title: Incorporating sustainability into supply management in the automotive industry - the case of the Volkswagen AG

authors: Koplin, Julia

subjects: sustainability

abstract: Companies are perceived as important actors in the drive for sustainability. Linked to this, and in response to increasing demands from various stakeholder groups, companies start to look at their supply chain to enhance their overall sustainability profile. Two major triggers can be identified: (1) focal companies are held responsible for environmental and social problems caused by their suppliers, which become more and more important as (2) an increasing share of value is created at the supplier level. In response to such demands, companies have to find ways to incorporate environmental and social aspects into their supply (chain) management. Therefore, environmental and social standards are integrated into supply management by amending the purchasing processes. This paper presents one approach to integrate social and environmental standards into supply policy and supply management at the Volkswagen AG, a focal company of the automobile industry. Therefore, required changes of the sourcing and supply structures were identified during an action research project, and possible options adaptable for company internal integration are shown.

text: Incorporating sustainability into supply management in the automotive industry - the case of the Volkswagen AG Companies are perceived as important actors in the drive for sustainability. Linked to this, and in response to increasing demands from various stakeholder groups, companies start to look at their supply chain to enhance their overall sustainability profile. Two major triggers can be identified: (1) focal companies are held responsible for environmental and social problems caused by their suppliers, which become more and more important as (2) an increasing share of value is created at the supplier level. In response to such demands, companies have to find ways to incorporate environmental and social aspects into their supply (chain) management. Therefore, environmental and social standards are integrated into supply management by amending the purchasing processes. This paper presents one approach to integrate social and environmental standards into supply policy and supply management at the Volkswagen AG, a focal company of the automobile industry. Therefore, required changes of the sourcing and supply structures were identified during an action research project, and possible options adaptable for company internal integration are shown.

year: 2007

title: Diversity of New Zealand Deep-sea Amphipoda

authors: Knox, Matthew Andrew

subjects: Challenger Plateau

abstract: Biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary processes which influence faunal distributions are poorly understood in deep-sea habitats. This thesis assesses diversity of deep-sea amphipod crustaceans at three taxonomic levels (family, species, genetic) on continental margins of New Zealand relative to environmental variables. Sampling was undertaken at 20 stations located on Chatham Rise and Challenger Plateau, two major geomorphic features with contrasting environmental conditions.

In Chapter 1, total diversity of the >12,500 amphipods assessed at the family-level revealed high abundance (range: 44 – 2074 individuals 1000 m⁻²) and taxonomic richness (27 families). Amphipod assemblages at all stations were largely dominated by the same families. Chatham Rise stations were mostly similar in family composition to one another and to the two closest Challenger Plateau stations. Overall, amphipod community composition correlated most strongly with surface chlorophyll a, suggesting strong benthic-pelagic coupling.

In Chapter 2, I used molecular methods (COI DNA sequence thresholds of 6%) to estimate species diversity in the dominant amphipod family identified from Chapter 1 - the Phoxocephalidae. Analyses revealed 49 putative species-level taxa, which greatly exceeds the current number (n=17) of formally described New Zealand phoxocephalid species. A cluster of stations with highly similar taxa was identified, broadly distributed over the crest of the Chatham Rise, in association with elevated food availability. Similar to the family-level analyses of Chapter 1 multivariate analysis of phoxocephalid assemblages and environmental parameters revealed a strong correlation with measures of food supply. Analyses of inter-station assemblages revealed a major split between regions, indicating minimal overlap in taxon distributions on eastern and western continental margins.

Chapter 3 examined genetic connectivity among deep-sea habitats. A phylogenetic analyses of three relatively abundant and widespread taxa; cf. Ampelisca chiltoni, cf. Oediceroides apicalis and Phoxocephalidae sp., was combined with available genetic data from a further 61 taxa collected from the same stations, to examine mean levels of inter-station genetic divergences. Nearly identical levels of genetic divergence were found between eastern and western regions for all three taxa. Furthermore, inter-station analysis of the wider amphipod community revealed similar patterns of genetic structure in most taxa. Based on molecular clock estimates, genetic divergences most likely corresponded to isolation following landmass changes during the Pleistocene.

This thesis research has revealed a biodiversity hotspot on New Zealand continental margins. I conclude that Cook Strait and the subtropical front are important structures responsible for shaping benthic communities on New Zealand continental margins and that vicariance is likely to have played an important role in the evolutionary radiation of the New Zealand deep-sea fauna.

text: Diversity of New Zealand Deep-sea Amphipoda Biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary processes which influence faunal distributions are poorly understood in deep-sea habitats. This thesis assesses diversity of deep-sea amphipod crustaceans at three taxonomic levels (family, species, genetic) on continental margins of New Zealand relative to environmental variables. Sampling was undertaken at 20 stations located on Chatham Rise and Challenger Plateau, two major geomorphic features with contrasting environmental conditions.

In Chapter 1, total diversity of the >12,500 amphipods assessed at the family-level revealed high abundance (range: 44 – 2074 individuals 1000 m⁻²) and taxonomic richness (27 families). Amphipod assemblages at all stations were largely dominated by the same families. Chatham Rise stations were mostly similar in family composition to one another and to the two closest Challenger Plateau stations. Overall, amphipod community composition correlated most strongly with surface chlorophyll a, suggesting strong benthic-pelagic coupling.

In Chapter 2, I used molecular methods (COI DNA sequence thresholds of 6%) to estimate species diversity in the dominant amphipod family identified from Chapter 1 - the Phoxocephalidae. Analyses revealed 49 putative species-level taxa, which greatly exceeds the current number (n=17) of formally described New Zealand phoxocephalid species. A cluster of stations with highly similar taxa was identified, broadly distributed over the crest of the Chatham Rise, in association with elevated food availability. Similar to the family-level analyses of Chapter 1 multivariate analysis of phoxocephalid assemblages and environmental parameters revealed a strong correlation with measures of food supply. Analyses of inter-station assemblages revealed a major split between regions, indicating minimal overlap in taxon distributions on eastern and western continental margins.

Chapter 3 examined genetic connectivity among deep-sea habitats. A phylogenetic analyses of three relatively abundant and widespread taxa; cf. Ampelisca chiltoni, cf. Oediceroides apicalis and Phoxocephalidae sp., was combined with available genetic data from a further 61 taxa collected from the same stations, to examine mean levels of inter-station genetic divergences. Nearly identical levels of genetic divergence were found between eastern and western regions for all three taxa. Furthermore, inter-station analysis of the wider amphipod community revealed similar patterns of genetic structure in most taxa. Based on molecular clock estimates, genetic divergences most likely corresponded to isolation following landmass changes during the Pleistocene.

This thesis research has revealed a biodiversity hotspot on New Zealand continental margins. I conclude that Cook Strait and the subtropical front are important structures responsible for shaping benthic communities on New Zealand continental margins and that vicariance is likely to have played an important role in the evolutionary radiation of the New Zealand deep-sea fauna.

year: 2012

title: He Paiaka Totara: Māori Psychologists Wānanga, report to Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

authors: Waitoki, Waikaremoana

abstract: Sustainability for the growing number of Māori psychologists depends on a resilient system that reflects the centrality of Māori knowledge, tikanga, kawa and moemoea. Paiaka refers to whakapapa, identity, roots and connectedness. As Māori psychologists how we might use this term with Māori whānau and each other differs according to our own unique skills and abilities - our pūmanawa. (He Paiaka wānanga, August, 29, 2015).

text: He Paiaka Totara: Māori Psychologists Wānanga, report to Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Sustainability for the growing number of Māori psychologists depends on a resilient system that reflects the centrality of Māori knowledge, tikanga, kawa and moemoea. Paiaka refers to whakapapa, identity, roots and connectedness. As Māori psychologists how we might use this term with Māori whānau and each other differs according to our own unique skills and abilities - our pūmanawa. (He Paiaka wānanga, August, 29, 2015).

year: 2016