IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ejores/v193y2009i3p683-692.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Operational research and sustainable development: Tackling the social dimension

Author

Listed:
  • White, Leroy
  • Lee, Gregory John

Abstract

Sustainable development is increasingly being seen as a major challenge in global terms. Operational Research (OR) has yet to be fully utilised in this area. To date, where it has been mostly used, it tends to deal with the relationships between environmental management and product supply chain and rarely focuses on the social dimension. This article seeks to discuss the potential of OR in the wider arena of sustainable development. It first explores the issue of widening OR responses to an inter-generational ethic. A case study is then described using a more holistic approach to explore sustainable development in the context of a city. The paper finishes with a discussion of the implications of this approach in relation to sustainable development more generally.

Suggested Citation

  • White, Leroy & Lee, Gregory John, 2009. "Operational research and sustainable development: Tackling the social dimension," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(3), pages 683-692, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:193:y:2009:i:3:p:683-692
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377-2217(07)01031-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Kelly, Kristine L., 1998. "A systems approach to identifying decisive information for sustainable development," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 452-464, September.
    3. DeTombe, Dorien J., 2001. "Compram, a method for handling complex societal problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(2), pages 266-281, January.
    4. Oliveira, Carla & Antunes, Carlos Henggeler, 2004. "A multiple objective model to deal with economy-energy-environment interactions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(2), pages 370-385, March.
    5. Mingers, John & Rosenhead, Jonathan, 2004. "Problem structuring methods in action," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(3), pages 530-554, February.
    6. Dani Rodrik, 2000. "How Far Will International Economic Integration Go?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 177-186, Winter.
    7. Daniel, S. E. & Diakoulaki, D. C. & Pappis, C. P., 1997. "Operations research and environmental planning," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 248-263, October.
    8. Nijkamp, Peter & van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M., 1997. "New advances in economic modelling and evaluation of environmental issues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 180-196, May.
    9. Munda, Giuseppe, 2004. "Social multi-criteria evaluation: Methodological foundations and operational consequences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(3), pages 662-677, November.
    10. Curkovic, Sime, 2003. "Environmentally Responsible Manufacturing: The development and validation of a measurement model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 130-155, April.
    11. González-Benito, Javier & González-Benito, Óscar, 2005. "Environmental proactivity and business performance: an empirical analysis," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15, February.
    12. DeTombe, Dorien J., 2001. "Methodology for handling complex societal problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(2), pages 227-230, January.
    13. Lehtonen, Markku, 2004. "The environmental-social interface of sustainable development: capabilities, social capital, institutions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 199-214, June.
    14. Gerald Midgley & Martin Reynolds, 2004. "Systems|operational research and sustainable development: towards a new agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 56-64.
    15. Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M. & van Beek, Paul & Hordijk, Leen & Van Wassenhove, Luk N., 1995. "Interactions between operational research and environmental management," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 229-243, September.
    16. DeTombe, Dorien J., 2002. "Complex Societal Problems in Operational Research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 232-240, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Letmathe, Peter & Balakrishnan, Nagraj, 2005. "Environmental considerations on the optimal product mix," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(2), pages 398-412, December.
    2. Espinosa, A. & Harnden, R. & Walker, J., 2008. "A complexity approach to sustainability - Stafford Beer revisited," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 187(2), pages 636-651, June.
    3. Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J.M. & van Nunen, J.A.E.E., 2005. "Integration of Environmental Management and SCM," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-030-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    4. M.A. Quaddus & M.A.B. Siddique, 2013. "Application of decision support tools in sustainable development planning: review and analysis," Chapters, in: M. A. Quaddus & M. A.B. Siddique (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development Planning, chapter 1, pages 3-16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Jean-Pierre Brans & Giorgio Gallo, 2007. "Ethics in OR/MS: past, present and future," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 165-178, September.
    6. Hector, Donald & Christensen, Carleton & Petrie, Jim, 2009. "A problem-structuring method for complex societal decisions: Its philosophical and psychological dimensions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(3), pages 693-708, March.
    7. Helfgott, Ariella & Midgley, Gerald & Chaudhury, Abrar & Vervoort, Joost & Sova, Chase & Ryan, Alex, 2023. "Multi-level participation in integrative, systemic planning: The case of climate adaptation in Ghana," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(3), pages 1201-1217.
    8. Radulescu, Marius & Radulescu, Sorin & Radulescu, Constanta Zoie, 2009. "Sustainable production technologies which take into account environmental constraints," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(3), pages 730-740, March.
    9. Trutnevyte, Evelina & Stauffacher, Michael & Scholz, Roland W., 2012. "Linking stakeholder visions with resource allocation scenarios and multi-criteria assessment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(3), pages 762-772.
    10. Brandenburg, Marcus & Govindan, Kannan & Sarkis, Joseph & Seuring, Stefan, 2014. "Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 299-312.
    11. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    12. Ormerod, Richard J. & Ulrich, Werner, 2013. "Operational research and ethics: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(2), pages 291-307.
    13. Gopalakrishnan, Kavitha & Yusuf, Yahaya Y. & Musa, Ahmed & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ambursa, Hafsat M., 2012. "Sustainable supply chain management: A case study of British Aerospace (BAe) Systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 193-203.
    14. Dejana Zlatanović, 2015. "A Holistic Approach To Corporate Social Responsibility As A Prerequisite For Sustainable Development: Empirical Evidence," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 60(207), pages 69-94, September.
    15. Daniel Kiel & Julian M. Müller & Christian Arnold & Kai-Ingo Voigt, 2017. "Sustainable Industrial Value Creation: Benefits And Challenges Of Industry 4.0," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(08), pages 1-34, December.
    16. Letmathe, Peter & Wagner, Sandra, 2018. "“Messy” marginal costs: Internal pricing of environmental aspects on the firm level," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 41-52.
    17. Milica Bojat & Mladen Rebić, 2019. "Ključni Makroekonomski Indikatori Održivog Razvoja U Bosni I Hercegovini (Key Macroeconomic Sustainable Development Indicators In Bosnia And Herzegovina)," Ekonomske ideje i praksa, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, issue 35, pages 75-93, December.
    18. Fotios Misopoulos & Roula Michaelides & Mohammad Afiq Salehuddin & Vicky Manthou & Zenon Michaelides, 2018. "Addressing Organisational Pressures as Drivers towards Sustainability in Manufacturing Projects and Project Management Methodologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-28, June.
    19. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    20. Ester Comas Argemí & Àngela D. Bosch Serra & Mamen Cuéllar Padilla & Gonzalo Gamboa Jiménez, 2012. "Sostenibilidad de la producción porcina en Cataluña (España). Aplicación del análisis multicriterio," Revista Iberoamericana de Economía Ecológica, Red Iberoamericana de Economía Ecológica, vol. 18, pages 1-19, Abril.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:193:y:2009:i:3:p:683-692. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.