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This study aims to develop a theoretical and practical framework to guide manufacturing companies in their transition towards digital servitization (DS), identifying relevant elements in implementing a digital servitization (DS) strategy.

We use a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys. Data were collected from 98 manufacturing companies in Spain to understand their DS strategies and outcomes.

The SYNCHRO framework, encompassing seven components: Stakeholder environment, Yield through co-creation, New capabilities, Connectivity through Industry 4.0, Handling challenges, Restructuring internally and Organizational adaptation, is presented. The results indicate that companies can advance towards DS autonomously, without necessarily relying on co-creation with customers. However, the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies and internal adaptation are critical for success.

Future research should expand the sample size and explore the implementation of the SYNCHRO framework in different industrial and geographical contexts to validate its effectiveness.

The framework provides a structured approach for companies to integrate digital technologies and reconfigure their business models, ensuring improved competitiveness and adaptability in the Industry 4.0 landscape.

By promoting sustainable business practices and enhancing competitiveness, the SYNCHRO framework can contribute to economic growth and stability within manufacturing sectors.

The SYNCHRO framework offers a comprehensive guide for DS, highlighting the importance of internal innovation and organizational flexibility. This framework contributes to the existing literature and provides a tool for companies to enhance business competitiveness and sustainability.

This study aims to analyze the lean supply chain management (LSCM) strategy's role as a mechanism to address technology uncertainty and provide organizations with competitive advantage.

An empirical study was conducted of 276 Spanish focal firms in industrial sectors that occupy an intermediate position in the supply chain to investigate the influence of technology uncertainty on LSCM implementation and the latter's effect on operational performance and competitiveness. A covariance-based structural equation model (CB-SEM) was used to test three hypotheses.

Technological uncertainty encourages progress in the implementation of lean throughout the supply chain and so is a mechanism that not only brings stability to the focal company but also improves its performance and puts it in a better competitive position.

Managers are suggested to consider the strategic integration with supply chain partners and the establishment of long-term relationships based on trust and commitment advocated by LSCM to enhance organizations' capabilities and effectively and flexibly respond to technological changes.

This study focuses on the effects of environmental uncertainty on the supply chain. The past literature has focused on the behavior of individual firms to deal with uncertainty, but this work shifts the level of analysis to the supply chain. Therefore, the strategic change to deal with what is happening in the environment is now switched to the supply chain level.

Despite the fact that agile manufacturing has been frequently promoted as a means of improving business competitiveness, little empirical evidence exists in the literature validating its positive link with business performance. The purpose of this research paper is to analyse agile manufacturing in Spain and study whether it is a critical factor for success in different industries.

A conceptual model is drawn up, based on the literature and a previous case study, to relate turbulence in the environment with agile manufacturing practices and business performance. The model is tested on a large sample of Spanish manufacturers using a survey methodology to obtain information and a structural equation model to analyse the data.

The results obtained show that, in turbulent environments, the integrated use of agile manufacturing practices promotes manufacturing competitive strength, leading to better operational, market and financial performance.

This study has two main limitations. First, it is difficult to determine the most suitable unit of analysis when studying agile manufacturing. Second, single respondent bias may be considered a limitation.

Managers should consider the integrated implementation of agile manufacturing practices in order to develop manufacturing strength and to outperform competitors in turbulent business environments.

This study adopts a systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance. This approach is especially interesting because most of the literature on agile manufacturing deals with agility strategies or techniques in an isolated way. The study also tests the suitability of agile manufacturing in real organisations – for the first time in the Spanish context.

The purpose of this paper is to look into production competence theory by proposing and validating a multidimensional construct, and offering additional empirical evidence regarding the contribution of production competence to business performance.

Production competence is defined as a second‐order factor/construct in terms of five underlying dimensions: cost, flexibility, quality, delivery and environmental protection competence. Different scales are used to measure the construct, validated by a multi‐step process. Data from 274 manufacturing firms and structural equation modelling as the main technique are used for the analysis.

The paper suggests that manufacturing capabilities and their alignment with the competitive priorities pursued must be considered to explain the contribution of manufacturing to business performance. The provided evidence suggests that the manufacturing function significantly contributes to business performance, and enables us to conclude that production competence is a determinant of business performance.

Firms should focus on the development of manufacturing capabilities that are key for the market (and consistent with the business strategy). To achieve this, the production function should be integrated into the strategic planning process of the overall business strategy.

Most research works to date deal with production competence as a one‐dimensional construct and reduce its measurement to a single index, fussing variables of different types. This paper provides a valid multidimensional operationalisation of production competence, considering environmental protection as a fifth manufacturing objective. It also offers additional empirical evidence regarding the positive link between production competence and business performance.

The aim of this work is to analyse the manufacturing strategies of the large Spanish industrial companies during the 1990s, making a comparison with the experience of American and other European manufacturers. To this end, and taking 1994 as a reference, this paper describes the planning process and content of the manufacturing strategies of a representative sample of the largest industrial companies in Spain, analysing, in particular, the high priority manufacturing objectives and policies maintained during the period 1992‐1993 and those foreseen for the period 1995‐1999. The information analysed has been obtained from a mail survey. The comparison of the Spanish companies with American and other European manufacturers attempts to observe how the Spanish experience is similar to that of other countries, in order to obtain interesting conclusions for the managers who may be responsible for managing industrial companies located in Spain.

This study analyses the effect of the use of cross‐functional teams and effective leaders on the success of the new product development (NPD) process. With this aim, a sample of 125 firms representing the most innovative industries in Spain has been used. Results show that firms using cross‐functional teams obtain a more effective NPD process (that is, better development times and costs, and superior products) and a higher percentage of new products that are successful in the market. Likewise, the firms that use effective leaders achieve better development times, superior products and a higher level of customer satisfaction.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of sustainable finance and accounting (SFA) literature by identifying the influential aspects, main research streams and future research directions in SFA.

The results are obtained using bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis to conduct a bibliometric review of the intersection of sustainable finance and sustainable accounting using a sample of 795 articles published between 1991 and November 2023.

The most influential factors in the SFA literature are identified, highlighting three primary areas of research: corporate social responsibility and environmental disclosure; financial and economic performance; and regulations and standards.

SFA has experienced rapid development in recent years. The results identify the current research domain, guide potential future research directions, serve as a reference for SFA and provide inspiration to policymakers.

SFA typically encompasses sustainable corporate business practices and investments. This study contributes to broader social impacts by promoting improved corporate practices and sustainability.

This study expands on previous research on SFA. The authors identify significant aspects of the SFA literature, such as the most studied nations, leading journals, authors and trending publications. In addition, the authors provide an overview of the three major streams of the SFA literature and propose various potential future research directions, inspiring both academic research and policymaking.