<p> A wave of sustainability initiatives is affecting many traditional corporate functions. While many companies focus on their own internal sustainability initiatives, there is a small but growing number of initiatives focused on promoting sustainability across the supply chain. The resulting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is faced with the challenge of justifying its contribution to the performance of the focal company. This study attempts to gain insights into the perception professionals have of the impact of SSCM on corporate environmental, social, and economic performance. The study looks into the moderating effects of company size, industry collaboration, and regulatory framework on the relationship between SSCM and corporate performance. Using a mixed methods approach, this research collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from 242 respondents. Simple and multiple linear regressions in Minitab 17 were used to analyze the quantitative data; qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. In the end, triangulation was used to integrate the quantitative and qualitative analyses to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions reported by survey respondents.</p><p> The results of this study show that SSCM is statistically significant to corporate environmental, social, and economic performance based on the independent variables analyzed. The results also show that the moderating effect of company size, industry collaboration, and regulatory framework on the relationship between SSCM and corporate performance made a difference for all three moderators based on factorial plot analysis. However, only the regulatory framework was found to be a statistically significant moderator based on regression analysis. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data showed that SSCM helps the focal company mitigate risks and improve, or preserve, its reputation. Another benefit of SSCM is its ability to help the focal company create a competitive edge with sustainability-conscious stakeholders. At the macro level, the benefits of SSCM are in the areas of long term availability of natural resources, respect for human rights, and better opportunities for persons from socially disadvantaged groups. The challenges of SSCM were reported to be in the areas of cost, difficult enforcement and implementation, and the lack of a common commitment to SSCM throughout the supply chain. These challenges could be overcome through leadership, collaboration, and consistent regulations at the corporate, industry, and country levels respectively. The triangulation (meta inference) showed alignment between the correlation between SSCM and economic performance, and the fact that solutions to most of the reported challenges to the implementation of SSCM in the thematic analysis had economic implications for the focal company. This study provides corporate leaders and governments with meaningful insights into how SSCM can be leveraged as an effective tool to enhance corporate performance and sustainability initiatives. </p>

A challenge facing many not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) is that of financial sustainability; an organisation’s ability to remain sustainable despite the rules that govern NGOs, environmental challenges faced and demands placed on the organisation by that of their donors. This paper explores the challenges faced by NPOs in the South African context and possible models that could be used by NPOs to become sustainable. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

In this thesis, the Education System Intervention Modeling Framework (ESIM Framework) is introduced for analyzing interventions in the K-12 education system. This framework is the first of its kind to model interventions in the K-12 school system in the United States. Techniques from systems engineering and operations research, such as agent-based modeling and social network analysis, are used to model the bottom-up mechanisms of intervention implementation in schools. By applying the ESIM framework, an intervention can be better analyzed in terms of the barriers and enablers to intervention implementation and sustainability. The risk of failure of future interventions is thereby reduced through improved allocation of resources towards the system agents and attributes which play key roles in the sustainability of the intervention. Increasing the sustainability of interventions in the school system improves educational outcomes in the school and increases the benefits gained from the millions of dollars being invested in such interventions. In the first part of this thesis, a case study of an Engineers Without Borders chapter is modeled which helped in the development of a more generalized framework, applicable across a broad range of education system interventions. In the second part of this thesis, the ESIM framework is developed. The framework developed is divided into four phases: model definition, model design, model analysis, and model validation. Each of these phases has detailed steps in order to build the agent-based model of the particular intervention. In the third part of this thesis, the ESIM framework is applied to a case study of a curriculum intervention, Science Learning: Integrating Design, Engineering and Robotics, involving the design and implementation of an 8th-grade, inquiry-based physical science curriculum across three demographically varying schools. This case study provides a good comparison of the implementation of the intervention across different school settings because of the varied outcomes at the three schools.

<p> My dissertation addresses the need for an alternative system to capitalism, our mainstream system of economics, to support the necessities of a world facing countless ecological systems collapses, global climate change, and social inequity exacerbated by wealth disparity. <i>Alternative economics </i> is defined here as current economic or socioeconomic practices and theories that may redress the flaws in the current dominant global economic system, which is mainstream capitalism. </p><p> The approach to this research is theoretical; that is, I analyze the current literature in the relevant areas of economics and related literature in the social sciences, philosophy, political economics, and environmental studies. I then attempt to generate new knowledge through the analysis, critique, extension, and integration of existing theories and by drawing on existing empirical research. This research is also transdisciplinary, an approach that transcends conventional disciplinary regimes and boundaries. The aim of this study is to ascertain the best alternatives to our current system of capitalism by examining the arguments for and against alternative economic or socioeconomic systems. </p><p> The scope may embrace the complex and transdisciplinary, but it attempts to focus as narrowly as possible on the most promising ideas today concerning the imminent need for changing economics in the face of our global socio-environmental crises as being considered of high importance. The definitive goal of this research is to examine the most recent literature on these alternatives, and, based on this research, to identify which alternatives most suitably address the needs of our ecological systems, the needs of society, and the issue of global climate change. </p><p> Keywords: alternative economics, heterodox economics, sustainability, compassionate economics, wealth disparity, ecosocialism economics, steady-state economics, climate change, transdisciplinary.</p>

<p> Designers and builders focused on green innovations often struggle to know well the costs and benefits of their proposed projects. As such, some are reluctant to innovate beyond the well known, as even modest projects are costly in nearly all respects. This project is designed to provide data to promote actionable recommendations and strategic decision criteria for commercializing a model for exterior wall assemblies constructed with straw bales and earthen plasters. The wall assemblies are specific for houses built in hot arid climates using vernacular architecture and site-available earthen soils that take into account resiliency, environmental and social accountability, and affordability. These data derive from secondary research, four case studies, and two experimental build projects. A Full Costs Accounting (FCA) framework and Benefit Costs Analysis (BCA) assess costs, impacts, and benefits for the two experimental build projects that used the same amount of building material as measured in cubic feet (&plusmn; 3%) but were constructed from different materials and design strategies for exterior wall assemblies. Results from the builds&rsquo; FCA indicate that imported materials needed for a conventional wood framed wall assembly used 204% more fuels in the production process (cradle-to-factory gate) and 733% more diesel fuels in the transportation process (factory gate-to-retail store) than a vernacular build&rsquo;s wall assembly. Upfront labor costs were increased by 287% when using site-available soils for earthen plasters instead of imported lumber for a conventional wall assembly. Benefits (BCA) for the straw bale and earthen plaster construction include reduced impacts upon the extraction site, increased resiliency and social cohesion, and limited requirements for capital investments. This research contributes to the assessment tools available for stakeholders to make more informed decisions when investing in multi-faceted affordable housing projects in hot arid regions throughout the world.</p>

<p> Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) play a central role in global efforts toward environmental sustainability. With 23 campuses, the California State University (CSU) is the largest higher education system in the world. The CSU graduates over 100,000 students annually and significantly contributes to developing the workforce of the state and the country, which underlines the vast opportunity for the CSU system to influence culture change toward sustainability within California and beyond. This qualitative research study focused on CSU campus presidents because previous research has demonstrated the important role IHE leaders play on their campuses by setting a vision, establishing priorities, and allocating funding. This study aimed to investigate the 23 CSU campus presidents&rsquo; perspectives on sustainability in higher education. The semi-structured interview protocol explored how the presidents understood environmental sustainability, how they viewed the role of IHEs generally and the CSU system in particular in efforts toward sustainability, how they viewed their role as president, and what they perceived as barriers and enhancers to sustainability efforts on campus.</p>

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Voluntourism is a relatively new branch of tourism, and is considered to be quite sustainable in comparison to other forms of tourism. By researching how the voluntourists perceive the sustainable effects of the work that they have participated in, this thesis has been able to show how detectable some of these effects are. With the focus on the Philippines, this thesis has also been able to determine that the researched voluntourism organisations seems to be present in the country due to the fact that the help that they provide is really needed. By analysing the content of a number of voluntourism organisations, it has been possible to detect that the effects of the voluntourism work have several positive impacts on the local society. Out of these the main effects are the increased access to education and work for the locals. The thesis has also been able to determine that in order for organisations to be able to optimise their sustainability, they need to work with both economic, environmental, and social aspects.

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