Search Results (34)

This study explores the role of persistence in eco-innovative (EI) activities in enhancing firms’ resilience during crises, focusing on the Spanish food and beverage industry. It distinguishes between two types of eco-innovators: efficiency-focused eco-innovators, who aim to reduce material and energy usage, and environmental eco-innovators, who seek to minimize direct harm to the environment. Additionally, the analysis evaluates the impact of regulation and institutional interventions on fostering eco-innovation during economic downturns. Using panel data from Spanish food and beverage companies between 2004 and 2016, we adopt a longitudinal approach to study how long-term commitments to EI influence green technology adoption. We identify three distinct periods: 2004–2007 (boom), 2008–2013 (crisis), and 2014–2016 (recovery). Finally, the study analyses the most effective institutional interventions and corporate green strategies for fostering the green transition during challenging times. The analysis provides theoretical insights and tailored managerial and policy recommendations. Full article

Purpose: The new global approach to sustainability within the context of the SDGs is driving a digital transition. However, new technologies bring challenges related to the energy efficiency of their infrastructures. The aim of this exploratory work is to identify the companies with best practices in various aspects of the management, disclosure and verification of the energy efficiency of emerging technologies. Design/methodology/approach: Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, the Non-Financial Information Statements of Spanish IBEX 35 companies are assessed. Findings: The results show that companies disclose non-financial information in relation to the materiality of energy efficiency and the actions implemented to improve it, but regulatory development is still required to ensure greater comparability of such information. Originality: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyse information on ICT energy sustainability in the context of Law 11/2008 in Spain, which also includes an analysis of information on the double materiality of risks and the policies and actions implemented by companies to manage them. Practical implications: Improving the information disclosed will increase its usefulness for the internal decision-making of companies, to improve ICT energy efficiency and SDG. Social implications: Improving the information disclosed will increase its usefulness for external decision-making by the different stakeholders, as regulators and other disclosing companies may take these selected companies as an example in each sector of activity. Full article

This article analyzes the evolution and resilience of the Spanish desalination industry in response to shifting market conditions and technological challenges. Initially focused on domestic projects, Spanish companies leveraged the AGUA Program (Actions for the Management and Use of Water; the acronym does not correspond exactly in English, as it is translated from Spanish) to build expertise, which later facilitated their successful international expansion as local demand declined. The industry has adapted to diverse international regulations and local conditions, demonstrating both flexibility and competitiveness. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on integrating renewable energy into desalination processes to mitigate rising energy costs and address environmental concerns. This shift not only reduces CO₂ emissions but also stabilizes operational costs, underscoring the sector’s ongoing innovation and adaptability. Full article

The development of new technologies within Industry 4.0 (I4.0) may serve as a catalyst in the development of sustainable practices (SP), particularly in the case of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper contributes to the literature by examining the development of technological collaboration agreements between supply chain partners as an influence factor that may impact the environmental commitment of SMEs. Specifically, we study whether the type of partner within the supply chain impacts a firm’s spending or its investment decision toward SP. To that end, we propose an analysis model that considers supplier and customer relationships separately, and the SP measure to be taken distinguishing between expenses and investments. Additionally, empirical research comprising descriptive statistics and econometrics using the regression technique has been conducted on a sample of 1808 Spanish industrial firms. Our results confirm that there are significant differences between SMEs and large companies when developing SP, and that these SP in SMEs depend on the chosen partner and measure. Finally, we offer our main conclusions, as well as relevant recommendations for managers, public administrators, suppliers, and customers, who are essential players in the I4.0 revolution and are under social pressure to promote sustainable development. Full article

Security presents significant challenges due to the exponential growth in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that generate and collect data over the network. It is crucial to ensure the integrity and security of IoT devices, as well as to address issues such as interoperability and trust in data sources. In the proposed article, we present a novel architecture together with its implementation as a proof-of-concept of a traceability and auditing IoT system based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed solution, a smart contract-based system for occupational risk prevention (ORP) has been developed to monitor oxygen concentration in confined spaces that exist in ships and shipyards. The system has been devised for the operators that weld inside the ships of the Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia, which is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world. Specifically, the IOTA network has been used, which benefits the system through its decentralized, secure, and scalable data structure. In addition, the integration of smart contracts allows for establishing predefined rules and conditions, ensuring the execution of logic in a reliable and automated manner. To demonstrate the viability of the system, it has been tested locally and in the IOTA testing environment. Despite the challenges in deploying smart contracts with IOTA, the developed system is considered useful for the traceability and auditing of the oxygen concentrations without the need for any human intervention. Furthermore, it establishes the groundwork for future advancements in IoT traceability and auditing in industrial ORP scenarios. Full article

This paper assesses the explanatory power of individual, environmental, and job factors on Spanish telecommuters’ presence and absence of stress in a home telework setting during the COVID-19 crisis. It uses a survey of the Spanish agency “Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas” on the perceptions of the Spanish population about several aspects of information communication technologies (ICTs) that was carried out in March 2021. We use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to capture how factors combine to enable and inhibit stress feeling. The perception of stress is less covered by fsQCA configurations than the nonperception. However, fsQCA provides profiles that cause stress feelings and nonstress feelings with great consistency. We have checked that overload is the most important variable to explain stress. Likewise, fsQCA has also shown that while some variables, such as overload, isolation, non-adequacy, or organizational support, impact symmetrically on the presence and absence of stress perception, other factors, such as attaining a satisfactory work-home balance or gender, impact them asymmetrically. From a practical point of view, we can outline that clearer regulation of teleworking is needed to prevent imbalances in rights and obligations between companies and employees. However, there are also several challenges at the organization and worker level. Full article

In the digital era, companies have experienced a progressive change in their business models, which has led them to develop greater agility to adapt to changing environments, and the necessity to properly manage the group decision making in these companies is patent. This paper shows how fuzzy models are utilized in group decision making. In this context, one of the most important group decisions to be adopted is how to manage the digital transformation of the company, drawing up the best possible roadmap. To achieve this goal, this paper proposes a new methodology improvement of group decision making based on a fuzzy 2-tuple linguistic model and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. The suggested methodology proposes the calculation of the digital maturity level (DML) of companies based on five of the most cited and agreed upon criteria in the existing literature. The methodology proposed in this paper was tested and validated for the business case of Spanish SMEs through three different clusters to derive global recommendations tailored to each specific cluster and company segments, using a sample of 1428 companies. The main fundings reveal that the digital maturity level directly impacts on the size of the company and its digital mindset in the sense of driving change management processes. As future works, authors recommend extending the model to any industry using the proposed methodology and evaluate disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting the digital transformation of SMEs. Full article

The study aimed to compare the impact of Role Blurring on mental health and Work-Life Integration in the Brazilian and Spanish populations during COVID-19. Role Blurring, which is related to resources and demands in the work context, affects coping with stressors arising from role overlapping and impacts individuals’ perception of work overload and mental health. The sample consisted of 877 adults from Spain (n = 498) and Brazil (n = 372), and various statistical analyses were conducted to compare the groups. Results showed that Role Blurring is linked to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as suicidal ideation. Therefore, it is essential to promote working conditions that limit expectations on availability and favor disconnection from work during leisure time. Public policies that intervene, promote, and prevent psychosocial risk factors in emergent contexts are crucial to prevent suicidal ideation and attempts. Considering the high expected influence of Blurring as a focus of interventions can be reflected in the medium term in the indicators of well-being and satisfaction of companies, institutions and organizations. This can result in the reduction of health costs aimed at cushioning post-COVID-19 impacts on mental health. The study is relevant to understand the impact of the pandemic and technology on mental health and suggests the need for interventions to promote work-life balance and prevent psychosocial risks. Full article

This article aims to explain the innovative behaviour of large Spanish companies by comparing the hospitality industry with other service providers and industrial manufacturers. Several hypotheses are proposed and tested for different innovation stages: innovation effort, outcome and performance. The sample includes 2944 Spanish companies with 200 or more employees. Using one-way ANOVA analysis, this study fills an important gap in the impact of innovation and technology on the performance of the hospitality sector. The results show that catering establishments have differentiated innovation behaviours not only to manufacturers but also compared to service providers. The findings support the hypothesis and suggest that hotel companies complement in-house R&D with other innovative activities. Furthermore, hospitality organisations have the highest percentage of innovation revenue due to fewer innovation efforts and innovation outcomes, mainly due to the organisation’s innovations. Full article

For the implementation of Industry Industry 4.0 (I4.0), companies need the commitment of several departments, knowledge and technology within data management, cyber physical systems, and Internet of Things, among other pillars of I4.0. This industrial revolution (I4.0)offers opportunities for the development of competitive advantages, new market positions within a supply chain, new product design and processes, and manufacturing sustainability. Regardless of such benefits, for small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) it represents a challenge, because they lack specific capabilities, qualified human resources, and technological and/or financial support. The challenges for SMEs from industrial sectors can be dealt with by means of strategic joint ventures, known as horizontal collaboration. Seen as the new vertical collaboration, horizontal collaboration offers a way for enterprises to combine their strengths in order to gain competitive advantages and develop new market opportunities. This paper presents the Resources and Value Horizontal Collaboration Model, “COHRV”, for its acronym in Spanish, structured as a guide to merge enterprises’ strengths such as knowledge transfer, qualified human resources, technology, and more. The COHRV model was designed as a disruptive business model, presenting a new perspective for horizontal collaboration projects between SMEs. To show the effective applicability of the COHRV model, data obtained from nine SMEs in a previous case study were used. The objective was to observe how the COHRV model works as a framework to create new strategies for SMEs, to work on a sustainable manufacturing venture. Full article

The level of implementation of IoT technology in Spanish companies is not low for a novel technology, but there are concerns that hinder its level of implementation from being higher: initial costs, security, and privacy. These concerns could be solved with the choice of the appropriate IoT platform, but it must be taken into account that there are numerous criteria that participate in this decision that influence each other. This could give rise to criteria not being considered at first, even though they should be taken into account in this choice. Existing studies do not consider this. Thus, the objective of this study was to find out what are the key criteria to be taken into account by Spanish companies when choosing an IoT platform. The criteria were located through a literary review, and classified according to their level of importance in this decision through a causal study carried out with the methodology of fuzzy cognitive maps. The results achieved showed that there were key criteria beyond the criteria directly implied by the concerns, such as stability, scalability, flexibility, and interoperability, and these new criteria acquired the same or greater importance. Full article

Even though the availability of skilled labour and technological know-how is critical to the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the relationships between industry and the vocational education system have received little attention in the recent literature regarding social aspects of innovation. The objective of this paper is to analyse the intensity of relationships between industrial SMEs and vocational education and training (VET) centres from the firms’ perspective. The study is based on a survey carried out with a sample of 1388 Spanish industrial SMEs with vocational education graduates among their employees. Multivariate hierarchical segmentation techniques were used in order to identify the main explanatory variables. As a result, we obtained a typology (“tree”) of eight organizational profiles associated to different intensity levels (from higher to lower) of relationships between firms and schools. The results show that most industrial SMEs maintain relations with vocational education centres, reflecting the importance of the latter for the companies. The organisational type having the highest level of relations refers to SMEs with experience in external cooperation (cooperation with other actors in innovation projects) which have vocational education employees (graduates) in technical areas and which are bigger in size. Likewise, the results suggest that fruitful collaboration between SMEs and vocational education centres depends on the existence of an established culture of innovation among the smaller firms. This work sheds light on economic and social sustainability. Its results and discussion are linked to the objectives of United Nations sustainable development goals and the recent communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament entitled “European skills agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness, and resilience”. Full article

In the last decade we have witnessed a growing amount of interest for developing better ‘exchange’ between universities, research centres and technology parks and companies, governments and other institutions. The biggest aim of those projects is, on the one hand, to make sure that valuable research does not stay hidden in the ivory tower of academia, and, on the other, that there are clear indications for what kinds of solutions are needed in the market. Due to the lack of empirical research in the topic, the focus of this paper is to establish and explain which factors determine the demand for technological services and how they can contribute to the promotion of greater university–business collaboration in R&D and innovation. To achieve that goal, we applied the PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling) method in order to create a theoretical model, which was then verified through the application of the CTA (Confirmatory Tetrad Analysis) with the purpose of evaluating whether the specification of the chosen measurement model based on the theoretical rationale was supported by data. The test run was performed on 96 companies from the Spanish region of Huelva. It showed that only four of the considered factors, namely influence of the environment, market conditions, technology adoption decision and economic characteristics of the company, constituted 65.76% of the variance of the endogenous latent Demand for Technological Services. We believe that thanks to the proposed model and its adaptivity, it is possible to design relevant policies and undertakings aimed at promoting the research-business collaboration at the regional, national and international levels. Full article

Food innovation is crucial for food companies in order to produce healthier, safer, and more convenient foods. However, there is a segment of consumers reluctant to accept new foods. This attitude is even more important when those novelties are developed in products such as wine that have habitually relied on heritage and traditional production as their main competitive advantage. In this study, consumer attitudes toward innovation in the wine industry were evaluated by simultaneously considering product neophobia and process neophobia. Based upon a sample of 400 personal interviews with Spanish wine consumers, the results showed that these two aspects of neophobia were uncorrelated, meaning they are useful to measure different aspects of general food neophobia. Cluster analysis showed that four different segments of consumers exist, with different attitudes toward technological innovation in the wine industry. The consumer segment that shows the most positive attitudes toward wine innovation (product and process innovation) is that with the highest income and highest level of education. Moreover, greater involvement with the product (wine) results in lower product neophobia. Therefore, future studies should consider product involvement and exposure to cultural diversity as essential factors when evaluating food neophobia. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious health, social and economic consequences. In this difficult context, companies are called upon to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to support society and the weakest individuals. This study examines how Spanish companies have supported society and vulnerable individuals through partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In this regard, a multiple case study analysis based on 14 companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange that have created collaborations with different NGOs was conducted. The results show that these partnerships are mainly aimed at providing food, health, social and technological support to society and vulnerable individuals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the support provided by companies to society during the COVID-19 pandemic in the European context. Full article