The Market and Investors Reactions to Mariana’s and Brumadinho’s Environmental Disasters: Sentimental or Rational Decisions?

This research carried out event studies to analyze the reactions of the market and investors in Vale S.A. to the collapses of the Mariana and Brumadinho dams. It also assessed the extent to which the causes attributed to the market reactions to major disasters in previous research has helped to explain the reactions of the market and investors to the collapses of these dams. The analyses have shown that, in the case of the Fundão dam, there was a relevant reduction in the abnormal cumulative returns of common stocks and ADRs at the end of the eleven days of the collapse, despite the fact that the daily abnormal returns were not statistically significant. However, the abnormal trading volumes of these securities in the eleven days after the dam failure were generally negative and all statistically significant. In contrast, concerning the collapse of the Brumadinho dam, the abnormal returns on common stocks and ADRs were negative, relevant, and statistically significant, and, after the eleven days, the losses were considerable. The abnormal trading volumes of the securities were all positive and statistically significant, but the reactions of ADR investors were more intense than those of investors in common stocks. Examining the causal attributions made previously, there are indications that the market and investor reactions to the failures of the two dams were probably derived from the expectation that Vale and the other companies involved would incur severe losses and high contracting costs in political processes that would follow to the disasters, and from the difficulty the investors have had to assess the magnitude of these losses and costs.

Mindful Sustainable Consumption and Sustainability Chatbots in Fast Fashion Retailing During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and ecological crisis are paving the way for new consumption models based on customers’ conscious choices and the subsequent integration of sustainable policies into retailers’ business strategies. As a consequence, the current consumer trends suggest that more people are becoming aware of their consumption standards and their repercussion on the environment and society. Statistics demonstrate that, in their purchasing processes, these “mindful customers” now search for a sustainable, self-sufficient way of living in harmony with nature. This paper argues that artificial intelligence (AI) is able to facilitate this process in the marketplace. More specifically, mindfulness with the support of AI technologies could be a plausible way to activate sustainable consumption patterns for avoiding overconsumption. The life-changing ability of mindful consumption is reviewed in this paper across domains of sustainability. Using a comprehensive literature review, the paper first outlines the theoretical and conceptual foundations of the mindful sustainable consumption (MSC) approach that fills the literature gap that almost always separates mindful consumption from sustainability. Second, the new conceptual approach is applied through a strategic framework in the field of fast fashion retailing through the use of AI-powered chatbots. In particular, the study defines a new category of chatbots, named sustainability chatbots (SC), which could convey mindful and sustainable consumption choices. The paper highlights that the MSC approach combined with the support of SC could enable marketing managers to create the appropriate context for embedding sustainability into consumer behaviour and fast fashion retailers’ strategies from a value co-creation perspective.

Fishing in Salty Waters: Poverty, Occupational Saline Exposure, and Women’s Health in the Indian Sundarban

Collecting wild tiger prawn seedlings, also known as prawn post-larvae (PL), from rivers and creeks is an important occupation for more than 100,000 poor women in India’s Sundarban estuarine delta. Prawn PL collecting requires many hours of immersion in saline river water. This paper uses a large household survey to explore the determinants of poor women’s engagement in this occupation and the health impacts. The results reveal high significance for two variables: (i) the opportunity wage, proxied by years of education and (ii) child-care demands, proxied by the household child-dependency ratio. Together, these variables are sufficient to distinguish between women who have no engagement with prawn PL collecting and those with many years of engagement. The probability of self-reported health problems is also significantly higher for women with more saline exposure from prawn PL collecting and whose drinking water is from tube wells with higher salinity.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Management and Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 2

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Management and Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2021.

Factors Influencing Chinese Tourist to Select Bangkok, Thailand as A Travel Destination

This study aims to investigate factors influencing the Bangkok-focused tourist destination selection in China. In addition, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo, Japan were selected for comparison by assessing four destination attributes including culture, transportation, architecture, and food. In this study, we used a sample of 400 Chinese tourists who have traveled to Bangkok. The main research issue is to reveal the first- and second-order potential factors generating significant influences on Chinese tourists’ choice of Bangkok as their destination. The aim of this study is to explore the structural relationships among the mentioned first-order and second-order latent variables, and their impact on the choice of tourist destinations in China. Due to the competitive nature of Chinese tourist destinations, we believe that there might be some potential factors that significantly affected their choice decision, therefore we applied the second-order Structural Equation Models (SEM) to capture these potentially unobservable factors. The result showed that our proposed model appeared to fit well: the RMSEA was 0.03 (<0.06) and values of GFI, AGFI, NFI, TLI, and CFI were greater than 0.9 (most of them were even larger than 0.95). More importantly, Food (F), Emotional Factor (EF) representing food and cultural indulgence, and Physical Factor (PF) representing Architecture and Transportation facility of the destination showed significant impacts on tourist destination choice as their p-values were less than 0.05. Hence, Thai food and anything that could maximize the emotional and functional values of Chinese tourists would make travel choices to become their travel destination. At the same time, it was aimed to provide some valuable suggestions for tourist cities currently under threat from COVID-19, to recover or better in the coming years, providing some evidence for future researchers to further explore this field.

Organizational Leadership Styles and Utilization of Evaluation Results

The greatest concern in programme management, given the potential of programme or project evaluations to inform decision-making, remains how to ensure the results of an evaluation are used for the intended purpose and how information from an evaluation process and/or the products are applied to practices and decision-making processes. This article presents a research that sought to explore the degree to which organizational leadership style impacts the use of evaluation findings for programme improvement. Based on the pragmatic paradigm and informed by the Utilization Focused Evaluation Model and Knowledge Use Theory, the research adopted a descriptive and correlational design using mixed methods. The study’s sample comprised of 232 project staff from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) based in Kisumu Central Sub-County, Kenya. Content analysis method that involved coding and identifying themes from respondents’ responses was used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from key informant interviews. Both percentages and frequencies were used to summarize the quantitative data. The instrument reliability was assessed through pilot testing and Cronbach alpha of 0.908 attained. A hypotheses H01: Leadership style does not significantly influence utilization of evaluation results was tested at α = .05 level of significance, but it was rejected because P = 0.000 < 0.05. The study established a statistically significant relationship between organizational leadership style and the utilization of evaluation results. In so doing, it reinforces the existing literature by helping to understand the way organizational leadership style influences the utilization of evaluation results. It fills a gap in the literature, thereby contributes to the appreciation of the factors that enhance and predict the utilization of evaluation results.

Healthcare Managers’ Perception About the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In 2015, about 190 United Nations Member States proposed an ambitious agenda, to be worked on by different actors in society, which was entitled 2030 Agenda. The document was divided into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are broken down into 169 targets aiming to eradicate poverty and promote a decent life for all. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of healthcare managers about SDGs, especially SDG 3, which addresses Good Health and Well-Being. This cross-sectional observational study identified and analyzed the participants’ profilesthrough online forms with questions about the general perception of the SDGs, and questions related to SDG 3. The quantitative analysis of the results was performed, in percentage terms, and the qualitative analysis was performed using the five-point Likert scale. Twenty-one technical directors of healthcare services participated in the survey. According to the results, 14 (66.6)  of the participants presented medium to highknowledge regarding SDG. In addition, 18 (85.7%) of these professionals understand that the SDGs are of high/very high importance to guide public policies. In general, there is a low expectation for the achievement of the 17 SDGs in Brazil, but it was highlighted that it should be a priority, which SDG could contribute to the achievement of SDG 3: Good Health and well-being as well as the vision of policy recommendations to achieve the SDG 3 targets. This analysis allows contact with SDG and enables a deeper discussion on the topic in healthcare services.

A Theoretical Framework on Sustainable Supply Chains: Barriers to Measuring Performance

The direction for the construction of a sustainable supply chain concept has an evolution and contribution of multiple disciplines that have been elaborated by academic and business bias. From this point on, defining a concept of this subject represents an issue that demands an interpretative effort, since several factors and theoretical approaches influence this category. The objective of this article is to demarcate a theoretical framework on sustainable supply chains and relate it to the barriers present in the measurement of sustainable performance. The method applied in this assessment combines systematic literature review, qualitative analysis of content and bibliometrics, through interconnected steps, which allow a detailing of the dimensions and under dimensions of the sustainability in the supply chain and the identification of the barriers that are associated with the measurement of performance. The material considered is supported through theoretical and empirical studies, which approached the formulation of the concepts and their applicability at different levels of the supply chain. This allows the content analysis to demarcate certain stages of development and the different theoretical approaches that respond and assist the concept. The results contribute to the definition of a roadmap to measure of sustainable performance, an issue that is the basis of future studies over this theme.

How to Manage the Components of Financial Sustainability in Local Governments

This study aims to evaluate three dimensions proposed by the IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) in relation to impact financial sustainability. These dimensions are service, revenue, and debt. In 2017 and 2018, a regression analysis was conducted for Italian local governments on the different components of financial sustainability. Based on goal-setting theory, and in combination with the ambition to pursue adequate good financial sustainability, significant results were demonstrated. It was seen that these local governments would have to maintain a good level of autonomy with current revenue. They would also need to control the quantity and quality of service in order to pursue financial sustainability. This study suggests practical implications for policymakers and the managerial class, and it seeks to identify methods to drive and keep financial sustainability under control. It also seeks to define current and future management strategies that focus on pursuing intergenerational equity in local governments.

Biodegradable Polyamide 6.6 for Textile Application

The study evaluates comparatively some physical and chemical properties of polyamide 6.6 standard and biodegradable. It also evaluates the period of biodegradation of the biodegradable yarn sample and standard sample. The physical properties analyzed were tensile strength, elongation, and tenacity. The chemical properties were related to the behavior of the samples in dyeing and the evaluation of subsequent strength dyeing. The evaluated samples were taken from knitwear produced with polyamide textured filament yarn 80 dtex f 68x1, standard and biodegradable, being purged, bleached, and dyed. The results of the physical tests, although statistically different, have values ​​very near the average, which in practice represent acceptable values ​​within the statistical control process. Both standard and biodegradable samples had the same chemical behavior and there is no difference. Concerning to biodegradation time under laboratory conditions, the carbon dioxide produced by the samples was monitored and measured to determine the percentage of biodegradation according to ASTM D 5511. After 735 days the percentage of biodegradation of the biodegradable yarn was 81.7% and of the normal yarn was 5.2%. This is an expressive gain in ecological terms for synthetic fiber.