The Exploration of Sustainable Environmental Conservation and Efficient Technological Adoption in Today's Pre-manufacturing Stage in Tea Operations Management

Data and the literature show that tea is of significance to Kenya’s economy around the country and it has been for more than 100 years. However, there are several challenges the industry is addressing in relation to environmental conservation e.g.,deforestation, unresponsible waste disposal in the rivers and climate change that has led to more instances of the destruction of crops from hail stones. The term sustainability is widely referred to in business today. How are the practices of sustainability being upkept in producing sustainable agricultural crop and promoting continuity in business management? What standards and certifications are made use of in the tea business and where have exporting regions and Kenya as a tea producing countries understood and affected them unitedly through literature and real participant perspectives? Regarding technology, this paper’s focus is on the context of technology in the tea industry. This research study involves tea farmers and companies in line with operations management, including sole tea farmers and smallholders, as well as private and publicly governed tea institutions. Studies on the tea business in Kenya is ideal because several international companies and farmers are involved in the sector and some, located in the country. In connection, the field of Tea Operation Management has some numeric data on foreign exchange regarding the commodity. Therefore, statistics are illustrated to gauge matters foreign exchange/overall annual production performance of the Kenyan economy. The tea sector has been credited as a significantly large global market today and in the foreseeable future. The sector is significant in helping farmers and employees within the tea industry earn a living together with growing economies particularly as a channel through existing tea growing companies and countries. The sector consists of a hand-full of tea-growing countries that have been involved in tea production over centuries and neighbouring countries are likely to get engaged in emerging markets within the sector. Therefore, trade is a crucial part of the tea business. This doctoral thesis was undertaken at Regent's University London and awarded by The University of Northampton.