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A line of research is emerging investigating the private sector impacts and dependencies on critical biodiversity and ecosystem services, and related business risks and opportunities. While the ecosystem services narrative is being forwarded globally as a key paradigm for promoting business sustainability, there is scarce knowledge of how these issues are considered at managerial level. This study thus investigates managerial views of corporate sustainability after the ecosystem services concept. We analyse interviews conducted with 20 managers from domestic and international forestry companies operating with a plantation-based business model in China. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data, with a focus on four key areas: (1) interviewee familiarity with the ecosystem services concept; (2) their views of corporate dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services; (3) related business risks and opportunities; and (4) viability of existing instruments and practices that can be employed in detecting and addressing business impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services. Through an inductive approach to the empirical findings, we refined a framework that holds operational value for developing company response strategies to ecosystem services impact/dependence assessment, ensuring that all issues are addressed comprehensively, and that related risks and opportunities are properly acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper addresses the current research void on local community views of changes in ecosystem services associated with rapid land use transformation in the context of plantation-based forestry. This interview-based study, conducted in southern China, aims at assessing the perspectives of local communities of: 1) the effects of Eucalyptus industrial plantations on selected ecosystem services and on local development; and 2) opportunities for future community livelihood development, based on the relations with the government and with forest industry operating locally. We analysed data from semi-structured interviews with 70 villagers for their views on changes in ecosystem services after the establishment of plantations, and their future expectations on the local livelihood development. Most interviewees mentioned some negative development on environmental quality after the establishment of the industrial plantations, especially on soil and water. Furthermore, the reduced productivity of cropland surrounding industrial plantations, coupled with other financial drivers, induced several villagers to switch from agricultural crops to household plantations. In the absence of destructive typhoons, household plantations can provide owners more free time, higher income, while industrial plantations provided some employment opportunities. Interviewees’ expectations for the future included receiving financial support and capacity building for household plantations and crops, support to local roads and schools, and higher employment opportunities. Some interviewees suggested that solutions should be implemented for improving degraded water quality, while others suggested reducing forestry operations. Even though being highly context-specific, our findings open up the discussion about the further community development opportunities in the context of plantation forestry. In particular, the potential of value sharing mechanisms between the private sector and the local communities should be further studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global awareness of sustainability issues is growing rapidly, and business organizations are called to address wider social and environmental concerns along with economic performance. However, limited systematic knowledge exists on the interactions between forest industries and natural ecosystems. We thus investigated the role of ecosystem services in the context of China's forest sector. A qualitative research approach was used to elicit company external expert viewpoints on the topic. Our analysis focused on three themes: (1) forest company dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services; (2) business risks arising from dependencies and impacts; and (3) risk response strategies. The interviewed 20 experts identified a series of forest company dependencies and impacts (including negative and positive impacts) on several ecosystem services. The extent of dependencies and impacts is largely influenced by the business portfolio of the company. The perceived business risks include intense competition and the consequently increasing price for natural resources, which would affect forest company business plans, costs and outputs. The suggested strategies for turning risks into opportunities include outsourcing wood, changing production focus, promoting industrial upgrading and implementing regular assessments of corporate dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services. The findings of our study can guide companies' decision-making in managing forest ecosystems sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption of natural food offers a chance for sustainable development of natural food markets. However, the concept of sustainable consumption behaviour has not been sufficiently noted in natural food-related literature. Neither have its driving forces been adequately captured in the prevailing theoretical models. We model the sustainable consumption behaviour in fresh berry sector and investigates its driving forces in China using a survey of 413 consumers with the covariance-based structural equation modelling technique. Results have four confirmed factors (motivation, opportunity, intentions and ability) as significant facilitators of sustainable consumption behaviour. The way they impact sustainable consumption behaviour differ. Opportunity is found to have direct impacts on consumption behaviour, while motivation and ability are found to have indirect impacts on consumption behaviour via consumption intention. We contribute to current literature on Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) from individual consumers' aspect by conceptualizing the sustainable fresh berry consumption behaviour using an extended theoretical framework in an emerging market. Our findings also provide suggestions and guidelines for policymakers, farmers and marketers who aim to expand the natural food markets in a sustainable manner. • Sustainable consumption behaviour is examined in the natural food sector. • This research seeks to narrow the green intention-behaviour gap. • The paper develops a concept model with volitional and non-volitional drivers. • Motivation, opportunity and ability are key to fresh berry consumption behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our comparative study investigates the Chinese and Finnish managers' perceptions of corporate responsibility ( CR) and how CR engagement can benefit small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs) in the mechanical wood processing industry. Based on the semi-structured interviews with 23 line managers between December 2009 and December 2010, our study provides evidence that with a focused stakeholder approach, managers in wood industry SMEs adopt informal corporate social responsibility strategies and tools to meet the specific expectations of their key stakeholders. Legal aspects were the key drivers of CR, whereas advanced production technology, efficient wood procurement, customer focus, and a competent workforce formed the four principal cornerstones in their pursuit of competitive advantage. Despite the two vastly different cultural and operational settings, the importance and the role of CR were found to follow a fairly similar logic in how CR was understood and implemented in the wood industry SMEs seeking for competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the global forest sector has shifted from developed to developing economies (currently accounting 73% of total) during the past two decades. China has been the main global driver with its annual FDI soaring from USD 130 million in 2002 to USD 550 million in 2010. In light of international economic and business theories, choice of foreign entry mode is considered the most critical issue in corporate expansion strategy, which, however, has not been empirically studied in the forest sector. To fill this gap, our paper focuses on modeling two equity-based entry mode choices (i.e. wholly owned subsidiary or joint ventures) of foreign investment projects in China based on data from 109 activities of the Top 100 forest, paper, and packaging industry companies. By using logistic modeling, the main determinants of corporate entry mode choice are found to be cultural and geographical distance between the corporate home country and China, duration of corporate presence in China, and spatial concentration of local-level forest industry. Instead, investment project size and local resource availability are found to have no significant impact on corporate entry mode choice in China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]