Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

Intention to buy eco-friendly packaged products among young consumers of India: A study on developing nation

Journal of Political Ecology Vol.1 1994 7 peasant community to support her claims. Berleant-Schiller and Maurer explore the blending rather than the separation of women's private and public roles in Dominica and Barbuda. Several essays in this section consider important Caribbean institutions in new ways. Pulsipher's paper on houseyards in Monteserrat shows how men's and women's places in domestic networks are spatially represented in the yard and how these roles shift over the life cycle. Brana-Schute traces the recent history of women's groups in Suriname, suggesting a mix of political and social functions, while raising questions about why women have not assumed more prominent and powerful political roles. Women's extensive obligations to kin, even after migrating, are explored by Olwig in an essay on women's intra-regional and international migration from Nevis. The second half of the collection, on women in the economy, examines women's work in both rural and urban sectors. Contributions on women in rural economies generally point to women's historically extensive participation in farming. Papers on Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad describe patterns of work, land control and crop selection. Stubbs' article on women's involvement in Cuban cooperative agriculture in relation to recent changes in political economy is especially interesting. Momsen's comparative analysis of women's farming and patterns of labor force participation in the eastern Caribbean also addresses structural economic changes in the region. Papers on women in the urban sector treat some new dimensions of women's work experience. Pearson's essay on gender and Jamaican information processing firms suggests that while national investment and control has increased industrial dynamism it will help women workers only if their technical abilities are acknowledged and easily transferred to better jobs. McKay's research on women and tourism in Negril, Jamaica, illustrates the constraints women marketers and landladies face from government regulation and from competition and control by men. This collection is significant for its comprehensive scope and its rich empirical base. The second half of the book, on women in the economy, may be more successful in offering new information and ideas than the first, on the relationship of the public and private spheres. Momsen's Introduction and the precis to each section are acute; she could have offered further theoretical synthesis and more comparisons among societies without damaging the integrity of the empirical work. Essays on the English speaking West Indies significantly outnumber offerings on other areas. However, these problems do not diminish the value of the collection and its importance to the study of women and gender in the region.

This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India.

Packaging sustainability concepts have co-evolved with the increasing incorporation of the principles of sustainable development at various levels within industrial and organizational platforms. Currently, pollution from plastics, packaging-related waste, declining air, soil, and water quality, climate change, and other contemporary challenges are influencing the packaging industry. Barriers such as value chain complexities and negative consumer attitudes due to the economic, social, and environmental demands of sustainable behaviors can discourage companies from the implementation of more sustainable packaging. Hence, packages with improved sustainability may never make their way into the marketplace. However, the next generation of sustainable solutions can be motivated by efforts that fuel a positive consumer attitude towards sustainable packaging. In order to direct efforts, a clear understanding of consumer dynamics in ecological material preferences, willingness to pay, recycling, and factors impacting sustainable behaviors are essential. The objective of this work is to (i) explore the definitions, the impact of sustainable packaging in the value chain, and consumer behavior theories; (ii) review current practices, factors affecting sustainable behaviors, and consumer testing methods; (iii) present three distinct case studies on consumer preferences and value perceptions on bio-based cellulose materials and the impact of on-label claims and pre-evaluation education in consumer preferences; and (iv) to reveal the research gaps and opportunities for consumer research and suggest strategies for stakeholders to communicate packaging sustainability to consumers.

Consumer Considerations for the Implementation of Sustainable Packaging: A Review

Indian food sector is facing severe problem of wastage of about 30% of farm products due to inefficiency in operations of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs in Indian food sector are facing different challenges, such as financial issues, lack of technical skills and investment in the business etc. In this sense, several key factors can help food SMEs in reducing wastage of farm products and lowering energy consumption for sustainable growth. Thus, this paper tries to identify and analyse key factors for Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications for a sustainable growth of SMEs in Indian food sector. Grey based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory technique was applied for analysis of factors. From findings, ‘Government initiatives and policies’, ‘Public-private partnership’, and ‘Encouragement to ICT service provider’ are topmost influential cause group factors. While, ‘ICT integrated effective food supply chain’, ‘Coordination between different departments’, and ‘Collaboration and strategic alliances across supply chain’ are highest influenced factors. Results suggests that ‘Government policies and initiatives’ are at the core of the efforts to upgrade food supply chain. As, Indian government is the largest customer of SMEs and controls various policy-making aspects in food sector. Therefore, government has to take steps to encourage private and foreign investments as well as promote IT service providers and business environment related economic policies to improve competitiveness of Indian food sector. This work would help managers to develop efficient ICT applications for an effective sustainable growth of SMEs in their respective food supply chains.

Applications of information and communication technology for sustainable growth of SMEs in India food industry

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to study the usage and influence of food labels by the young consumers of an emerging market where food labeling regulation is comparatively recent phenomenon.




Design/methodology/approach




A purposely developed questionnaire was administered to 300 randomly selected youths of age between 18 and 30 years. The first part of the questionnaire sought information on socio-demographic profile, whereas the second part of the questionnaire had questions related to consumers’ perception of importance, their reading behavior, and their responses on the information content of food labels. Appropriate statistical tools were used to analyze the data.




Findings




Results revealed that young Indian consumers attached considerable importance to the food labels and read it before making a final purchase decision. In addition to price, all the product attributes which had implications for the consumers’ health were considered as extremely important by the young consumers. Information regarding different important product attributes can be broadly clubbed in two categories, namely, “product specification” and “product quality.” The final decision to purchase a product based on the food labels varied significantly based on the consumers’ gender, age, food habit, and residential locality.




Research limitations/implications




Nature of study does not allow drawing a conclusion regarding the causal relationship between food labels and consumers’ purchase decisions.




Originality/value




As labeling regulation is a comparatively recent phenomenon in India, study of the usage and influence of food labels on young consumers’ purchase decision, a hitherto not much-studied subject, will contribute significantly to the literature on food labels.

Do labels influence purchase decisions of food products? Study of young consumers of an emerging market

This research aims to explore the impact of corporate identity (CI) on performance in B2C small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in food processing, with varying degrees of customer orientation (CO) The research is embedded in the positivistic paradigm Based on a literature review, a conceptual model (consisting of five hypotheses) has been tested with 102 samples using PLS-SEM tool This study establishes the mediating role of CO on the CI and performance linkage, it provides empirical evidence to CI and performance linkage, and makes an incremental contribution by extension of theory of CI and CO in the given context

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/41037.pdf

Corporate identity, customer orientation and performance of SMEs: Exploring the linkages

Purpose – This paper aims to put forward typology of factors for corporate environmental responsibility for easy comprehension and to propose a conceptual framework taking into account factors, barriers and benefits of corporate environmental responsibility. It also aims to suggest how corporate environmentalism is evolving in a developing country context.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper, based on review of literature and the gaps in it. An attempt has been made to incorporate various aspects of corporate environmental responsibility and study the relationship between them.Practical implications – The framework suggests parameters for policy makers to facilitate corporations in implementing corporate environmentalism. Managers will realize the barriers and benefits of corporate environmental responsibility and can adapt to implement environmental responsibility.Originality/value – A rational approach is applied which takes into account three basic aspects of environmental responsib...

Corporate environmental responsibility – transitional and evolving

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand non-vegetarian food consumption behavior, and factors affecting the same of the consumers of middle-sized market, where organized retailing is still at infancy. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 182 households of two middle-sized cities of India were personally surveyed with a structured questionnaire. Simple statistical analysis such as frequency distribution, factor analysis and analysis of variance, logit regression were carried out to infer the required information. Findings – Although an important constituent of the food, for most the consumers, purchase of non-vegetarian products were weekly, well planned, and family affairs. Assured good quality, followed by the meat preparation in front of the customers’ eye emerged important market attributes for selecting the store by the consumers. The study revealed that consumers were mainly dependent on search and credence attributes of the product for non-vegetarian food purchase decisions. Researc...

Study of consumers’ behavior for non-vegetarian products in emerging market of India

Coconut crop forms an important constituent of food basket of the people of Orissa and meets the economic needs of people dependent on its marketing. The study conducted in five coastal districts of Orissa, namely, Puri, Cuttack, Khurda, Ganjam, and Jagatsinghpur has examined the market chains for coconut to find the flow of product from farmers through different intermediaries to the consumers. Prices and market margins have been computed at the different stages of the chain in order to reflect the value addition through various participants of the chain. Marketing channels have been found to be well established in the state, particularly in the coastal areas. No major value addition is done by the players at any level. The existence of functional channels explains that production and marketing system of coconut in the state can manage both increased supply and increased demand. The study has observed a high ratio of vendors v/s farmers and aggregators v/s vendors in the channel. In spite of this high ratio, both vendors and aggregators are able to earn profit and are continuing the business. It is suggested that coconutbased industries should be jointly promoted by state industry department, state agriculture department and Coconut Development Board.

Niraj Kumar

Papers

Do labels influence purchase decisions of food products? Study of young consumers of an emerging market

Corporate identity, customer orientation and performance of SMEs: Exploring the linkages

Corporate environmental responsibility – transitional and evolving

Study of consumers’ behavior for non-vegetarian products in emerging market of India

Value Chain Analysis of Coconut in Orissa