Greening Chinese Business : Barriers, Trends and Opportunities for Environmental Management / / editors, Fang Zhaoben, Ulrich Steger

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910452924303321
• Autore: Wei Lu
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: London : , : Taylor and Francis, , 2017
• ISBN: 1-351-28163-1; 1-351-28164-X; 1-909493-35-X
• Edizione: [First edition.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (194 p.)
• Disciplina: 658.4/08/0951
• Soggetti: Industrial management - Environmental aspects - China; Environmental responsibility - China; Social responsibility of business - China; Environmental law - China; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di contenuto: Front cover; Copyright page; Contents; Front matter; Text; Back matter; Back cover
• Sommario/riassunto: Environmental regulation in China is not really different from that in the rest of the world, except that environmental authorities are relatively new and less established. In order to understand why corporate environmental performance has hardly improved despite the existing regulatory framework, empirical research on high-level executives' perceptions of environmental protection is essential. This unique book analyses and interprets Chinese managers' perceptions of environmental management and regulatory enforcement practices in Chinese enterprises. Most importantly, it identifies the bottlenecks to environmental protection in Chinese firms. It includes a detailed analysis of the needs for management training (for example, CEO and executive development and MBA education) in China and presents a roadmap of how they can be met. Finally, it presents two case studies that illustrate how Chinese corporations currently react to a wide range of different environmental challenges, including hardening regulatory ; pressure, competition and lack of capital. Based on an innovative research project sponsored by the UNESCO/UNDP offices in Beijing and undertaken by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland and the Business School of the Academy of Science and Technology (USTC), Hefei, China, Greening Chinese Business provides the first hard empirical evidence of how Chinese managers view environmental protection. Over 300 companies-both state-owned enterprises and SMEs-took part in the research. Key findings includeAround 70% of managers surveyed admit moderate or even heavy environmental impact (this is a subjective assessment without an external benchmark). Furthermore, they indicate that the lack of environmental performance is primarily due to insufficient managerial expertise, capital and employment-related protectionism. Managers hesitate to take necessary action to upgrade technical equipment, because, although decreasing pollution, upgrading would lead to lay-offs that, in turn, would diminish social stability. Since the latter is first priority in China, managers fear loss of their companies'-and, attached to that, their personal-image, which plays a very important role in Chinese culture. Regulative enforcement has been strong enough to put environmental management on the "to do" lists of Chinese managers. Nevertheless, managers criticise existing enforcement practices as being too lax and untransparent (due to local protectionism, bribery and lack of expertise in the enforcement institutions). Managers consider environmental functionaries-the Chinese equivalent of an environmental protection agency-and the government to be the most important environmental stakeholders. This is a clear sign for their predominantly reactive attitude towards environmental protection: few Chinese companies are going beyond compliance and pioneering integrated approaches to pollution prevention. The research shows similarities between current Chinese company approaches and the "state of the art" in industrial centres of OECD countries such as Germany in the 1960s. Apart from a lack of capital, managers cite a lack of expertise-managerial more than technical-as the main obstacle to "greening" their organisations. Environmental management programmes need to be developed: competence-building should start with CEOs and executives. Greening Chinese Business will aid readers to understand how: Chinese managers perceive and react to the increasing (more external than internal) pressure to improve environmental protection; understand the regulatory, public and business environment in which Chinese managers make decisions about environmental protection; understand the potential for improvement of this regulatory, public and business environment, either as a manager or an external stakeholder and develop strategies that lead to improved stakeholder relationships and, consequently, to competitive advantage; understand the urgent need to develop environmental management practices in Chinese companies in areas such as EMSs and supply chain management; and identify the resources available for management development in China.

Guidelines for investigating chemical process incidents [[electronic resource]]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910143238203321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : American Institute of Chemical Engineers, c2003
• ISBN: 1-282-77420-4; 9786612774201; 0-470-92513-2; 1-59124-662-8; 0-470-92512-4
• Edizione: [2nd ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (478 p.)
• Disciplina: 660.2804; 660/.2804
• Soggetti: Chemical plants - Safety measures; Chemical engineering - Safety measures; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Guidelines for Investigating Chemical Process Incidents; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; 1.1. Building on the Past; 1.2. Who Should Read This Book?; 1.3. The Guideline's Objectives; 1.4. The Continuing Evolution of Incident Investigation; 2 Designing an Incident Investigation Management System; 2.1. Preplanning Considerations; 2.1.1. An Organization's Responsibilities; 2.1.2. The Benefits of Management's Commitment; 2.1.3. The Role of the Developers; 2.1.4. Integration with Other Functions and Teams; 2.1.5. Regulatory and Legal Issues; 2.2. Typical Management System Topics; 2.2.1. Classifying Incidents2.2.2. Other Options for Establishing Classification Criteria; 2.2.3. Specifying Documentation; 2.2.4. Describing Team Organization and Functions; 2.2.5. Setting Training Requirements; 2.2.6. Emphasizing Root Causes; 2.2.7. Developing Recommendations; 2.2.8. Fostering a Blame-Free Policy; 2.2.9. Implementing the Recommendations and Follow-up Activities; 2.2.10. Resuming Normal Operation and Establishing Restart Criteria; 2.2.11. ; Providing a Template for Formal Reports; 2.2.12. Review and Approval; 2.2.13. Planning for Continuous Improvement; 2.3. Implementing the Management System2.3.1. Initial Implementation-Training; 2.3.2. Initial Implementation-Data Management System; References; 3 An Overview of Incident Causation Theories; 3.1. Stages of a Process-Related Incident; 3.1.1. Three Phases of Process-Related Incidents; 3.1.2. The Importance of Latent Failures; 3.2. Theories of Incident Causation; 3.2.1. Domino Theory of Causation; 3.2.2. SystemTheory; 3.2.3. Hazard-Barrier-Target Theory; 3.3. Investigation's Place in Controlling Risk; 3.4. Relationship between Near Misses and Incidents; Endnotes; 4 An Overview of Investigation Methodologies4.1. Historical Approach; 4.2. Modern Structured Approach; 4.3. Methodologies Used by CCPS Members; 4.4. Description of Tools; 4.4.1. Brainstorming; 4.4.2. Timelines; 4.4.3. Sequence Diagrams; 4.4.4. Causal Factor Identification; 4.4.5. Checklists; 4.4.6. Predefined Trees; 4.4.7. Team-Developed Logic Trees; 4.5. Selecting an Appropriate Methodology; Endnotes; 5 Reporting and Investigating Near Misses; 5.1. Defining a Near Miss; 5.2. Obstacles to Near Miss Reporting and Recommended Solutions; 5.2.1. Fear of Disciplinary Action; 5.2.2. Fear of Embarrassment5.2.3. Lack of Understanding: Near Miss versus Nonincident; 5.2.4. Lack of Management Commitment and Follow-through; 5.2.5. High Level of Effort to Report and Investigate; 5.2.6. Disincentives for Reporting Near Misses; 5.2.7. Not Knowing Which Investigation System to Use; 5.3. Legal Aspects; Endnotes; 6 The Impact of Human Factors; 6.1. Defining Human Factors; 6.2. Human Factors Concepts; 6.2.1. Skills-Rules-Knowledge Model; 6.2.2. Human Behavior; 6.3. Incorporating Human Factors into the Incident Investigation Process; 6.3.1. Finding the Causes; 6.4. How an Incident Evolves
• Sommario/riassunto: This book provides a valuable reference tool for technical and management personnel who lead or are a part of incident investigation teams. This second edition focuses on investigating process-related incidents with real or potential catastrophic consequences. It presents on-the-job information, techniques, and examples that support successful investigations. The methodologies, tools, and techniques described in this book can also be applied when investigating other types of events such as reliability, quality, occupational health, and safety incidents. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the tex

Yehuda Amichai : the making of Israel's national poet / / Nili Scharf Gold

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910965386203321
• Autore: Gold Nili Scharf
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Waltham, Mass., : Brandeis University Press; Hanover, : University Press of New England, c2008
• ISBN: 9786612472848; 9781282472846; 1282472844; 9781584658122; 1584658126
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (464 p.)
• Collana: The Schusterman series in Israel studies; The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry series
• Disciplina: 892.4/16; B
• Soggetti: Poets, Israeli
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [425]-433) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Camouflage as the key to the poetry of Yehuda Amichai -- Childhood in Wuerzburg: a dubious paradise -- The murky mirror of Wuerzburg in Amichai's work -- Hiding between the languages: the German mother tongue in Amichai's universe -- Growing up in Palestine -- "And the migration of my parents has not subsided in me" -- The love story -- The literary legacy of the love story: "Binyamina, 1947" and "We loved here" -- The lovers in the public garden -- The Haifa letters: the making of an Israeli -- The making of a national poet -- Retrieving the abandoned landmarks.
• Sommario/riassunto: An astonishing revision of the prevailing critical analysis of the poetry of Yehuda Amichai, based on newly discovered materials