Generally presented as a preferred social norm based on both ethical considerations and legislative demands, gender equality has been highly encouraged in recent years. For instance, The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 call out achieving gender equality and empowerment of women. However, although there are multiple efforts to...
The wood-based building products industry has experienced significant turbulence over the past several decades as a function of multiple forces including among others globalization, product and process innovation, and shifting customer and consumer interest and demands. Collectively, these changes have challenged the historical tenets which have defined industry strategy and...
Business is a social institution and society has always designated a role for
business which has been undergoing changes with changing societal values and
paradigms. Thus while business has always had some responsibilities, the modern
connotation of the words corporate social responsibility commonly refers to business
assuming responsibilities in economic,...
Historically, researchers have used surveys, focus groups, and anecdotal evidence to evaluate consumer response to environmentally certified, ecolabeled forest products. These methods generally measure consumer attitudes toward certified forest products. Since the strength of the correlation between attitudes
and behavior has long been questioned, consumer response to certified forest products...
There has been an increasing realization of the value of innovativeness, the orientation toward innovation, for firms thriving to gain competitive edge. The US forest products industry is no different in this respect and many companies have active initiatives to bring about creativity from their own employees. At the same...
Innovativeness, or the propensity of a firm to create and/or adopt new products, process and business systems, has been measured using several methods in previous research. Examples of theses methods include current technology, self-evaluation, research and development funding, the number of new products, and intellectual property. In addition to the...
Existing strategies and policies have emphasized the need for cross-sector collaboration as a means for the forest sector to be more competitive. Cross-sector collaboration initiatives of forest sector companies with neighboring industries such as energy, chemicals, plastics, textiles, and packaging are gaining increasing attention as a necessary element for a...
In the forest products business and management literature, one common categorization of different types of innovation is product innovation, process innovation and business systems innovation. Forest products companies have long placed high emphasis on process innovations, which are related to yield maximization, manufacturing efficiency and operating costs reduction. This is...
This document presents a new method for improving the market orientation of companies. In that regard, I developed a new Quality Function Deployment application (QFD), which compares customer needs with company competitive advantages, in order to determine those advantages that best satisfy customer wants and needs. The methodology was applied...
Policy makers in the United States (US), following recommendations made by the international scientific community, have drafted national emissions reduction legislation in hopes of minimizing the harmful effects of global climate change. Included in this legislation is a national cap-and-trade system with provisions for carbon offsets. Specific provisions for forest...
