Using Industry Focus Groups and Literature Review to Identify Challenges in Sustainable Assessment Theory and Practice

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo M. Smullin ◽  
Karl R. Haapala ◽  
Mahesh Mani ◽  
K. C. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Material Efficiency ◽  
Sustainable Products ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Tools And Methods

The bottom up demand from consumers for more sustainable products, and the top down need to comply with government regulations motivates manufacturers to adopt tools and methods to evaluate their operations for opportunities to reduce environmental impact and improve competitiveness. Manufacturers have actively improved the sustainability of their products through the use of such tools and methods. However recently, manufacturers are struggling to maintain the necessary gains in energy and material efficiency due to the assessment inaccuracies of current ad hoc methods and their inability to identify large sustainability improvement opportunities. Overcoming this barrier requires standardized methods and tools that are implementable and which contain accurate manufacturing process-level information. To aid in developing such methods and tools, this study contrasts the perspective of industry and academic research on the topics of sustainable manufacturing metrics and measurements, and process modeling to determine the deficits that exist in enacting academic theory to practice. Furthermore, this study highlights some of the industry responses to the development of related standards for sustainability assessment.

Perceptions of innovativeness among Iranian hotel managers

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayhan Tajeddini ◽  
Myfanwy Trueman
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Top Managers

Purpose – Despite the undisputed importance of organizational innovation and decades of academic research on the subject, there is surprisingly little agreement on what innovativeness is or how to achieve successful innovation in practice. Furthermore, the difference between the theory and practice is often interpreted in an ad hoc manner, which limits the potential for innovation to provide a competitive advantage. This research aims to explore perceptions of innovativeness from the perspective of senior managers in the hotel industry from a sample of 11 high-class hotels located in the developing country of Iran. Design/methodology/approach – A stratified purposeful sampling method will be employed, in which in-depth interviews with top managers and owners will be carried out over a five-month period. Meaning units (MUs) will be extracted, which are compared and discussed with the interviewees until a basic agreement of terms can be made. Findings – The findings relate to themes such as Leavitt's diamond of task, structure, people and technology, with technology featuring quite strongly in a number of responses. It reflects how top managers and owners perceive that innovativeness can gain a competitive advantage by differentiating one hotel from another; and the role of national culture in developing that advantage. There are implications that a strong relationship with government and local business stakeholders could underpin innovativeness at local and regional level. Originality/value – This research provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of some important drivers of innovativeness in the context of the hotel industry in a developing country.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment of Modern High-Rise Timber Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8719
Author(s):  
Laura Tupenaite ◽  
Viktorija Zilenaite ◽  
Loreta Kanapeckiene ◽  
Tomas Gecys ◽  
Ineta Geipele
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Sustainability Indicators ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Assessment Framework ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
High Rise

As woodworking and construction technologies improve, the construction of multi-storey timber buildings is gaining popularity worldwide. There is a need to look at the design of existing buildings and assess their sustainability. The aim of the present study is to assess the sustainability of modern high-rise timber buildings using multi-criteria assessment methods. The paper presents a hierarchical system of sustainability indicators and an assessment framework, developed by the authors. Based on this framework, the tallest timber buildings in different countries, i.e., Mjøstårnet in Norway, Brock Commons in Canada, Treet in Norway, Forte in Australia, Strandparken in Sweden and Stadthaus in UK, were compared across the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic/technological, and social). Research has revealed that none of the buildings is leading in all dimensions of sustainability. However, each building is unique and has its own strengths. Overall multi-criteria assessment of the buildings revealed that the Brock Commons building in Canada has received the highest rank in all dimensions of sustainability. The paper contributes to the theory and practice of sustainability assessment and extends the knowledge about high-rise timber buildings. The proposed sustainability assessment framework can be used by both academics and practitioners for assessment of high-rise timber buildings.

Electronic Democracy in Theory and Practice

2013 ◽  
pp. 84-96
Author(s):  
T. Rovinskaya
Keyword(s):  
International Experience ◽  
The State ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Electronic Democracy ◽  
Technological Base ◽  
Decision Taking

The article considers the phenomena of e-democracy in its development from theory to practice. The following issues are covered: existing concepts of electronic citizens’ participation in political decision-taking, e-government as a form of open interaction of the state institutions with the public, technological base and international experience of using the mechanisms of e-democracy.

Sustainability assessment in the manufacturing industry: a review of recent studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 3162-3179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamraiz Ahmad ◽  
Kuan Yew Wong
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Industries ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Status ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the recent sustainability assessment studies in the manufacturing industry from the triple-bottom-line (TBL) perspective. This paper aims to depict the status quo of practical sustainability assessment, summarize the different levels and boundaries of evaluation, and highlight the difficulties and further improvements needed to make the assessment more effective in the manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach Four keywords, namely, sustainability assessment, sustainable manufacturing, TBL and green production, were used to explore and find the relevant articles. First, this paper systematically reviewed the studies and analyzed the different levels and boundaries of sustainability assessment. Following this, the reviewed studies were critically discussed along with their merits and shortcomings. Findings The review showed that most of the sustainability assessment studies were conducted on product, company and process levels in the manufacturing industry. Nevertheless, there is still a need to focus more on plant and process level assessments to achieve the TBL objectives. Environmental assessment is comparatively matured in manufacturing industries. However, from the economic and social viewpoints, only cost analysis and workers’ safety, respectively, were considered in most of the studies. The economic and social indicators need to be more inclusive and should be validated and standardized for manufacturing industries. Originality/value Unlike previous sustainability assessment reviews in manufacturing industries which were mostly based on life cycle assessment, this paper has included environmental, social and economic aspects in one comprehensive review and focused on recent studies published from 2010 to 2017. This paper has explored the recent sustainability assessment trends and provided insights into the development of sustainability assessment in the manufacturing sector.

scholarly journals INNOVATION AT AIRPORTS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW (2000–2019)

Aviation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-231
Author(s):  
Sena Kiliç ◽  
Caglar Ucler ◽  
Luis Martin-Domingo
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Focal Points ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Challenging Environment

Airports operate in a highly-competitive and challenging environment. Therefore, in order to remain competitive, innovation is imperative for airports. This paper aims to conduct academic research into innovation at airports by reviewing studies published from 2000 to 2019 for presenting key findings. A systematic literature review was made based on scientific papers indexed in Scopus with the keywords innovation and airport in the title, abstract or keywords sections, consolidating the innovation focus, approach and degree discussed with respect to innovation areas and territorial focal points. Consequently, it was found that research on airport innovation is: (i) mainly focused on products/services, (ii) concerned with leveraging ICT (Informatıon Communication Technology), (iii) implemented ad-hoc without a consolidated strategic approach, and (iv) lacks the input of external innovation scholars and specialists.

scholarly journals Ad Hoc or Institutional Arbitration - A Clear-Cut Distinction? A Closer Look at Borderline Cases

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Borderline Cases ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Core Characteristics ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Mix And Match

It is generally accepted in both theory and practice of arbitration that there are two basic forms of arbitration, ad hoc and institutional. This long established dichotomy has rarely been questioned, and it has mostly worked well in international arbitration practice.The present contribution investigates the traditional distinction between ad hoc and institutional arbitration in more detail by looking at "borderline cases", i.e. constellations that cannot easily be allocated to one of these two categories. Four groups of borderline cases are discussed: (1) UNCITRAL arbitrations, in particular those administered by arbitral institutions; (2) cases in which the parties have chosen institutional rules, but not the issuing institution (and vice versa), (3) the modification of institutional rules by the parties and the identification of a possible "mandatory" core of institutional rules, and (4) "mix and match" (or "hybrid") arbitrations combining one arbitral institution's rules with the case's administration by a different arbitral institution. By identifying the factors that were decisive for these borderline cases being regarded as institutional or ad hoc, the article is trying to gain insight into the core characteristics underlying each arbitration category. Drawing on these insights, it develops and explains a novel definition of "institutional arbitration".

scholarly journals Official Reporting of Religious Organizations as a Source of Empirical Data on the Activities of the Church: Some Questions of Theory and Practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden

2020 ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
O. A. Balabeikina ◽  
N. M. Mezhevich ◽  
A. A. Iankovskaia
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
The State ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The relevance of any material offered to the scientific and expert community depends on many factors. Objectively, the presence of this or that issue in the center of public attention has a positive effect on the actualization of this or that article. However, there is an obvious danger. Academic approaches that accidentally find themselves in resonance with global trends can fall victim to political conjuncture. Relevance in this case can fall victim to the political moment. Moreover, this or that topic, being in the center of public discussion, negatively affects the academic understanding of the problem. All this fully relates to the question of the relationship between the state and the church in modern Europe and Russia.A few words about global trends. Their essence boils down to the growing confrontation between supporters of new ideological approaches and traditionalists, among whom are many adherents.The relationship between religion and the state testifies to the fact that states and societies have not yet learned to draw an effective line between their interests and those of adherents. This fact presupposes careful state and public participation in the affairs of the church. However, acknowledging this circumstance is not enough. The state must clearly know what, where and how is happening in the church sphere of the life of society in cases where church affairs can affect public and state security.It is also known that almost all the leading churches, to a greater or lesser extent, provide official reporting to the state. However, working with this reporting, its scientific analysis is not always representative.Objective. The presented article is aimed at a partial solution of the problem of increasing the effectiveness of academic research of the church` activities. Moreover, it is made based on official church statistics.The author’s position is the following. States and societies have no right to let go of this vital sphere of life. The functions of the state, in this case, are at least controlling. The ineffective execution of its functions by the state can be revealed in many countries of the world. The situation in France is nothing more than a reference case of a problem that, to one degree or another, exists in most of the countries of the world, which are distinguished by ethnic and confessional heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Optimization of Mobile Ad Hoc Network DSDV and OLSR Using Evolutionary Algorithm for Elearning induction mode

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Fauzan Prasetyo ◽  
Moh. Nazir Arifin ◽  
Agus Irmawan
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Algorithm ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ad Hoc Network ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Mobile Ad Hoc Network ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Message Delivery ◽  
Mobile Ad Hoc

The e-learning induction model that is well informed by the theory and practice is a sure way of being responsive to the dynamism of educational technologies. Common problem that must be taken as consideration and must be resolved in urban areas and the organization is an efficient message delivery in (MANET) Mobile Ad hoc Network. To get good and efficient communication, an algorithm must pay attention to several aspects such as the density of neighbouring node, shape and network size, channel priority level and used of message. Some previous studies attempted to propose solutions for delivering messages, but finding the optimal problem solution that will be use is very difficult.  In our research, we sugested an optimization on MANET by using an EA. The algorithm will provide several solutions to the problem of sending messages to MANET. Our goal is able to determine the optimal communication strategy for each node in network. By using (EA) evolutionary algorithm in  (n-2) network simulator, we found that result is promising for message delivery optimization to destination for using in system Elearning model networkKeywords: MANET, evolutionary algorithm, message delivery optimization.

scholarly journals Knowledge machines

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Smart
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Knowledge Engineering ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Philosophical Study ◽  
Engineering Systems ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Data Formats

AbstractThe World Wide Web has had a notable impact on a variety of epistemically relevant activities, many of which lie at the heart of the discipline of knowledge engineering. Systems like Wikipedia, for example, have altered our views regarding the acquisition of knowledge, while citizen science systems such as Galaxy Zoo have arguably transformed our approach to knowledge discovery. Other Web-based systems have highlighted the ways in which the human social environment can be used to support the development of intelligent systems, either by contributing to the provision of epistemic resources or by helping to shape the profile of machine learning. In the present paper, such systems are referred to asknowledge machines. In addition to providing an overview of the knowledge machine concept, the present paper reviews a number of issues that are associated with the scientific and philosophical study of knowledge machines. These include the potential impact of knowledge machines for the theory and practice of knowledge engineering, the role of social participation in the realization of knowledge-based processes, and the role of standardized, semantically enriched data formats in supporting thead hocassembly of special-purpose knowledge systems and knowledge processing pipelines.

Distortion

Dismantlings ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Matt Tierney
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
Fiction Writer ◽  
As If

This chapter talks about distortion as a form of dismantling. It describes distortion as the historical and theoretical technique by which readers learn to approach political documents as if they were science fiction. When considered as a vehicle of distortion, literature is measured for its potential to alter exploitative conditions, like those of war, patriarchy, and racism. The science fiction writer Samuel R. Delany insists that transformative change takes shape neither in utopian nor in dystopian visions of the future, but rather in efforts toward significant distortion of the present. This attitude, which is also a theory and practice of literature, is one way to describe the inheritance of cyberculture in the works of writers and activists who employed speculative language to repurpose the thought of Alice Mary Hilton and the Ad Hoc Committee. These writers and activists focused not on the machines that would unveil the myth of scarcity, but instead isolate the forms of human life and relation that would follow the act of unveiling.

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