scholarly journals The Distribution of Sustainable Decision-Making in Multinational Manufacturing Enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Fagerlind ◽  
Martin Stefanicki ◽  
Andreas Feldmann ◽  
Jouni Korhonen

In order to contribute to research on implementing business sustainability, this study aims to explore the distribution of decision-making authority related to economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Sustainability objectives between different organizational levels in multinational manufacturing enterprises (MMEs) are investigated. The research is fundamentally exploratory. We conducted a multiple case study endeavor with nine participating case organizations. The study identified five different decision-making approaches to sustainability in multinational manufacturing enterprises. The findings showed that there was no consistent way of deciding upon sustainability issues. Some case organizations seemed to regard sustainability as a global concern, while others regarded it as a more local concern. In general, the economic sustainability dimension was regarded as more of a global concern, while the environmental dimension was more of a local concern, and the social dimension more of an integrated concern. The findings of this study can act as guidance for managers when implementing or improving sustainability strategies. The findings will also serve as a map to navigate and understand what should be given the strongest priority in different situations concerning decision-making relating to sustainability in manufacturing processes and networks.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-132
Author(s):  
Rungamirai Matiure ◽  
Erick Nyoni

This study explored the utility of the learner autonomy concept in the Zimbabwean O Level English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom focusing on three Gweru urban high schools of the Midlands Province. The researchers intended to establish whether learner autonomy was a reality or just a myth in Zimbabwean classrooms. A qualitative multiple case study design was applied focusing on teaching strategies, availability of resources, challenges faced and ways of optimising it. Questionnaires and document analysis were used for data collection. The findings revealed that the concept did not manifest in explicit terms, the learners did not participate in decision making, and the teachers were not adequately prepared to administer autonomous processes with students. For it to be a reality, the Education Ministry is recommended to establish a comprehensive framework of how autonomous learning should be implemented. Teacher training should explicitly focus on how to develop autonomous learners. Teachers ought to be flexible enough to accommodate learners' contributions towards their learning.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
Zuzana Vlachová

The paper presents a qualitative empirical research project, research design and research methods used in the preparation of a dissertation which deals with music therapy interventions in children with autism. The reason for examining this issue is a considerable lack of research activity in this area, and thus also a lack of relevant results on which clinical practice could rely. The results of future investigations should bring answers to the question of how children with autism receive and experience music therapy intervention and also what the effect of music therapy intervention in the social interaction of children is; research will be directed to a deeper understanding of this influence and its characteristics using the multiple case study design.


Author(s):  
Mor Hodaya Or ◽  
Izhak Berkovich

Despite the popularity of distributed leadership theory, the investigation of the micro-political aspects of such models have scarcely been explored, and insights on the cultural variety of distributed practices in schools are limited. The present study aimed to explore what micro-political aspects emerge in participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures. To this end, a multiple case study method was adopted, focusing on four Israeli public high schools. Schools were chosen to represent an ‘extreme’ case selection rationale: two non-religious urban schools representing individualist cases, and two communal schools in religious kibbutzim representing communal schools. The analysis shed light on three micro-political points of comparison between the prototypes of participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures related to control, actors, and stage crafting. The findings and implications are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1193
Author(s):  
Anna Podara ◽  
Dimitrios Giomelakis ◽  
Constantinos Nicolaou ◽  
Maria Matsiola ◽  
Rigas Kotsakis

This paper casts light on cultural heritage storytelling in the context of interactive documentary, a hybrid media genre that employs a full range of multimedia tools to document reality, provide sustainability of the production and successful engagement of the audience. The main research hypotheses are enclosed in the statements: (a) the interactive documentary is considered a valuable tool for the sustainability of cultural heritage and (b) digital approaches to documentary storytelling can provide a sustainable form of viewing during the years. Using the Greek interactive documentary (i-doc) NEW LIFE (2013) as a case study, the users’ engagement is evaluated by analyzing items from a seven-year database of web metrics. Specifically, we explore the adopted ways of the interactive documentary users to engage with the storytelling, the depth to which they were involved along with the most popular sections/traffic sources and finally, the differences between the first launch period and latest years were investigated. We concluded that interactivity affordances of this genre enhance the social dimension of cultural, while the key factors for sustainability are mainly (a) constant promotion with transmedia approach; (b) data-driven evaluation and reform; and (c) a good story that gathers relevant niches, with specific interest to the story.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 889-912
Author(s):  
Maria Luíza Farias Diniz ◽  
Aldo Leonardo Cunha Callado

Resumo: Com a preocupação de as empresas se manterem no mercado em longo prazo, passou a ser adotada por algumas organizações uma estratégia voltada à adesão a práticas sustentáveis. Com isso, o profissional contábil pode gerar ou gerenciar informações que auxiliarão no processo de resultados voltados à sustentabilidade. Assim, nesta pesquisa buscou-se responder à seguinte questão: de que forma o profissional contábil participa dos indicadores de sustentabilidade? Diante dessa problemática, o objetivo com o trabalho foi verificar a participação do profissional contábil em aspectos associados aos indicadores de sustentabilidade em uma empresa pertencente ao setor gráfico. A sustentabilidade empresarial foi mensurada a partir do Grid de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (GSE) que integra as dimensões ambiental, econômica e social. A participação do profissional contábil foi analisada a partir de ações voltadas ao planejamento, execução, controle e tomada de decisão dos indicadores de sustentabilidade. Esta pesquisa pode ser caracterizada como descritiva, exploratória e qualitativa, adotando a estratégia de estudo de caso, e foi desenvolvida a partir da aplicação de um questionário estruturado com realização de entrevista e visita técnica com a finalidade de observar in loco as ações mencionadas. A empresa investigada apresentou um resultado classificado como Sustentabilidade Empresarial Relativa, uma vez que possui resultados positivos nas dimensões econômica e social da sustentabilidade. Observou-se, ainda, que o profissional da Contabilidade participa de 14 indicadores dos 43 definidos pelo modelo, sendo quatro da dimensão ambiental, oito da dimensão econômica e dois da dimensão social. Diante do resultado, destaca-se a participação do contador em resultados associados ao desempenho da sustentabilidade empresarial (por meio dos indicadores) na organização analisada.Palavras-chave: Contabilidade gerencial. Profissional contábil. Sustentabilidade empresarial.Characterizing the participation of the accounting professional in the context of corporate sustainabilityAbstract: With the concern of companies to remain in the market in the long term, a strategy has been adopted by some organizations aimed at adhering to sustainable practices. With this, the accounting professional can generate or manage information that will help in the process of results oriented towards sustainability. Thus, this research sought to answer the following question: How does the accounting professional participate in sustainability indicators? In view of this problem, the objective of the study was to verify the participation of the accounting professional in aspects associated to the sustainability indicators in a company belonging to the graphic sector. . Business sustainability was measured based on the Corporate Sustainability Grid (CSG) that integrates the environmental, economic and social dimensions. The participation of the accounting professional was analyzed based on actions aimed at the planning, execution, control and decision making of the sustainability indicators. This research can be characterized as descriptive, exploratory and qualitative, adopting the case study strategy, and it was developed from the application of a structured questionnaire with interviews and technical visits with the purpose of observing the mentioned actions in loco. The company investigated presented a result classified as Relative Business Sustainability, since it has positive results in the economic and social dimensions of sustainability. It was observed that the accounting professional participates in 14 indicators of the 43 defined by the model, four of the environmental dimension, eight of the economic dimension and two of the social dimension. In view of the result, the accountant's participation in results associated to the performance of corporate sustainability (through the indicators) in the analyzed organization stands out.Keywords: Management accounting. Accounting professional. Corporate sustainability.


2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomi Ventovuori

The aim of this paper is to identify the different elements of the sourcing strategy decision‐making process and to clarify what are the factors that lead to the selection of a certain sourcing strategy in FM services. The study is based on a literature review and a multiple case study, which was conducted with four organizations representing different types of FM service clients. To find the optimal sourcing strategy and understand the consequences of different sourcing options, five decision categories must be analysed: sourcing interface, organizational decision‐making, the scope of service package, the geographical area of sourcing and relationship type. There are also some other elements that must be taken into account in the process of sourcing strategy development such as different elements of business in general and the prevailing market conditions. It is strongly suggested that companies could apply the presented integrated approach as a starting point for the development of sourcing strategies in FM services. In addition, this study shows that companies should view the development of sourcing strategies as an important phase of the procurement cycle.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (suppl 4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Silva Tavares ◽  
Kênia Lara Silva ◽  
Regina Garcia de Lima ◽  
Elysângela Dittz Duarte

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the experiences of families in the exercise of the rights of children with chronic conditions in public health, education and social assistance institutions. Method: ethnographic multiple case study, with qualitative approach, following the theoretical approach of Boaventura Santos. Experiences of the families of these children in a city were studied through interviews with family members, managers and professionals from social institutions (35), participant observations in social spaces (13) and creation of eco-maps (3). Critical Discourse Analysis was performed. Results: the offer of services is lower than the demand, and exclusion processes persist. Given the hegemony of neoliberal and normality ideologies, meetings between family members and professionals revealed obstacles to civil rights; however, when these ideologies were challenged, the realization of their rights was enhanced. Final considerations: the care to promote civil rights requires family members, managers and professionals to develop subjectivities that overcome neoliberal and normality ideologies, recognizing these children as subjects of law.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 580
Author(s):  
Paula Cristina Lameu

Some scholars and researchers have been claiming we are in a New Materialist and Posthumanist era. It means that for the ones who are researching in Social Sciences, the focus is not only the human as the centre and the cause of what happens in the social realm. For human, nonhuman and inhuman are attributed the same importance in research once all of them are components of reality, inserted in nature.Reality is regarded as complex, not simple straightforward isolated cause and effect processes. This is how the classroom is supposed to be observed in educational research: not only teaching and learning, but these two processes and policy making, and identity construction, and emotional flows, and curriculum, and schooling, and…, and…The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the complexity of the classroom environment regarded as an assemblage. The hypothesis is that all the components of the assemblage are equally vital, although some components are more vibratory than others. The theory of Vitalism from Driesch (1914) and the Vital Materialism from Bennett (2010a, 2010b) are used as the theoretical tools for analysis. Assemblage Ethnography (YOUDELL, 2015; YOUDELL and MCGIMPSEY, 2015) is the methodology of data collection. A multiple case study was developed in three different schools in United Kingdom: one Primary, one Secondary and one Post-secondary. The results suggest that teacher and students are the components who most influence on the classroom assemblage composition, decomposition and recomposition orienting the flows of matter-energy once they are change-creating agents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1188-1204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manda Broekhuis ◽  
Kirstin Scholten

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate purchasing practices in service triads by exploring the link between ex ante contracting and ex post contract management and how these practices influence the satisfaction of buyers and suppliers (in concessionary arrangements) with their relationship in terms of meeting the needs of the buyer’s customers. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth exploratory multiple case study was carried out in a shop-in-shop context. Multi-method and multi-source data collection included interviews, documents and the contracts between buyer and supplier, providing evidence of the formal and relational structures in both the contracting and contract management stages. Findings The case findings provide evidence that behavioural standards established in a social contract are important prerequisites for the establishment and subsequent management of a formal contract. Second, this study shows that, when outsourcing core services in a service triad, a combination of performance-oriented and behavioural-oriented contract terms, covering a mix of topics related to both the customer-experience and to buyer-supplier-oriented aspects, contribute to aligning the buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests. The main findings are presented in a causal model and formulated as propositions. Originality/value This paper is one of the first studies to explore how core services are outsourced in a service triad. It provides evidence that the social contract between buyer and supplier influences the establishment of the formal contract as well as contract management, and a mix of contract topics, some related to the customers’ experience and others purely buyer-supplier oriented, contribute to the alignment of buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests.


Numen ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-76
Author(s):  
Valentino Gasparini

Abstract This article analyzes three different case studies related to the Graeco-Roman cult of Anubis, located in different historical periods (Early, Middle, and Late Roman Empire) and approached by the study of different types of material (namely literary, epigraphic/archaeological, and iconographic sources). The goal of this study is to explore the social dimension of religious practice, stressing its variety, creativity, multiplicity, fluidity, and flexibility of identities, changes in forms of individuality, and spaces for individual distinction. By means of a detailed inquiry of Mustafa Emirbayer and Ann Mische’s schema of “disaggregation” of agency into three component elements (iteration, projectivity, and presentification), this analysis will stress the historical variability of religious agency and will show how, across time, emerging situations forced religious actors to select among alternative possibilities of action by recovering patterns belonging to past routines and creating new future options that responded to present hopes and fears. The results of this investigation will then be conceptualized according to the methodological framework of the Lived Ancient Religion paradigm.


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