August 30, 2011
Management department head wins international award for green manufacturing research
Sustainability and green manufacturing practices are an important part of today’s business operations. But what is the best way to achieve manufacturing sustainability?
Chwen Sheu, department head of management and the Paul Edgerley Chair in Business Administration, examined current practices, and his research suggests that the key is to develop green supply chain partnership.
His paper on the subject won the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2011 Asia Pacific Business Innovation and Technology Management Society Conference in Dalian, China, in July.
Manufacturing sustainability deals with pollution reduction, as well as energy saving which can lead to cutbacks in costs. It is also known as environmental management, green supply chain and green manufacturing.
“Manufacturing sustainability is one aspect of the umbrella term Corporate Social Responsibility, an important side of today’s operations management,” Sheu said.
Sheu’s findings can have a deep impact in current manufacturing practices, as the paper suggests how firms can best structure and govern their collaboration with supply chain partners in order to achieve manufacturing sustainability.
“Dr. Sheu’s work is consistent with our Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Initiative,” said Ali Malekzadeh, dean of the College of Business Administration. “This kind of recognition sets our faculty apart, is consistent with K-State’s 2025 vision, and puts our college on an international stage.”
The best paper competition had a total of 154 submissions from 17 countries, but only five of them, including “Governing Green Supply Chain: A Transaction Cost Perspective,” authored by Chwen and Rujen Lin, of Lung Hwa University in Taiwan, received the honor.