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This research aims to identify and organise the conditions of organisational readiness for digital transformation.

This qualitative study comprises three case studies within manufacturing companies from different sizes and industries located in Sweden. Plant visits and in-depth interviews bring to light companies' experiences with initial steps towards digital transformation. A set of conditions for digital organisational readiness was translated into a questionnaire and tested with one of the studied companies.

This paper organises and tests digital organisational readiness conditions to support companies' initial steps on digital transformation. The results are put in perspective of established change management theory and previous studies about digital transformation. The findings will conclude in a questionnaire to support dialogue and digital organisational readiness assessments.

Additional conditions for the initial phase of digital transformation could possibly be found if more cases had been included in the study.

The article identifies a set of conditions translated into a questionnaire that should be used as a dialogue tool to create strategic alignment and support companies in their initial discussions. If this process can be faster and more efficient, the company can achieve a competitive advantage against competitors.

This research's relevance relies on the fact that companies are advancing in adopting digital technologies without being ready from an organisational perspective. This gap creates barriers for companies' digital maturing processes, stopping them from having full access to digital technologies' benefits.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and enhance sustainable manufacturing practices across various industries, focusing on environmental, economic and social dimensions, to promote a comprehensive understanding and implementation of sustainability, thereby improving overall industry performance and fostering long-term ecological and economic health.

The study uses multi-criteria decision-making-multivariate analysis technique to examine sustainable manufacturing practices (SMPs) in the Indian manufacturing sector. It identifies 11 SMP criteria through literature review and expert recommendations. Data are collected through questionnaires, expert committees and interviews. The study focuses on four key industries: automobile, steel, textile and plastic. Techniques like principal component analysis (PCA), technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) are used to rank and assess performance.

The Indian automobile industry has shown the most effective SMPs compared to steel, textile and plastic sectors. The automobile sector is the benchmark for sustainable measures, emphasizing the importance of green practices for environmental, social and economic performance. Recommendations extend beyond the automobile sector to cement, electronics and construction.

The research emphasizes the importance of SMPs across various industries, focusing on economic, environmental and social considerations. It advocates for a holistic approach that enhances resource efficiency and minimizes ecological footprint.

The study uses ranking methods like PCA-integrated TOPSIS and COPRAS to evaluate performance in different industries, focusing on the benchmarked automobile sector. The research offers valuable insights and advocates for the widespread adoption of sustainable policies beyond the studied sectors.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Research and development (R&D) initiatives are fundamental for society to evolve in its social, economic, technological and environmental dimensions. This study aimed to provide a view of what motivates researchers to participate in such projects as well as the benefits and barriers they encounter when cooperating in R&D projects.

A qualitative methodology was adopted, within which a case study was conducted: R&D project “GreenHealth - Digital Strategies”. This initiative was based on leveraging biological assets to improve well-being and promote health. Data were obtained from 10 interviews with researchers and documentary analysis such as the project’s official website and social media accounts.

The content analysis led to the conclusion that the researchers’ motivations for participating in R&D projects were the opportunity to contribute to scientific and social evolution, the creation of knowledge and personal factors inherent to the participating researchers. The benefits they derived were related to creating and spreading knowledge, as well as financial incentives. Barriers to participation were related to management, communication, organisational culture, the COVID-19 pandemic.

From this study the research team members can understand the importance of cooperation between institutions, which illustrates the importance of creating and transferring knowledge. This study shows also that, in R&D projects, educational and health institutions access new knowledge, attract highly qualified personnel/researchers, establish networks and share financial risks.

The study’s innovation derives from its demonstration that an R&D project of this nature is important for several organisations to develop the conception and implementation of a long-term strategy centred on human beings and focused on the eco-sustainability of the affected regions.

With the current wave of modernization in the dairy industry, the global dairy market has seen significant shifts. Making the most of inventory planning, machine learning (ML) maximizes the movement of commodities from one site to another. By facilitating waste reduction and quality improvement across numerous components, it reduces operational expenses. The focus of this study was to analyze existing dairy supply chain (DSC) optimization strategies and to look for ways in which DSC could be further improved. This study tends to enhance the operational excellence and continuous improvements of optimization strategies for DSC management

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) standards for systematic reviews are served as inspiration for the study's methodology. The accepted protocol for reporting evidence in systematic reviews and meta-analyses is PRISMA. Health sciences associations and publications support the standards. For this study, the authors relied on descriptive statistics.

As a result of this modernization initiative, dairy sector has been able to boost operational efficiency by using cutting-edge optimization strategies. Historically, DSC researchers have relied on mathematical modeling tools, but recently authors have started using artificial intelligence (AI) and ML-based approaches. While mathematical modeling-based methods are still most often used, AI/ML-based methods are quickly becoming the preferred method. During the transit phase, cloud computing, shared databases and software actually transmit data to distributors, logistics companies and retailers. The company has developed comprehensive deployment, distribution and storage space selection methods as well as a supply chain road map.

Many sorts of environmental degradation, including large emissions of greenhouse gases that fuel climate change, are caused by the dairy industry. The industry not only harms the environment, but it also causes a great deal of animal suffering. Smaller farms struggle to make milk at the low prices that large farms, which are frequently supported by subsidies and other financial incentives, set.

This paper addresses a need in the dairy business by giving a primer on optimization methods and outlining how farmers and distributors may increase the efficiency of dairy processing facilities. The majority of the studies just briefly mentioned supply chain optimization.

Tutoring or mentoring is a form of mutual and informal learning which has distant origins. This is a way of sharing knowledge and experience which has been proved to be extremely useful in educational settings, particularly where there is a peer that plays the role of tutor. Despite its informal characteristic, tutoring should be a structured process, with defined goals and clear roles for both: tutors and tutees, those who benefit from tutoring. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

As this paper aims to explore a pilot project, it was used as a reflexive and practical methodology, in a case study, analyzing the number of participants attending the project as well as the contents of the training course.

In this first project in a Portuguese university, 35 students attended as candidates to tutor, participating in the training course, showing interest in helping their colleagues.

This proposal for a tutoring program in a public higher institution aims to train college students to help other colleagues, giving academic support, helping in the adaptation to academic context, promoting autonomy in learning, sharing effective strategies and helping in maintenance of positive interpersonal relationships. These aspects are very important to promote academic success in higher education.

The study aims to map the links between Industry 4.0 (I-4.0) technologies and circular economy (CE) for sustainable operations and their role to achieving the selected number of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The study adopts a systematic literature review method to identify 76 primary studies that were published between January 2010 and December 2020. The authors synthesized the existing literature using Scopus database to investigate I-4.0 technologies and CE to select SDGs.

The findings of the study bridge the gap in the literature at the intersection between I-4.0 and sustainable operations in line with the regenerate, share, optimize, loop, virtualize and exchange (ReSOLVE) framework leading to CE practices. Further, the study also depicts the CE practices leading to the select SDGs (“SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation,” “SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy,” “SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,” “SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production” and “SDG 13: Climate Action”). The study proposes a conceptual framework based on the linkages above, which can help organizations to realign their management practices, thereby achieving specific SDGs.

The originality of the study is substantiated by a unique I-4.0-sustainable operations-CE-SDGs (ISOCES) framework that integrates I-4.0 and CE for sustainable development. The framework is unique, as it is based on an in-depth and systematic review of the literature that maps the links between I-4.0, CE and sustainability.