Search results

The purpose of this paper is to outline and analyze the influence of environment‐oriented cooperation on innovations as the important factor for sustainable development. The research question is how could environment‐oriented cooperation contribute to innovations in enterprises?

For empirical research, a mix of methods is to be selected. At first, the results are obtained qualitatively and validated quantitatively afterwards. Two cooperation cases are selected: industry‐related and intersectoral cooperation.

The paper explains the contribution of environment‐oriented cooperation to realize innovations by identification of the innovation‐relevant cooperation factors such as: heterogeneous constellation of the cooperation partners; specialist know‐how exchange; coordination; and importance of industry orientation. These factors are also necessary for the implementation of sustainability‐oriented innovation practices in a wider (economical, ecological and social) understanding.

The paper shows that an environment‐oriented cooperation with different actors – which is coordinated by experts and concentrated on industry specific as well as oriented on the interests of all actors – can definitely help to realize potentials of innovation.

Concerning the increasing role of cooperation for the creation and implementation of environmental innovations, substantial awareness gaps are still observed. The paper has tried to identify and analyze cooperation characteristics which influence the implementation of environmental innovations and therefore the sustainable development.

Purpose: The economies of the European Union (EU) countries are significantly affected by new developments in technology and digital transformations, requiring tailored policies to bridge gaps and boost economic development. This chapter analyses the impact of the digital economy in EU countries according to the level of economic growth.

Need for study: Assessing the interaction between economic growth and digitalisation, focussing on digital transformations, digital skills, and economic growth, this chapter designs advanced theoretical and empirical research by building on certain important research issues.

Methodology: The research framework relies on assessing the correlation between the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and economic growth. Based on Eurostat data, this research employs panel econometric models to uncover causal relationships between digital policies and economic growth, incorporating macroeconomic variables and country-specific digital policies. The models are designed through the panel-corrected standard errors (PCSEs) method and robust regression with Huber iteration (RRHI) to ensure unbiased and robust estimates.

Findings: Main findings include that digitalisation coordinates and digital skills are essential for improving economic development in the EU, with benefits for economic growth. These advances affect balance and overall performance and can support policymakers in strengthening their understanding of this scientific field.

Practical implications: The degree of development and the underlying technology underlying determine how the digital economy affects economic growth. Decision-makers can utilise these results to improve digital policies within the EU, favourably impacting the economic development of EU member states.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainability can become a source of competitive advantage for mature manufacturing sectors where technologies are standardized, and innovation is mainly generated across the value chain and not by individual companies.

From the methodological point of view, this research estimates the sustainability status of ceramic production in the Sassuolo district (Italy), using the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) model, and changing the observation point for the analysis, from the enterprise (micro level) to the entire sector (meso level).

This paper provides an analysis of the environmental, economic and social impacts of the four main types of ceramic tiles manufactured in Italy, both in aggregate terms for the entire sector and per square meter of product.

The methodological approach used in this research is easy to replicate both for companies when designing their sustainability strategies and for public decision makers when assessing the sustainability performance of a sector or supply chain.

For the first time, a socio-economic impact assessment is proposed for the ceramic sector, conducted in parallel with the environmental impact assessment through stakeholder mapping and prioritization.

This paper conceptualizes the theme of relations and interdependencies between ceramic producers organized in industrial districts and the territories in which they operate in order to determine empirically the sustainability performance of Italian ceramic sector, using the LCSA model with a territorial extension that presupposes an innovative contribution to current literature and practice.

The paper aims to contribute to the Circular Economy debate from the Entrepreneurship Education perspective. Despite scholars' growing interest in both these research streams, scarce consideration is given to the comprehension of their mutual implications and meaning.

The paper is based on a cross-case analysis. It compares 16 higher education programmes launched by Universities in Europe aimed to create competences and skills for Circular Economy in students with different profiles. The analysis provides a critical view of the emerging trends for the entrepreneurship education skills and competencies needed for the emerging circular entrepreneurship paradigm.

The paper discusses the main trends of Entrepreneurship Education focused on Circular Economy debate at the European level: rationale and learning objectives (why); contents (what), target students and stakeholders (who) and the learning processes (how). Four thematic areas are identified as common patterns: circular economy business model, green supply chain management, technology entrepreneurship and innovation and public policies and institutional frameworks.

The paper sheds new light on a still under-researched area, suggesting several implications and avenues for future research in Circular Economy and Entrepreneurship Education. Limitations regard the need to analyse education programmes from a larger geographical area, to take into consideration interesting experiences in the rest of the world and to also collect quantitative data.

Practical implications arise for the development of learning initiatives for the Circular Economy: learning objectives and new thematic areas focused on circular, sustainable and innovative rethinking of the process for creating value in the incumbent companies; exploring meaning and benefits of collaborative approaches and participation in the circular economy innovation ecosystem and developing advanced models for soft-skills development in terms of leadership, motivational and creative skills.

The debate on CE can also be rooted in the paradigm of entrepreneurship as a core process to advance knowledge on valuable and sustainable innovation.

Teleworking, working from home and flexible work have gained popularity over the last few years. A shift in policies and practices in the workplace is required owing to the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating current trends in work-from-everywhere (WFE) research. This article presents a systematic literature review of WFE research from 1990 to early 2023 to understand the transformation of the field.

The Web of Science database was used to conduct this review based on rigorous bibliometric and network analysis techniques. The prominence of the research studied using SPAR-4-SLR and a collection of bibliometric techniques on selected journal articles, reviews and early access articles. Performance and keyword co-occurrence analysis form the premise of cluster analysis. The content analysis of recently published papers revealed the driving and restraining forces that help define and operationalize the concept of WFE.

The major findings indicate that the five established and accelerated trends from cluster analysis are COVID-19 and the pandemic, telework(ing), remote working, work from home and well-being and productivity. Driving and restraining forces identified through content analysis include technological breakthroughs, work–life integration challenges, inequality in the distribution of jobs, gender, shifts in industry and sector preferences, upskilling and reskilling and many more have been published post-COVID in the restraining forces category of WFE.

A key contribution of this pioneering study of “work from everywhere” is the linking of the bibliometric trends of the past three decades to the influencing and restraining factors during the pandemic. This study illustrates how WFE could be perceived differently post-COVID, which is of great concern to practitioners and future researchers.

A wide range of publications on WFE and multiple synonyms can create confusion if a systematic and effective system does not classify and associate them. This study uses both bibliometric and scientometric analyses in the context of WFE using systematic literature review (SLR) methods.