Facilities management carbon footprints: an audit of critical elements of management and reporting

Concern for the environmental impact of organizations’ activities has led to the recognition and demand for organizations to manage and report on their carbon footprint. However, there is no limit as to the areas of carbon footprints required in such annual environmental reports. To deliver improvements in the quality of carbon footprint management and reporting, there is a need to identify the main elements of carbon footprint strategy that can be endorsed, supported and encouraged by facility managers. The study investigates carbon footprint elements managed and reported upon by facility manager in the UK. Drawing on a questionnaire survey of 256 facility managers in the UK, the key elements of carbon footprints identified in carbon footprint reports are examined. The findings indicate that the main elements are building energy consumption, waste disposal and water consumption. Business travel in terms of using public transport, air travel and company cars are also recognized as important targets and objectives for the carbon footprint strategy of several FM (facilities management) organizations.

On a resurgence of management simulations and games

The past few years have seen a significant resurgence of interest in ‘management games’ and ‘management flight simulators’, one particularly active source of such work being the system dynamics community. After proposing a distinction between games and simulations, this paper provides some background to these developments by briefly describing the historical roots of the field and the fundamental ideas of the system dynamics community, which are now giving rise to ‘microworlds’. The training advantages of management simulations and games are then discussed. The paper closes with a note on the research and findings of the system dynamics field and by offering some words of warning on the perils of simulation and game use. Two scenarios for how the use of simulations and games as management education devices might develop in the future are proposed. An Appendix describes five examples of very different types of management simulations and games.

The three faces of bounded reliability: Alfred Chandler and the micro-foundations of management theory

Alfred Chandler, the celebrated business historian, provided detailed descriptions of the reasons for failed human commitments and the managerial tools needed to prevent/remediate such failings in the context of large business firms. Chandler's historical narrative identifies three distinct “faces” of bounded reliability—opportunism, benevolent preference reversal, and identity-based discordance—as the main drivers of commitment failure. Adopting bounded reliability (BRel) as a micro-foundation in management studies will raise the quality and relevance of scholarly recommendations to improve managerial decision making and action, because analysis of BRel challenges closely mirrors the real-world problems facing practicing managers.

Perfil da Iberoamerican Academy of Management

Julio O. de Castro é professor da IE Business School em Madri, Espanha. Seus interesses de pesquisa são empreendedorismo e aspectos empresariais e interculturais de gestão e estratégias de empresas. Ele esteve no Brasil em dezembro de 2013 para participar do 8th Iberoamerican Academy Conference. Nesta entrevista, Castro fala sobre o Iberoamerican Academy e seu papel global

Management research: o periódico da Iberoamerican Academy of Management

Rita Cunha é professora da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Seu interesse de pesquisa é o estudo dos impactos da gestão dos recursos humanos na performance organizacional. Ela esteve no Brasil em dezembro de 2013 para participar do 8th Iberoamerican Academy Conference. Nesta entrevista, Rita fala sobre o periódico management research.

Influence of management on plankton community of fishponds during the dry and rainy seasons

Aim: The present investigation aims at evaluating attention to the occurrence and abundance of planktonic communities in fishponds and their relationships to the management employed; Methods: Seven fishponds (V1-V7) fertilized with different treatments were analyzed by monthly sampling, taken between July and December/07, during both dry and rainy seasons; Results: Euglenophyceae and Chlorophyceae were most representative during the studied period. In the fishpond with organic fertilizer Cyanobacteria was more than 65 and 90% of total phytoplankton abundance in September and August, mainly represented by Microcystis sp. (14,595 and 22,500 ind.L-1, respectively). An inverse relationship occurred between Copepoda and Cladocera, and Copepoda and Rotifera were present in all fishponds during the both seasons. Diversity (H') and species richness was low and equitability indices generally showed the highest values for zooplankton. The lowest values were observed for phytoplankton during the rainy season; Conclusions: The use of organic fertilizer and the random emptying of the fishponds affected directly and species diversity and richness, with dominance of Cyanobacteria emphasizing the need to adopt a management technique to increase fishponds productivity and consequently, fish production.

Strategy of specification of management areas: rice grain yield as related to soil fertility

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A snapshot of management practices and nutritional recommendations used by feedlot nutritionists in Brazil

Feedlot consulting nutritionists were invited to participate in a survey of feedlot nutritional and management practices in Brazil. Thirty-one nutritionists completed the survey on a Web site that was designed for collection of survey data. The survey consisted of 94 questions that included general information (n = 10); commodity information (n = 12); and questions about the use of coproducts (n = 5), roughage source and levels (n = 5), finishing diet adaptation methods (n = 7), supplements and micronutrients (n = 8), feed mixers (n = 6), feeding management (n = 3), cattle management and type of cattle fed (n = 16), formulation practices (n = 17), information resources used for nutritional recommendations (n = 2), and 2 additional questions. One final question addressed the primary challenges associated with applying nutritional recommendations in practice. The number of animals serviced yearly by each nutritionist averaged 121,682 (minimum = 2,000; maximum = 1,500,000; mode = 120,000; total = 3,163,750). Twenty-two respondents (71%) worked with feedlots that feed less than 5,000 animals/yr. Labor, along with availability and precision of equipment, seemed to be the main challenges for the nutritionists surveyed. Most of the nutritionists surveyed used TDN as the primary energy unit for formulation. More than 50% of the clients serviced by the 31 nutritionists did not manage feed bunks to control the quantity of feed offered per pen, and 36.6% fed cattle more than 4 times daily. The NRC (1996) and Journal of Animal Science were the most used sources of information by these nutritionists. Overall, general practices and nutritional recommendations provided by the 31 nutritionists surveyed were fairly consistent. Present data should aid in development of new research, future National Research Council models, and recommendations for Brazilian feeding systems in which Bos indicus cattle predominate.

Effect of management practices on screw-worm among sheep in São Paulo State, Brazil

The screw-worm Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), whose larvae develop in wild and domestic animals as well as in man, is one of the major causes of myiasis in Brazil. Sheep raising is expanding in the state of São Paulo, where information about the infestation of screw-worm is necessary for appropriate control measures. The present data were obtained from questionnaires sent to all sheep breeders belonging to 'Associação Paulista de Criadores de Ovinos' - ASPACO (São Paulo State Association of Sheep Breeders). Response reliability was tested by random visits paid to 10.6% of the respondents. The results show that screw-worm is the most frequent ectoparasite in the flocks and is responsible for the greatest economic losses. Its occurrence is strongly associated with flock size, reaching 100% in hocks consisting of more than 500 animals. Infestation is higher in spring and summer and lowest in the fall. The number of cases increases in the presence of some management practices such as tail amputation. Furthermore, several other associations between the indicators surveyed were also found to be significant. The data obtained will permit the elaboration of strategies for the control of this parasitosis.

Influence of management and environmental factors on mating success of Africanized queen honey bees

Environmental factors and management techniques were evaluated in São Paulo, Brazil, for enhanced production of Africanized queen honey bees. Queens were reared by the Doolittle method; 12 breeder, 6 cell-builder, and 36 3-frame nucleus colonies were used. Nine groups of four virgin Africanized queen honey bees were subjected to the following treatments: queens were either 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 days old and were released into mating nuclei containing either capped brood, uncapped brood or no brood. This was repeated sixteen times between August 1990 and August 1992. Seven repetitions occurred during nectar flow periods and nine repetitions occurred during nectar-dearth periods. Overall, 59% of 576 queens were successfully introduced and mated. The best results (93% success) were obtained during nectar flows, with 3- to 4-day-old queens released into nuclei containing capped brood. During nectar dearths the best mating success came from queens introduced into broodless nuclei (63%), the age of the queen did not influence mating success. Mating success decreased when wind velocity increased; this was the only significant meteorological effect found.

New technological frontiers of management in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Evaluation of management information systems for maternal child health

Includes bibliography