scholarly journals From Global Goals and Planetary Boundaries to Public Governance—A Framework for Prioritizing Organizational Sustainability Activities

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Ranängen ◽  
Mathias Cöster ◽  
Raine Isaksson ◽  
Rickard Garvare
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Organizational Sustainability ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Organizational Governance ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Freshwater Use ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives

Background: A particular challenge in the work to realize the global goals for sustainable development is to find ways for organizations to identify and prioritize organizational activities that address these goals. There are also several sustainability initiatives, guidelines and tools to consider when planning, working with and reporting on sustainable development. Although progress has been made, little has been written about how organizations rise to and manage the challenge. The paper explores how organizations address sustainable development, which sustainability aspects they prioritize and whether previous research can improve the priority process by using materiality analysis approach. Methods: A case study approach was chosen. Data was collected by interactive workshops and documentation. The participating organizations were two Swedish municipalities; Results: The municipalities have introduced a number of sustainability aspects into their organizational governance, especially in terms of society, human rights and the environment. A materiality analysis was conducted to determine the relevance and significance of sustainability aspects. The result shows that climate action, biodiversity and freshwater use are aspects that should be prioritized; Conclusion: The materiality analysis methodology chosen for prioritizing of sustainability aspects was useful and easy to work with. However, the sustainability aspect matrix and the risk assessment have to be updated regularly in order to form an effective base for the materiality analysis.

Sustainability Report Evolution

2022 ◽  
pp. 227-249
Author(s):  
Teresa Eugénio ◽  
Susana Cristina Rodrigues ◽  
Marco José Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Independent Entity ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Disclosure Strategy ◽  
A Company ◽  
Sustainability Report

This chapter is a unique case study that aims to present the evolution of non-financial reporting in Nestlé Portugal from 2007 to 2016 with the aim to study in-depth the Nestlé sustainability report practices. This study proposes to identify the key milestones in the evolution of this type of report, to compare with the disclosure strategy of Nestlé international, to understand if this company follow the IIRC guidelines, to identify the contribution of the audit by an independent entity, to conclude if Nestlé contributes to the achieving of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and to identify if the awards Nestlé received matter in its sustainability initiatives. Public institutional information was preferably used, particularly the sustainability report and integrated report, processed with various work tools using the technique of content analysis. The conclusions made it possible to understand that Nestlé emerges as a company that integrates these issues into its strategy and can be a model for companies that wish to follow this report path towards sustainability.

Sustainable development and social policy: a case of indigenous villages in Hong Kong

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwok Wai Ma
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Small House ◽  
The Government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the issues relating to sustainable development (SD) in the context of indigenous village development in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach is used in this research. In addition to literature review, qualitative data, primarily collected through personal interviews with various stakeholders were the main source of input. Findings – The Small House Policy (SHP) case illustrates an unsustainable policy. It underscores the interrelatedness among the relevant systems – social/cultural, economic, political and environmental – in the context of SD. In the short term, the government can at least expedite the construction of sewage facilities for the villages. Furthermore, the government can consider elevating the penalty and tightening policing/patrolling in village environs to discourage the illegal sale of “ding” rights and small houses. In the longer term, the government needs to put the rural area in order. Identifying means to zone planning would be a possible direction on this front. Originality/value – Through examining the case of SHP relating to the indigenous villages in Hong Kong, the complexity of SD is thoroughly revealed.

scholarly journals The Energy Crisis and Environmental Concerns in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria): A Perspective on Public Governance for Climate Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Abdulhamid Ozohu-Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
State Capacity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Energy Crisis ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Global Agenda

The inextricable relationship between environment and development is unarguable, and the literature is replete with scientific evidence of the interdependence between the two phenomena. However, as the interaction between man and nature proceeded from the condition of conviviality to that of belligerence, there has been a marked decline in the resilience of nature to accommodate human avarice. It is nature’s reactions to this unfair transaction that is today called climate change. In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change remains an intractable problem, or to borrow the words of Pollitt (2016), “a very wicked issue” that challenges state capacity to contain its scourge. Finding a way around this wicked issue has been the preoccupation of public policy scholars and practitioners. Incidentally, combating climate change is a cross cutting issue in the 2030 global agenda for sustainable development which inevitably touches on access to affordable and sustainable energy, protection of the ecosystem to halt biodiversity loss. Consistent with this global agenda is the Africa agenda 2063 with the overarching aspiration of “a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development”. These multinational initiatives suggest a growing consensus on environmental sustainability as the desideratum of development. In Nigeria, the energy crisis and its attendant consequences on the environment has made the country one of the most vulnerable to climate change in the region. This paper seeks to offer a perspective on public governance for climate action. It argues that lack of state capacity to address the energy requirement of the economy has had grave consequences on environmental resourcefulness. While consensus on multinational agenda is given, the point at issues is for national governments to domesticate this agenda and mobilize the requisite resources to translate them into measurable achievements. The paper observes that apart from the huge deficit in furnishing the energy need of the real sector, the energy crisis poses existential threats such as food insecurity, environmental pollution/degradation through deforestation, flooding and pollution. The paper recommends, among others, that the Nigeria-Germany bilateral cooperation on the power sector should be implemented to its logical conclusion, and that a program of public enlightenment is urgently required to arrest traditional practices that are harmful to environmental sustainability.

Tourists' Awareness of World Heritage

2020 ◽  
pp. 249-268
Author(s):  
Claudia Helena Henriques ◽  
Isabel Teotónio
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Academic Background ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Level Of Knowledge

This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of cultural tourism and namely of tourists' awareness of Portuguese World Heritage (WH). In accordance, firstly, there is the discussion of a theoretical framework associated to a cultural role and cultural identity in the sustainable development of tourism is presented. Secondly, it follows a case study approach based on the evaluation of Algarvian tourists' awareness of Portuguese WH. A questionnaire was applied in the Algarve region with the aim to determine the importance of cultural motivation and the level of knowledge regarding Portuguese culture by tourists. The results of this exploratory analysis underline the growing importance of cultural motivation and the recognition of culture's importance in the sustainable development of destinations. However, it also shows the low level of cultural motivation by Algarvian tourists as well as the low level of Portuguese WH knowledge, namely by foreign tourists. Nationality, age, academic background are key variables in tourism knowledge about Portuguese culture.

scholarly journals The Role of Public Governance in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development of the ILVA Steel Plant: An Interpretative Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8282
Author(s):  
Mario Turco ◽  
Rossella Leopizzi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Steel Plant ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Phases Of Development ◽  
Private Management ◽  
Direct Management

The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of public institutions in the pursuit of sustainable development in a case study of international relevance: Taranto’s ILVA steel plant, which is one of the biggest steel and iron centres in Europe. The case study was analysed through investigating the different aspects of sustainable development in the four phases of development of the steel plant, from public direct management to private management. The analysis, based on a series of unstructured data, was carried out by applying a triple bottom line approach and the total interpretative structuring model (TISM). Evidence shows how—in the absence of stable, coherent, strong and present public institutions, capable of reading the forces of the local and international context and of intervening with regulatory actions inspired by a planned and interiorized economic strategy—the market, left in the hands of the private entrepreneur only, is destined to fail, and the paths of multidimensional sustainable development stray away from the ambitions of modern states.

The Role of the Consultant in Enterprise Development

2013 ◽  
pp. 88-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian K. Bathgate
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Business Failure ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Economic Agents ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Strategic Options ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Embedded Case Study

Business failure crisis is not a new phenomenon. The competitive dynamism to which businesses are susceptible exposes free economic agents to the vagaries of the marketplace, encompassing problems of growth, sustainability, and paradoxically, failure. However, the problems are more exacerbated in small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) than large businesses, which is why they have continued to experience disproportionately high failure rates. Set against this background, this chapter focuses on the role of early consultancy intervention in securing sustainable development of SMEs. It does this by analysing SME growth strategies with respect to the interface with consultants. Using the ‘embedded case study’ approach and leaning significantly on the author’s consultancy undertakings with SMEs in the UK, the chapter provides refreshing perspectives on the nature of consultancy, strategic options open to SMEs, entrepreneurial competences and characteristics, the need for consultants, and an assessment of role effectiveness in the SME sector.

What do we know about organizational sustainability and international business?

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Gomez-Trujillo ◽  
Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Emerging Markets ◽  
International Business ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Organizational Sustainability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Market Multinationals ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a revision of the literature that links the concepts of sustainability and internationalization in the context of emerging marketsDesign/methodology/approachThe results are presented following the recommendations of Challahan (2014), who introduced the concept of the “Six W” as components of a literature review.FindingsIt can be noted that there are common characteristics among the study of internationalization and sustainability in emerging markets. It is possible to suggest a framework of research that considers internationalization as a driver for the pursuit of sustainability initiatives.Originality/valueThere is an increasing evidence of the inclusion of corporate social responsibility activities and sustainable development on international business. This way, the present paper can serve as a base to understand the internationalization processes of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) and their commitment to sustainability.

Integrated Impact Assessment for Sustainable Development: A Case Study Approach

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1011-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bond ◽  
Johanna Curran ◽  
Colin Kirkpatrick ◽  
Norman Lee ◽  
Paul Francis
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Integrated Impact Assessment

Swedish sustainability through a Zhang and London lens

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Lindbergh ◽  
Mattias Jacobsson ◽  
Timothy L. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Government ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
High Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how sustainable development has been initiated in a country (Sweden) in which sustainable development has priority and has produced observable results – essentially, the definition and reshaping of contents (p. 107) referred to in the Zhang and London (ZL) paper, therefore adding some validity to the model. Design/methodology/approach The research is both exploratory and qualitative in nature and uses an in-depth case study approach to the Swedish international economy as might be reflected by ZL’s modified Porter model. Information drawn from current secondary sources is complemented by personal contemporaneous observations of individuals in the country of interest. Findings The task of implementing Sweden’s strategy for sustainable development is holistic, and the State has played a major role in its development. That is, sustainability is the responsibility of the Government Offices as a whole, which produces proactive programs in each of the interactions analyzed in the ZL modified model. As an aside, the country has sustained a high level of competitiveness while producing a pleasant environment in which to live. Research limitations/implications Limitations in the study follow the same criticisms made of Porter’ seminal treatment – (still) lack of a formal model construction (although ZL make a meaningful contribution), (still) lack of clear definitions (although ZL make a meaningful contribution), problematic research methodology (although an attempt has been made at improvement) and lack of empirical testing among others (and it is thought that this paper is a step in the right direction). Practical implications Insofar as Sweden might be a model for other countries interested in extending their efforts in sustainable development, observations here provide some insights into possible approaches and results. Originality/value The approach basically followed Siggelkow’s (2007) definition of the use of cases as illustrations, which is useful when the underlying development depends upon constructs. It follows that the association of real-world observations with theory well serves the underlying foundation and cannot help but build credibility of those concepts and theory.

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