scholarly journals Review of Online Food Delivery Platforms and their Impacts on Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlene Li ◽  
Miranda Mirosa ◽  
Phil Bremer

During the global 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, the advantages of online food delivery (FD) were obvious, as it facilitated consumer access to prepared meals and enabled food providers to keep operating. However, online FD is not without its critics, with reports of consumer and restaurant boycotts. It is, therefore, time to take stock and consider the broader impacts of online FD, and what they mean for the stakeholders involved. Using the three pillars of sustainability as a lens through which to consider the impacts, this review presents the most up-to-date research in this field, revealing a raft of positive and negative impacts. From an economic standpoint, while online FD provides job and sale opportunities, it has been criticized for the high commission it charges restaurants and questionable working conditions for delivery people. From a social perspective, online FD affects the relationship between consumers and their food, as well as influencing public health outcomes and traffic systems. Environmental impacts include the significant generation of waste and its high carbon footprints. Moving forward, stakeholders must consider how best to mitigate the negative and promote the positive impacts of online FD to ensure that it is sustainable in every sense.

Author(s):  
Charlene li ◽  
Miranda Mirosa ◽  
Phil Bremer

In the midst of the global 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, the advantages of online food delivery (FD) were obvious as it facilitated consumer access to prepared meals and enabled food providers to keep operating. However, online FD is not without its critics, with reports of consumer and restaurant boycotts. It is therefore time to take stock and consider the broader impacts of online FD and what they mean for the stakeholders involved. Using the three pillars of sustainability as a lens through which to consider the impacts, this review presents the most up-to-date research in this field revealing a raft of positive and negative impacts. From an economic standpoint, online FD while providing job and sale opportunities has been criticized for high commissions it charges restaurants and questionable working conditions for delivery people. From a social perspective, online FD is affecting the relationship between consumers and their food as well as influencing public health outcomes and traffic systems. Environmental impacts include the generation of worrying amounts of waste and its high carbon footprints. Stakeholders must consider how best to mitigate the negative and promote the positive impacts of online FD to ensure that it is sustainable, in every sense, moving forward.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194277862110101
Author(s):  
Prachi Metawala ◽  
Kathrin Golda-Pongratz ◽  
Clara Irazábal

In his 1872 The housing question, Friedrich Engels addressed the housing problems faced by the proletarian migrant workers in major industrial centres. He asserted that they could only be solved by first resolving their harsh working conditions in the capitalist mode of mass production. Presently, with transnational migrant flows to urban centres and the mass acceptance of the digital platform economy, the housing question manifests itself, among other expressions, in the case of immigrants working in this digital contract-based market. While the platform economy provides immigrants with quick access into a host country’s labour market, the income insecurity and high risks associated with such work put them in a state of precariousness. Through the framework of Engels’ proposed action lines and analysis of observations and interviews with immigrant riders working for the food delivery platforms Glovo and Deliveroo, the paper highlights the negative impacts that this contemporary capitalist model of work, the municipal housing plan and the ongoing Covid-19 crisis have on the immigrant riders’ residential and working conditions in Barcelona, Spain, a city facing a severe rental housing shortage. Lastly, it suggests that, while the social market economy in Spain can be reformed to ameliorate the negative impacts of the platform economy on immigrant riders, bridging the gap between immigrant housing provision and employment inclusion would need to consider decent labour and housing as rights for residents, immigrants included, asserting the currency of Engels’ ideas.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
Priyanka ◽  
Ipshita Bansal

As per the current condition of environment degradation, most of the higher education institutions are working on making the campus green and implementing sustainability in curriculum as well as working of institution. The current study focuses on green management of campuses of private universities of Haryana on operational aspect of institution and determine the best practices that were adopted and should be adopted in order to implement sustainability processes. Green management means the integration of principle of Management and environment management that form the relationship between environment and management. The data is collected from, private universities of Haryana through studying the documents, website and interview of competent authority of universities. Based on the research, concept of green campus has been purposed which involve the smart sharing of resources, development of green buildings and reducing the use of transportation and carbon footprints. In addition, the study also conclude that sustainability and green management should be made the integral part of the attitude of students, scholars and staff members for making the campus green. So, the best practices should be adopted across various area of institution for making the environment sustainable green campus and forming the positive attitude of students and staff members towards sustainability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-272
Author(s):  
Venelin Terziev ◽  
Preslava Dimitrova

The social policy of a country is a set of specific activities aimed at regulating the social relations between different in their social status subjects. This approach to clarifying social policy is also called functional and essentially addresses social policy as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality in society. It provides an opportunity to look for inequalities in the economic positions of individuals in relation to ownership, labor and working conditions, distribution of income and consumption, social security and health, to look for the sources of these inequalities and their social justification or undue application.The modern state takes on social functions that seek to regulate imbalances, to protect weak social positions and prevent the disintegration of the social system. It regulates the processes in society by harmonizing interests and opposing marginalization. Every modern country develops social activities that reflect the specifics of a particular society, correspond to its economic, political and cultural status. They are the result of political decisions aimed at directing and regulating the process of adaptation of the national society to the transformations of the market environment. Social policy is at the heart of the development and governance of each country. Despite the fact that too many factors and problems affect it, it largely determines the physical and mental state of the population as well as the relationships and interrelationships between people. On the other hand, social policy allows for a more global study and solving of vital social problems of civil society. On the basis of the programs and actions of political parties and state bodies, the guidelines for the development of society are outlined. Social policy should be seen as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality between different individuals and social groups in society. Its importance is determined by the possibility of establishing on the basis of the complex approach: the economic positions of the different social groups and individuals, by determining the differences between them in terms of income, consumption, working conditions, health, etc .; to explain the causes of inequality; to look for concrete and specific measures to overcome the emerging social disparities.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 676
Author(s):  
Linzhu Wang ◽  
Zuobing Xi ◽  
Changrong Li

To investigate the modification of type B inclusions in high-carbon hard-wire steel with Ca treatment, Si-Ca alloy was added to high-carbon hard-steel, and the composition, morphology, size, quantity, and distribution of inclusions were observed. The samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The experimental thermal results showed that the modification effect of inclusion was better in high-carbon hard-wire steel with Al of 0.0053% and Ca of 0.0029% than that in steel with Al of 0.011% and Ca of 0.0052%, in which the inclusions were mainly spherical semi-liquid and liquid CA2, CA, and C12A7. The inclusion size decreased from 3.2 μm to 2.1 μm. The degree of inclusions segregation was reduced in high-carbon hard-wire steels after calcium treatment. The results indicate that the modification of inclusions is conducive to obtaining dispersed inclusions with fine size. The ratio of length to width decreased and tended to be 1 with the increase in CaO content in the inclusion. When the content of CaO was higher than 30%, the aspect ratio was in the range of 1 to 1.2. The relationship between the activity of aluminum and calcium and the inclusions type at equilibrium in high-carbon hard-wire steel was estimated using classical thermodynamics. The calculated results were consistent with the experimental results. The thermodynamic software Factsage was used to analyze the effect of aluminum and calcium additions on the type and quality of inclusions in high-carbon hard-wire steels. The modification law and mechanism of type B inclusions in high-carbon hard-wire steels are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110119
Author(s):  
Matthew Polacko

Previous research into the relationship between income inequality and turnout inequality has produced mixed results, as consensus is lacking whether inequality reduces turnout for all income groups, low-income earners, or no one. Therefore, this paper builds on this literature by introducing supply-side logic, through the first individual-level test of the impact that income inequality (moderated by policy manifesto positions) has on turnout. It does so through multilevel logistic regressions utilizing mixed effects, on a sample of 30 advanced democracies in 102 elections from 1996 to 2016. It finds that higher levels of income inequality significantly reduce turnout and widen the turnout gap between rich and poor. However, it also finds that when party systems are more polarized, low-income earners are mobilized the greatest extent coupled with higher inequality, resulting in a significantly reduced income gap in turnout. The findings magnify the negative impacts income inequality can exert on political behavior and contribute to the study of policy offerings as a key moderating mechanism in the relationship.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Nik Mohd Faris Nik Min ◽  
Intan Nurul ‘Ain Mohd Firdaus Kozako ◽  
Muhammad Ammar Haidar Ishak ◽  
Mohd Hafeez Al-Amin Abdul Wahab ◽  
Ayu Kamareenna Abdullah Thani ◽  
...  

Change usually occurs when an organization replaces its management, technological change or product diversification, et cetera. However, organizational change can increase work stress levels, and employees need to cope with new and old stressors.  This research emphasizes the factors of job stressors, such as role overload, role ambiguity, unprofitability, poor peer-relation, and strenuous working conditions. The purpose of this research was to identify the relationship between job stressors and organizational change among academic staff at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Kelantan (Machang Campus) and to identify the most affected job stressor during the organizational change. The research was non-experimental which was categorized by correlation. Quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire contained three separate sections and was distributed to 155 academic staff at UiTM Cawangan Kelantan (Machang Campus). The reliability analysis was conducted and the Cronbach Alpha value ranged from 0.529 to 0.852. Pearson Correlation was used to examine the relationship between job stressors and organizational change, and it was found that all variables of job stressors had a significant relationship with organizational change except for unprofitability. It was also found that the most affected job stressor during organizational change was poor peer-relation. The researchers hope that this study would educate employees regarding factors affecting job stressors towards organizational change.  Keywords: Organizational change, role overload, role ambiguity, unprofitability, poor peer-relation, strenuous working conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 76-92
Author(s):  
Indira Arias Rodriguez ◽  
Jorge Muniz Jr. ◽  
Timothy P. Munyon

This research aimed to explore the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational politics (POPS) and their predisposition to involve in knowledge sharing (KS) behaviors at individuals and workgroups level in the Brazilian automotive Modular Consortium. The sample included 144 shop floor employees of Modular Consortium (six connected companies in assembly lines). The POPS-KS relationship was analyzed using different referents, seeking to understand how individuals and groups respond to the presence of organizational politics, and POPS and KS were tested in a Brazilian context, shedding new light on potential cultural influences impacting this relationship. The results evidenced that positive interpersonal communication can contribute to KS, and in turn, KS can counteract the negative impacts of POPS. There was a positive relationship between POPS-KS, indicating that POPS may have functional effects in facilitating KS of individuals and workgroups. Key findings and implications for future research were discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Orchiston

Decriminalising (or legalising) sex work is argued to improve sex workers’ safety and provide access to labour rights. However, there is a paucity of empirical research comparing how different regulatory approaches affect working conditions in the sex industry, especially in relation to venues that are managed by third parties. This article uses a mixed methods study of the Australian legal brothel sector to critically explore the relationship between external regulation and working conditions. Two dominant models of sex industry regulation are compared: decriminalisation and licensing. First, the article documents workplace practices in the Australian legal brothel sector, examining sex workers’ agency, autonomy and control over the labour process. Second, it analyses the capacity of each regulatory model to protect sex workers from unsafe and unfair working conditions. On the basis of these findings, the article concludes that brothel-based sex work is precarious and substantively excluded from the protective mantle of labour law, notwithstanding its legality. It is argued that the key determinant of conditions in the legal brothel sector is the extent to which the state enforces formal labour protections, as distinct from the underlying regulatory model adopted.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document