bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An activity based management methodology for evaluating business processes for environmental sustainability
Authors: Sarkis Joseph , Meade Laura , Presley Adrien 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to introduce a conceptual methodology to support decisions about environmental systems.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology incorporates activity‐based costing and management, the analytic hierarchy process, and business process modeling using the IDEF0 method.FindingsAn illustrative example that applies the methodology to a semiconductor manufacturing facility is presented in the paper. The company used the results to analyze a process improvement.Research limitations/implicationsThe complexities and nuances of the approach will require facilitation and support. Making the technique more transparent and available to management is a barrier to its diffusion and application.Practical implicationsPotential managerial application and implications include areas such as product cost management, business process design and technology selection.Originality/valueApplication of the methodology encourages management to more fully assess the environmental implications of their decision in evaluating alternative technological processes while also allowing for the inclusion of other organizational decision dimensions.
An integrated approach for risk‐based life cycle assessment and multi‐criteria decision‐making
Authors: Sadiq Rehan , Khan Faisal I. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper proposes an integrated methodology for process design to guide decision making under uncertainty by combining life cycle assessment (LCA) with multi‐criteria decision‐making tools.Design/methodology/approachCleaner and greener technologies for process and product selection and design have gained popularity in recent years. The LCA is a systematic approach that enables selection of cleaner and greener products and processes. Recently, significant progress has been made for the use of LCA for product/process evaluation and selection. However, its use in process design and environmental decision making has not been fully exploited. The proposed methodology GreenPro‐I is a systematic approach to estimate environmental risks/impacts associated with life cycle of products, processes and services. It evaluates environmental burdens by quantifying energy and materials used and waste released into the environment. It identifies and evaluates opportunities, which affect environmental improvements. The assessment includes the extraction/excavation and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use, recycle, and final disposal.FindingsGreenPro‐I overcomes many of the problems faced in the conventional approaches and establishes a link between the environmental risks/impacts, cost, and technical feasibility of processes.Originality/valueGreenPro‐I provides a comprehensive decision‐making tool for designers, regulatory agencies, business organizations and other stakeholders.
STEPS: a knowledge management maturity roadmap for corporate sustainability
Authors: Robinson H.S. , Anumba C.J. , Carrillo P.M. , Al‐Ghassani A.M. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper seeks to focus on the role of knowledge management in promoting corporate sustainability in the construction industry context. It proposes a maturity roadmap – STEPS to facilitate the implementation of a knowledge management strategy.Design/methodology/approachTwo research methods were used. The first consisted of a postal questionnaire sent to the top 170 UK construction firms consisting of engineering design and construction contractor firms. The organisations were selected because they were considered the most influential organisations in the UK construction sector. The second research method involved 28 case study interviews with eight construction firms to investigate their approach to knowledge management and performance improvement. The results of the questionnaire survey and the case studies were used to develop the STEPS maturity roadmap.FindingsThe paper found that knowledge management is inextricably linked to corporate sustainability, but a methodical approach is required for successful knowledge management implementation. With this in mind, the STEPS maturity roadmap was developed to provide a structured approach to implementing and benchmarking knowledge management efforts.Practical implicationsThis will allow companies to understand where they fall within the STEPS maturity roadmap and to devise a strategy to be developed to attain higher levels of knowledge management maturity.Originality/valueThis paper provides a mechanism for organisations to benchmark their knowledge management activities and to develop a knowledge management strategy that would improve their activities.
Insights into triple bottom line integration from a learning organization perspective
Authors: Jamali D. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe notion of sustainability has been evolving and is increasingly understood to encompass considerations of economic viability, as well as environmental sustainability and social responsibility. The paper seeks to explore how linking these seemingly disparate pillars of sustainability may be facilitated through a management orientation supporting continual adaptability and learning.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and critical analysis.FindingsThe relevance of core organizational learning characteristics to different aspects of sustainability performance is outlined. The paper generally supports the view that a heightened propensity for learning ensures that organizations are better equipped for meeting the challenge of triple bottom line integration.Originality/valueLinking two traditionally separate and encapsulated areas of research, namely the area of corporate sustainability and the area of learning organizations/organizational learning.
Barriers to student mobilization and service at institutions of higher education
Authors: Zimmerman Katherine S. , Halfacre‐Hitchcock Angela 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo identify some of the barriers to mobilizing students of higher education in sustainable initiatives, in order to enhance project success on campuses.Design/methodology/approachUses a case study of a model green building retrofit on the College of Charleston campus in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Several constraints already identified in the literature are pin‐pointed in this case study as well as additional barriers important for understanding success (or the lack of success) of sustainability efforts. Using participant observation, delineates new impediments and lists previously studied constraints from existing literature.FindingsPrevious barriers identified include: stereotypes associated with activism; apathy among students; lack of tangible results; lack of coordination among the campus community; troubling national policies; cuts in state budgets; lack of project funding; and lack of sufficient time to implement satisfactory projects. New barriers include: the emotional dynamics between students and the issues associated with an urban, municipal, historic campus.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study is based on results after one year of project work versus long‐term results. The conclusions are intended to help all campuses, but particularly include historic and urban institutions and emotional dynamics between case study participants.Practical implicationsOvercoming barriers for an urban campus has the practical implications of a beneficial student project for both campus and community stakeholders.Originality/valueThe addition of these constraints to the list of barriers will help campus mobilization efforts to better anticipate and address concerns of students, and take into account the real‐world issues associated with sustainability, such as corresponding with the local municipality's needs, particularly addressing stringent historic preservation codes and various socio‐economic groups.
Policy analysis for sustainable development
Authors: Runhaar Hens , Dieperink Carel , Driessen Peter 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper seeks to propose the basic competencies of environmental social scientists regarding policy analysis for sustainable development. The ultimate goal is to contribute to an improvement of educational programmes in higher education by suggesting a toolbox that should be integrated in the curriculum.Design/methodology/approachStarting from the basic research questions regarding governance for sustainable development, five methods are identified capable of answering the following questions: reconstruction of policy theories; stakeholder analysis; impact assessment; cost‐benefit analysis; discourse analysis. Relevant information was collected through a literature review and practical experience by the authors.FindingsThese include: minimum content of the toolbox with methods of policy analysis for sustainable development; examples of how the toolbox can be applied; strengths and weaknesses of the methods; specification of competencies of environmental social scientists active in the area of policy analysis for sustainable development.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes which methods of policy analysis for sustainable development should be integrated in higher education as well as how this should be done.Originality/valueThe paper systematically analyses the implications of the policy context in the domain of sustainable development for policy analysis in this area. In addition it gives a review of five basic methods: how they can be used to analyse policy issues from a sustainable development perspective. Aiming at reinforcing the input of scientific research in policy‐making, the paper eventually aims to promote sustainable development.
The integrative role of the campus environmental audit: experiences at Bishop's University, Canada
Authors: Bardati Darren R. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to suggest that the campus environmental audit can become an important tool that synergizes active learning and operations planning and management approaches to promote sustainability on university campuses.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents the author's experiences at Bishop's University with the evolution of the campus environmental audit program between 1993 and 2003. In those ten years, the campus environmental audit program began as an undergraduate thesis project, and then became transformed into a pedagogical tool for giving students active learning experience. The environmental audit program eventually became institutionalized when it received official recognition as a university‐sanctioned operations planning and management tool.FindingsThese experiences are used to draw out the lessons learned about the integrative role of the campus environmental audit and the need for further research. Lessons include: the need to overcome important barriers of cost, fear of adverse publicity, and fear of potential legal problems associated with campus environmental auditing; the important role that inter‐personal relationships within the university plays in the successful implementation of any environmental auditing program; and the major influence on students of teachers who incorporate campus environmental auditing projects into their curriculum.Practical implicationsThese experiences at Bishop's University can serve as a model for other institutions. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research directions that are necessary to further explore the integrative role of the environmental audit on university campuses.Originality/valueAs a ten‐year retrospective assessment of the evolution of campus environmental auditing at one university, the paper presents a novel approach to understanding the role of the environmental audit for promoting sustainability. The paper will have value for teachers and university administrators who wish to integrate sustainability initiatives with both higher education and campus operations planning and management goals in mind.
Campus: “lab” and “window” for sustainable design research and education
Authors: Vezzoli Carlo , Penin Lara 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to diffuse the concept of a multi‐lateral learning process as a means to promote experimental didactics and research (and the cross‐fertilization between these two activities) in the field of design of sustainable product‐service systems (PSSs) and to consider the university campus as the locus for the design, implementation and dissemination of sustainable innovative solutions.Design/methodology/approachThe presentation, description and justification of the working hypothesis, i.e. the campus as community “lab” and “window” to design and promote sustainable innovation. It is described throughout the direct and experimental experiences matured by the design in emerging context for sustainability (DECOS) educational network. This is introduced by both a general overview of disciplinary contents and by the presentation, description and justification of the disciplinary issue. The achievements of the case study (the educational projects spin‐off) and the (disciplinary) contextualization of the case study (the educational design projects) are discussed.FindingsThe paper presents findings at two levels. First, disciplinary: the paper justifies the concept of sustainable PSS as a radical innovation model towards sustainability, highlighting its potentialities for emerging contexts (countries). Within this disciplinary framework, it points out the necessity of raising a new generation of designers equipped to operate as system sustainability innovators. Second, educational: through the presentation of a successful case study, it validates the multilateral learning process (network) as a means to develop and promote curriculum innovation and validates the hypothesis that university campuses can be used as optimum show‐cases for the design, testing and dissemination of sustainable solutions for society at large.Practical implicationsConcrete implications of the actions described in the paper are the introduction of advanced/experimental education courses within the curricula. It suggests also the development of tools and mechanisms (such as the use of specific collaborative design web tools and the students and teachers exchanges) as possible future developments for the presented actions.Originality/valueThe idea of studying the PSS applicability and potential in emerging countries represents an original approach. Furthermore, the paper presents an original and effective way of linking experimental didactic with open‐front research issues.
Education for sustainability
Authors: Buchan Graeme D. , Spellerberg Ian F. , Blum Winfried E.H. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo describe the development and structure of a new Master's‐level subject entitled “Aspects of sustainability: an international perspective” as a potential model, adoptable by other tertiary‐level educators.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes the evolution and re‐shaping of a subject designed for postgraduate students from diverse programmes (from science‐based to sociology‐based). It was re‐designed in 2004, in part to support the co‐introduction by Lincoln University of two new, globally innovative Masters degrees, but also as a contribution to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005‐2014). The two new degrees are taught and awarded jointly by Lincoln University and a partner European University, and thus are based on unique Northern‐Southern hemisphere linkages. We describe the subject content (including its major assignment), and its evaluations by students.FindingsA successful subject has been developed, but it required a step change in its structure in order to (a) retain connectedness and common themes across its wide‐ranging topics, and (b) meet the expectations and aspirations of multi‐disciplinary, multi‐national classes.Practical implicationsThis paper details the key ingredients of a subject designed to prepare postgraduate students for careers involving sustainability at international or regional level. The subject's structure is a potential model for adoption in other tertiary programmes.Originality/valueThe subject's structure is highly appropriate for a multi‐disciplinary, multi‐national student group, and demonstrates one university's efforts to contribute to DESD. The format of the main assignment is offered as a model for adoption by others engaged in education for sustainability.
Standardized measures in the changing information environment
Authors: Poll Roswitha 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the changes in the information world that libraries are confronted with, and how new services are measured to ensure their usefulness.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the standardised measures for the changing information environment.FindingsStandardizing definitions and methods for the assessment of input, output and impact of library services will assist libraries in demonstrating value for money in the ongoing changes.Originality/valueThe paper examines the extent of international consensus on data to be collected and indicators to be used.
Evaluation of library performance: current developments in Estonia
Authors: Nuut Anu 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the development of practice and application of standards in Estonian research libraries.Design/methdology/approachThe paper describes the following themes: evaluation of library performance; library performance measures: impact and outcome; and current developments in Estonia.FindingsThe research in this field needs to be improved, completed and developed on the national level in the following directions: implementation of internationally approved relevant research methods; the choice of methodology and tools appropriate for different library types; continuation of standardisation considering the electronic library evaluation; preparation of guidelines for the usage of indicators and their interpretation on the national level; development of data processing for research needs.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into the current developments in library performance in Estonia.
Using performance measurement for decision making in mid‐sized academic libraries
Authors: Dole Wanda V. , Liebst Anne , Hurych Jitka M. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess whether Beck's research method and instruments, which were carried out in 2002 in larger and more research‐based libraries, are applicable to academic libraries of other types and sizes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports the results of a year‐long study on the impact of assessment on library decision making in nine small to medium sized academic libraries in the USA. The study replicates Susan J. Beck's 2002 study on the impact of assessment on decision making in nine Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries in North America which was carried out in larger and more research‐based libraries. Directors and key administrators were interviewed to gather qualitative data. Two survey instruments were used to gather quantitative data: Beck's “Factors in decision‐making” survey and “Do you have a culture of assessment?” survey adapted from Amos Lakos (University of California at Los Angeles) and Betsy Wilson (University of Washington) – 1998; revised and updated by Shelley Phipps (University of Arizona) – 2002; additional revisions by Julia Blixrud – 2003. Qualitative data are transcribed and weighted. The quantitative data are run through standard statistical tests. The authors discuss their experience with the survey instruments and compare the results of their survey with those of Beck's.FindingsBeck's method is transferable to different types of library, where similar findings result.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into using performance measurement for decision making in mid‐sized academic libraries.
Libraries Building Communities
Authors: Rosenfeldt Debra 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to support public library advocates and planners by establishing who uses libraries, why, what services they most value, and how they see them developing; identifying who is not using libraries and the barriers, and suggesting solutions; and providing case studies of exemplary public library services.Design/methodology/approachNearly 10,000 Victorians and every Victorian public library was involved. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from focus groups with library users, non‐users and staff; interviews with community leaders; a random telephone survey; and an online survey of users. The statistics are complemented by documented comments from hundreds of participants.FindingsThe paper finds that Victorians place significant value in the availability of free library services in their communities. Public libraries impact powerfully on strengthening their communities, especially through information provision, access to information technology and development of computing skills, lifelong learning and education, and expansion of social networks.Practical implicationsFindings will be useful to everyone who advocates for public libraries. The methodology could serve as a model for others seeking to measure the social value of public libraries. Data specific to individual Victorian library services will be useful in planning those services.Originality/valueThis is the most comprehensive research of its kind undertaken in Australia – a “landmark” project.
Searching multimedia federated content web collections
Authors: Spink Amanda , Jansen Bernard J. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to show that federated content collections are important for providing access to multiple content repositories, including image, video, audio and Web sites.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents findings from an analysis of differences in users' Web searching patterns as they access various federated content collections. A dataset of 4,056,374 records submitted to the Dogpile.com Web meta‐search engine were analysed. An analysis was conducted of search session length, query length, number of results pages viewed, use of systems' assistance and the frequency of repeat queries.FindingsOverall, users entered two to three terms per query and examined only the first pages of results. However, findings include differences in users' access patterns to various content collections. Web, news and audio queries were longer sessions but shorter queries. More users seeking images and videos sought systems assistance.Originality/valueThis is a large‐scale original study using data from a commercial Web search engine. The paper provides a valuable comparison of different types of search – text v. audio, image, etc.