical implications
The paper is a useful source of information about the practical implementation of CSR within the health area.
Originality/value
Much of the literature within the field of practical implementation of CSR is focusing on the philanthropic activities. This paper brings more information about practical implementation of CSR in core corporate business.
Panos T. Chountalas and Athanasios G. Lagodimos
Significant interest in Integrated Management Systems (IMS), as a key area within ISO-related Management System Standards (MSS) literature, has been evident from both academia and…
Abstract
Purpose
Significant interest in Integrated Management Systems (IMS), as a key area within ISO-related Management System Standards (MSS) literature, has been evident from both academia and industry over the past three decades. This study aims to map the evolution and current state of IMS research and propose possible directions for future studies.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive content and bibliometric analysis of 846 documents from the Scopus database across the period 1995 to 2023 was conducted. This included performance analysis to track publication trends and identify key contributors, and content analysis to specify dominant research methodologies and the MSS most commonly integrated. Furthermore, science mapping techniques—such as co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and bibliographic coupling—were utilized to outline the collaborative networks and the conceptual and intellectual structure of the field.
Findings
The study identifies three principal IMS research themes: the practical implementation of IMS, their role in promoting sustainability and social responsibility, and their impact on continuous performance improvement. It also highlights the field’s evolution and key research constituents—including influential works, prolific authors, leading academic institutions and countries, and top publishing journals. It further reveals that IMS research exhibits strong collaboration across authors and countries, and a rich methodological plurality, notably with a marked increase in empirical surveys in recent years. Additionally, it identifies the most frequently referenced MSS for integration, prominently featuring ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001/OHSAS 18001.
Originality/value
This study is original in its application of a dual analytical approach—bibliometric and content analysis—to provide a holistic overview of IMS research. It offers new insights into the integration of diverse MSS and proposes several promising paths for future research. Among the most prominent are standardizing IMS fundamental specifications, conducting more empirical research with advanced methods to evaluate the effects of MSS integration, providing practical support for organizations in IMS implementation through tailored methodologies and tools, and exploring the potential of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies to advance IMS practices.
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Eleftherios Iakovou, Dimitrios Vlachos, Christos Keramydas and Daniel Partsch
Proactive planning strategies for “slow-onset” disruptions that affect humanitarian supply chains (SC) developed to address chronic pressing societal problems, can have a…
Abstract
Purpose
Proactive planning strategies for “slow-onset” disruptions that affect humanitarian supply chains (SC) developed to address chronic pressing societal problems, can have a significant impact on boosting the operational and financial performance of these chains. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology that quantifies the impact of a risk mitigation strategy widely employed in commercial SCs, namely emergency sourcing (ES), on the performance of humanitarian SCs taking into account backorders’ clearance time, unsatisfied demand, and cost.
Design/methodology/approach
Discrete event simulation is employed in order to evaluate alternative ES strategies based on a total cost criterion, which incorporates inventory-related costs, as well as premium contract costs paid for emergency replenishment. Backorders’ clearance time and time-to-recovery are also employed as a design parameters.
Findings
The results document the significant impact of disruptions on expected total cost, and the beneficial role of ES in hedging against disruptions. To that end, the proposed methodology determines the optimal emergency contracted capacity for a given premium, or alternatively the maximum premium cost value that ensures the feasibility of the implemented ES strategy in the long-run, along with the associated cost and time savings, and reduction of the unsatisfied demand.
Originality/value
The fundamental objective is to provide a decision-making support methodology for deciding on whether to implement an ES strategy or not in humanitarian SCs, and the level of the optimal contracted reserved capacity. The results could be of great value to aid providers, policy-makers, and regulators.
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Mauro Falasca and Christopher W. Zobel
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and to help address the need for quantitative models to support and improve procurement in the context of humanitarian relief efforts.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and to help address the need for quantitative models to support and improve procurement in the context of humanitarian relief efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
This research presents a two‐stage stochastic decision model with recourse for procurement in humanitarian relief supply chains, and compares its effectiveness on an illustrative example with respect to a standard solution approach.
Findings
Results show the ability of the new model to capture and model both the procurement process and the uncertainty inherent in a disaster relief situation, in support of more efficient and effective procurement plans.
Research limitations/implications
The research focus is on sudden onset disasters and it does not differentiate between local and international suppliers. A number of extensions of the base model could be implemented, however, so as to address the specific needs of a given organization and their procurement process.
Practical implications
Despite the prevalence of procurement expenditures in humanitarian efforts, procurement in humanitarian contexts is a topic that previously has only been discussed in a qualitative manner in the literature. This work provides practitioners with a new approach to quantitatively assess and improve their procurement decision processes.
Originality/value
This study adds to the existing literature by demonstrating the applicability and effectiveness of an analytic modeling technique based on uncertainty, such as stochastic programming with recourse, in the context of humanitarian relief procurement activities.
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Monique N. Golden, Paul Singleton, Dakota W. Cintron, Michael Reid and Erik M. Hines
A Legacy Community is a living and learning community supported by broader institutional departments (e.g., student affairs, academic affairs, foundation, and alumni affairs) that…
Abstract
A Legacy Community is a living and learning community supported by broader institutional departments (e.g., student affairs, academic affairs, foundation, and alumni affairs) that dedicate resources, opportunities, and supports intended to: (a) undo legacies of educational disparities that Black/African American males have historically witnessed and (b) build capacity for students engaged in these communities (i.e., Black/African American males) to create and leave positive legacies on their terms. In this qualitative study of Black and African American undergraduate male living and learning community (LLC) participants at a primarily white institution (Legacy House), we investigate the LLC program elements that impact participants' educational and social experiences, and foster pathways for student legacy building. Legacy house participants describe brotherhood, sense of belonging, and leaving a legacy as elements that enable positive student academic and social outcomes, campus involvement, and career readiness.
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Kristian J. Sund, Robert J. Galavan and Marcel Bogers
In this paper, we reflect on an expanding literature that links theories of cognition and business models. Managers hold in their mind perceptual constructs or schemas of the…
Abstract
In this paper, we reflect on an expanding literature that links theories of cognition and business models. Managers hold in their mind perceptual constructs or schemas of the business model. These guide the process of distinguishing between options and making choices. Those familiar with business model development will easily recognise that the perceptual construct provides only a summary of the business model, and that a more complex conceptualisation of how business model elements interact is needed. The business model is then much more than a visualisation. It is a schematic model of theorised interaction that is created, shaped, and shared over time. The underlying processes of this creation, shaping, and sharing are cognitive activities taking place at individual, organisational, and inter-organisational levels. Theories of managerial and organisational cognition are thus critical to understanding the acts of business modelling and business model innovation. Here we suggest some of the ways that business model and cognition literatures can be connected, present existing literature, and reflect on future avenues of research to explore the cognitive foundations of business modelling.
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Mitchell J. van den Adel, Thomas A. de Vries and Dirk Pieter van Donk
Critical infrastructures (CIs) for essential services such as water supply and electricity delivery are notoriously vulnerable to disruptions. While extant literature offers…
Abstract
Purpose
Critical infrastructures (CIs) for essential services such as water supply and electricity delivery are notoriously vulnerable to disruptions. While extant literature offers important insights into the resilience of CIs following large-scale disasters, our understanding of CI resilience to the more typical disruptions that affect CIs on a day-to-day basis remains limited. The present study investigates how the interorganizational (supply) network that uses and manages the CI can mitigate the adverse consequences of day-to-day disruptions.
Design/methodology/approach
Longitudinal archival data on 277 day-to-day disruptions within the Dutch national railway CI were collected and analyzed using generalized estimating equations.
Findings
The empirical results largely support the study’s predictions that day-to-day disruptions have greater adverse effects if they co-occur or are relatively unprecedented. The findings further show that the involved interorganizational network can enhance CI resilience to these disruptions, in particular, by increasing the overall level of cross-boundary information exchange between organizations inside the network.
Practical implications
This study helps managers to make well-informed choices regarding the target and intensity of their cross-boundary information-exchange efforts when dealing with day-to-day disruptions affecting their CI. The findings illustrate the importance of targeting cross-boundary information exchange at the complete interorganizational network responsible for the CI and to increase the intensity of such efforts when CI disruptions co-occur and/or are unprecedented.
Originality/value
This study contributes to our academic understanding of how network-level processes (i.e. cross-boundary information exchange) can be managed to ensure interorganizational (supply) networks’ resilience to day-to-day disruptions in a CI context. Subsequent research may draw from the conceptual framework advanced in the present study for examining additional supply network-level processes that can influence the effectiveness of entire supply networks. As such, the present research may assist scholars to move beyond a simple dyadic context and toward examining complete supply networks
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Maral Mahdad, Marcel Bogers, Andrea Piccaluga and Alberto Di Minin
University–industry collaborations are an important driver of innovation that highlights the benefits of collaborative processes across organizational boundaries. However, like in…
Abstract
University–industry collaborations are an important driver of innovation that highlights the benefits of collaborative processes across organizational boundaries. However, like in most collaborative processes, many challenges remain when trying to manage the process of knowledge sharing and interaction in university–industry partnerships. In this chapter, the authors specifically investigate how leadership as a managerial dimension facilitates collaboration within university–industry joint laboratories. The authors present an explorative and inductive case study of eight joint laboratories set up by Telecom Italia within five major Italian universities. The results show that the laboratory directors play a crucial role in providing a dynamic and socially active working environment, which is enabled through a process of sensemaking and sensegiving. The authors, moreover, find that this process plays a crucial role by shaping effective communication channels that facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer of information. The authors find that this process ultimately acts as a mediator between charismatic leadership on the individual level and distributed leadership on the collective level.
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Entrepreneurship as a socially engaged and responsible movement is increasingly conceptualised as creating multiple sources of value: social, environmental, technological…
Abstract
Entrepreneurship as a socially engaged and responsible movement is increasingly conceptualised as creating multiple sources of value: social, environmental, technological, cultural as well as financial, all contributing to wider economic performance. There is a rapid growth in the availability and expectation of ‘Open’ tools and resources, including innovation; data; research access; source code; educational and learning materials; and government. There is an increasing interest in their potential for value creation, requiring research attention and clarity of what ‘Open’ means in this context.
This chapter explores the following three dimensions of the ‘Open Space’ of freely available resources for entrepreneurship:
- (1)
What is ‘Open’ in the context of entrepreneurship?
- (2)
Why is Open Entrepreneurship (OE) important for conceptualisation, education and practice?
- (3)
Can OE provide significant new opportunities for innovation, value creation and learning, and if so, how can these be realised?
What is ‘Open’ in the context of entrepreneurship?
Why is Open Entrepreneurship (OE) important for conceptualisation, education and practice?
Can OE provide significant new opportunities for innovation, value creation and learning, and if so, how can these be realised?
The chapter defines ‘OE’ as a unifying approach for value creation through a conceptual model combining ‘Open’ tools and resources. Open resources for digital and data-led entrepreneurship offer conditions for new, pervasive and distributed forms of value-creating entrepreneurial activity. These can create learning environments with rich access to data and resources, innovative connections and opportunities for co-creating value in multiple forms. This learning-centred approach builds on the concept of entrepreneurship as an educational philosophy of value creation for others. Without this, there are risks that entrepreneurial education, and the capabilities of micro-business owners and managers, may lag the development of an Open digital economy, rather than creating new forms of OE.