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Lean management principles for information technology
\"This book discusses information production processes, information technology (IT) systems, and change management through the lens of Lean principles; how to integrate Lean tools together with information production and IT systems to form an integrated, world-class learning environment; Lean tools and techniques like Lean management, Six Sigma, cycle time, value stream mapping, spaghetti charting, value-added vs. non-value-added activities, and bottlenecks; information technology (IT) tools and environments; and how to integrate Lean tools together with IT environments to form an integrated, world-class IT organization. This book is broken into three sections: Section I discusses the need for IT to become \"Leaner\", how we are data rich but information starved, and what lessons Lean teaches us about improving the information we work with. The section goes on to give an overview of change management and how it works. Section II delves into the details of how Lean can be utilized to eliminate waste in IT. It discusses the cultural acceptance tools that are required to build acceptance for Lean in IT, the technical tools that are available to generate the desired improvements, how these technical tools are used to identify non-value-added opportunities for improvement, the improvement process, and the operational details behind running a Lean event. This section also explores the process of developing meaningful information metrics. Section III recommends a methodology for assessing an organization's IT maturity. This section focuses on the next generation of Lean and its application to IT, and it ends by discussing how Lean can drive the success of IT environments of the future. The objective is to create world-class information processing organizations\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Eco-Efficiency, Environmental and Sustainable Innovation in Recycling Energy and Their Effect on Business Performance: Evidence from European SMEs
This paper examines the influence of adopting resource efficiency actions, saving water, saving energy, using renewable energy, saving materials, minimizing waste, selling scrap, recycling, using durable products, promoting environmental responsibility, and offering green marketing products and services on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, we investigate specific resource efficiency actions and their impact on production costs, investment, the available support for product expansion, and the effect of encountered barriers on SME performance. We develop a theoretical framework based on stakeholder- and resource-based theories to serve as the foundation for this analysis. We use these theories to explain the link between eco-efficiency actions, firm performance, and ecological behavior, along with public policy and innovation. This study uses Flash Eurobarometer survey datasets FL342, FL381, FL426, and FL456, which cover SMEs across time and sectors in 28 EU countries. The data are analyzed through descriptive and ordered logit regression analysis, using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to test the relationship between the above variables and the parameters. In terms of practical implications, these findings are crucial in helping SMEs pursue sustainable development. According to the findings, SMEs lack information on how implementing eco-efficiency action affects their financial health and sustainable innovation. This study can provide valuable insights into how implementing eco-efficiency practices can positively impact a company’s bottom line, good health, and employees’ well-being and how SMEs can use this information to make more informed decisions. Additionally, the findings can help inform policy makers about how to better support SMEs in pursuing sustainable development.
Journal Article
Agriculture Green Development: a model for China and the world
Realizing sustainable development has become a global priority. This holds, in particular, for agriculture. Recently, the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Nineteenth National People’s Congress has delivered a national strategy for sustainable development in China—realizing green development. The overall objective of Agriculture Green Development (AGD) is to coordinate “green” with “development” to realize the transformation of current agriculture with high resource consumption and high environmental costs into a green agriculture and countryside with high productivity, high resource use efficiency and low environmental impact. This is a formidable task, requiring joint efforts of government, farmers, industry, educators and researchers. The innovative concept for AGD will focus on reconstructing the whole crop-animal production and food production-consumption system, with the emphasis on high thresholds for environmental standards and food quality as well as enhanced human well-being. This paper addresses the significance, challenges, framework, pathways and potential solutions for realizing AGD in China, and highlights the potential changes that will lead to a more sustainable agriculture in the future. Proposals include interdisciplinary innovations, whole food chain improvement and regional solutions. The implementation of AGD in China will provide important implications for the countries in developmental transition, and contribute to global sustainable development.
Journal Article
Resource-use strategies of native and invasive plants in Eastern North American forests
Studies in disturbed, resource-rich environments often show that invasive plants are more productive than co-occurring natives, but with similar physiological tradeoffs. However, in resource-limited habitats, it is unclear whether native and invasive plants have similar metabolic constraints or if invasive plants are more productive per unit resource cost – that is, use resources more efficiently.
Using a common garden to control for environment, we compared leaf physiological traits relating to resource investments, carbon returns, and resource-use efficiencies in 14 native and 18 nonnative invasive species of common genera found in Eastern North American (ENA) deciduous forest understories, where growth is constrained by light and nutrient limitation.
Despite greater leaf construction and nitrogen costs, invaders exhibited greater instantaneous photosynthetic energy-use efficiency (PEUE) and marginally greater photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE). When integrated over leaf lifespan (LL), these differences were magnified. Differences in efficiency were driven by greater productivity per unit leaf investment, as invaders exhibited both greater photosynthetic abilities and longer LL.
Our results indicate that woody understory invaders in ENA forests are not constrained to the same degree by leaf-based metabolic tradeoffs as the native understory flora. These strategy differences could be attributable to pre-adaptation in the native range, although other explanations are possible
Journal Article
Achieving carbon neutrality in energy transition economies: exploring the environmental efficiency of natural gas efficiency, coal efficiency, and resources efficiency
This study inspects the environmental impact of resource efficiency, natural gas efficiency, and coal efficiency in the top energy transition economies while incorporating economic growth and globalization, social globalization, political globalization, and economic globalization as control variables. We utilized the method of moments quantile regression to analyze a dataset from 1990 to 2021, while the dynamic ordinary least square, fixed-effect ordinary least square, and fully modified ordinary least square methods were used for robustness analysis. The outcomes of the estimators revealed that coal efficiency and natural gas efficiency contribute to the decline in CO
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emissions. Conversely, the results further indicated that globalization, economic growth, resource efficiency, social globalization, political globalization, and economic globalization intensify CO
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emissions. Furthermore, the panel Granger causality test was also utilized, which revealed evidence of a bidirectional causality association between CO
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emissions and all regressors except for coal efficiency and economic globalization. However, a unidirectional causal connection was identified from CO
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emissions to coal efficiency and economic globalization. From the observed outcomes alongside the inferences drawn from the Granger causality analysis, we offer a holistic policy approach for attaining carbon neutrality by driving the development and implementation of energy efficiency initiatives.
Graphical abstract
Journal Article
Sustainable intensification in agriculture: the richer shade of green. A review
Agricultural intensification is required to feed the growing and increasingly demanding human population. Intensification is associated with increasing use of resources, applied as efficiently as possible, i.e. with a concurrent increase in both resource use and resource use efficiency. Resource use efficiency has agronomic, environmental, economic, social, trans-generational, and global dimensions. Current industrial agriculture privileges economic resource use efficiency over the other dimensions, claiming that that pathway is necessary to feed the world. Current agronomy and the concept of sustainable intensification are contested. Sustainable intensification needs to include clarity about principles and practices for priority setting, an all-inclusive and explicit cost-benefit analysis, and subsequent weighing of trade-offs, based on scientifically acceptable, shared norms, thus making agriculture “green” again. Here, we review different forms of intensification, different principles and concepts underlying them, as well as the norms and values that are needed to guide the search for effective forms of sustainable and ecological intensification. We also address innovations in research and education required to create the necessary knowledge base. We argue that sustainable intensification should be considered as a process of enquiry and analysis for navigating and sorting out the issues and concerns in agronomy. Sustainable intensification is about societal negotiation, institutional innovation, justice, and adaptive management. We also make a plea for at least two alternative framings of sustainable intensification: one referring to the need for “de-intensification” in high-input systems to become more sustainable and one referring to the need to increase inputs and thereby yields where there are currently large yield (and often also efficiency) gaps. Society needs an agriculture that demonstrates resilience under future change, an agronomy that can cope with the diversity of trade-offs across different stakeholders, and a sustainability that is perceived as a dynamic process based on agreed values and shared knowledge, insight, and wisdom.
Journal Article
Forestry Resource Efficiency, Total Factor Productivity Change, and Regional Technological Heterogeneity in China
The efficient and sustainable management of forestry resources is crucial in ensuring economic and societal sustainability. The Chinese government has invested significantly in regulations, afforestation, and technology to enhance the forest resource efficiency, reduce technological disparities, and boost productivity growth. However, the success level of this undertaking is unclear and worth exploring. To this end, this study applied DEA-SBM, meta-frontier analysis, and the Malmquist productivity index to gauge the forest resource efficiency (FRE), regional technology heterogeneity (TGR), and total factor productivity growth (MI) in 31 Chinese provinces for a study period of 2001–2020. Results revealed that the average FRE was 0.5430, with potential growth of 45.70%, to enhance the efficiency level in forestry resource utilization. Anhui, Tibet, Fujian, Shanghai, and Hainan were found to be the top performers in forestry utilization during the study period. The southern forest region was ranked highest, with the highest TGR of 0.915, indicating advanced production technologies. The average MI score was 0.9644, signifying a 3.56% decline in forestry resource productivity. This deterioration is primarily attributed to technological change (TC), which decreased by 5.2%, while efficiency change (EC) witnessed 1.74% growth over the study period. The Southern Chinese forest region, indicating an average 3.06% increase in total factor productivity, ranked highest in all four regions. Guangxi, Tianjin, Shandong, Chongqing, and Jiangxi were the top performers, with prominent growth in MI. Finally, the Kruskal–Wallis test found a significant statistical difference among all four regions for FRE and TGR.
Journal Article
Resource-use efficiency in US aquaculture
Understanding farm-level efficiencies of resource use is critical in comparisons of the sustainability of aquaculture production systems. We developed a set of practical resource-use efficiency metrics to calculate and compare resource-use efficiency with resource-cost efficiency across major species and production systems in US aquaculture. Results showed that no one production system used all resources most efficiently. Intensive pond production of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus demonstrated the greatest efficiency in the use of water, energy, labor, management, and capital resources, while RAS production was most efficient in terms of land and feed use. Among the wide array of pond scenarios examined, more intensive scenarios generally were more efficient in terms of several metrics, but economic sustainability also depends upon business models that effectively meet differing demand requirements of customers. Thus, less intensive production systems were economically sustainable in areas with relatively abundant land and water resources available at lower cost. Labor efficiencies varied widely across scenarios analyzed. Given increasing concerns related to the availability of labor for aquaculture farming in the USA, greater attention to the efficiency of labor on farms is warranted. The metrics used were aligned with common farm management tools (e.g. enterprise budgets) that allow for ease of use by farms and researchers to assess effects on comparative resource-use efficiencies of new farming practices and technologies under development.
Journal Article
Linking resource efficiency to environmental sustainability in developing countries
Material resource efficiency (MRE) is widely recognized as a key strategy for promoting responsible consumption and production. However, the impacts of MRE on environmental sustainability (ES), measured by load capacity factor (LCF), have not been fully elucidated in developing countries (DCs). Using a method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) approach, this study examines the effects of MRE on LCF across 116 DCs from 2000 to 2021, while controlling for country-specific heterogeneity. The findings indicate that MRE has a beneficial impact on the LCF across all quantiles. However, DCs with higher LCF benefit more from MRE improvements, as the MRE coefficient rises from 0.275 at the 10th quantile to 0.526 at the 90th quantile. Also, the role of MRE is more pronounced in DCs with better income and regulatory performance. The findings further implied that the effect of MRE on LCF is heterogeneous across different regions, with a positive role of MRE in DCs in Asia, Africa, and America to enhance LCF. The findings are consistent across several robustness analyses. Therefore, governments and policymakers in DCs should support eco-design and sustainable materials management, raise public awareness of responsible consumption, strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships for efficient resource use, and adopt robust socio-economic and regulatory policies to improve MRE and promote LCF. Thus, the findings of this study present a framework for policy guidelines that facilitate efficient and environmentally friendly natural resource use in DCs, aligning with SDG 8.4 and SDG 12.
Journal Article
Is Green Transition in Europe Fostered by Energy and Environmental Efficiency Feedback Loops? The Role of Eco-Innovation, Renewable Energy and Green Taxation
Green transition is in the core of the European policy agenda to achieve the ambitious goal of climate neutrality following the launch of the European Green Deal. The cornerstone of the new growth strategy of Europe is resource efficiency which focuses on shifting to a more sustainable production paradigm by conserving scarce resources and by prioritizing enhanced environmental performance. Scattered efforts to investigate the drivers of resource efficiency measures have shed light on the key drivers, however, those consider resource efficiency measures in isolation neglecting for feedback loops influencing green transition. Therefore, we develop a conceptual framework to study green transition as a system of resource efficiency measures affected by feedback loops, path dependence, green technologies, and green policy tools. We mobilize the analysis by devising a unique balanced panel covering the EU-28 from 2010 through 2019, including policy efforts paving the way for green transition. Econometric results based on a system of fractional probit models, indicate that resource efficiency measures are intertwined via feedback loops, especially in the case of environmental efficiency. Green technologies affect green transition, however, rebound effects emerge in the case of energy efficiency. Past performance affects current levels pushing towards divergence. Evidence suggests that green taxation fosters energy efficiency whereas hinders environmental efficiency. The asymmetric operation of feedback loops and green taxation on energy and environmental efficiency highlights that horizontal policies hinder rather than foster green transition. This study contributes to SDGs 7, 12, 13 and 16.
Journal Article