Title: Fundamental requirements for sustainability practices and implementation: an analytical modelling and empirical investigation

Authors: Ibrahim H. Garbie

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Helwan University, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: One of the predicaments of sustainability is practising and implementing the concepts and ideologies of sustainability. The aim of this study was to find the fundamental requirements of manufacturing firms' sustainability practices and implementation (SPI) in order that those practices can be updated and the firms can survive. The four main requirements for assessing sustainability practices and implementation are awareness, drivers (motivations), barriers (challenges), and the relevance of sustainability indicators. Although these practices can be assessed individually, incorporating them into one logical mathematical model based on qualitative and quantitative data is ideal. As the major goal of this paper is to model an analysis and empirical investigation to assess a firm's level of SPI, a suggested model for each sustainability practice and an aggregated index will be discussed and presented. The proposed framework will also be applied in a case study conducted within a real firm. The results show that assessing SPI in manufacturing firms is realistic.

Keywords: sustainability practices; manufacturing systems; sustainable manufacturing; analytical modelling; sustainable development; mathematical modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSM.2015.073836

International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing, 2015 Vol.3 No.4, pp.333 - 362

Received: 29 Nov 2014
Accepted: 05 Oct 2015
Published online: 23 Dec 2015 *

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