Publications

Abstract:
Handbook of the circular economy: Transitions and transformation.

 

Abstract:
Handbook of the circular economy: Transitions and transformation.

 

Abstract:
Can contract farming support sustainable intensification in agri-food value chains?.

Sustainable intensification aims to minimize the negative impacts of the current agricultural system while maintaining productivity and economic outputs. This study demonstrates that contract farming is a potential mechanism to support many, but not all, farmers in adopting sustainable intensification practices. A discrete choice experiment on a hypothetical value chain contract introducing three sustainable intensification practices, namely extended crop rotation, reducing agrochemicals and planting flower strips, was conducted with a sample of 314 north-Italian wheat farmers. The results show that permanently eliminating glyphosate from the plot under contract is strongly resisted by farmers, while farmers have less strong preferences between introducing legumes or oilseeds in rotation, and between temporary or permanent flower strips. Findings also indicate that farmers who are more educated, are not members of cooperatives and who generally prefer more flexible sales arrangements are unlikely to be triggered to adopt sustainable intensification practices through contract farming. Overall, this study indicates that while voluntary contract arrangements can be a potential tool to increase uptake of sustainable intensification practices, they will likely need to be complemented with more public policy intervention in order to bring sustainable intensification practices to scale. 

Abstract:
Digital transformation and the circular economy: Creating a competitive advantage from the transition towards Net Zero Manufacturing.

Manufacturers are exploring the extent to which digital technology applications can support their sustainability
efforts by helping to convert abstract sustainability goals, such as those of net-zero emissions and circular
economy (CE), into feasible and practical actions, achievements, and ultimately, a sustainable competitive edge.
This work adopts a resource-based view (RBV) to explore the potential role that digital technologies play in the
cultivation of a manufacturing firm’s competitive advantage, and the deployment of existing internal resources
and core competencies to achieve net-zero manufacturing emissions and CE. Two questions are addressed: (1)
What competitive advantage(s) may be derived from the integration of digital technologies to achieve net-zero
manufacturing emissions, and (2) does adopting an RBV facilitate the development of meaningful (and novel)
competitive advantage? Engaged scholarship is used to analyse and apply theory to an empirical, real-world
dataset documenting the perspectives and experiences of 13 manufacturing firms. Applying the VRIO frame-
work, 21 identified digital technology-based core competencies are categorised as forms of competitive advan-
tage that may be possible for manufacturing firms pursuing net-zero emissions. Four scenarios of digital
technology adoption pathways are proposed, differentiated by the degree of radical vs. incremental interests and
options available to the firm. This study highlights the critical need for firms to incorporate intangible asset
management and development, including the labour and supply chain relationships, as part of their digital
transformation strategies. Further, we demonstrate the potential of RBV as a lens for evaluating the competitive
advantage potential of corporate sustainability initiatives, and facilitating the development of related strategies. 

Abstract:
Engagement on risk assessment for gene drive mosquitoes by EFSA and Target Malaria.

As engineered gene drive technologies continue to advance, many actors are actively considering how environmental risk assessments (RAs) for gene drive organisms should be conducted, and how stakeholder engagement opportunities should be provided. There is, however, a lack of clarity concerning what constitutes engagement on gene drive RA and, furthermore, what forms of engagement already exist around gene drive RA. To address this gap, we reflect on the actions of a risk assessor (the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA) and a gene drive developer (Target Malaria) to understand: 1) the RA-related decisions that each are making concerning gene drive technology for mosquitoes and other harmful insects, 2) the existing role of engagement in those decisions, and 3) the implications for our understandings of engagement and RA. We found, first, that both EFSA and Target Malaria have already made many RA-related decisions, even though any preparation and evaluation of a formal RA for gene drive mosquitoes remains far off. This finding supports the idea that gene drive RA involves multiple processes and decisions in different forms across the entire technology and regulatory development process. Second, we found that both EFSA and Target Malaria have already integrated engagement into their respective RA-related decisions in different ways, reflecting their different roles. We conclude by considering how EFSA and Target Malaria could improve their existing RA-related engagement by explicitly considering disciplinary diversity and worldview diversity in their related decision making. 

Abstract:
Moving beyond narrow definitions of gene drive: Diverse perspectives and frames enable substantive dialogue among science and humanities teachers in the United States and United Kingdom.

Gene drive is an emerging biotechnology with applications in global health, conservation and agriculture. Scientists are preparing for field trials, triggering debate about when and how to release gene-drive organisms. These decisions depend on public understandings of gene drive, which are shaped by language. While some studies on gene drive communication assume the need to persuade publics of expert definitions of gene drive, we highlight the importance of meaning-making in communication and engagement. We conducted focus groups with humanities and science teachers in the United Kingdom and United States to explore how different media framings stimulated discussions of gene drive. We found diversity in the value of these framings for public debate. Interestingly, the definition favoured by gene drive scientists was the least popular among participants. Rather than carefully curating language, we need opportunities for publics to make sense and negotiate the meanings of a technology on their own terms. 

Abstract:
On the order-up-to policy with intermittent integer demand and logically consistent forecasts.

We measure the impact of a first-order integer auto-regressive, INAR(1), demand process on order-up-to (OUT) replenishment policy dynamics. We obtain a unique understanding of the bullwhip behaviour for slow moving integer demand. We forecast the integer demand in two ways; with a conditional mean and a conditional median. We investigate the impact of the two forecasting methods on the bullwhip effect and inventory variance generated by the OUT replenishment policy. While the conditional mean forecasts result in the tightest inventory control, they result in real-valued orders and inventory levels which is inconsistent with the integer demand. However, the conditional median forecasts are integer-valued and produce logically consistent integer order and inventory levels. The conditional median forecasts minimise the expected absolute forecasting error, but it is not possible to obtain closed form variance expressions. Numerical experiments reveal existing results remain valid with high volume correlated demand. However, for low volume demand, the impact of the integer demand on the bullwhip effect is often significant. Bullwhip with conditional median forecasts can be both lower and higher than with conditional mean forecasts; indeed it can even be higher than a known conditional mean upper bound (that is valid for all lead times under real-valued, first-order auto-regressive, AR(1), demand), depending on the auto-regressive parameter. Numerical experiments confirm the conditional mean inventory variance is a lower bound for the conditional median inventory variance. 

Abstract:
On the stationary stochastic response of an order-constrained inventory system.

We investigate the stochastic response of a base stock inventory system where the order quantity is either upper- or lower-constrained. This system can represent many real-world settings: forbidden returns, minimum order quantities, and capacity constraints, for example. We show that this problem can be translated into a stopping time problem where the distributions of orders and inventory can be represented by a countably infinite mixture of truncated and convoluted demand distributions. This result can be extended to the cases of arbitrary lead time and auto-correlated demand. A state space algorithm is developed to approximate the first-and second-order moments of the order quantity and inventory level. Via a numerical analysis, we investigate the performance of the approximation, as well as the operational and economic impact of the order constraint. In particular, the constraint impacts order and inventory variances via different combinations of the mixture and truncation effects. We show how tuning the constraint can improve the operational and financial performance of the inventory system by acting as a smoothing mechanism. 

Abstract:
Prescribing engagement in environmental risk assessment for gene drive technology.

Gene drive technology is a nascent biotechnology with the potential to purposefully alter or eliminate a species. There have been broad calls for engagement to inform gene drive governance. Over the past seven years, the gene drive community has been developing risk assessment guidelines to determine what form future gene drive risk assessments take, including whether and how they involve engagement. To explore who is developing these guidelines and how engagement in risk assessment is being prescribed, we conduct a document analysis of gene drive risk assessment guideline documents from 2014 to 2020. We found that a narrow set of organizations have developed 10 key guideline documents and that with only one exception the documents prescribe a narrow, vague, or completely absent role for engagement in gene drive risk assessment. Without substantively prescribed engagement in guidelines, the relevance, rigor, and trustworthiness of gene drive risk assessment and governance will suffer. 

Abstract:
Tree flexing: Forest politics and land struggles in the green economy.

Planting trees is widely regarded as a positive contribution to combating climate change and establishing a future-proof, green economy. Yet, there is mounting evidence from many tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions of the world that tree plantations can have multiple negative economic, social and environmental impacts. These are not always accounted for by the private and public institutions who have heavily supported the forestry sector in recent decades. This ‘tropical provocation’ reports from a recent fieldtrip to the Wallmapu, the region the Mapuche Indigenous people call their ancestral homeland. There, I saw with my own eyes that the so-called green economy does not work for Mapuche communities, as they experience extreme water shortages, wildfires and other plundering from what they regard as their territory.  

Abstract:
Understanding the role of value chain formation in the scaling of crop diversification.

Significant detrimental effects of agricultural intensification and specialization are becoming increasingly evident. Reliance on monocultures, few varieties, and intensive use of agrochemicals is a major factor in climate change, biodiversity decline, soil health deterioration, and pollution, putting our food system at risk. This requires sustainable agricultural processes, such as crop diversification, to be more rapidly and effectively tested, adopted, and scaled. While these processes are typically introduced at niche level, they often struggle to scale and to induce broader sustainability transitions. In this study, we investigate how scaling may occur, focusing on institutional logics, their changes, and realignment over time. In particular, we applied an abductive research strategy to collect empirical evidence from two in-depth, longitudinal case studies of innovation niches related to crop diversification. Doing so, we show for the first time that, despite their many differences, scaling processes of crop diversification in both niches converge, presenting similar progressions in terms of institutional dimensions, and facing similar obstacles when it comes to value chain formation. While initial experimentation could still be implemented using organizational forms familiar to the lead actors, we discover that a systemic lack of adequate value chain arrangements obstructed the scaling process of crop diversification in both cases. These findings have been used to reflect on the role of value chain relations in scaling processes in sustainability transitions in agriculture. 

Abstract:
Working through (mis)recognition: Understanding vulnerability as ambivalence in precarious worker subjectivity.

Most workers around the world are part of the precariat, characterized by non-permanent, informal, short-term, low-pay, low-skill, and insecure jobs. While there have been many socio-economic critiques of the negative impacts of precarity on workers, the literature has increasingly asked how precarious workers actually live their lives and how their subjectivities are produced on a daily basis. We contribute to this literature by providing a psychosocial account of the ambivalent experiences of precarious workers. We contend that the interplay of recognition and misrecognition plays a crucial role, as the vulnerable, working subject becomes entangled in a complex web of recognizability. We present insights from 104 in-depth interviews, providing a Lacanian analysis of how precarious workers develop unconscious attachments to neoliberal values that are central to the logic of precarity. Understanding this ambivalence helps us develop a more nuanced view of an ethics of precarious workers’ vulnerability.  

Abstract:
Building energy retrofit-as-a-service: a Total Value of Ownership assessment methodology to support whole life-cycle building circularity and decarbonisation.

The regulatory drive to accelerate the clean energy and circular economy transitions in the European building stock is currently failing to overcome systemic implementation barriers. These barriers include high initial investment costs, misaligned financial incentives among stakeholders, and the relatively low cost of less sustainable energy and materials. A Product-Service Systems (PSS) approach could successfully overcome many of these barriers by (1) outsourcing capital investment, as well as financial and technical risks, (2) providing shared economic incentives to collaborating stakeholders, and (3) retaining extended producer responsibility and ownership over materials and products. However, PSS is still not seen as a viable business model when compared to both a standard “ownership” contract and a “no-retrofit” scenario. This paper proposes a Total Value of Ownership (TVO) method to evaluate the financial performance of a building energy retrofit in terms of Net Present Value, comparing a matrix of scenarios. Results show that–when accounting for capital and opportunity costs tied to alternative investments, internalising externalities, and monetising soft values such as user productivity and property value–a PSS model can deliver the highest NPV. Furthermore, results show that a PSS alternative can act as a positive future-proofing strategy to safeguard the building owner’s position in the face of uncertain future market indicators and carbon taxation. Recommendations for policymakers, investors, financiers, building owners, and end-users are presented to identify the economic value of PSS contracts, leading to better-informed decisions which can accelerate deep energy retrofit of the building stock. 

Abstract:
Can Digital Technologies Increase Consumer Acceptance of Circular Business Models? the Case of Second Hand Fashion.

Experimentation with, and the implementation of, circular business models (CBMs) has
gained rapid traction within the textiles and fashion industry over the last five years. Substitution
of virgin materials with bioderived alternatives, extending the lifecycle of garments through resale,
and rental services and the recycling or upcycling of garments are some of the strategies being
used to reduce the 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 92 million tonnes of waste
associated with the sector in 2017. However, whilst CBMs demonstrate environmental and economic
benefits, low consumer acceptance is considered by business professionals and policymakers to
be one of the main barriers to the transition towards a circular economy. Digitisation is widely
acknowledged as a catalyst for innovation in many sectors and digital technologies are driving
new ways to exchange and share goods and services, enabling companies to match the supply, and
demand for, otherwise underused assets and products. Online platforms, in particular, have played a
crucial role in driving the growth of used goods and resale in other consumer goods markets, such as
consumer technology. A mixed methods approach, including a review of 40 organisations operating
second hand fashion models, a consumer survey of over 1200 respondents and in-depth interviews
with 10 organisations operating second hand fashion models, is adopted to reveal (a) the barriers
to consumer acceptance of reuse models in the fashion industry, and (b) how digital technologies
can overcome these barriers. Findings highlight the significant progress that organisations have
made in using digitalisation, including data analytics, algorithms, digital platforms, advanced
product imagery and data informed customer communications, to address barriers associated with
convenience, hygiene, trust and security. Furthermore, the study identifies opportunities for the
development of more sophisticated digital technologies to support increased transparency and
address concerns associated with the quality, authenticity and sourcing of materials. Positioned at the
interface of digitisation and consumer acceptance of circular business models, this study makes an
important contribution to understanding consumer barriers and how to address them and concludes
with a set of recommendations for practitioners. 

Abstract:
Designing a Framework for Materials Flow by Integrating Circular Economy Principles with End-of-Life Management Strategies.

Circular economy is an upward trending notion that has drawn worldwide attention of policymakers, industry administrators, environmentalist as well as academic researchers. Though there are several tools developed for monitoring the material recovery, a very few number of research have been conducted to integrate circular economy principles with end-of-life (EOL) management strategies. This paper proposes an EOL-driven circular economy framework for the management of materials flow so as to extend the lifetime of materials through improved durability as well as to provide more social, economic and environmental benefits through less material waste. A case study from the agricultural waste industry is presented in order to test the model and validate its performance. The results show that the proposed framework has a good potential for small and medium enterprises (SME) advances. 

Abstract:
Ethics at the Centre of Global and Local Challenges: Thoughts on the Future of Business Ethics.

To commemorate 40 years since the founding of the Journal of Business Ethics, the editors in chief of the journal have invited the editors to provide commentaries on the future of business ethics. This essay comprises a selection of commentaries aimed at creating dialogue around the theme Ethics at the centre of global and local challenges. For much of the history of the Journal of Business Ethics, ethics was seen within the academy as a peripheral aspect of business. However, in recent years, the stakes have risen dramatically, with global and local worlds destabilized by financial crisis, climate change, internet technologies and artificial intelligence, and global health crises. The authors of these commentaries address these grand challenges by placing business ethics at their centre. What if all grand challenges were framed as grand ethical challenges? Tanusree Jain, Arno Kourula and Suhaib Riaz posit that an ethical lens allows for a humble response, in which those with greater capacity take greater responsibility but remain inclusive and cognizant of different voices and experiences. Focussing on business ethics in connection to the grand(est) challenge of environmental emergencies, Steffen Böhm introduces the deceptively simple yet radical position that business is nature, and nature is business. His quick but profound side-step from arguments against human-nature dualism to an ontological undoing of the business-nature dichotomy should have all business ethics scholars rethinking their "business and society" assumptions. Also, singularly concerned with the climate emergency, Boudewijn de Bruin posits a scenario where, 40 years from now, our field will be evaluated by its ability to have helped humanity emerge from this emergency. He contends that Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth) v. Royal Dutch Shell illustrates how human rights take centre stage in climate change litigation, and how business ethics enters the courtroom. From a consumer ethics perspective, Deirdre Shaw, Michal Carrington and Louise Hassan argue that ecologically sustainable and socially just marketplace systems demand cultural change, a reconsideration of future interpretations of "consumer society", a challenge to the dominant "growth logic" and stimulation of alternative ways to address our consumption needs. Still concerned with global issues, but turning attention to social inequalities, Nelarine Cornelius links the capability approach (CA) to global and corporate governance, arguing that CA will continue to lie at the foundation of human development policy, and, increasingly, CSR and corporate governance. Continuing debate on the grand challenges associated with justice and equality, Laurence Romani identifies a significant shift in the centrality of business ethics in debates on managing (cultural) differences, positing that dialogue between diversity management and international management can ground future debate in business ethics. Finally, the essay concludes with a commentary by Charlotte Karam and Michelle Greenwood on the possibilities of feminist-inspired theories, methods, and positionality for many spheres of business ethics, not least stakeholder theory, to broaden and deepen its capacity for nuance, responsiveness, and transformation. In the words of our commentators, grand challenges must be addressed urgently, and the Journal of Business Ethics should be at the forefront of tackling them. 

Abstract:
Formation of Social Entrepreneurial Intention: a Qualitative Grounded Approach at the Base of the Pyramid.

While there have been some attempts at investigating and theorizing social entrepreneurial action at the base of the economic pyramid, our understanding of the processes contributing to the formation of social entrepreneurial intention in contexts of extreme poverty remain limited. In this study, we aim to address this gap by providing a better understanding of the formation of social entrepreneurial intentions of youths at the base of the economic pyramid. Drawing on a qualitative grounded approach, we highlight the role of self-confidence, perceived self-efficacy and social ascension beliefs as important drivers in understanding the formation of social entrepreneurial intention of youths at the base of the pyramid. At a practical level, our study suggests that besides developing entrepreneurship-specific knowledge, support mechanisms should also pay attention to the development of different self-related beliefs of youths to enable the formation of social entrepreneurial intention at the base of the pyramid. 

Abstract:
Gene Drives in the U.K. U.S. and Australian Press (2015–2019): How a New Focus on Responsibility is Shaping Science Communication.

Gene drive is a controversial biotechnology for pest control. Despite a commitment from gene drive researchers to responsibility and the key role of the media in debates about science and technology, little research has been conducted on media reporting of gene drive. We employ metaphor and discourse analysis to explore how responsibility is reflected in the coverage of this technology in the U.S. U.K. and Australian press. The findings reveal a rhetorical strategy of trust-building by evoking the moral attributes of gene drive researchers. We discuss the implications of these findings for the communication of new technologies. 

Abstract:
Goal frames and sustainability transitions: how cognitive lock-ins can impede crop diversification.

AbstractTransitions towards more sustainable agricultural systems are often characterised by ‘lock-ins’, understood as self-reinforcing mechanisms that reproduce the status quo and impede change. While socioeconomic, technological and institutional lock-ins have been widely used to understand processes of sustainable transitions in agri-food systems, the role of so-called cognitive lock-ins is still under-investigated. In this study, we focus on how institutional settings create cognitive lock-ins in farmers’ decision-making related to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. We apply goal framing for environmental behaviour and transition theory in explaining how socio-technical conditions may shape farmer’s decision-making. Empirically, we focus on the example of diversifying crop rotations with legumes as an established strategy to increase biodiversity and soil health, and reduce agrochemical use, emissions and pollution, which still remains rare in European agriculture. We use two cases in the Atlantic pedo-climatic region, Cornwall, UK, and Gelderland, Netherlands. Using in-depth interview data with farmers and extensive supplementary secondary data, we explore how context-specific socio-technical settings interact with farmers’ normative, gain-oriented and hedonic goal frames to shape the (un-)desirability of crop diversification with legumes. This creates conditions recognisable as cognitive lock-ins: the context of farmers’ decision-making creates cognitive processes that drastically reduce the perceived viability of alternative agricultural practices. Our findings in this case suggest the framework developed for this study may help to identify regionally specific, as well as common, barriers and solutions to crop diversification and comparable practices that are relevant to transitions towards sustainability in agri-food systems. 

Abstract:
Human health impacts of exposure to phthalate plasticizers: an overview of reviews.

In this review of reviews, we overview the current global body of available evidence from structured reviews of epidemiological studies that explore human health outcomes associated with exposure to phthalates (chemical plasticisers commonly found in plastics). We found robust evidence for an association with lower semen quality, neurodevelopment and risk of childhood asthma, and moderate to robust evidence for impact on anogenital distance in boys. We identified moderate evidence for an association between phthalates/metabolites and low birthweight, endometriosis, decreased testosterone, ADHD, Type 2 diabetes and breast/uterine cancer. There was some evidence for other outcomes including anofourchette distance, fetal sex hormones, pre-term birth, lower antral follicle count, reduced oestrodiol, autism, obesity, thyroid function and hearing disorders. We found no reviews of epidemiological human studies on the impact of phthalates from recycled plastics on human health. We recommend that future research should use urine samples as exposure measures, consider confounders in analyses and measure impacts on female reproductive systems. Our findings align with emerging research indicating that health risks can occur at exposure levels below the "safe dose" levels set out by regulators, and are of particular concern given potential additive or synergistic "cocktail effects" of chemicals. This raises important policy and regulatory issues for identifying and controlling plastics and health related impacts and highlights a need for more research into substances of concern entering plastics waste streams via recycling. 

Abstract:
Hybrid modeling of collaborative freight transportation planning using agent-based simulation, auction-based mechanisms, and optimization.

the sharing economy is a peer-to-peer economic model characterized by people and organizations sharing resources. With the emergence of such economies, an increasing number of logistics providers seek to collaborate and derive benefit from the resultant economic efficiencies, sustainable operations, and network resilience. This study investigates the potential for collaborative planning enabled through a Physical Internet-enabled logistics system in an urban area that acts as a freight transport hub with several e-commerce warehouses. Our collaborative freight transportation planning approach is realized through a three-layer structured hybrid model that includes agent-based simulation, auction mechanism, and optimization. A multi-agent model simulates a complex transportation network, an auction mechanism facilitates allocating transport services to freight requests, and a simulation–optimization technique is used to analyze strategic transportation planning under different objectives. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses and Pareto efficiency experiments are conducted to draw insights regarding the effect of parameter settings and multi-objectives. The computational results demonstrate the efficacy of our developed model and solution approach, tested on a real urban freight transportation network in a major US city.  

Abstract:
Life cycle assessment of self-healing products.

Self-healing products sense and repair damage and should help to improve product circularity and safety. Such products are at an early stage in research and development. Existing models for product life extension in life cycle assessment (LCA) were not developed for self-healing products. It is timely and urgent therefore to develop a framework for life cycle assessment for self-healing products so that their environmental impact can be optimised early at the design stage. This paper presents a new framework for LCA, based on a restoration of a product's function, and thus linking self-healing to product life extension and user acceptance. The model used within this framework uses the probabilities of self-healing, failure and user acceptance at the end of each life to quantify a product's service life extension and consequential avoided or delayed new production. The model takes into consideration multiple healing cycles with varying healing efficiencies. A case study scenario of self-healing propeller blades of an unmanned air vehicle employed for site inspection was used to test the application of the framework. The paper shows the positive contribution of self-healing in reducing life cycle impact. Sensitivity analysis revealed a tipping point where the benefits of avoided emissions outweigh the embedded impacts of self-healing technology. This clearly shows the importance of the life cycle assessment framework to understand under which conditions the environmental gains of using self-healing products are maximised. 

Abstract:
Mobilising finance and achieving early growth in new technology-based firms: a legitimacy perspective.

PurposeThis study investigates a mediational model between legitimated elements, financial resource mobilisation and subsequent early firm growth among New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) using conformity and control perspectives of legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, a longitudinal database of 303 NTBFs from Sweden, Finland and France is used. The ordinary least square regression analysis method is applied, and the proposed mediation relationships are studied by employing the four-step approach developed by Baron and Kenny (1986).FindingsThis study finds that based on the conformity principle, two out of three legitimated elements (business plan and incubator relationship, but not start-up experience) have an impact on financial resource mobilisation, which in turn, is associated with early growth in NTBFs based on the control principle. Thus, financial resource mobilisation positively mediates the relationships among the two legitimated elements and early growth in NTBFs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has several limitations, which also generate promising pathways for future research. Future research should study the relationship between the three legitimacy elements and financial resource mobilisation and early growth across a wider range of firms and settings. The questionnaire was also based on a single point in time and could not capture the evolving nature of the legitimacy elements and fundraising. Hence, future research can examine the multidimensionality of these processes; longitudinal qualitative studies can be a complement, allowing for a better understanding of the impact of legitimacy on NTBFs.Practical implicationsThe findings offer implications for managers of NTBFs because developing legitimacy is critical to NTBFs early growth and development. The findings indicate that NTBFs' founders must systematically develop business plans and that incubators help enhance legitimacy through a signalling.Social implicationsIt is believed that the study meaningfully contributes to the collective understanding of the role of legitimacy in driving the development of NTBFs. Given the importance of NTBFs in our economies, coupled with the lack of attention given to the role of mobilisation of external resources in explaining NTBF early growth, it is believed that the study is both timely and important.Originality/valueThe findings meaningfully contribute to the collective understanding of NTBF growth. While there are studies that have examined the antecedents of growth and finance separately, this study proposes a novel mediational model that integrates both and tests it empirically. 

Abstract:
Modelling of environmental impacts of printed self-healing products.

Products utilising self-healing materials have the potential to restore some of their function following damage, thereby extending the product lifespan and contributing to waste prevention and increased product safety. Despite the growing interest in these products, there a lack of comprehensive studies on the environmental implications of self-healing products and the parameters that influence impacts. The study presented in this paper combined life cycle assessment combined with a Taguchi experimental design and analysis of variance to investigate the effect of various parameters across the life stages of a self-healing composite product manufactured by 3D printing using poly-lactic acid (PLA) and self-healing polyurethane (PU). The results of this study suggests that impacts are primarily affected by avoided production due to the increased service of the product, followed by electricity requirements and material deposition rate (efficiency) of 3D printing. In the case of water consumption raw material manufacturing of PLA and PU are the highest and hence should be a target for research on reducing their water footprint. When comparing self-healing vs. regular products it is evident that most of the impacts are dominated by the electricity consumption of the manufacturing process. These results suggest that maximising avoided production can play a major role in reducing impacts of 3D printed products. The results are important for maximising the circularity of additive manufacturing products while minimising their life cycle impact. 

Abstract:
Opening up, closing down, or leaving ajar? How applications are used in engaging with publics about gene drive.

Public engagement and responsible innovation are strongly emphasised in gene drive research, together with the goal of addressing societal challenges, notably, malaria and environmental conservation. We aim to explore whether public engagement is used to ‘open up' or ‘close down' opportunities to shape gene drive research. Drawing on interviews with gene drive developers and stakeholders, we investigate how the public communication of gene drive is conceived. We find that traditional closing-down tendencies remain, but that there are new and encouraging opening-up approaches. Consistent with responsible innovation thinking, these frame gene drive as multifaceted, context-dependent and requiring deeper deliberation. We also identify a third ‘leaving ajar’ approach that seeks to engage with and respond to local communities and modify technological applications to be more acceptable. Innovation system constraints may well temper current aspirations to open up; framing public conversations around understandings of public good could offer a way forward. 

Abstract:
Placing people at the heart of climate action.

Profound societal change along with continued technical improvements will be required to meet our climate goals, as well as to improve people’s quality of life and ensure thriving economies and ecosystems. Achieving the urgent and necessary transformations laid out in the recently published IPCC report will require placing people at the heart of climate action. Tackling climate change cannot be achieved solely through technological breakthroughs or new climate models. We must build on the strong social science knowledge base and develop a more visible, responsive and interdisciplinary-oriented social science that engages with people and is valued in its diversity by decision-makers from government, industry, civil society and law. Further, we need to design interventions that are both effective at reducing emissions and achieve wider societal goals such as wellbeing, equity, and fairness. Given that all climate solutions will involve people in one way or another, the social sciences have a vital role to play. 

Abstract:
Recommendations for environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications for malaria vector control.

AbstractBuilding on an exercise that identified potential harms from simulated investigational releases of a population suppression gene drive for malaria vector control, a series of online workshops identified nine recommendations to advance future environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications. 

Abstract:
Removing Barriers to Blockchain use in Circular Food Supply Chains: Practitioner Views on Achieving Operational Effectiveness.

The increasing demand for a sustainable, reliable and secure supply chain for food products
has led to the application of digital technologies such as blockchain to improve operational
effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integration barriers of Blockchain
Technology (BCT) within Circular Food Supply Chains (CFSCs) towards firm’s operational
effectiveness through a multi-methodological process. Initially the integration barriers are
identified through a review of literature and these risks are categorised, using evidence
obtained by survey questionnaire completed by experts in the integrated research arena. A
further quantified prioritisation of these barriers is made by utilizing a Fuzzy Delphi approach,
validated by expert practitioners drawn from the food production and supply organizations.
Finally, through semi-structured interviews with Blockchain and FSC experts, an examination
of how the integration barriers affect operational effectiveness may be mitigated is provided.
This paper concludes that the identified barriers to blockchain integration have real impact on
the operational effectiveness of the firm that can only be clarified through industry wide
standardised processes. 

Abstract:
Simulation modelling of hospital outpatient department: a review of the literature and bibliometric analysis.

the increase in demand for outpatient departments (OPDs) has contributed to overcrowded clinics and patient dissatisfaction. Computer simulation can help decision-makers meet the operational challenge of balancing the demand for outpatient services with considerations of available capacity. The paper presents a synthesis of the literature on simulation modeling in OPD using two approaches: a bibliometric analysis (employing keyword co-occurrence network) and a literature classification focusing on OPD strategy, OPD performance measures, and simulation techniques. Our review is based on 161 papers, published between 2006 and 2020, identified through a methodological search of the literature. The objective of the review is threefold: (1) to identify the major and emerging research issues in general and specialized OPD, (2) to find the commonly used performance measures in OPD and how it is associated with the strategies used to improve the performance, and (3) to identify the commonly used simulation methods for OPD modeling. A key finding from the bibliometric analysis is that most OPD research can be classified under one of the four clusters—“organization and management,”“patient satisfaction,”“overbooking,” and “performance.” We also find that patient waiting time has received much attention among the performance measures reported in the literature, followed by server idle time/overtime (server here is the OPD consultant or other healthcare resource). Our review serves as a key reference point for scholars, practitioners, students, and healthcare stakeholders, and those who use quantitative tools to aid operational decision-making.  

Abstract:
Single-use Plastic and COVID-19 in the NHS: Barriers and Opportunities.

Background Single-use personal protective equipment (PPE) has been essential to protect healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, intensified use of PPE could counteract the previous efforts made by the UK NHS Trusts to reduce their plastic footprint. Design and methods in this study, we conducted an in-depth case study in the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust to investigate plastic-related issues in a typical NHS Trust before, during and after the pandemic. We first collected hospital routine data on both procurement and usage of single-use PPE (including face masks, aprons, and gowns) for the time period between April 2019 and August 2020. We then interviewed 12 hospital staff across a wide remit, from senior managers to consultants, nurses and catering staff, to gather qualitative evidence on the overall impact of COVID-19 on the Trust regarding plastic use. Results We found that although COVID-19 had increased the procurement and the use of single-use plastic substantially during the pandemic, it did not appear to have changed the focus of the hospital on implementing measures to reduce single-use plastic in the long term. We then discussed the barriers and opportunities to tackle plastic issues within the NHS in the post-COVID world, for example, a circular healthcare model. Conclusion Investment is needed in technologies and processes that can recycle and reuse a wider range of single-use plastics, and innovate sustainable alternatives to replace singleuse consumables used in the NHS to construct a fully operational closed material loop healthcare system.  

Abstract:
The Political Ontology of Corporate Social Responsibility: Obscuring the Pluriverse in Place.

AbstractThis article examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the lens of political ontology. We contend that CSR is not only a discursive mean of legitimization but an inherently ontological practice through which particular worlds become real. CSR enables the politics of place-making, connecting humans and nonhumans in specific territorial configurations in accordance with corporate needs and interests. We discuss three CSR mechanisms of singularization that create a particular corporate ontology in place: (1) community engagements that form ‘stakeholders’; (2) CSR standards and certifications that produce singular sustainable environments; and (3) CSR reporting that erases ontological conflicts and enables the singularized representation (of the environment and the community) to travel to other locations of the corporate world. We argue that these ontological CSR practices obscure the pluriverse of other world and place-making practices that would create different kinds of sustainabilities based on less extractive and non-corporate ways of being in place. 

Abstract:
The principles driving gene drives for conservation.

Gene drive technology is an emerging biotechnology with the potential to address some of the
most intractable global biodiversity conservation issues. Scientists are exploring potential gene
drive applications for managing invasive species and building resilience in keystone species
threatened by climate change. The possibility to use gene drive for these conservation purposes
has triggered significant interest in how to govern its development and eventual applications. This
includes a plethora of documents prescribing governance principles, which can be a sensible
response to the governance gap created by emerging technologies and help shore up legitimacy.
We conducted qualitative documentary analysis to examine the range and substance of principles
emerging in the governance of conservation gene drive. Such analysis aimed to better understand
the aspirations guiding these applications and how scientists and other experts imagine their
responsibility in this field. We found a collection of recommendations and prescriptions that could
be organised into a set of seven emerging principles intended to shape the governance of gene
drive in conservation: broad and empowered engagement; public acceptance; decision-making
informed by broad ranging considerations, state and international collaboration; ethical
frameworks; diverse expertise; and responsible self-regulation by developers. We lay bare these
emergent principles, analyzing the way in which they are valued, prioritized, and their strengths
and weaknesses. By identifying these prescriptive principles, stakeholders can further interrogate
their merits and shortcomings and identify more concrete ways that governance frameworks might
embody them. 

Abstract:
The role of citizen science in addressing plastic pollution: Challenges and opportunities.

Globally, the number of citizen science clean-up projects, such as beach cleans, is increasing in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the environment. Such activities offer the opportunity to gather insightful data on plastic abundance, distribution and composition. This information is key for informing effective management strategies aimed at reducing input but little work has been conducted to examine the challenges faced by existing citizen science projects, or the potential opportunities for maximising their impact. Here, we present the results of a questionnaire survey and follow-up workshop to explore the opinions of representatives from 20 organisations that deal with the issue of plastic pollution in the environment. Our results show that, of the organisations that conduct clean-up activities in the United Kingdom (UK), the majority collect data on plastic pollution to some extent. To ensure these data are scientifically meaningful and the necessary levels of public engagement are maintained, participants felt that survey protocols should be standardised across organisations and data submission should be as simple and easy as possible. The participants considered communication, inclusivity and volunteer diversity to be key for enhancing citizen engagement and improving data quality. Many organisations were unclear about how the information they hold can be most effectively used to help inform policies relating to managing plastic pollution. Moving forwards, there is a clear desire from clean-up organisations to collaborate with other sectors, such as commercial, policy, waste and recycling, education and technology stakeholders, as well as other non-governmental organisations and scientific researchers, to enhance the value and impact of citizen science in tackling the issue of plastic pollution. 

Abstract:
Algorithms as Co-Researchers: Exploring Meaning and Bias in Qualitative Research.

 

Abstract:
Circular design in practice: Eight levers for change.

 

Abstract:
Riversimple: Mobility.

 

Abstract:
Paradise Lost?: Understanding Social Embeddedness Through Crisis and Violence in the Neapolitan “Land of Fires”.

 

Abstract:
Internal ‘chutes’ and legal ‘ladders’: negative behaviour anomalies in the NHS.

 

Abstract:
Pop-Up Production: Flexible Capacity Deployment in Additive Manufacturing for Short-Term Opportunistic Production.

 

Abstract:
自己相関を持つ価格モデルと線形需要モデルによるサプライチェーンのダイナミクスと経済性. (Supply chain dynamics and economics based on autocorrelated price models and linear demand models).

 

Abstract:
An integrative visual multifactor analysis of payment system stakeholders strategic reports.

 

Abstract:
Impact of correlated price sensitive demand on the dynamics and economics of supply chains.

 

Abstract:
On the equivalence of the proportional and damped trend order-up-to policies: an eigenvalue analysis.

 

Abstract:
On the order-up-to policy with intermittent integer demand and coherent forecasts.

 

Abstract:
Performing the Circular economy: How an ambiguous discourse is managed and maintained through meetings.

 

Abstract:
Transitioning to the circular economy: initial findings from two multinational organisations.

 

Abstract:
Accelerating the transition towards a net zero NHS: Delivering a sustainable and resilient UK healthcare sector.

 

Abstract:
The Pandemic and Beyond: the Arts and Humanities Contribution to Covid Research and Recovery.