Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship

Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship PDF Author: Subhash C. Jain
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9780857933256
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
It is apparent that environmental issues affect the livelihoods and well being of individuals, communities and businesses the world over. In that vein, this book examines the impact that climate change and other environmental factors have on business. The effect of climate change, while a significant factor, will influence business slowly, but inexorably. Executives should manage environmental risk at three levels: regulatory compliance, potential liability from industrial accidents, and pollutant release mitigation.Companies that are proactive in mitigating their exposure to climate-change risks will not only generate new profitable opportunities, but also gain competitive advantage over their rivals in a carbon-constrained future. Enhancing Global Competitiveness through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship provides frameworks for identifying how climate change might affect a business, and suggests strategy guidelines to manage the risks and seek opportunities.This seminal collection of research will be of particular interest to students and scholars of sustainability studies, business and management, and business professionals concerned with the role they will play in the changing and challenging times that lie ahead for business growth and environmental consciousness.

Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship

Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship PDF Author: Subhash C. Jain
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9780857933256
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book

Book Description
It is apparent that environmental issues affect the livelihoods and well being of individuals, communities and businesses the world over. In that vein, this book examines the impact that climate change and other environmental factors have on business. The effect of climate change, while a significant factor, will influence business slowly, but inexorably. Executives should manage environmental risk at three levels: regulatory compliance, potential liability from industrial accidents, and pollutant release mitigation.Companies that are proactive in mitigating their exposure to climate-change risks will not only generate new profitable opportunities, but also gain competitive advantage over their rivals in a carbon-constrained future. Enhancing Global Competitiveness through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship provides frameworks for identifying how climate change might affect a business, and suggests strategy guidelines to manage the risks and seek opportunities.This seminal collection of research will be of particular interest to students and scholars of sustainability studies, business and management, and business professionals concerned with the role they will play in the changing and challenging times that lie ahead for business growth and environmental consciousness.

Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship

Enhancing Global Competitiveness Through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship PDF Author: Subhash C. Jain
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 0857933256
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book

Book Description
It is apparent that environmental issues affect the livelihoods and well being of individuals, communities and businesses the world over. In that vein, this book examines the impact that climate change and other environmental factors have on business. The effect of climate change, while a significant factor, will influence business slowly, but inexorably. Executives should manage environmental risk at three levels: regulatory compliance, potential liability from industrial accidents, and pollutant release mitigation.Companies that are proactive in mitigating their exposure to climate-change risks will not only generate new profitable opportunities, but also gain competitive advantage over their rivals in a carbon-constrained future. Enhancing Global Competitiveness through Sustainable Environmental Stewardship provides frameworks for identifying how climate change might affect a business, and suggests strategy guidelines to manage the risks and seek opportunities.This seminal collection of research will be of particular interest to students and scholars of sustainability studies, business and management, and business professionals concerned with the role they will play in the changing and challenging times that lie ahead for business growth and environmental consciousness.

Emerging Markets and the Future of the BRIC Nations

Emerging Markets and the Future of the BRIC Nations PDF Author: Kelly Aceto
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1783479760
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
In 2008, it appeared that the BRIC nations’ economies would continue to provide growth opportunities for businesses of all kinds. After a decade of unprecedented growth, however, Brazil, Russia, India, and China have unexpectedly slowed. In this innovative book, expert contributors diagnose and examine the factors that might be responsible for the changing trends in the BRIC and other emerging market economies and that may determine the future course of these economies and their prospects for sustained growth. This volume offers valuable insights into a wide range of issues pertaining to emerging economies that demand the attention of researchers and practitioners. In particular, contributors explore topics such as the importance of innovation, internationalization trends of emerging market firms, sustainability and social issues, market liberalization and entrepreneurship, consumer behavior and customer relations. Rigorous scholarly research, including empirical work, and perspectives from emerging markets make this an essential resource for doctoral students, business academics and executives, and politicians and policy makers involved in developing nations and their economies.

Strategic information systems management for environmental sustainability : enhancing firm competitiveness with Green IS

Strategic information systems management for environmental sustainability : enhancing firm competitiveness with Green IS PDF Author: Löser, Fabian
Publisher: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin
ISBN: 3798327696
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
During the last three decades, information and communication technologies have fundamentally changed the way we work, live and communicate. The ubiquity of internet services, which become increasingly interactive and complex, together with enhanced connectivity, facilitated by innovative mobile devices, induces an ever-rising demand for computing, storage and data transmission capacities. Today, information systems (IS) constitute the backbone of the globalized economy and are indispensable for modern business and production processes. At the same time, environmental sustainability has evolved as the most pressing societal challenge of the 21st century, in particular due to the looming threats of climate change. By virtue of their global influence and reach, business companies significantly contribute to the creation of environmental problems, but owing to their organizational knowledge, capabilities and resources, they also have the capacity and ability to play a key role in shaping the path towards a more sustainable development. The companies leading the way have noticed that corporate sustainability is not necessarily a burden that negatively impacts their bottom line. If strategically managed, environmental product and process innovations can decrease operational costs, enhance corporate reputation, and differentiate from competitors. With regard to environmental sustainability, IS play a contradictory role: on the one hand, the manufacturing, operation and disposal of information technology (IT) infrastructure are responsible for serious environmental impacts: from the mining of conflict minerals to carbon dioxide emissions that equal those of the airline industry to enormous amounts of toxic e-waste. On the other hand, IS are perceived as key enablers of a "green" economy: environmental management systems and the reengineering of business processes can substantially reduce the environmental impacts of business organizations, while technological innovations provide opportunities to decrease the ecological footprint of end-user products and services. Many organizations have started to implement first environmental measures to decrease IT energy consumption and to reduce operational costs, mostly in an unstructured and uncoordinated manner though. Although Green IS practices feature a considerable potential to increase corporate environmentalism while creating promising business opportunities, the adoption of enterprise-wide cross-functional initiatives aimed at implementing Green IS has been rather slow. Economic uncertainties regarding the long-term effects of Green IS adoption and the lack of appropriate management frameworks have been identified as main inhibitors of an encompassing implementation of Green IS initiatives throughout the enterprise. In this context, this thesis addresses relevant research gaps, contributes to theory development in the evolving Green IS research discipline, develops practice-oriented management frameworks, and emphasizes the importance of following a strategic approach to leverage the competitive potential of Green IS. This cumulative thesis comprises an introduction that includes a literature review and a pre-study, four theory-based conceptual research articles, and two empirical studies, one of them building on qualitative, exploratory case study research whereas the other relies on quantitative data which has been analyzed with structural equation modeling. This thesis targets four specific research goals to advance theory-building in Green IS research and to promote the adoption of Green IS in practice. First, this thesis clarifies and defines the central terms and key concepts Green IT, Green IS, Green IS strategy, and Green IS practices drawing on a transdisciplinary research approach. Second, the most important challenges and inhibitors of Green IS adoption are identified and characterized. In particular, the lack of management frameworks, which encourage a holistic implementation that follows a strategic rationale, the complexity of strategic Green IS alignment, the multi-dimensional performance impacts of cross-functional initiatives and, above all, the uncertainty relating to the business case of Green IS practices, are identified as the most pressing challenges. Third, current actions of business firms to address these challenges are examined. Building on exploratory case study research, distinctive Green IS strategies are identified in managerial practice. Most notably, the empirical insights from quantitative survey research suggest a positive relationship between Green IS adoption and firm competitiveness, thus decreasing the economic uncertainty which inhibits the implementation of far-reaching environmental initiatives. Fourth, practice-oriented management frameworks are developed. The fine-grained Green IS strategy concept advises the formulation of strategies addressing the corporate, competitive, and functional management level. The proposed typology of four Green IS strategies illustrates distinct strategic options, from which executives can choose under consideration of their competitive targets and the firm-specific context. To allow for consistency of Green IS strategies, the presented alignment framework facilitates coherence with economic and environmental corporate goals. Furthermore, the actors, roles and responsibilities relevant to the alignment process are described. In addition, a management framework for the holistic adoption of Green IS, which specifies decisive management areas and distinguishes between three degrees of environmental impacts, is presented along with a comprehensive catalogue of Green IS implementation measures. As a consequence, this research offers both empirical insights and conceptual models to advance the adoption of Green IS initiatives, thus meeting the challenges of climate change and turning corporate sustainability into a business opportunity. Informationssysteme (IS) zeigen in Bezug auf ökologische Nachhaltigkeit gegensätzliche Eigenschaften. Einerseits verursachen die Herstellung, der Betrieb sowie die Entsorgung von Informationstechnologie (IT) – Infrastrukturen schwerwiegende negative Umweltauswirkungen: Vom Abbau von Konfliktmineralien über Kohlendioxidemissionen bis hin zu beträchtlichen Mengen giftigen Elektroschrotts. Andererseits werden IS als Schlüsseltechnologien für eine nachhaltige Wirtschaft gesehen. Umweltmanagementsysteme und die Umgestaltung von Geschäftsprozessen können den ökologischen Fußabdruck von Organisationen bedeutend verringern. Zudem eröffnen technologische Innovationen neuartige Möglichkeiten, die Umweltauswirkungen von Produkten und Dienstleistungen über den gesamten Lebenszyklus hinweg zu senken. Zahlreiche Organisationen haben damit begonnen, einzelne Green-IT-Maßnahmen zu implementieren um den Energieverbrauch und operative Kosten zu senken. Allerdings verfolgen die meisten Unternehmen hierbei keinen strukturierten oder strategischen Ansatz. Obwohl Green-IS-Initiativen beachtliche Potentiale zur Verbesserung der ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit von Organisationen bieten und gleichzeitig vielversprechende wirtschaftliche Chancen eröffnen, schreitet die Umsetzung von bereichsübergreifenden Green-IS-Maßnahmen in Unternehmen nur langsam voran. Ökonomische Unsicherheiten in Bezug auf die Rentabilität derartiger Maßnahmen sowie der Mangel an adäquaten Management-Frameworks werden in diesem Zusammenhang als zentrale Hinderungsgründe für eine strategische und ganzheitliche Umsetzung von Green-IS-Initiativen identifiziert. Diese Dissertation adressiert diese Hinderungsgründe, schafft Schlüsselkonzepte für den neuen Green-IS-Forschungszweig, entwickelt praxisorientierte Management-Frameworks und hebt die Bedeutung eines strategischen Ansatzes bei der Implementierung von Green IS hervor. Diese Forschungsarbeit offeriert empirische Einblicke wie auch konzeptionelle Modelle um die Umsetzung ganzheitlicher Green-IS-Initiativen in Organisationen voranzutreiben. Unternehmen haben somit die Chance, den Herausforderungen des Klimawandels verantwortungsvoll zu begegnen und gleichzeitig durch eine nachhaltige Unternehmensführung Wettbewerbsvorteile zu generieren.

Restoring America�s Global Competitiveness through Innovation

Restoring America�s Global Competitiveness through Innovation PDF Author: Ben L. Kedia
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781005958
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
America is at the frontier of modern technological and scientific advances and sustaining economic growth depends substantially on its ability to advance that frontier. This insightful book provides some important ideas to enhance this process. The con

Emerging Dynamics of Sustainability in Multinational Enterprises

Emerging Dynamics of Sustainability in Multinational Enterprises PDF Author: John R. McIntyre
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 178471853X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Economic development that meets the needs of the global population without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations is a worldwide challenge for multinational enterprises (MNEs). They are expected to balance their role as global economic actors and environmental stewards in the environment in which they operate. Contributors from India, Europe and the United States offer new perspectives, contrasting US, European and emerging economies’ approaches to sustainability, and how they can generate roadmaps which yield innovative solutions for one of the most contentious issues of our era. Their review suggests that the differential performance across developed and emerging economies has exposed potential weaknesses. Emerging Dynamics of Sustainability in Multinational Enterprises promotes greater emphasis on experimenting with unique local and sustainable approaches to solving problems faced by firms in, or from, emerging economies. This is a critical resource for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers concerned with sustainable development issues, and a fresh reference for graduate level students and academics focusing on corporate governance, sustainable development and ethics, as well as multinational enterprise management.

Business and Environmental Sustainability

Business and Environmental Sustainability PDF Author: Sigrun M. Wagner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351803158
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Environmental sustainability is increasingly important to organisations, whether for regulatory, financial or ethical reasons. Business and Environmental Sustainability looks at the environmental aspect of sustainability for all organisations pursuing competitive advantage. The book provides theoretical foundations from science, economics, policy and strategy, introduces three environmental challenges (climate change, pollution and waste) and looks at how corporate functions can address these. This textbook provides a thorough foundation by introducing readers to the science, reasoning and theory behind environmental sustainability and then delves into how these ideas translate into principles and business models for organisations to use. Next, it covers environmental challenges from climate change, pollution and waste, and then goes on to examine the different corporate functions (from supply chain management to human resources) to illustrate how environmental sustainability is managed and put into practice in organisations. Finally, a set of integrative case studies draws everything together and enables the reader to apply various analytical tools, with the aim of understanding how companies can not only reduce their environmental footprint but can positively contribute to environmental sustainability. Written by an award-winning lecturer, Business and Environmental Sustainability boasts a wealth of pedagogical features, including examples from a range of industries and countries, plus a companion website with slides, quiz questions and instructor material. This will be a valuable text for students of business, management and environmental sustainability and will also be suitable for broader courses on corporate responsibility and sustainability across environmental studies, political science and engineering.

International Business

International Business PDF Author: Alan Sitkin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199646961
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
Offering a refreshingly critical perspective, this text presents a balanced & concise account of the challenges & opportunities of international business. Extensive use of international case examples, demonstrating both good & bad practice, provides students with a realistic depiction of international business.

Sustainability in Accounting Education

Sustainability in Accounting Education PDF Author: Maria Cadiz Dyball
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317674278
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Accounting sustainably involves accounting for and to the natural environment, and accounting for and to society, including groups currently oppressed or disadvantaged by unsustainable processes and practices. This book creates a compelling case for the inclusion of sustainability at the heart of accounting educational programmes, offering critical lessons and identifying risks to avoid when designing accounting programmes and courses. Accounting sustainability has moved from the side-lines of policy discourses, accounting institutions, professional accounting practices, and research activities into the mainstream. The chapters in this proposed book engage in a critical dialogue to facilitate change in accounting education for sustainability. They dispel the myth that accounting for sustainability is an oxymoron, bad for business, unrelated to practice, or contrary to professional accounting bodies’ accreditation requirements. This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education.

Collective Knowledge Management

Collective Knowledge Management PDF Author: Haruo H. Horaguchi
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1783473231
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Human beings create knowledge as a result of interaction with others. This book is devoted to the idea that collective knowledge management can be strategically promoted through these interactions in order to enhance a firm�s competitiveness. Ha