Yes / We examine corporate inertia towards circularity transition using organisational case studies, observations, and qualitative interviews with business executives. The study explores how the values and beliefs of business leaders and managers promote or inhibit internal and external stakeholder engagement to enable transition to circular business models. We focus on four large UK food companies, conducting interviews with 11 senior managers. Rather than a lack of awareness of the circular economy (CE), the results demonstrate that business leaders are not persuaded by the short-to medium-term business case for a CE. There is misalignment between values and beliefs of business executives and the circularity values and goals of their organisations. The misaligned values and beliefs inhibit relevant stakeholder engagement for transitions to a CE with responsibility shifted to civil society and public institutions. Management commitment to circularity transitions are at best a sophisticated form of circularity greenwashing. The study further suggests a general lack of collective disposition to foster collaborations with sectoral and supply chain partners to engender circularity transitions due to the absence of any standard systems for CE performance indicators. Circularity education and training play a positive mediatory role in changing negative assumptions, including the promotion of managers' engagement with other relevant stakeholders to build synergies and strategies for CE systems. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of corporate inertia regarding transitions to CE and highlight the relevance of aligning the personal values and beliefs of top management with organisational, sectoral, and supply chain partners’ values and goals.

Yes / Achieving energy efficiency through adoption of energy management practices remain top priorities among industry. Studies focusing on energy management practices are scarce and this area needs to be focused. Building on the perspective of resource-based view and behavioral theory of corporate governance, the purpose of the study is to develop and test an integrative framework linking manufacturing firm's energy management practices (EMPs) to environmental and financial performance through mediating roles played by energy efficiency and audit. The moderating role played by the top management commitment is further examined. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses alongside Hayes' PROCESS to check moderation effects. Results from a survey of 637 employees working in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of Indian manufacturing firms indicate that EMPs result into increased environmental as well as financial performance of the firm. It was also found that energy efficiency mediates the relationship between the adoption of EMPs and environmental performance, amplified by top management commitment. Further, energy audit mediates the effect of EMPs on energy efficiency. The study contributes to offering the new research directions to identify alternatives that monetises environmental concepts such as energy efficiency, leading to higher performance of SMEs. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 20 Dec 2022.

This study analyzes the market share of the top 10 home builders in nine Metropolitan Statistical Areas, along with fourteen other independent variables, to find a statistical relationship with median home sales price. Through a stepwise regression of the independent variables it is determined that there is no correlation between median home sale price and market share of the top 10 home builders. In the stepwise regression two variables are found to be correlated to median homes sales price: Owner Occupancy Percentage and Residential Construction Wages, a data point compiled for this study. A linear regression is run between market share of the top 10 and median home sale price and no correlation is found. / Master of Science / This study observes changes in median home sale price and changes in the market concentration of the top 10 home builders. Data from nine cities was analyzed. Using linear regression with the two previously mentioned variables along with fourteen other variables the study finds no relationship between the two variables. Among the variables the two that had the highest statistical relationship are Owner Occupancy Percentage and Residential Construction Wages. This study is relevant to the on-going discussion about concentration in the housing market.

Background: Circular economy (CE) is one of the most recent ways to address environmental sustainability. It aims to extend the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible, and minimize waste generation by maintaining them in the economy for as long as possible to mitigate climate change, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and resource short­ages. Businesses play a crucial part in protecting the environment and have been urged to incorpo­rate CE practices. Leadership and top management have been found crucial for the transi­tion and the CEO has the power to shape strategic plans and directions for the company. Despite the growing research on CE and what influences the transition, literature on individual roles of the top management team is scarce. Existing literature focuses on different factors driv­ing the transition but not the specific roles of the top management team. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to add to the literature regarding CE and how the CEO influences the transition. With this research, we aim to contribute to the current discussion on the transition towards CE, both theoretically and practically. Method: We have conducted a qualitative study with an inductive approach. It follows a relativist ontology and a social constructionism viewpoint. The methodology is an exploratory multi­ple-case study where the companies were selected by purposive sampling. Five companies were selected and in total 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted where we gathered data from both CEOs and their employees. The data was analyzed by combining the Goioa method with Eisenhardt’s multiple case study approach. Conclusion: Based on our findings we identified that the CEO influences the transition towards CE. We distinguished the CEO role within top management and found that they influence CE through strategic management and power. Within strategic management, the CEO influences through setting the strategy, being the decision maker, allocating resources, and setting the direc­tives and goals for the organization. The aspect of power was found to influence the inter­nal organization and external parties. Additionally, we showed how these contributions can be applied practically.

This thesis investigates the interconnections of the factors that a company essentially should possess to implement agile applications and examines the extent to which agility factors are transferable across diverse sectors. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with industry experts and executive ranks across various sectors, this research aims to identify the key factors that are indispensable to organizational agility to successfully implement agility and assess their applicability in diverse organizational contexts. The findings highlight the universal relevance of agility factors such as leadership and vision, top-management support, customer focus, adaptability, collaboration, innovation, resource management, technology utilization, and training and development.

Les réseaux trophiques jouent un rôle primordial dans la régulation des flux de matière et d’énergie au sein des écosystèmes. Dans le cadre des pratiques de recharge artificielle des aquifères, les biocénoses souterraines sont pleinement sollicitées et leur capacité à dégrader les flux de matière organique de surface conditionne le maintien de la qualité des eaux souterraines. L’objectif de ce travail est de déterminer l’influence d’une augmentation des flux de carbone organique dissous sur l’intensité des interactions trophiques entre les communautés microbiennes et les assemblages d’invertébrés au toit des nappes phréatiques rechargées artificiellement avec des eaux de ruissellement pluvial. A travers une approche expérimentale de terrain et de laboratoire, ce travail permet d’évaluer l’intensité des relations existant entre les flux de carbone organique dissous, les conditions environnementales, l’activité et la diversité de communautés microbiennes et l’abondance des communautés d’invertébrés. / Food webs play a crucial role in regulating the fluxes of matter and energy within ecosystems. Artificial recharge of aquifers relies heavily on the ability of groundwater biocenoses to degrade organic matter fluxes that is a condition to maintain the quality of groundwater. The objective of this work is to determine the impact of increased dissolved organic carbon supply on the trophic interactions between the microbial communities and invertebrate assemblages at the upper layers of groundwater artificially recharged with stormwater. Through a combined field and laboratory experimental approach, this work allows ranking the strength of relationship between dissolved organic carbon fluxes, environmental conditions, activity and diversity of microbial communities and abundance of invertebrate assemblages

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.

Em um período de mudanças climáticas e restrições a emissões cada vez maiores, é importante focar o desenvolvimento das nações na direção de uma economia de baixo carbono. O elevado consumo de combustíveis fósseis gera danos que atingem escalas globais, regionais e locais e põem em risco o suprimento de longo prazo no planeta. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o desempenho dos principais setores industriais brasileiros considerando seus respectivos consumos energéticos e contribuições para aspectos sociais e econômicos do país. Além disso, busca-se mensurar os benefícios ambientais, no que diz respeito à emissão de CO2, resultante da alteração de energéticos nos setores industriais de menor desempenho e discutir políticas públicas que visam estimular a utilização de fontes de energia mais limpas. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, foi realizada a análise e quantificação da potencial contribuição ambiental que a alteração da matriz energética dos setores com menor desempenho em relação à sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento sustentável, pode fornecer. Para determinar o desempenho dos setores foi utilizada a Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA). Os resultados deste estudo indicaram que o setor metalúrgico e o setor de não metálicos são os que possuem o menor desempenho, considerando as variáveis selecionadas. Já para medir as emissões de CO2 dos principais combustíveis utilizados nos setores de menor desempenho foi utilizado o método Top-Down proposto pelo IPCC. A análise indicou que, apesar do carvão vegetal ser o segundo emissor de CO2, ele pode contribuir para a redução do aquecimento global, desde que seja proveniente de mata de reflorestamento destinada para a atividade industrial. Por fim, foi realizada uma breve discussão sobre as políticas públicas voltadas a este energético. / In a period of climate change and of an increasingly restriction of emissions, it is pivotal to focus on a development by countries towards an economy revolved on low carbon dioxide levels. The high consumption of fossil fuels results in damages on a global, regional and local level threatening long-term supply in our planet. This work has as its objective to analyze the performance of the main Brazilian industrial sectors considering their energy consumption and contributions to social and economic aspects of the country. In addition, will be measure the environmental benefits, in terms of CO2 emissions, resulting from fuel substitution in the industrial sectors of lower performance and discuss public policies aimed at stimulating the use of cleaner energy sources. So as to achieve this objective, an analysis and measurement assertion of the potential environmental contribution that a change of the energy matrix, of the sectors with lower performance as regards to its contribution to sustainable development of the country, may provide was performed. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to determine the efficiency of the sectors. The results of this study indicated that the metallurgical and nonmetallic sectors are the ones that have the lowest performance industrial in terms of sustainable. For the measurement of CO2 emissions for each major fuel used in the sectors with lower performance, the Top-Down method proposed by the IPCC was used. This analysis indicated that, although charcoal is the second fuel in sectors that emit more CO2, it can contribute to the reduction of global warming since it comes from forest reforestation destined for the activity industrial. Finally, a brief discussion about public policies on this fuel was held.

La biogenèse des ribosomes est un processus complexe finement régulé pour s’adapter à la disponibilité en nutriments et en facteurs de croissance ainsi qu’à la présence éventuelle de stress. Une étape clé de la régulation de la biogenèse des ribosomes se fait par la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’ Terminal OligoPyrimidine (5’TOP) qui codent pour les protéines ribosomiques. Bien que la voie de signalisation mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) ait été identifiée depuis des décennies comme activatrice de cette traduction des ARNm 5’TOP, les régulateurs impliqués ainsi que leur contrôle par la voie mTOR n’ont jamais été identifiés avec précision. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré que La-related protein 1 (Larp1), une protéine de liaison à l’ARN cible de mTOR, est indispensable à l’inhibition de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP en aval de mTOR. De plus, Larp1 semble participer à l’inhibition de la formation du complexe d’initiation de la traduction eIF4F, qui est responsable du recrutement du complexe de pré-initiation 43S sur la coiffe m7G présente à l’extrémité 5’ de tous les ARNm. Nous avons également démontré que Larp1 peut se lier à la protéine Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) et à la protéine de la petite sous-unité ribosomique RPS6 et que cette dernière interaction diminue lorsque les sites de phosphorylation de Larp1 dépendants de mTOR Ser 689 et 697 sont mutés en alanine. Ces résultats représentent une avancée importante dans la compréhension de la régulation de la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP par la voie mTOR. Cependant, des études complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre plus en détail le mécanisme exact par lequel Larp1 réprime la traduction des ARNm 5’TOP. / Ribosome biogenesis is a process that is finely tuned to adapt to nutrients and growth factors availability as well as to cellular stress and insults. Ribosomal proteins, the protein component of ribosomes, are encoded by 5’ Terminal Oligopyrimidine (5’TOP) mRNAs. A key step in ribosome biogenesis is the up-regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs. Although the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway have been known for decades to promote 5’TOP mRNAs translation, the regulators involved and their control by the mTOR pathway remains obscure. In this work we demonstrated that La-related protein 1 (Larp1), an RNA-binding protein and substrate of mTOR, is necessary for the inhibition of 5’TOP mRNAs translation downstream of mTOR. In particular Larp1 seems to interfere with the formation of the translation initiation complex eIF4F, which is responsible for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex to the m7G cap present at the 5’ end of mRNAs. Furthermore we found that Larp1 interacts with the protein Poly(A)-Binding Protein (PABP) and with the small ribosomal subunit protein RPS6 and that the latter interaction is decreased by mutation to alanine of the mTOR-dependent phosphorylation sites Ser 689 and 697. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of the regulation of the translation of 5’TOP mRNAs by the mTOR pathway. Nevertheless more studies will be needed in order to dissect the mechanism by which Larp1 represses translation of 5’TOP mRNAs.