The impact of Chinese airport infrastructure on airline pollutant emissions: A hybrid stochastic-neural network approach based on utility functions.

With China being the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases and its aviation sector burgeoning, the environmental performance of Chinese airlines has global significance. Amidst rising demands for eco-friendly practices from both customers and regulators, the interplay between airport infrastructure and environmental performance becomes pivotal. This research offers an innovative methodology to gauge the environmental performance of Chinese airlines, emphasizing the distance traveled between airports using weighted additive utility functions. Leveraging neural networks, the study investigates the impact of various airport infrastructural characteristics on environmental performance. Noteworthy findings indicate that ground control measures, automatic information services at origin airports, surface concrete on runways at both ends, and a centerline lighting system in destination airports positively influence environmental performance. In contrast, longer and wider runways at origin airports, increased distances to control towers, and asphalt runways at destination airports adversely affect it. These insights not only underscore the importance of strategic infrastructure enhancements for reducing carbon footprints but also hold profound policy implications. As global climate change remains at the forefront, fostering sustainable airport infrastructure in China can significantly contribute to worldwide mitigation efforts.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of social media on awareness' socio-environmental and sustainable consumption: Consolidating lessons from the pandemic.

Many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were caused on people's health and the economy of countries in its first year, especially in emerging economies such as Brazil, were dire. Social distancing and the reduction of jobs caused impacts in many organizations, which led to the adoption of strategies allowing employees to work from home, adjusting family residences into home offices while facing reduction in industrial production and a decrease in economic activities. The pandemic also changed consumption behaviors, the use of social media (social networks), and people's socioenvironmental awareness. This research aims to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of social media, on environmental awareness, on sustainable consumption awareness and on the social responsibility awareness of different generations in Brazil one year after the beginning of the pandemic. For data analysis, the structural equation modeling method was used from a final sample of 1120 respondents. The results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic positively influences the growing in social media usage (environmental issues and social responsibility issues) and sustainable consumption awareness. The study highlights that social media usage has the ability to positively influence environmental awareness, sustainable consumption awareness, and social responsibility awareness. The results provide a framework to analyze the consequential factors of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability awareness and the use of social media.

Implications for sustainable healthcare operations in embracing telemedicine services during a pandemic.

Technological interventions in the healthcare sector, namely, telemedicine services, have helped the government and people in these extraordinarily challenging times of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We identify and group key success factors relevant to telemedicine services under 7 contextual criteria. Furthermore, we explore the causal relations among them using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Then, by applying the Bayesian best-worst method (BWM), we compute the relative importance of these criteria. Thereafter, we rank six hospitals that have provided telemedicine services through a comparative evaluation using the VIsekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranjie (VIKOR) method. The threefold findings of our study reveal that (i) the technological criteria provide the highest causal impact, while the environmental criteria provide the least causal impact. (ii) The hierarchical model of criteria, achieved through the Bayesian BWM score, shows that the criteria weights for both technological and organizational criteria are maximum (0.205) and minimum (0.087), respectively. (iii) The evaluation of six hospitals with VIKOR based on seven criteria ranks the Himalayan hospital as first, showing that it is best in providing telemedicine services to patients. Public health policymakers could use the results of our study to devise an effective plan for patient care in crisis, like COVID-19.

Manufacturing and service supply chain resilience to the COVID-19 outbreak: Lessons learned from the automobile and airline industries.

There has been an increased interest among scholars to investigate supply chain resilience (SCRes) in manufacturing and service operations during emerging situations. Grounded in the SCRes theory, this study provides insights into the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the automobile and airline supply chain. Both the short and long-term response strategies adopted by the two supply chains are assessed, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques in three distinct phases. In phase one, we use a sequential mixed-method for resilience evaluation, integrating Time-to-Recovery (TTR) and Financial Impact (FI) analysis. In phase two, we conduct an empirical survey involving 145 firms to evaluate the short-term SCRes response strategies. In the third phase, we conduct semi-structured interviews with supply chain executives both from the automobile and airline industries to understand the long-term SCRes response strategies. Our findings indicate that: (i) the automobile industry perceived that the best strategies to mitigate risks related to COVID-19, were to develop localized supply sources and use advanced industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies. (ii) The airline industry on the other hand, perceived that the immediate need was to get ready for business continuity challenges posed by COVID-19, by defining their operations both at the airports and within the flights. (iii) Importantly, both the sectors perceived Big Data Analytics (BDA) to play a significant role by providing real-time information on various supply chain activities to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. (iv) Cooperation among supply chain stakeholders is perceived, as needed to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, and to accelerate the use of digital technologies.

"There is no carnival without samba": Revealing barriers hampering biodiversity-based R&D and eco-design in Brazil.

Considering the unique relevance of Brazilian biodiversity, this research aims to investigate the main barriers to biodiversity-based R&D and eco-design development in a leading national company which has been commended for its innovation and sustainability. The methodology for this research was based on on-location visits, in-depth interviews, and consensus building among R&D, sustainability, and quality managers. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach was adopted through interpretive structural modelling (ISM), a method that assists decision makers to transform complex models with unclear data into structural models. Some of the most influential barriers to biodiversity-based eco-design initiatives are "lack of legal incentive", "not enough demand from the market", and "not enough available knowledge/scientific data." The most relevant barrier was "no legal incentive" from government. Consequently, managers should concentrate their efforts in tackling those barriers that may affect other barriers known as 'key barriers'. Government should work decisively toward promoting a framework of legal incentives for bio-based eco-design; otherwise, metaphorically, "there is not carnival without the samba singer who pushes the rhythm". The results given here reveal the barriers for bio-based eco-design in a Brazilian leading company, and this is the first work combining ISM to barriers to biodiversity R&D and eco-design.

Tratamento de água para abastecimento humano: contribuições da metodologia Seis Sigma / Treatment of water for human supply: contributions of Six Sigma methodology

RESUMOA metodologia Seis Sigma é uma estratégia de negócio baseada na tomada de decisão objetiva, considerando dados significativos e reais para a criação de metas viáveis, analisando a causa dos defeitos e sugerindo formas de eliminar a lacuna existente entre o desempenho de um processo e o desejado. Pela verificação da importância da integração entre o saneamento ambiental e a gestão de operações, buscou-se, por meio de uma simulação, realizar uma análise dos processos envolvidos no tratamento convencional de água sob a óptica da metodologia Seis Sigma. Considerando uma produção de 2,58 milhões de m3.mês-1e um Nível Sigma 3,0, o volume não conforme seria de 173,1 mil de m3.mês-1. Se o Nível Seis Sigma de excelência fosse atingido, o volume não conforme seria de apenas 7,75 m3.mês-1.

ABSTRACTThe Six Sigma methodology is a business strategy based on making an objective decision, considering real and meaningful data for the creation of viable targets, analyzing the defects' cause and suggesting ways to eliminate the gap between the performance process and the desired goal. Through the verification of the importance of integration between the environmental sanitation and the management operations, it was attempted to, through a simulation, perform an analysis of the processes involved in conventional water treatment from the perspective of Six Sigma methodology. Considering a production of 2.58 million m³.month-1 and a 3.0 Sigma level, the nonconforming volume would be 173.1 m³.month-1. If the Six Sigma excellence level could be reached, the nonconforming volume would be 7.75 m³.month-1.

Adoção da energia solar fotovoltaica em hospitais: revisando a literatura e algumas experiências internacionais / Photovoltaic solar energy in hospitals: review of literature and some international experiences

O Sol possui um papel de extrema importância para a existência dos seres humanos e o Brasil possui uma posição geográfica privilegiada para explorar a luz solar. A união desses dois fatores favorece o uso de células solares para conversão de energia solar em energia elétrica por meio da tecnologia fotovoltaica, tornando-se ótima alternativa de energia, principalmente por ser uma fonte limpa, gerando menores danos ao meio ambiente. Este trabalho tem por objetivo abordar a tecnologia fotovoltaica tendo como foco analítico os hospitais, por meio de casos de sucesso encontrados na literatura internacional. Os hospitais, mesmo executando serviços de total importância à sociedade, apresentam potencial poluidor capaz de causar danos à saúde das pessoas e ao meio ambiente que se localiza ao seu redor. Há estimativas de que as reservas brasileiras de petróleo sejam suficientes para 22 anos, tornando-se necessária a busca por novas fontes alternativas para a geração de energia.

Tecnologias ambientais: em busca de um significado / Environmental technologies: in search of a meaning

Este artigo busca um significado mais preciso e completo para um termo cuja adoção revela-se crescente nos fóruns acadêmicos e empresariais: tecnologia ambiental. De fato, o desenvolvimento, a adoção e a difusão de tecnologias ambientais implicam o envolvimento de diversos agentes, instituições e setores sociais, que requerem um entendimento comum e devidamente completo para o significado de tecnologia ambiental. Entretanto, as propostas conceituais mais atuais são tímidas diante do desafio de se buscar um significado mais claro para o termo. Assim, este artigo explora a tipologia do termo e identifica seu processo de desenvolvimento e difusão, fornecendo um significado mais completo de tecnologia ambiental.

This article searches for a more complete meaning for an expression which has been more and more adopted by academic and managerial forums: environmental technology. The development, adoption and diffusion of environmental technologies require that social agents, institutions and social sectors have a common and proper understanding of the meaning of environmental technology. However, the state of the art conceptual proposals are unable to answer the challenge of finding a clear definition of the term. This article explores the term's taxonomy and identifies it's development and dissemination process, giving a fuller meaning for environmental technology.

Desenvolvimento de produtos sustentáveis: o papel da gestão de pessoas / Sustainable product development: the role of people management

Este artigo lança luzes sobre o debate acerca da integração entre administração de pessoas e desenvolvimento de produtos sustentáveis (DPS) que carece de perspectivas teóricas e práticas, principalmente quanto à produção científica nacional. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma abordagem reflexiva sobre as principais contribuições das dimensões funcionais e competitivas da gestão de pessoas para o DPS. Como resultado, é proposto um construto para a melhoria do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos ambientalmente sustentáveis e são apresentadas as implicações dessa interação para a área de recursos humanos, além de recomendações para pesquisas vindouras.

This article enlightens the debate on the integration between people management and sustainable product development (SPD) an issue that lacks theoretical and practical perspectives, especially for the national scientific production. The article adopts a reflexive approach to the main contributions to SPD given by the functional and competitive dimensions of people management. As a result, it proposes a model for improving the process of developing environmentally sustainable products. It also presents the implications of that interaction for the HR area, as well as recommendations for future researches.