Social Networking Technologies as a Strategic Tool for the Development of Sustainable Production and Consumption

Author(s):  
Paul T. Kidd

Addressed in this conceptual contribution is the use of Social Networking Technologies in the context of support for development of sustainable business practices, specifically the use of these technologies in a radical way to create information flows within the business and from external bodies, that effectively call into question the purpose, values, products, technologies, et cetera of the enterprise. This radical application is needed as part of a process of developing agility. Agility will be required in the future when businesses need to make significant adaptations to the way that they operate. Such fundamental changes in operation will be driven by the complexities of the structural changes in the business environment directly linked with climate change and other problems (e.g. security of energy supplies). Some of the complexities of these structural changes are discussed, along with key issues relating to paradigms, the social shaping of technology, agility, and the proposed application.

2013 ◽  
pp. 974-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. Kidd

Addressed in this conceptual contribution is the use of Social Networking Technologies in the context of support for development of sustainable business practices, specifically the use of these technologies in a radical way to create information flows within the business and from external bodies, that effectively call into question the purpose, values, products, technologies, et cetera of the enterprise. This radical application is needed as part of a process of developing agility. Agility will be required in the future when businesses need to make significant adaptations to the way that they operate. Such fundamental changes in operation will be driven by the complexities of the structural changes in the business environment directly linked with climate change and other problems (e.g. security of energy supplies). Some of the complexities of these structural changes are discussed, along with key issues relating to paradigms, the social shaping of technology, agility, and the proposed application.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 449
Author(s):  
Timur Badmatsyrenov ◽  
Elena Ostrovskaya ◽  
Fyodor Khandarov ◽  
Innokentii Aktamov

The paper presents the results of a study that implemented a mixed methods approach to explore the question of correlation between online and offline activities of Buddhist organizations and communities in Russia. The research was carried out in 2019–2020 and addressed the following key issues: How do Buddhist websites and social media communities actually interact with offline organizations and Russian-speaking Buddhist communities? How do the ideological specifics of Buddhist organizations and communities influence their negotiations with the Internet and strategies towards new media technologies? Within the methodological frame of the religious–social shaping of technology approach by Heidi Campbell, we used the typology of religious digital creatives to reveal the strategies created by the Russian-speaking Buddhist communities developing their own identity, authority, and boundaries by means of digital technologies. In the first stage, we used quantitative software non-reactive methods to collect data from social media with the application of mathematical modeling techniques to build a graph model of Buddhist online communities in the vk.com social network and identify and describe its clusters. The second stage of the research combined biographical narratives of Buddhist digital creatives and expert interviews.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Inge de Wet ◽  
de Kock Imke

The role of the technologies, concepts, and philosophies associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been argued to hold significant value in the quest for sustainability. Furthermore, the concept of ‘shared value’ has been put forward as an approach that holds significant value when aiming to bring about socially just, economically fair, and environmentally friendly production and consumption practices. The importance of the link between the concept of shared value and 4IR is explored in this paper using bibliometric analysis, and we expose the different structures of these fields, including keywords, key authors, and the coherence of these two scientific networks in order to uncover areas of integration between them. The findings of this analysis indicate that a clear gap in integration exists; and the opportunity for research in this field could further contribute to the debate on using innovative, contemporary technologies — such as those associated with 4IR — to support approaches to ensure increasingly sustainable business practices, such as shared value.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Sarah Khan ◽  
Dr. Nasir Mehmood

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the direct impact of knowledge donating behaviour on employees’ productivity and an indirect effect through social networking technologies. Social networking technologies play a vital role in the growth and learning of individuals and organizations in today’s competitive business environment. Recently, advancement in social networking technologies has brought a paradigm shift in the overall business environment and specific operational requirements. This study aimed to investigate the role of social networking (SN) between knowledge donating behaviour (KD) and employees’ productivity (EP). Methodology: For this purpose, data were gathered from targeted respondents belonged to the Universities and Banks located in the Northern Punjab region of Pakistan. Structural Equation Modelling technique using the SmartPLS was carried to statistically analyse the responses. Findings: The results showed that the hypothesized relationship between knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) and employee’s productivity was significant and positively related, while social networking played a significant mediating role between this relationship. Implications: The findings provided useful insight to the managers and policymakers for planning effective use of social networking technologies to craft knowledge sharing behaviour among employees to create efficiencies and intended outcomes. Originality: The study has uniquely focused merging phenomenon of knowledge sharing behaviour in the service sector of Pakistan, specifically among academic and financial sector by exploring the impact of social networking technologies and provide valuable future direction for researchers to further extend the underlined idea in the wake of current Covid-19 Pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Axel Jacob ◽  
Frank Teuteberg

Social networking technologies such as social media, crowd concepts, or gamification represent key resources for the integration of customers, value network partners, and the community into sustainable business models. However, there is a lack of understanding of how sustainable enterprises apply such technologies. To close this gap, we propose a taxonomy of design options for social networking technologies in sustainable business models. Our taxonomy comprises eight dimensions that deal with relevant questions of the design of social networking technologies. When creating our taxonomy, we built on existing literature and use cases and involved experienced practitioners in the field of sustainable business models for the validation of our taxonomy. In this way, our study contributes to knowledge on the use of social networking technologies in sustainable business models and how such technologies influence the boundaries of sustainable business models. Likewise, we provide practical insights into the use of social networking technologies in sustainable business models.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5527
Author(s):  
Kathleen Rodenburg ◽  
Kelly MacDonald

Business school curriculums are designed to improve business skills and a student’s eventual workplace performance. In addition to these business skill sets the emerging business environment demands softer skills associated with ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices. The objective of the study is to identify the key influencers of ethical orientation and attitudes towards the environment as a first critical step for curriculum planning designed to develop both ethical decision-making and environmental sensibilities of students in business schools. Using a bivariate regression analysis (OLS) that compared the established New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the newly introduced Ethical Orientation Scale (EOS), this study assesses environmental eco-consciousness and ethical orientation over time and across varying socio-demographic variables. The study shows first, that in addition to socio-cultural variables, situational factors influence ethical decision-making. Secondly, it illuminates that ethical orientations as measured by the EOS predicts beliefs about the environment as measured by the NEP scale. It further provides evidence of the ethical underpinnings of the New Ecological Paradigm as well as provides initial validation for the new EOS. These outcomes provide additional levers to assist business educators in the creation of high impact teaching strategies to measure and encourage ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices that protect the environment.


2019 ◽  
pp. 415-439
Author(s):  
Ziska Fields ◽  
Sulaiman Olusegun Atiku

The main objective of this chapter was to explore if collective green creativity and eco-innovation can create novel and sustainable business and management practices. A literature review approach was conducted on the link between collective creativity, innovation, and sustainable business practices. It was found that collective green creativity and eco-innovation can create sustainable business practices. The process starts with the creative individual which needs creative thinking skills, creative motivation, green mindfulness and green self-efficacy. A creative collective is then created using their creative intelligence and creative exchange to create a shared green vision. The creative collective requires green transformational leadership with access to green dynamic capabilities and resources to be effective in the business environment. This creative collective follows the six-step creative problem-solving process which enables the collective to create eco-innovation using an additional four steps. The end result is novel and sustainable business practices and solutions.


Author(s):  
Nkemdilim Iheanachor

Sustainability is the lifeline of any organization and it begins with its people. This paper investigates the sustainable business practices of Nigerian organizations. The pillars of sustainability, economic, social and environmental, have been linked to improve business performance when entrenched into long term strategies of a business. To address the challenges of power supply, multiple taxation, pollution and waste management faced in the business environment, it is imperative to develop solutions that will not compromise future needs yet meeting the needs of the present. Recycling, recovery and reuse, safe work initiatives, continuous learning are strategies businesses can adopt to reduce environmental waste, social and economic issues. For this purpose, this chapter examines sustainability practices of businesses from selected industries; construction, manufacturing, banking and hospitality industries were selected based on availability of sustainability reports of industry leaders. This research is expected to help business managers and policy makers understand sustainable business practices and its implications on business performance.


Author(s):  
Kathleen Rodenburg ◽  
Kelly MacDonald

Business school curriculums are designed to improve business skills and a student’s eventual workplace performance. In addition to these business skill sets the emerging business environment demands softer skills associated with ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices. Understanding the key influencers of ethical orientation and attitudes towards the environment is the first critical step for curriculum planning designed to develop both ethical decision-making and environmental sensibilities of students in business schools. Using a bivariate regression analysis (OLS) that compared the established New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the newly introduced Ethical Orientation Scale (EOS), this study assesses environmental eco-consciousness and ethical orientation over time and across varying socio-demographic variables. The study shows first, that in addition to socio-cultural variables, situational factors influence ethical decision-making. Secondly, it illuminates that ethical orientations as measured by the EOS predicts beliefs about the environment as measured by the NEP scale. It further provides evidence of the ethical underpinnings of the New Ecological Paradigm as well as provides initial validation for the new EOS. These outcomes provide additional levers to assist business educators in the creation of high impact teaching strategies to measure and encourage ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices that protect the environment.


Author(s):  
Ziska Fields ◽  
Sulaiman Olusegun Atiku

The main objective of this chapter was to explore if collective green creativity and eco-innovation can create novel and sustainable business and management practices. A literature review approach was conducted on the link between collective creativity, innovation, and sustainable business practices. It was found that collective green creativity and eco-innovation can create sustainable business practices. The process starts with the creative individual which needs creative thinking skills, creative motivation, green mindfulness and green self-efficacy. A creative collective is then created using their creative intelligence and creative exchange to create a shared green vision. The creative collective requires green transformational leadership with access to green dynamic capabilities and resources to be effective in the business environment. This creative collective follows the six-step creative problem-solving process which enables the collective to create eco-innovation using an additional four steps. The end result is novel and sustainable business practices and solutions.


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