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Management science methodologies in environmental management and sustainability: discourses and applications

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  • A Paucar-Caceres

    (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School)

  • A Espinosa

    (Hull University Business School, The University of Hull)

Abstract

This paper investigates and discusses the use of systemic methodologies (SMs) developed in management science/operational research (MS/OR), in particular, those SM that have been informing the complexity inherent in environmental management and sustainable (EM/S) practices. By surveying a sample of the top MS/OR and systems journals, we assess the extent to which systemic management science methodologies developed recently have been used in tackling EM/S problems. Titles and abstracts of EM/S applications published in MS/OR and systems journals between 1989 and 2009 were queried for the occurrence of typical keywords associated with a set of SMs (eg, complexity theory, systems dynamics, soft systems, critical systems, viable systems model). The survey identifies a set of articles representing the practice of either a particular methodology or of a mixture of various SMs in EM/S setting. By assembling and critically reviewing a sample of applications in EM/S the paper hopes to raise awareness among environmentalists, operational researchers and management scientists of the benefits of using systemic approaches developed in MS/OR and, in this way, to encourage further exchange and conversation between these fields of management.

Suggested Citation

  • A Paucar-Caceres & A Espinosa, 2011. "Management science methodologies in environmental management and sustainability: discourses and applications," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(9), pages 1601-1620, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:62:y:2011:i:9:d:10.1057_jors.2010.110
    DOI: 10.1057/jors.2010.110
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Gregory, Amanda J. & Atkins, Jonathan P. & Burdon, Daryl & Elliott, Michael, 2013. "A problem structuring method for ecosystem-based management: The DPSIR modelling process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 227(3), pages 558-569.
    3. Avinash Kumar Singh & Devendra Kumar Pathak & Sabyasachi Patra, 2023. "An integrated systems thinking approach for achieving sustainability in project‐based organizations," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 501-535, May.
    4. Francesca Iandolo & Pietro Vito & Francesca Loia & Irene Fulco & Mario Calabrese, 2021. "Drilling down the viable system theories in business, management and accounting: A bibliometric review," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 738-755, November.
    5. Chen, Jen-Ming & Chang, Chia-I, 2012. "The co-opetitive strategy of a closed-loop supply chain with remanufacturing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 387-400.
    6. Luz E. Bohórquez Arévaloa & Angela Espinosa, 2015. "Theoretical approaches to managing complexity in organizations: A comparative analysis," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, January.
    7. Espinosa, Angela & Walker, J., 2013. "Complexity management in practice: A Viable System Model intervention in an Irish eco-community," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 225(1), pages 118-129.
    8. Slavica P. Petrovic, 2015. "Systemic intervention in creative managing problems in enterprises," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 949-961, October.
    9. Andrea C. Martinez‐Lozada & Angela Espinosa, 2022. "Corporate viability and sustainability: A case study in a Mexican corporation," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 143-158, January.
    10. Espinosa, A. & Duque, C., 2018. "Complexity management and multi-scale governance: A case study in an Amazonian indigenous association," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 1006-1020.
    11. Marta Cecilia Jaramillo-Mejía & Dov Chernichovsky, 2015. "Información para la calidad del sistema de salud en Colombia: una propuesta de revisión basada en el modelo israelí," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, January.

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