Introduction of chapter of an evaluation of the implementation of green procurement Bakery Sector in Ireland

            The current study is conducted for evaluating the implementation of green procurement Bakery Sector in Ireland. The study dependent variable is the use of green procurement and awareness. The independent variables include the benefits of green procurement and awareness, rate of wastage in the bakery sector, cost of green procurement, customer appeal and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement. For all the study variables, the hypotheses are developed. These hypotheses better help to build the ground for the relationship of the study variables. The relationship of all the independent variables with the dependent variables is identified on individual basis. The results identified the strong positive association of the independent variables (other than rate of wastage in the bakery sector and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement) with the dependent variables. For the said purpose, different tests are used. The test results and their respective interpretations are provided in Chapter 4. The current chapter deals with the discussion on the research questions & research methodology, findings of the research, results’ interpretations and the summary.

5.2 Summary of the results of an evaluation of the implementation of green procurement Bakery Sector in Ireland

        Green procurement is a concept that deals with not only the purchase of a product or a service but also takes into consideration to minimize the undesirable environmental impact as well as the impact on the health of human. The main motive behind this is to gain the competitive advantage in the market place & increase the profitability. Also, it ensures to minimize the wastage of the resources and provide high quality products or services. It helps the organizations to fulfill the product or service needs of the customers/ government authorities along with the consideration of environmental impact. The purchase with the thoughtfulness to avoid additional costs & the supply chain risks is a part of current study in the context of the bakery sector in Ireland.

        The positive relationship for the study independent and dependent variables (other than rate of wastage in the bakery sector and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement) show the organizational commitment (of the higher authorities towards the environmental as well as procurement considerations. The customers and suppliers tend to appreciate this reliable approach. The employees’ training programs that are all about the practices related to green procurement better serve as prerequisites for the continuous improvements to the green procurement (over time). It ultimately leads the company towards economic recovery, improved organizational reputation and reduced dependence over the natural resources. It better provides the company with the economic, social and political benefits on the long run.

            The objectives of the current study are about an evaluation of the bakery sector in Ireland and the economic effects as well as organizational processes improvement. The analysis of the green procurement sector and its influences on the bakery sector, an evaluation of the past literature of the bakery sector & the applications of the green procurement are a part of the objectives of current study. The development of the hypotheses, study of theoretical framework related to green procurement and its analysis, testing to study hypotheses and the use of questionnaire & the quantitative research methodology also fall under the objectives of current research work.

        The research questions for the current study are similar to the research objectives. They are all related to the enquiry about the green procurement and its other relevant parameters. These include as is given: to investigate the economic and social impact of green procurement as well as the efficiency of business processes due to consideration of the green procurement in business processes and the sale & purchase of the product/ services. An investigation for increased customer count due to green procurement, the associated benefits, challenges for integrating the green procurement to the business processes are a part of investigation. Also, an enquiry for significance of green procurement for the bakery sector of Ireland and the check for status of green procurement for the public and private sector of Ireland are a part of current study related investigation. To investigate the research questions, the quantitative research was carried out.

        The primary data is gathered by the use of easy and simple tool for the data collection i.e., the questionnaire. The purpose of the study is achieved through the use of this tool by conducting the self-administered survey. The sample size is 250 workers of the bakeries of Ireland. 150 individuals are the managers of the bakeries where as 50 individuals are the regular employees’ of the bakeries. The rest of 50 respondents are general customers. The existing data helped to gather the secondary data. Entirely complete questionnaires are the part of analysis for current study. The response rate is 85% that is generated through the questionnaires.

        To record the data of the questionnaire and to perform the relevant tests, version 22 of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) is used. Also, the analysis and the interpretation of these results are done by using SPSS. The association of the study variables is better determined by the use of this software. The research variables’ reliability is determined by the use of reliability test. The value of Cronbach Alpha for all the study variables (the use of green procurement and awareness, rate of wastage in the bakery sector, cost of green procurement, customer appeal and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement and the benefits of green procurement) is greater than 0.7 which shows that the data is highly reliable. It determines that these variables fall within a range of reliability that is acceptable.

        The relationship of the study independent variables (the benefits of green procurement, rate of wastage in the bakery sector, cost of green procurement, customer appeal and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement) with the dependent variable (the use of green procurement & awareness)  is determined by the correlation analysis. The value of correlation coefficient is if +1 then it shows that the variables are positively associated. -1 value for the correlation coefficient determines that the variables are negatively associated. For 0 value of correlation coefficient, the study variables show no relationship.

            The results of correlation test indicate that all the independent variables (other than rate of wastage in the bakery sector and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement) are positively significantly correlated with the dependent variable. For all the results of correlation coefficient, p is less than 0.01 i.e., p<0.01. The association of study variables is determined at this value of p. The values of correlation coefficient for all variables show that these variables are highly significantly correlated (the use of green procurement and awareness, rate of wastage in the bakery sector, cost of green procurement, customer appeal and the obstacles that are faced by green procurement and the benefits of green procurement). The acceptance or rejection of the study hypotheses is evaluated by regression analysis. The results of the regression test show that the null hypothesis is rejected and the positive significant association of the study variables is proved.

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