scholarly journals Cooperating With “Open Cards”—The Role of Small Intermediary Businesses in Realizing Sustainable International Coffee Supply

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Weber ◽  
Arnim Wiek

Despite improvements, international food supply in general and coffee supply in particular continue to cause significant greenhouse gas emissions, economic inequities, and negative impacts on human well-being. There is agreement that dominant economic paradigms need to change to comply with the sustainability principles of environmental integrity, economic resilience, and social equity. However, so far, little empirical evidence has been generated to what extent and under which conditions sustainable international coffee supply could be realized through small intermediary businesses such as roasteries, breweries, and/or retailers. This case study reports on a collaborative project between a small coffee brewery and its customers in the U.S. and a small coffee roastery and its suppliers in Mexico that demonstrates how sustainable coffee supply could look like and explores under which conditions it can be realized. A research team facilitated the cooperation using a transdisciplinary research approach, including field visits and stakeholder workshops. The project (i) assessed the sustainability challenges of the current supply and value chains; (ii) developed a vision of a joint sustainable coffee supply chain; (iii) build a strategy to achieve this vision, and (iv) piloted the implementation of the strategy. We discuss the project results against the conditions for sustainable international coffee supply offered in the literature (why they were fulfilled, or not). Overall, the study suggests that small intermediary coffee businesses might have the potential to infuse sustainability across their supply chain if cooperating with “open cards.” The findings confirm some and add some conditions, including economic resilience through cooperation, problem recognition, transparency, trust, and solidarity across the supply chain. The study concludes with reflections on study limitations and future research needs.

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 754-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. DeMatthews ◽  
D. Brent Edwards ◽  
Rodolfo Rincones

Research Approach: This in-depth qualitative case study explores one school leader’s enactment of social justice leadership in an elementary school in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Analysis of interviews and observations revealed how this leader adapted her leadership to prioritize the severe needs of families and students in one of the world’s most violent cities. Findings: The article describes how the leader made sense of the community and its needs. Then, it examines how the leader enacted social justice leadership by addressing the out-of-school challenges that affected student achievement and well-being. Consequently, the leader’s focus shifted toward meaningful family engagement through adult education, community advocacy, and critical questioning of the status quo. Implications: Implications for future research, theory, and administrator preparation programs are presented at the conclusion of the article.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nelson Chan

<p>The following study explores and investigates the current methods New Zealand (NZ) Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) firms use to enable effective BIM coordination in their projects. The purpose was to gain and contribute knowledge of the various methods for successful BIM delivery, as well, as to bridge the gap between academia and industry for a greater understanding of BIM use in an NZ context.  A qualitative research approach was carried out and comprised of semi-structured interviews in which eight industry participants across the design-to-construction supply chain were selected and interviewed. From the results, the different methods identified were: BIM-to-fabrication; change of procurement methods; and incorporating BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) plugin platforms. These methods identified contribute to knowledge for future researchers to undertake; predominantly to provide direction and recommendations to explore each method in an NZ industry context further.  Further discussions of the results identify that although the different methods can contribute to better BIM coordination, the success of a BIM model to be delivered effectively is dependent on two significant factors. The factors are; firstly, to capture the BIM requirements and needs of the client to establish well-defined deliverables in the BEP; and secondly, to ensure that the project team are to understand their role and responsibilities right throughout the project. This was a crucial finding in this thesis as although the methods are effective in enabling greater BIM coordination; ultimately it comes down to BIM understanding and expertise from key project stakeholders; which brings the notion of the issue back to the root of the problem. Other key findings from this thesis indicate a positive future for BIM within the NZ AEC industry, with many of the participant firms recognised to be proactive and open to incorporating BIM into their projects. Though the signs are encouraging, discussions with industry participants still express their concerns on needing to align the understanding of BIM between key project stakeholders. Therefore, an education piece which focuses on the client and their understanding of BIM in an NZ context is suggested for future research. This thesis also presents academia with valuable industry BIM workflow diagrams which the author has either illustrated or been provided by participants.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-245
Author(s):  
Fiona N'Dower ◽  
Gianna Moscardo ◽  
Laurie Murphy

Many governments and NGOs have argued for using tourism, especially community-based tourism (CBT), as a development tool. While this tourism option is often described as more sustainable in terms of contributions to destination community well-being, there is only a limited understanding of the processes that actually underpin CBT and its outcomes in peripheral destinations. This article argues that one reason for this limited understanding is that research into CBT has typically been conducted from a Western perspective with little consideration given to historical and political contexts of colonization and disempowerment. This article reports on a research study that used an alternative, culturally appropriate research methodology with 12 rural PNG villages that had self-initiated CBT ventures and that specifically sought to give these village communities a voice in understanding how CBT can be developed to be one part of larger sustainable community development processes. Major findings included: a positive view of tourism as an additional source of income that fitted well with existing sustainable livelihoods; strong connection between development decisions and the core Melanesian values of clan identity, leadership, and support from elders, community cooperation and reciprocity in the successful maintenance of tourism activities; the need to manage the entire supply chain and not be limited by the actions and power of external tourism operators and agents; the need for education and training in many aspects of tourism to enhance entrepreneurial approaches and greater returns from the supply chain; and the challenge of gender issues.


Author(s):  
Wesley S. Boyce

The evolving field of supply chain management is rooted in the premise that traditionally independent firms need to work together in order to achieve supply chain success. This article outlines supply chain collaboration, which is a critical strategy for the field of supply chain management. While firms have traditionally operated in a manner that only considers their own well-being, a transition is occurring where open market relationships are diminishing and cooperation, coordination, and collaboration are becoming much more common. There are several key dimensions of collaboration that serve as drivers to its success, and firms that engage in these activities should experience closer relationships with channel partners and ultimately achieve higher levels of success. While this issue has been thoroughly covered in the logistics and supply chain management literature, its limited implementation and lack of widespread success provides evidence that the topic should continue to be a focal point in future research.


Author(s):  
Miguel Gastón Cedillo-Campos ◽  
A. Bueno-Solano ◽  
R. G. González-Ramírez ◽  
E. Jiménez-Sánchez ◽  
G. Pérez-Salas

Contemporary prosperity depends on effective and secure supply chain networks that support economic competitiveness. Disruptions in global supply chains would have critical consequences on economies. The lack of technical studies and quantitative data concerning security that affects supply chain operations in Latin America, motivated to develop an exploratory study. Considering the complexity of the question studied, this paper details a set of case studies that explore, from a qualitative research approach, to what extent fulfilling security international standards now necessary to access mature markets such as the U.S and Canada allows export companies located in emerging countries as Mexico to face effectively the different types and levels of local risk. These results should help both academics and practitioners to more readily understand, first, the key logistics components now taken into account when improving security in export-oriented supply chains is required, and second, decision-makers' perspectives regarding supply chain security standards (SCSS) available on the market. A discussion of results is exposed and finally, discussion and future research are presented.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Li ◽  
Zelong Yi

Purpose This paper aims to generate novel insights in supply chain management by reviewing studies related to counterfeiting and piracy issues with a particular emphasis on theoretical works. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of more than 100 peer-reviewed academic papers is conducted. The authors first introduce the social acceptance of counterfeiting and piracy to explain the existence of these illegal products. After that, they focus on the negative effect of counterfeiting and piracy on supply chain management and society while mentioning their positive and normative effects carefully under certain circumstances. Findings People have been attempting to reveal the impacts of counterfeiting and piracy on customers, licit firms, industry sectors, governments and the society as a whole. The negative impacts of counterfeiting and piracy on legal firms and licit supply chains is examined thoroughly in the literature; however, benefits from counterfeiting and piracy are also pointed out. Additionally, researchers are interested in firms’ reactions toward this phenomenon. Based on heuristics from the above analysis, it is fruitful to conduct this research in a theme of supply chain management. Originality/value Most studies on counterfeiting and piracy are not from a supply chain management perspective and mainly focus on their effect on consumers or a single firm. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of few studies that incorporate the key aspects of counterfeiting and piracy into supply chain management and also highlight several important directions for future research in the sense of supply chain.


Author(s):  
Wesley S. Boyce

The evolving field of supply chain management is rooted in the premise that traditionally independent firms need to work together in order to achieve supply chain success. This article outlines supply chain collaboration, which is a critical strategy for the field of supply chain management. While firms have traditionally operated in a manner that only considers their own well-being, a transition is occurring where open market relationships are diminishing and cooperation, coordination, and collaboration are becoming much more common. There are several key dimensions of collaboration that serve as drivers to its success, and firms that engage in these activities should experience closer relationships with channel partners and ultimately achieve higher levels of success. While this issue has been thoroughly covered in the logistics and supply chain management literature, its limited implementation and lack of widespread success provides evidence that the topic should continue to be a focal point in future research.


Author(s):  
Miguel Gastón Cedillo-Campos ◽  
A. Bueno-Solano ◽  
R. G. González-Ramírez ◽  
E. Jiménez-Sánchez ◽  
G. Pérez-Salas

Contemporary prosperity depends on effective and secure supply chain networks that support economic competitiveness. Disruptions in global supply chains would have critical consequences on economies. The lack of technical studies and quantitative data concerning security that affects supply chain operations in Latin America, motivated to develop an exploratory study. Considering the complexity of the question studied, this paper details a set of case studies that explore, from a qualitative research approach, to what extent fulfilling security international standards now necessary to access mature markets such as the U.S and Canada allows export companies located in emerging countries as Mexico to face effectively the different types and levels of local risk. These results should help both academics and practitioners to more readily understand, first, the key logistics components now taken into account when improving security in export-oriented supply chains is required, and second, decision-makers' perspectives regarding supply chain security standards (SCSS) available on the market. A discussion of results is exposed and finally, discussion and future research are presented.


Author(s):  
Martina Artmann ◽  
Katharina Sartison ◽  
Christopher D. Ives

AbstractUrbanization is increasingly compromising residents’ connection to natural habitats and landscapes. With established relationships between human–nature connection (HNC) and pro-environmental behaviour and human well being, there are calls for effective interventions to strengthen HNC in urban settings. However, much of this research has operationalised HNC in narrow psychological terms. Based on an embodied framework of urban human–food connection (HFC) as a specific dimension of HNC, this article explores the role of active urban gardening in promoting different types of internal and external HFC and their link with pro-environmental food behaviour (PEFB). Based on a quantitative survey in Germany addressing vegetable gardeners in Munich (N = 254), a principal component analysis extracted four components of HFC comprising external body-related HFC (i.e. immediate urban garden-body activities: food harvesting and experiential food interaction) and internal mind-related HFC (i.e. immediate urban garden-mind activities including food discovery as well as food consciousness). These were found to be statistically related to one another. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that food consciousness through concerns on food consumption and environmental impacts as well as food as part of life attitude as an internal HFC is the sole predictor of PEFB. The study suggests an embodied HFC model emphasizing the need for local body- and mind-based nature connections for fostering earth stewardship. Future research should explore the relationship between inner dimensions of nature connectedness and external behavioural change to enable transformations towards sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6679
Author(s):  
Iva Jurov ◽  
Nicola Keay ◽  
Vedran Hadžić ◽  
Samo Rauter

Low energy availability in athletes is an insufficiently researched phenomenon due to lack of a universal methodology. Current objective and subjective methods for assessing low energy availability lack in accuracy, are not used with a standardized approach and fail to provide comparable, consistent results. Research in male athletes is even more challenging than in females. It is still not known what the threshold for low energy availability is when negative effects on health and performance occur. This is why in this paper a two-way standardized, systematic and controlled protocol for inducing low energy availability in free-living athletes is proposed. Ways of inducing low energy availability in athletes are described with a systematic approach to ensure accurate results. We suggest this is how new tools for assessing low energy availability can be developed with less burden on the athlete and the scientist. Analysis of each proposed protocol provides a rationale for their use. Future research directions are suggested for determining the threshold for low energy availability and determining the critical duration for its negative effects. Finally, we suggest a practical outcome of using the proposed research approach for health practitioners and coaches in order to protect athlete’s well-being.


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