The development of globalised supply chains is a major challenge for sustainability. For several years, there has been discussion within the profession whether and how ergonomics and human factors can play a role. Based on our research, we have identified five major challenges from global supply chains especially related to the social aspects of sustainability: (1) criteria for social sustainab...

This paper was prepared as a background paper for the panel on “Global Capitalism and Sustainable Development” in the International Conference on Global Ethos to be held at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2000. It surveys the major issues involved in defining sustainability, and the relationship thereof to development and the behaviour of capitalist economies. A partic...

Management studies on corporate sustainability practices have grown considerably. The field now has significant knowledge of sustainability issues that are firm and industry focused. However, complex ecological problems are increasing, not decreasing. In this paper, we argue that it is time for corporate sustainability scholars to reconsider the ecological and systemic foundations for sustainab...

There is a global imperative for engineers to design sustainable products. However, user-centered designers have repeatedly found that sustainability is not necessarily a widespread user need. Based on user research from a graduate-level product design course, we present findings on how users define and describe sustainability, how sustainability issues interact with user needs, and the tradeof...

With the global challenge of climate change, it becomes crucial to understand the factors that can guide carbon intensive companies to comply with environmental regulations through significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using the natural-resource-based view, the argument in this paper is that focusing on sustainability-driven resources by companies is a way to meet environmen...

Humanity has entered a new phase of sustainability challenges, the Anthropocene, in which human development has reached a scale where it affects vital planetary processes. Under the pressure from a quadruple squeeze-from population and development pressures, the anthropogenic climate crisis, the anthropogenic ecosystem crisis, and the risk of deleterious tipping points in the Earth system-the d...

Article history: Received 11 August 2014 Received in revised form 13 May 2015 Accepted 15 May 2015 Available online 10 June 2015 The transition to a low carbon and sustainable economy represents a major transformation that can only be compared to one other comprehensive transition in modern human history: the industrial revolution. Like the low-carbon transformation, the process of industrialis...

Ford of Europe’s Product Sustainability Index (PSI) is a sustainability management tool directly used by engineering, i.e. not by sustainability or life cycle experts. PSI is looking at eight indicators reflecting environmental (Life Cycle Global Warming Potential, Life Cycle Air Quality Potential, Sustainable Materials, Restricted Substances, Drive-by-Exterior-Noise), social (Mobility Capabili...

A recent article by Sol Benatar calls on the global health community to reassess its approach to twin crises of global poverty and climate change. I build on his article by challenging mainstream narratives that claim satisfactory progress in efforts to reduce poverty and improve health for all, and arguing that any eradication of poverty that is consistent with environmental sustainability wil...

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, exposure to global cultures affords individuals opportunities to develop global identities. In two studies, we examine the antecedents and outcomes of identifying with a superordinate identity--global citizen. Global citizenship is defined as awareness, caring, and embracing cultural diversity while promoting social justice and sustainability, c...