This volume examines the importance of leadership in developing an effective sustainability strategy. It defines the sustainability mindset and surveys the primary motivations, conditions, or environment(s) that cause leaders to embrace sustainable practices. As described in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8, embracing the sustainability mindset will lead to greater productivity and promote economic growth. Organized into themes of organizational operations, leadership competencies, and leadership practices, the chapters, written by contributors representing global perspectives, tackle topics such as strategy, culture, and leadership styles in developing a new form of mindfulness for leaders as well as organizations. Recognizing the need for accelerated change in organizations as well as society at large, this book presents scholars with a framework for establishing a mindset for sustainability to foster much-needed transformative leadership.

One of the most powerful tools available to an organization is its ability to create, maintain, and share knowledge and information vital to the success of the organization. From Manufacture to Mindfacture: A Relational Viable Systems Theory explores the concept of the organizational structure through the lens of the viable systems approach. Focusing particularly on human interaction and collaboration within a business setting, this research-based publication is ideally designed for use by business managers, social theorists, upper-level students, and researchers. Topics Covered The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to: Cybernetics Human Capital Intellectual Capital Knowledge Management Management Science Organizational Development Relational Viability Value Creation

This book investigates the preferences of young job seekers for different aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in comparison to other non-CSR related employer attributes. It takes into account the potential influence of cultural and socio-economic variables and provides a differentiated global perspective. In its first part the book gives an overview about the impact of CSR on employer attractiveness and explains the factors that potentially influence CSR preferences of young job seekers all over the world. In a second part the research design is outlined and employer related preferences of 4783 graduates and students coming from 22 countries across the globe are discussed. In the third part, research results are presented for different cultural clusters. The most important criteria for employer choice of respondents are reflected against the socio-economic background and against the characteristics of CSR of the countries in question. Finally, the results are summarized and implications for global employer branding are derived.

The purpose of this book is to study the association of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) with financial performance, capital structure, innovative activities, corporate risk, working capital management and accounting quality. Undoubtedly, CER has been developed into a crucial corporate issue around the world. CER has been incorporated within various sectors, countries and includes many types of activities and dimensions. A fundamental issue that is addressed in this book, is how corporate finance and accounting are affected by CER activities and how it impacts company performance. In order to analyse this interrelation, the authors focus on a sample of firms from 28 EU member countries. The purpose of this book is to study the association of CER with financial performance, capital structure, innovative activities, corporate risk, working capital management and accounting quality. The book also intends to provide useful policy recommendations as well as to offer constructive impulses for future research.

This book focuses on the legal and social aspects of corporate governance through doctrinal and empirical research papers presented at the 9th International Conference on Governance Fraud Ethics and Social Responsibility held at National Law University Delhi in 2018. The papers encompass the internal and external factors that affect the interests of a company's stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, suppliers, government regulators and management, and several other important players. The book provides better clarity on the concept of corporate governance and how it is intertwined with factors such as sustainability, social responsibility and the role of government, taxation and audit, and shareholder engagement.

The impacts of the digital transformation on society in general, and particularly on people's lives, are the subject of increasing debate among policymakers, researchers and industry. This book explores the challenges of this new revolution, identifies solutions, and demonstrates how knowledge management can enable the transition process associated with the digital transformation, guided by the principles of sustainability. Featuring contributions by experts from diverse areas of science and business - on topics ranging from the digital transformation of knowledge management in the public sector, to the creation of sustainable smart cities, regions and countries, and from using AI for business models to food security - it provides a comprehensive discourse on the digital transformation's impacts on employment, education, governance, social life, sustainability, values, the economy and democracy.

Emerging economies arguably have different socio-fiscal dynamics compared to developed economies. On one side they have the need for corporate interventions in national development, on the other hand, they do not have enough research to support the agenda. In recent times there has been a conscious effort to legislate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in some of these countries in order to bring about sustainable development. Yet, it is this legislation, which is debated among many others. This book provides its readers with a comprehensive interpretation of the various CSR perspectives in emerging economies through academic research and case studies from practice. It not only points out the challenges, the debates, but also the dynamics of implementation and the impact of such CSR spent. This book therefore is targeted both towards academics as well as practitioners in an attempt to bring about an active academic-industry interface as CSR as a management function is part of dynamic social science.

This book highlights cutting-edge ecodesign research, covering product and service design, smart manufacturing, and social perspectives in ecodesign. Featuring selected papers presented at EcoDesign 2019: 11th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, it also includes diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to foster ecodesign research and activities. In the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it addresses the need for the manufacturing industry to design innovations for sustainable value creation, taking into account technological developments, legislation, and consumer lifestyles. Further, the book discusses the concept of circular economy, which originated in Europe and aims to increase resource efficiency by shifting away from the linear economy. Focusing on product life cycle design and management, smart manufacturing, circular economy, and business strategies, and providing useful approaches and solutions to these emerging concepts, this book is intended for both researchers and practitioners working in the broad field of ecodesign and sustainability.

This book explains how the traditional paradigm of private and public organizations is changing as a result of the multiple factors that are affecting the way in which goods and services are produced, and for whom they are produced. In view of these disruptive trends, the theory of the firm needs to be updated and to some extent rethought. Moreover, diverse challenges and opportunities such as climate change, aging populations, and new public accountability requirements are necessitating novel frameworks to ensure the long-term survival of public and private organizations. Against this backdrop, the authors contribute to the debate over the firm's primary interest by proposing a new way of viewing the nature of the firm and its relationship with stakeholders. In addition, they carefully analyze the challenges and opportunities mentioned above, evaluating their significance for various important aspects of organizations through different lenses. Global in scope, the book also takes the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals into account. Accordingly, it will be of interest to all readers seeking a better understanding of the evolving nature of firms and organizations in our changing world.

This book examines the processes for the inclusion of women, and the role of women employees in Nepal's forestry bureaucracy. The book adopts a "gender lens" drawn from feminist institutionalism and is framed around the following four objectives: evaluating the effectiveness of current legislative and policy frameworks for the inclusion of women in the Nepalese forest bureaucracy; examining the dynamics of organizational culture, formal and informal institutions, and structure and agency in and around forest bureaucracy in Nepal; assessing power relations in forestry institutions focusing on influential participation of women forestry professionals in the bureaucratic structure; and gaining insights about the alternative space of feminist institutionalism in connection with women inclusive forest bureaucracy. Findings in the book inform and extend feminist institutionalism perspectives by applying it to a context which remains under explored, providing insights on the efficacy of public sector cultural change, especially as it relates to those areas within bureaucracies less in a position to adopt the changes mandated by society and principles of good governance.

This book provides a solid foundation for a comprehensive, systemic and water-centric approach to water management. Said approach integrates two performance principles essential for sustainable water use systems, namely equity and efficiency. Further, it decreases the policy space for decision-making encountered by water managers and makes it easier to arrive at reasonable solutions because of the bounded rationality inherent in its development. By combining the distributive and aggregative principles, the approach offers a transparent and autonomous structure for gathering water data and enabling stakeholder involvement. Lastly, it employs and promotes a unifying language for all types of water use systems, e.g. urban, agricultural and industrial.

This book discusses corporate citizenship, corporate responsibility and business ethics across Africa generally, and Botswana specifically. It begins by contextualizing Botswana within the broader context of Africa, using nine other countries - Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe - to provide a comparative perspective, examining the common factor: that weak legalization makes it challenging for corporate social responsibility to be actualized.From this background, the book then discusses Botswana as a key study. Botswana has been described as 'Africa's economic miracle' due to its growing economy since independence This puts it in a unique position for the implementation and study of corporate social responsibility. The interdisciplinary team of authors employ various research methods to examine the complex relationship between business, society, corporations and social justice issues.This book will be valuable reading for any academic working on corporate social responsibility in Africa, and will present an interesting insight to an often neglected area of study. France Maphosa is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Botswana. His research interests include migration and transnationalism, the sociology of entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, urban and rural livelihoods, labour studies and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Langtone Maunganidze is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. His research interests include industrial sociology, business and society, rural livelihoods and sustainable development, and entrepreneurship.

The decisions a corporation makes affect more than just its stakeholders and can have wide social, environmental, and economic consequences. This facilitates a business environment built around the practical regulations and transparency necessary to ensure ethical and responsible business practice. Corporate Social Responsibility for Valorization of Organizations is a critical scholarly resource that examines organizational management through a new perspective that considers corporate social responsibility within the relationship between companies and society. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as organizational innovation, corporate strategy, and cultural enterprises, this book is geared towards professionals, economists, students of business and finance, policy makers, and government agencies.

This book highlights cutting-edge ecodesign research, covering product and service design, smart manufacturing, and social perspectives in ecodesign. Featuring selected papers presented at EcoDesign 2019: 11th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, it also includes diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to foster ecodesign research and activities. In the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it addresses the need for the manufacturing industry to design innovations for sustainable value creation, taking into account technological developments, legislation, and consumer lifestyles. Further, the book discusses the concept of circular economy, which originated in Europe and aims to increase resource efficiency by shifting away from the linear economy. Focusing on product life cycle design and management, smart manufacturing, circular economy, and business strategies, and providing useful approaches and solutions to these emerging concepts, this book is intended for both researchers and practitioners working in the broad field of ecodesign and sustainability.

The book provides a holistic and practical approach to lean management throughout the business value chain. The lean management framework and tools demonstrate the optimal design and use of methods, tools and principles for companies and organisations. The author describes comprehensively how lean management enables companies to concentrate on value-adding activities and processes to achieve a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. A wealth of best practices, industry examples and case studies are used to reveal the diversity and opportunities of lean management methodologies, methods and principles. Moreover, the book shows how lean management principles are ultimately applied in industries like automotive, healthcare, education and services industries.

The book reports on the great improvements in the information and knowledge management due to the digitalization of the building sector. By summarizing several research projects addressing the implementation of BIM in different stages of the building process, and the definition of standards at Italian, European and international levels for managing information relying on the implementation of BIM-based processes, it showcases the efforts, especially within the Italian building sector, to build a standardized structure of information and develop tools for collecting, sharing and exchanging information between stakeholders involved in different stages of the building process, so as to enhance the storage, traceability, usability and re-usability of information management. Further, it presents an enhanced use of information that relies on the adoption of the standardized structure of information, and proposes dedicated applications for automating the process of information fruition. Lastly, it features a digital platform for different stakeholders in the building sector, such as manufacturers, producers and construction companies.

Fostering inclusive green growth in Africa means addressing existing and emerging development challenges, while efficiently managing Africa's natural capital and building resilience to environmental, social and economic risks. Although this new paradigm for development has the potential to create tremendous business opportunities, there are also challenges. This book provides empirical evidence on the conditions for the emergence of green businesses in Africa. It includes 13 case studies, which identify the determinants of small and medium-size enterprises' engagement in inclusive and sustainable growth in rural Africa, and the factors that hinder eco-innovation in business and entrepreneurial activities. Furthermore it discusses appropriate regulations and policies to stimulate the development of green business in Africa. Offering insights into the relationship between eco-innovation, labor productivity and business competitiveness in rural Africa, this book appeals to scholars, policy makers and practitioners interested in a green economy for Africa.

In the age of corporate responsibility, green technology and sustainability continue to grip the consciousness of business and academic institutions. However, development of appropriate business-driven green applications requires an awareness of best practices of the green agenda. Green Technology Applications for Enterprise and Academic Innovation addresses the importance of green technology and sustainability for technology, enterprise, and academic innovation in energy management, renewable energy, and carbon reduction strategies. This book acts as the bridge for practitioners, academia, businesses, industrialists, governmental executives, and students seeking research in this emerging area.