List of Presentations
by Guna Ciemleja and Natalja Lace
Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 29 October 2012
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Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 29 October 2012
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Abstract: An enterprise as a core of any economic system has a great impact on sustainable development of a state or region.The operations and development of an enterprise as an economic entity depends on various factors, identification and evaluation of which is crucial for any enterprise. In the opinion of the authors the enterprise's performance is influenced by factors which can be grouped into three blocks: macroeconomic factors, demand factors and structure of industry sector. The authors present the conceptual model of factors influencing enterprise's performances and analyse factors' interactions and manifestations of their impact. In order to study an attitude of entrepreneurs towards influence of external environment factors, the authors carried out empiric research with an aim to assess influence of sixteen external environment factors on performance of the enterprise. Besides, the authors create a model of sustainable performing of SMEs on the base of the results obtained from qualitative and quantitative research. External and internal business environment factors influencing effective performance of the enterprise and performance indicators that are to be supervised principally, according to the enterprise life cycle phases are included in the model. The developed model of SME sustainable performing has been tested in the sector of printing in manufacturing industry. Calculations and data processing were carried out using Microsoft Excel and EViews software.
by Ineke Malsch
Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Abstract: Responsible Innovation extends the scope of Responsible Care in Industry to the development of new technologies and products. In the upcoming EU HORIZON 2020 programme, Responsible Research & Innovation is expected to be an integral requirement for all EU funded projects. However, there are as yet few working instruments available for putting Responsible Innovation into practice. The presentation will review recent projects where the concept Responsible Innovation and tools for its implementation have been developed. In particular, results of the Dutch programme "Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Innoveren" of the funding council NWO and EU funded projects ObservatoryNano, NanoCode and EthicSchool will be discussed. The presentation will also cover the strategy for a follow-up project EthicSchool www.ethicschool.nl/english organising workshops and in-company training in Responsible Innovation. EthicSchool is an initiative taken by Malsch TechnoValuation, a consultancy in the area of Technology and Society: www.malsch.demon.nl. EthicSchool builds upon a former European project. This original project was funded by the European Union, contract nr. 036745, 01-09-2007-28-02-2009. Partners in this former project were Malsch TechnoValuation, University of Twente, Radboud University (NL) and TU Darmstadt, Germany.
by Vikram Negi and R Maikhuri
Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Abstract: The Central Himalaya is known world over for its rich and diverse natural bio- resources. In order to utilize these natural resources in a sustainable manner, it is important that resources be harnessed efficiently to meet the people's development aspirations without degrading them and therefore, urgent need for large scale establishment of technology resource centre was realized. Poor access to appropriate technologies due to difficult topographies and tough mountain conditions is one of the major causes of poverty, drudgery and natural resources degradation in the Central Himalaya. Technology change is an important instrument in the continuous process of socio-economic development. Of late, development planners have realized the importance of suitable or appropriate technologies and practices, and therefore, have stressed upon the need for a large scale demonstration, on-site training, capacity building and skill development of user groups in rural and marginal areas. In this regard, the Rural Technology Demonstration and Training Centre (RTDTC) established by Garhwal Unit of G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development have been perceived as a means of developing and disseminating improving technologies through action and participatory research. The new approach, on the one hand, may be able to diversify livelihood earning options for local communities and may also help conserve natural resources on which these options depend on the other. Rural technology is widely recognized as one of the major determinants of socio-economic development, and the idea that the simple and hill specific transfer of technology from lab or field lab to field/land will result in growth and thereby poverty is alleviating. As a result of these efforts, a number of farmers and other stakeholders, including NGOs have adopted some of the potential rural technologies at various levels. The programme facilitated regular interactions among scientists and primary stakeholders during the period 2004–2012, so as to ensure that farmers acquired all necessary knowledge related to a technology and entrepreneurship. It is hoped that the improved capacities of local farmers will help in the widespread adoption of rural technologies in Central Himalaya and other countries facing common problems/issues and having similar environmental and socio-economic conditions.
by Jef Van Meensel and Ludwig Lauwers
Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Section G: Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Published online: 23 October 2012
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Abstract: The paper starts with a review of eco-efficiency definitions, measuring methods and indicators, and discusses their suitability for analyzing trade-offs between the economic and environmental components they are built of. Among the methods for measuring eco-efficiency, the production analysis techniques seem most promising for trade-off analysis, because they link production information with both the economic and the environmental outcomes. In particular one branch, i.e. the materials balance based (MBB) approaches, exploits the analytical power of treating the co-generation of economic added value and environmental burden as interlinked outcomes. In order to comply with thermodynamic laws, the materials balance condition is incorporated in the production function formulation. The paper shows how both the profit function and various emission functions can simultaneously be derived from the same physical production function. The consistency of environmental information with the physical production process and economic outcome allows for clarifying the conditions for pursuing economic-environmental win-wins and undergoing trade-offs. Win-wins are obtained when overall technical efficiency improves. Input substitutions lead to changes in allocative efficiency, which cause shifts from trade-offs to win-wins and vice versa. Starting from simple trade-off/win-win relationships, the operational difficulties to distinguish between trade-offs and win-wins are demonstrated when multiple environmental outcomes (and by extension also social outcomes) come into play. Traditional radial efficiency measures make differences between win-wins and trade-offs clear, but lack diagnostic power when the number of inputs and environmental outcomes increase. Trade-off analysis with alternative representations of the production function, such as the directional distance function, is suggested. Based on illustrations with a synthetic data set (that can also be made available on the Forum), the proposed MBB eco-efficiency measures are compared with current indicators and discussed in terms of their ability to bring a more differentiated trade-off analysis. The illustrative case treats the win-wins and trade-offs between profit , nutrient, energy and water efficiency in pig production. Operational models will be made available for verification and validation by Forum participants.