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The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.
Human operations, whether in business, at home, or otherwise, cause a transgression of the boundaries of a safe and just operating space for planet Earth and humankind. Developments in operations that have steadily grown over the long course of history, and which have especially gained momentum since the uptake of fossil fuel powered machines in the recent and on-going industrial revolutions, now threaten to cause irreversible damage to ecosystems and society. The present situation calls for new perspectives and understanding of operations and operations management that enable to change the course of development and for operations to provide sustainable solutions for the planet and humankind.
In pursuit of sustainable operations, this book analyses the past, present, and future of operations. It first examines the history of operations while explicitly reflecting on its environmental and social sustainability and on the corresponding development of operations management practices. Chapters 2 and 3 provide corresponding theoretical foundations and start studying the operations on planet Earth prior to the appearance of humankind. Chapters 4 to 9 cover the history of human operations until now, from stone tool manufacturing to lights out manufacturing, and from clay tokens to service robots. Chapter 10 synthesizes extant unsustainable operations and operations management practices and the present 4th industrial revolution. Chapter 11 identifies the transition in operations and operations management needed towards a future safe and just operating space, and how the 4th industrial revolution can contribute to this transition.
The book is firstly written for all practitioners, scientists, and students of operations management and operations research. It offers extensive and historical insight into the relationship between operations and sustainability that has not yet appeared in the operations management literature. The final two chapters help the operations community to understand current problems, to find directions towards sustainable operations, and to contribute to the necessary transition. The book may also serve as a valuable resource for policy makers, business strategists, technology managers, and others devoting themselves to creating a sustainable future, as it may build the necessary understanding of the present operations that cause transgressions of the safe and just operating space, and of the transition towards sustainable operations.
Joris van de Klundert has unearthed a truly astounding collection of fact, implications, and insights, and assembled these into an impressive manuscript. I am sure that any reader will find something new in the book. This book is original, thought-provoking, and a pleasure to read!
Joris van de Klundert holds an MSc degree in Management Informatics (1991) from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a PhD degree in Operations Research from Maastricht University (1996). He has served at the Faculty of Science and the School of Business & Economics of Maastricht University, where he was appointed Professor of Value Chain Optimization in 2007. He co-founded spin-off company Mateum and the Venlo Campus for Maastricht University. From 2009 to 2017, Joris chaired the department of Health Services Management & Organisation of the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management of Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he also acted as Vice Dean of Education from 2011-2014 and still holds a part time position as professor of Health Services Management & Organisation. From 2017 until joining UAI in 2022 he was a founding faculty member of MBS College of Business & Entrepreneurship, in Saudi Arabia, for which he acted as Vice Dean of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in the years 2019 and 2020.
Foreword
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Sustainability and Operations
Chapter 3. The Origin of Operations
Chapter 4. The Operations that Shaped Humankind
Chapter 5. Food Production and Sedentary Niches
Chapter 6. The Production of Visible Language
Chapter 7. The Global Cotton Supply Chain
Chapter 8. Engines and electricity
Chapter 9. Communication, Calculation, and all other Service Operations
Chapter 10. A Revolutionary Transgression of of Planetary Boundaries
Chapter 11. Operations for a Sustainable Future