Proposing a framework for organisational sustainable development: integrating quality management, supply chain management and sustainability
Name:
Thesis Ali Bastas Redacted Vers.pdf
Embargo:
2021-01-04
Size:
11.25Mb
Format:
PDF
Description:
Thesis (Redacted Version)
Abstract
Increasing worldwide demand for products and services is applying a significant pressure on firms and supply chains operationally and financially, along with negative implications on our planet and the public. New approaches are highly required to be adopted by all members of the society, including the businesses for sustainable development. On the other hand, enabling such integration from an organisational management perspective is not straightforward, due to complexities and conflicts associated with balanced integration of economic, environmental and social agendas. Aimed towards addressing this important research requirement, a tailored conceptual framework is presented, constructed upon the synergistic principles of quality management (QM) and supply chain management (SCM) to facilitate integration of triple bottom line sustainability into business management. As the first step of the research, a systematic literature review was conducted, evidencing research gaps, and opportunities. A conceptual framework was established, and an implementation procedure to facilitate operationalisation of the framework was developed including a business diagnostic tool contribution, aiding current state maturity assessment as one of the key implementation steps. These developments were verified, validated and improved through the Delphi method, and applied at an organisation in Cyprus as the final validation step, using the action research method. Positive relationships were established and verified conceptually between the ISO 9001 principles of QM, supply chain integration principle of SCM, and organisational triple bottom line sustainability integration. The relative importance of these principles adopted in the framework were determined based on expert Delphi panel feedback. The action research demonstrated the application of the framework, outlined its contextual implementation factors, and concluded positive effects on the sustainable development of the participating organisation. Several contributions to knowledge were made, including the refinement of existing QM and SCM concepts for organisational sustainability improvement, and formulation of a practical framework including a novel diagnostic tool to facilitate integration of triple bottom line sustainability through QM and SCM. Particularly, a new management perspective was introduced with implications to many organisational managers that adopt ISO 9001 and supply chain integration principles, setting the way for extending these principles beyond their original QM and SCM agendas towards organisational sustainable development.Publisher
University of DerbyType
Thesis or dissertationLanguage
enCollections
The following license files are associated with this item:
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Simulation-based impact analysis for sustainable manufacturing design and management(2018)This research focuses on effective decision-making for sustainable manufacturing design and management. The research contributes to the decision-making tools that can enable sustainability analysts to capture the aspects of the economic, environmental and social dimensions into a common framework. The framework will enable the practitioners to conduct a sustainability impact analysis of a real or proposed manufacturing system and use the outcome to support sustainability decision. In the past, the industries had focused more on the economic aspects in gaining and sustaining their competitive positions; this has changed in the recent years following the Brundtland report which centred on incorporating the sustainability of the future generations into our decision for meeting today’s needs (Brundtland, 1987). The government regulations and legislation, coupled with the changes in consumers’ preference for ethical and environmentally friendly products are other factors that are challenging and changing the way companies, and organisations perceive and drive their competitive goals (Gu et al., 2015). Another challenge is the lack of adequate tools to address the dynamism of the manufacturing environment and the need to balance the business’ competitive goal with sustainability requirements. The launch of the Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA) framework further emphasised the needs for the integration and analysis of the interdependencies of the three dimensions for effective decision-making and the control of unintended consequences (UNEP, 2011). Various studies have also demonstrated the importance of interdependence impact analysis and integration of the three sustainability dimensions of the product, process and system levels of sustainability (Jayal et al., 2010; Valdivia et al., 2013; Eastwood and Haapala, 2015). Although there are tools capable of assessing the performance of either one or two of the three sustainability dimensions, the tools have not adequately integrated the three dimensions or address the holistic sustainability issues. Hence, this research proposes an approach to provide a solution for successful interdependence impact analysis and trade-off amongst the three sustainability dimensions and enable support for effective decision-making in a manufacturing environment. This novel approach explores and integrates the concepts and principles of the existing sustainability methodologies and frameworks and the simulation modelling construction process into a common descriptive framework for process level assessment. The thesis deploys Delphi study to verify and validate the descriptive framework and demonstrates its applicability in a case study of a real manufacturing system. The results of the research demonstrate the completeness, conciseness, correctness, clarity and applicability of the descriptive framework. Thus, the outcome of this research is a simulation-based impact analysis framework which provides a new way for sustainability practitioners to build an integrated and holistic computer simulation model of a real system, capable of assessing both production and sustainability performance of a dynamic manufacturing system.
-
Simulation aided life cycle sustainability assessment framework for manufacturing design and management(World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2016-07-21)Decision making for sustainable manufacturing design and management requires critical considerations due to the complexity and partly conflicting issues of economic, social and environmental factors. Although there are tools capable of assessing the combination of one or two of the sustainability factors, the frameworks have not adequately integrated all the three factors. Case study and review of existing simulation applications also shows the approach lacks integration of the sustainability factors. In this paper we discussed the development of a simulation based framework for support of a holistic assessment of sustainable manufacturing design and management. To achieve this, a strategic approach is introduced to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the existing decision supporting tools. Investigation reveals that Discrete Event Simulation (DES) can serve as a rock base for other Life Cycle Analysis frameworks. Simio-DES application optimizes systems for both economic and competitive advantage, Granta CES EduPack and SimaPro collate data for Material Flow Analysis and environmental Life Cycle Assessment, while social and stakeholders’ analysis is supported by Analytical Hierarchy Process, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis method. Such a common and integrated framework creates a platform for companies to build a computer simulation model of a real system and assess the impact of alternative solutions before implementing a chosen solution.
-
Rapid deployment modular building solutions and climatic adaptability: Case based study of a novel approach to “thermal capacity on demand” and building management systems.(Elsevier, 2018-02-13)In this research, a novel “thermal capacity on demand” approach to modular thermal storage design has been discussed, seen as a key to the climatic adaptability of a proposed Smart-POD building system and its energy performance. Smart-POD is a unique and innovative research project which provides an alternative to traditional classroom design. It proposes a rapid deployment building solution, temporary or permanent in its use, modular in design, flexible in set-up and self-sustaining in use, requiring minimal site preparation, and meeting all its energy demands from renewable energy sources. Its feasibility was tested by a design case study which investigated climatic adaptability based on the proposed approach. This approach uniquely combines balancing of energy demand and supply using renewable technologies and a bespoke low temperature thermal store. It further proposes to use an open source Building energy Management System (oBeMS) conceived in this research, to intelligently manage thermal, ventilation and humidity control strategies which adapt to the climate, season and weather in which the building is placed. The predicted performance of proposed system demonstrates potential for an effective diurnal climatic adaptability, enhanced by integrated passive design strategies, and intelligent modes of building control. The method of BIM integrated sustainable design analysis (SDA) and building management system (BMS) has also been deliberated, as a framework for exploring the integration of proposed building management system into smart building environments (SBEs).
