Why being sustainable is not enough: embracing a net positive impact

Purpose This paper develops the concept of positive sustainability or positainability to go beyond many leaders’ traditional understanding of sustainability as primarily avoiding harm. Rather, executives need to embrace a positive perspective in terms of doing good and creating value in a firm’s core business as the next level of sustainability management. Positive sustainability is defined as the combination of doing good and avoiding bad to arrive at innovative solutions for achieving a “net positive impact” in the core business rather than merely targeting “no net loss” by reducing harm for the environment and society. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper with an example, and it relies on prior insights from related research fields, including the sustainable development goals, corporate social responsibility, creating shared value, positive psychology, social entrepreneurship and social innovation. Findings Many organizations have recently launched sustainability initiatives, which often focus on achieving efficiency gains, for example, by reducing power consumption to lower carbon emissions in the face of climate change and to simultaneously save costs. In future competition, however, avoiding unsustainability in the core business and potentially doing good in separate social responsibility programs will not be enough. Furthermore, a focus on “quick win” efficiency gains may limit a more fundamental transformation, which is needed in many firms. There is a massive shift in consumer expectations, especially among younger generations, concerning firms’ active contribution to solving environmental and social challenges. Consistent with positive psychology, these market shifts require a positive perspective in terms of doing good in the core business. Originality/value The concept of positive sustainability has major implications for innovation, transformation and communications management. Even those firms that view themselves as leaders hardly realize the opportunities from positive sustainability. By developing innovative solutions, products and services, companies may positively contribute to the environment and society. In the medium to long term, this positive impact will often exceed the short-term benefits of efficiency-centered programs. Most firms and leaders will simply have no choice but to embrace a “net positive impact” because customers strongly expect companies to take action in terms of positive sustainability.

Driver’s Personality and Behavior for Boosting Automobile Security and Sensing Health Problems Through Fuzzy Signal Detection Case Study: Mexico City

Automobile security became an essential theme over the last years, and some automakers invested much money for collision avoidance systems, but personalization of their driving systems based on the user’s behavior was not explored in detail. Furthermore, efficiency gains could be had with tailored systems. In Mexico, 80% of automobile accidents are caused by human beings; the remaining 20% are related to other issues such as mechanical problems. Thus, 80% represents a significant opportunity to improve safety and explore driving efficiency gains. Moreover, when driving aggressively, it could be connected with mental health as a post-traumatic stress disorder. This paper proposes a Tailored Collision Mitigation Braking System, which evaluates the driver’s personality driving treats through signal detection theory to create a cognitive map that understands the driving personality of the driver. In this way, aggressive driving can be detected; the system is then trained to recognize the personality trait of the driver and select the appropriate stimuli to achieve the optimal driving output. As a result, when aggressive driving is detected continuously, an automatic alert could be sent to the health specialists regarding particular risky behavior linked with mental problems or drug consumption. Thus, the driving profile test could also be used as a detector for health problems.

The Non-Linear Effects of Energy Efficiency Gains on the Incidence of Energy Poverty

Energy poverty is defined as insufficient access to modern energy resources which are relatively cleaner than the traditionally utilized ones. In this regard, the incidence of energy poverty is particularly higher in the cases of the developing countries across the globe. Accordingly, the chronic energy poverty issues in the developing countries within Sub-Saharan Africa have become a major socioeconomic and environmental concern for the associated governments. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the effects of energy efficiency gains and shocks to other key macroeconomic factors on energy poverty in the context of selected Sub-Saharan African nations. In this study, we measure energy poverty in terms of the lack of access to clean cooking fuels and technologies for the population of the selected Sub-Saharan African countries. The overall findings from the common correlated effects panel regression analysis reveal that energy efficiency gains initially aggravate the energy poverty situation but improve it later on; consequently, a U-shaped relationship between energy efficiency and access to clean cooking fuels and technologies is evidenced. Besides, the predicted threshold levels of energy efficiency are observed to be higher than the average energy efficiency level of the Sub-Saharan African nations. Moreover, the results also portray that economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, foreign direct investment inflows, and international trade are effective in reducing energy poverty. Conversely, financial development is witnessed to be ineffective in influencing the incidence of energy poverty in this region.

Smart Pooling: AI-Powered COVID-19 Informative Group Testing

Massive molecular testing for COVID-19 has been pointed out as fundamental to moderate the spread of the pandemic. Pooling methods can enhance testing efficiency, but they are viable only at low incidences of the disease. We propose Smart Pooling, a machine learning method that uses clinical and sociodemographic data from patients to increase the efficiency of informed Dorfman testing for COVID-19 by arranging samples into all-negative pools. To do this, we ran an automated method to train numerous machine learning models on a retrospective dataset from more than 8,000 patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 from April to July 2020 in Bogotá, Colombia. We estimated the efficiency gains of using the predictor to support Dorfman testing by simulating the outcome of tests. We also computed the attainable efficiency gains of non-adaptive pooling schemes mathematically. Moreover, we measured the false-negative error rates in detecting the ORF1ab and N genes of the virus in RT-qPCR dilutions. Finally, we presented the efficiency gains of using our proposed pooling scheme on proof-of-concept pooled tests. We believe Smart Pooling will be efficient for optimizing massive testing of SARS-CoV-2.

Strategic fit of mergers and acquisitions in Latin American airlines: a two-stage DEA approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency determinants of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the context of Latin American airlines based on business-related variables commonly found in the literature. The idea is to identify preferable potential airline matches in light of fleet mix, ownership structure and geographical proximity.Design/methodology/approachIn order to achieve the objective, all possible combinations of M&A pairs are considered in the analysis, which is developed in a two-stage approach. First, the M&A Data Envelopment Analysis model efficiency and returns-to-scale estimates are computed. Then, robust regression and multinomial logistic regression are respectively used to discriminate these estimates in terms of such business-related variables.FindingsThe results reveal that these different contextual variables significantly impact virtual efficiency and returns-to-scale levels. Private ownership, passenger focus and a better match between aircraft size and demand for flights appear to be key drivers for merged airline efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe study makes theoretical contributions, though limited to analyzing Latin American airlines only. The use of bootstrapped robust/multinominal logistic regression, compared to the methods adopted by previous literature studies, generates more accurate and robust results related to the efficiency drivers due to its special feature and ability to allow the discrimination of increasing, decreasing, and constant returns to scale in light of a given set of contextual variables.Practical implicationsThis study examines the pure effect of the merging activity on efficiency gains. Not only private ownership but also a hybrid public–private ownership has a positive influence on virtual efficiency, suggesting an important governmental role in promoting M&A in the airline industry.Originality/valueThe authors present an original take on the issue of airline mergers by exploring what are the major drivers possibly involved in efficiency gains of potentially merged (virtual) airlines. The authors identify preferable potential airline matches where efficiency gains would be positive in light of business-related variables such as fleet mix, ownership structure and geographical proximity. The analysis also includes an assessment of the impact of contextual variables such as cargo type, ownership structure and geographical proximity in relation to the strategic fit of mergers considering the resulting efficiency and returns-to-scale scores of virtually merged airlines. To the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has addressed these issues in Latin American airlines. Further research directions for this industry are also discussed.