Sustainability Letters

The impact on motivation following the introduction of sustainability-based bonus-pay

2022-05-16T10:25:47+00:00

This small study investigates employee motivation following the introduction of a sustainability-linked financial incentive at a waste management company. Self-determination theory is used as a framework to explore the initial impact the bonus had on employees’ motivation to achieve sustainability goals since its introduction in January 2021. The case study explores the relationship between the extent to which the three basic psychological needs were met and the subsequent bearing this had on motivation. The findings highlight the importance of other factors such as company culture and the specific, moral intentions linked to sustainable acts, diminishing the importance of the three psychological needs being met.

Valuing companies in transition

2022-01-25T15:36:23+00:00

Transition management and corporate finance are separate disciplines. This article connects the two disciplines by developing a model of expected transition losses. It appears that adaptation to transition is a key determinant of a company’s long-term value. Companies that are early in the game can reap the first mover benefits. Companies that adapt later experience higher adaptation costs and may even not survive. The transition model helps companies to sharpen their strategy and cope with major sustainability transitions that are currently happening.

Pedagogy for the City as an Emergent Cognitive System for Sustainability

2022-08-25T08:02:02+00:00

In this short paper, we develop the case for moving away from the concept of a smart city in which the focus tends to be on shifting managerial responsibility onto computers. We offer the alternative conception of the city as an ecosystem, a complex adaptive system, and draw upon the biology of cognition to construe cognition as the skilful adaptation to living sustainably. Such skilful adaptations necessitate human operators and managers themselves to both develop necessary systemic redundancy to withstand future shocks, but also to acquire skills in multi-faceted domains and disciplines, including the use of Artificial Intelligence, to simulate future scenarios and to plan accordingly. To attain such skills and competencies, we briefly outline a viable and relevant transdisciplinary pedagogy for future city managers to develop smart sustainable cities.