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Integrating Sustainability Management into Operations Management Strategies

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 October 2024 | Viewed by 639

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, Jerusalem College of Technology, Jerusalem 9116001, Israel
Interests: operations research; logistics; ethical production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Amid a global rise in ethical consumerism, corporations face a growing pressure to integrate environmental and ethical considerations into the old paradigm of profit maximization, thereby having to balance the contrasting requirements of different stakeholders. Businesses increasingly acknowledge the impact of their operations on society and the environment alike, and must prioritize the integration of sustainability management into their operations management strategies to successfully navigate the current political and economic climate. This mandates that business activities accord with ecological and social considerations, balancing between generating profits and being environmentally responsible.

In this business paradigm shift, strategies for managing operations are being revisited, prioritizing the efficient use of resources, the utilization of renewable energy, waste reduction, adherence to circular economy concepts, and procuring materials ethically. Businesses are becoming more aware that implementing sustainable practices improves their ability to withstand regulatory demands and fend off ethically driven boycotting threats from consumer groups. Furthermore, the incorporation of sustainability into operations stimulates innovation by compelling enterprises to create eco-friendly technologies and investigate new methods for waste management and product life cycles.

Thus, embedding sustainability in operations management blueprints is a multifaceted process that involves multiple aspects including operations, finance, environment, regulation, consumerism, and technology.

The aim of this Special Issue is to house together original research articles and reviews that lie in the intersection of the fields of sustainability and operations management. Topics for the special issue may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. Green and circular supply chains
  2. Sustainable business practices
  3. Resource and waste optimization
  4. Life cycle assessment and product life enhancement
  5. Socially responsible operations
  6. Environmental impact reduction
  7. Consumer activism and ethical business practices
  8. Sustainable management and market value
  9. Environmental regulations and standards

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yahel Giat
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable manufacturing
  • ethical consumerism
  • resource optimization
  • carbon footprint
  • social justice in operations
  • stakeholder engagement
  • supply chain transparency
  • triple bottom line

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

28 pages, 4384 KiB  
Article
Maturity Model for Sustainability Assessment of Chemical Analyses Laboratories in Public Higher Education Institutions
by Marco Antonio Souza, Mario Orestes Aguirre González and André Luís Santos de Pinho
Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 2137; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16052137 - 05 Mar 2024
Viewed by 491
Abstract
The increasing demand for sustainable products and services has become a constant requirement for the different stakeholders in an organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have a crucial role in training conscious and competent professionals to lead these changes. Chemical analyses laboratories bring together [...] Read more.
The increasing demand for sustainable products and services has become a constant requirement for the different stakeholders in an organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have a crucial role in training conscious and competent professionals to lead these changes. Chemical analyses laboratories bring together the proper mix, where the adoption of mature and efficient management systems proves to be crucial not only to better train the institutions’ human resources but also to cooperate in recruiting research projects and other services to benefit society. Maturity models assist in the needed stages for sustainable growth to take place. This paper proposes a maturity model based on standardized norms to guide adjustments related to quality, risks, safety, and environment of chemical analyses laboratories in public higher education institutions. This research was done in four stages: theoretical research about maturity models, sustainability, and integrated management systems; survey with laboratories; case study at a chemical analyses laboratory of an HEI; and structuring and validating a maturity model. As the main results, it was observed that more than 80% of public laboratory managers believe it would be relevant to adopt a maturity model to help organize the laboratory’s internal and external processes. 86% of public laboratory managers understand that using management systems can contribute to hiring new services. We can also observe that 42.9% of public laboratory managers do not know any maturity model. As conclusion, the model includes eight dimensions, 31 subdimensions, and 204 management practices to assess and guide chemical analyses laboratories to sustainable maturity levels. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

 
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