Search Results (64)

Background/Objectives: Cxbladder^® Triage Plus is a multimodal urinary biomarker assay that combines reverse transcription-quantitative analysis of five mRNA targets and droplet-digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) analysis of six DNA single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) from two genes (fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)) to provide risk stratification for urothelial carcinoma (UC) in patients with hematuria. This study evaluated the analytical validity of Triage Plus. Methods: The development dataset used urine samples from patients with microhematuria or gross hematuria that were previously stabilized with Cxbladder solution. Triage Plus was evaluated for predicted performance, analytical criteria (linearity, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and precision), extraction efficiency, and inter-laboratory reproducibility. Results: The development dataset included 987 hematuria samples. Compared with cystoscopy (standard of care), Triage Plus had a predicted sensitivity of 93.6%, specificity of 90.8%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 46.5%, negative predictive value of 99.4%, and test-negative rate of 84.1% (score threshold 0.15); the PPV increased to 74.6% for the 0.54 score threshold. For the individual FGFR3 and TERT SNVs, the limit of detection (analytical sensitivity) was a mutant-to-wild type DNA ratio of 1:440–1:1250 copies/mL. Intra- and inter-assay variance was low, while extraction efficiency was high. All other pre-specified analytical criteria (linearity, specificity, and accuracy) were met. Triage Plus showed good reproducibility (87.9% concordance between laboratories). Conclusions: Cxbladder Triage Plus accurately and reproducibly detected FGFR3 and TERT SNVs and, in combination with mRNA expression, provides a non-invasive, highly sensitive, and reproducible tool that aids in risk stratification of patients with hematuria. Full article

While accelerating globalization and technological transformation, traditional food products occupy a vulnerable yet strategically important position, straddling the line between cultural preservation and the need to remain economically viable. This study assesses both the sustainability and economic potential of traditional food items specific to Bihor County, Romania, with particular attention to their integration into contemporary value chains. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining structured surveys with 137 local consumers and semi-structured interviews with 20 regional producers. This research focused on consumer awareness, purchasing behavior, and producers’ readiness to engage with digital tools, within the broader framework of human-centered development and the Industry 5.0 paradigm. Findings reveal a modest but consistent link between familiarity and the willingness to pay a premium, although the frequency of consumption appeared to be unaffected. Sustainability emerged as a widely held value, commonly associated with seasonality, natural ingredients, and artisanal methods. On the supply side, producers showed a cautious openness to digital adoption, often tempered by a strong desire to preserve traditional practices. Based on these insights, this study outlines a territorially grounded framework for enhancing the resilience of traditional foods. Policy recommendations include support for user-friendly digital platforms, improved rural infrastructure, and initiatives that reinforce the regional gastronomic identity. Full article

This conceptual paper introduces the Green Lean Operational Excellence (GLOE) framework to address the limitations of conventional lean systems in responding to sustainability and resilience challenges. Rooted in sustainability science and operations management, the model reconceptualizes operational excellence by integrating green imperatives—such as environmental accountability, adaptability, and systemic feedback—into lean methodologies. Rather than focusing solely on cost-efficiency, lean practices have also been recognized for enhancing quality, process stability, and organizational flexibility (e.g., Womack & Jones, 1996), which makes them valuable foundations for sustainability integration. The framework was developed through an interdisciplinary synthesis of the literature on lean operations, green supply chains, and adaptive organizational systems. It proposes a structured flow from strategic preconditions to hybrid mechanisms and sustainability-linked outcomes, supported by continuous refinement loops. Key propositions are offered for empirical testing. GLOE redefines excellence beyond traditional cost-driven paradigms, extending lean theory toward strategic sustainability, and bridging gaps between operational practice and sustainability science. It also provides a roadmap for future research, emphasizing empirical validation, indicator development, and digital integration. The model offers practical guidance for managers to move beyond siloed CSR programs and embed sustainability into the core of operational strategy. Ultimately, GLOE positions operations as active contributors to organizational resilience and long-term value in an era of climate disruption and socio-ecological complexity. Full article

In addressing the complexities of sustainable development, the integration of digital technologies (DTs) with supply chain collaboration offers firms diverse strategic solutions. While prior studies have examined how DT shapes internal decision-making and stakeholder engagement, limited attention has been paid to how DT influences the dynamic collaborative capabilities of distinct supply chain stakeholders in advancing corporate sustainability. Grounded in the dynamic resource-based view (Dynamic RBV), this study conceptualizes sustainable dynamic capabilities (SDCs) as comprising sustainable information capability (SIC) and sustainable relationship capability (SRC)—the abilities to share sustainability-related information and to adapt and leverage external sustainable partnerships, respectively. Using panel data from manufacturing firms listed on China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets between 2010 and 2023, sourced from CSMAR and iFinD databases, this study employs fixed-effects and system GMM models to test the proposed relationships. Results show that DT enhances SIC, which in turn facilitates SRC, ultimately improving corporate sustainability performance (CSP). Moreover, firms at different supply chain positions exhibit distinct sustainability priorities as upstream suppliers focus on resource efficiency, while downstream customers emphasize environmental compliance and product-level sustainability. These upstream and downstream actors influence CSP through two mechanisms—resource-driven “source-push” and demand-driven “value chain-pull”. This study deepens the understanding of stakeholder heterogeneity in sustainable collaboration and offers practical insights for managers to tailor sustainability strategies that reinforce supply chain-wide dynamic capabilities. Full article

Background: In an increasingly digitized supply chain landscape, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face mounting challenges in regard to delivering differentiated and responsive customer experiences. This study investigates the role of Industrial Internet of Things-enabled coopetition networks (IIoT-CNs) in enhancing the customer experience and value cocreation among SMEs. Grounded in Service-Dominant Logic, this research explores how interfirm collaboration and real-time data integration influence key performance indicators (KPIs), including perceived product quality, delivery timeliness, packaging standards, and product performance. Methods: An experimental design involving SMEs in Portugal’s ornamental stone sector contrasts traditional operations with digitally integrated coopetition practices. Results: While individual KPI improvements were not statistically significant, regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between IIoT-CN participation and the overall customer experience. The reduced variance in the performance metrics further suggests increased consistency and reliability across the network. Conclusions: These findings highlight IIoT-CNs as a promising model for SME digital transformation, contingent on trust, interoperability, and collaborative governance. This study contributes empirical evidence and practical insights for advancing customer-centric innovation in SME-dominated supply chains. Full article

Under the context of increasing demand for transparency, efficiency, and trust in food systems, digital traceability is emerging as a key strategy for improving value creation across agri-food supply chains. This study investigates how different governance structures influence the design and effectiveness of digital traceability systems. We develop an analytical framework linking four guiding questions (why, where, how, and who) to traceability performance and apply it to five Italian supply chains (wine, olive oil, cheese, pasta, and dairy) through 28 semi-structured interviews with companies, cooperatives, and technology providers. The results show that governance models shape traceability adoption and function. In captive systems (e.g., wine), traceability ensures compliance but limits flexibility, while in modular or relational systems (e.g., pasta and cheese), it fosters product differentiation and decentralized coordination. Across cases, digital traceability improved certification processes, enhanced consumer communication (e.g., via QR codes), and supported premium positioning. However, upstream–downstream integration remains weak, especially in agricultural stages, due to technical fragmentation and limited interoperability. The diverse experience data from company interviews reveal that only 30% of firms had fully integrated systems, and fixed costs remained largely unaffected, though variable cost reductions and quality improvements were reported in the olive oil and cheese sectors. The study concludes that digital traceability is not only a technical solution but a governance innovation whose success depends on the alignment between technology, actor roles, and institutional arrangements. Future research should explore consumer-side impacts and the role of public policy in fostering inclusive and effective traceability adoption. Full article

This paper explores the role of export-oriented firms in shaping regional economic development, with a focus on their operational footprint, strategic orientation, and interaction with institutional and infrastructural environments. Set within the broader context of regional competitiveness and sustainable growth, the study examines how firms in geographically peripheral and structurally challenged areas position themselves within global markets. Emphasis is placed on understanding the internal and external factors that influence export performance, innovation capacity, and the integration of sustainability principles into business practices. The research adopts a survey-based methodology, collecting data from firms located in a cross-border region to assess their perceptions of trade barriers, infrastructure needs, strategic values, and environmental awareness. The analysis draws on established frameworks in regional development, international business, and sustainability transitions, offering a multidimensional perspective on firm behavior. By linking firm-level insights with regional development policy, the study contributes to ongoing discussions around how enterprises in remote regions can overcome structural constraints and engage more fully with global value chains. It also supports the growing call for place-based, context-sensitive strategies that align economic competitiveness with innovation, digital transformation, and environmental responsibility. This integrated approach offers valuable implications for both policymakers and practitioners concerned with fostering inclusive and resilient regional economies. Full article

Facing growing uncertainty and rapid technological change, traditional supply chain management can no longer meet the complexity and performance needs of manufacturing firms. Consequently, supply chain quality management (SCQM) has gained increasing attention as a key approach. At the same time, supply chain quality integration (SCQI), supply chain strategy (SCS), supply chain capability (SCC), and digital intelligence (DI) are recognized for their potential to enhance coordination, adaptability, and value creation across the supply chain. In this study, we investigate the impact of SCQM on firm performance (FP), focusing on the mediating roles of SCQI, SCS, and SCC and the moderating role of DI. Based on survey data from Chinese manufacturing enterprises, structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed to analyze these relationships. The results reveal that SCQM positively affects FP and significantly enhances SCQI, SCS, and SCC. Furthermore, SCQM influences FP indirectly through SCQI and SCS, underscoring the key mediating roles of the latter. DI is also found to significantly moderate the SCQM–FP relationship, strengthening the dynamic interaction among these variables and offering practical insights for improving FP via DI in SCQM frameworks. In this research study, we build a new theoretical model grounded in the Structure–Conduct–Performance (SCP) paradigm, filling a gap in the existing literature. For the first time, we jointly explore the mediating effects of SCQI and SCS and the moderating role of DI in the SCQM–FP link, providing an innovative contribution that enriches both academic understanding and managerial practice. Full article

Considering the potential impacts of digitalization and greening in manufacturing on industrial chain and supply chain (ICSC) resilience, this paper develops a multidimensional evaluation index system. The system includes immune resistance, adaptive resilience, autonomous control, innovation competitiveness, and development sustainability. Using the entropy weight method, we measure manufacturing ICSC resilience across provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2017 to 2022 and further comprehensively analyze its spatiotemporal evolution and key influencing factors. The findings indicate that though the overall ICSC resilience in the region is relatively high, significant disparities exist between provinces and cities. The average resilience index value of the Yangtze River Delta region remained above 0.4, while that of other provinces was generally below 0.2. The spatial distribution of resilience shifted significantly during the study period, with marked improvements observed in all the regions. The number of high-value areas increased from three to nine, while only two areas had relatively lower values. Furthermore, the financing environment and the degree of digitization exhibited a strong positive correlation with resilience, whereas price fluctuations and excessive government intervention exerted adverse effects. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding policy recommendations to enhance ICSC resilience. Full article

Clarifying the upgrading implications of Internet penetration is essential in the digital transformation era. This paper examines to what extent and how Internet penetration affects Chinese firms’ GVC positions. We find that Internet penetration significantly improves firms’ GVC positions by lowering transaction costs and improving resource allocation efficiency. However, this improvement effect of Internet penetration varies among firms, wherein foreign-owned, private, medium, and large-sized, high-tech-intensive firms tend to benefit more from Internet penetration. This finding will help us improve firms’ value chain position in developing countries by promoting the popularization of the Internet, narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries, and enabling us to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 9 as much as possible. Full article

The integration of Industry 4.0 technologies, Circular Economy (CE) principles, and Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) offers transformative potential to address global sustainability challenges. Industry 4.0, characterized by advanced digital technologies like IoT, Additive Manufacturing (AM), and Big Data Analytics (BDAA), enhances operational efficiency, resource optimization, and waste minimization. Concurrently, CE redefines economic models through resource conservation, lifecycle extension, and reduced environmental impact, supported by frameworks like ReSOLVE. GHRM aligns human resource practices with sustainability objectives, fostering Green behaviors and embedding environmental considerations into organizational culture. Despite the individual benefits of these frameworks, their combined application remains underexplored, with limited research on their systemic integration. This study addresses this gap by examining the synergies between Industry 4.0 technologies, CE principles, and GHRM strategies, identifying opportunities and challenges in their implementation. A theoretical model is proposed, emphasizing systemic innovation, resource efficiency, and collaborative value chains as key enablers of sustainable development. The model highlights the necessity of aligning technological advancements with human-centric approaches to overcome behavioral, organizational, and infrastructural barriers in transitioning toward sustainability. The findings offer practical insights for policymakers and industry leaders, outlining strategies for integrating Industry 4.0 with CE and GHRM to drive sustainability transitions. By synthesizing technological, environmental, and human resource dimensions, this research contributes both theoretically and practically, positioning organizations to enhance sustainability while maintaining competitiveness in evolving economic landscapes. Full article

Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the influences of green supply chain integration, digital transformation of the supply chain, and environmental uncertainty on corporate green innovation. Moreover, relevant policy suggestions are put forward to facilitate the sustainable development of corporate green innovation. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts the literature research method to sort out variables to understand the current situation as the foundation for our study, uses the questionnaire survey method to create a questionnaire to collect data, and analyzes the data with the help of the empirical research method to verify our hypotheses to draw conclusions. Findings: Green supply chain integration positively promotes corporate green innovation and also positively affects supply chain digital transformation, which in turn positively promotes corporate green innovation. Moreover, supply chain digital transformation acts as a mediator, while environmental uncertainty plays a moderating role and affects green supply chain integration and green innovation. Originality/value: This study delves into how green supply chain integration, with green internal integration, green supplier integration, and green customer integration as its independent variables, affects the green innovation of domestic manufacturing enterprises. By doing so, it breaks new ground for empirical research in this area and offers theoretical directions for the green innovation efforts of enterprises. Meanwhile, in the digital era, from the overall supply chain perspective, we break through the limitations of previously studied intermediary variables. We construct a theoretical model by integrating supply chain digital transformation and environmental uncertainty variables and explore the variable influence paths. This can fill the research gaps, lay a solid theoretical groundwork for enhancing enterprise sustainable development, and open a new path for enterprise growth. Full article

In the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) environment, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is a key engine for shaping supply chain resilience (SCR). This study employs the entropy method to develop an evaluation index system for SCR, incorporating two key dimensions: resistance and recovery capacity. Using a sample of Chinese-listed enterprises from 2009 to 2022, this study reveals that AI significantly enhances SCR, and CEOs’ sports experience can positively moderate the association between AI and SCR. Mechanism examination shows that AI promotes SCR through operational efficiency optimization, information, and knowledge spillover in the supply chain. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impact of AI is more significant in firms with a high-skilled labor force, firms with high heterogeneity of the executive team’s human capital, high-tech industries, and regions with strong digital infrastructure. Moreover, the AI application has a diffusion effect on the upstream and downstream enterprises of the supply chain, improving AI adoption levels. Our research not only augments the existing literature on the economic ramifications of AI adoption and the strategic value derived from CEOs’ extramural experience but also offers both theoretical frameworks and empirical insights for executive recruitment and fortifying SCR. Full article

Digital products and services form a digital value chain in the process of value chain circulation and value added. The peer effects arising from mutual learning between regions can also influence the digital value chain. Using multi-regional input–output table data from China for the years 2012, 2015, and 2017, this paper constructs a panel data model to explore the impact of peer effects on the digital value chain. The analysis also delves into the mechanisms and variations in the influence of peer effects across different regions. The results show that peer effects can significantly enhance digital value chain positions (DVCPs) in the region, and the results are robust. The primary pathway through which peer effects influence the DVCPs is the level of attention given to digital economy policy. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of peer effects on the DVCPs varies depending on advanced technology and the industry intensity. Full article

The development of a system to store and share key information about product
lifecycles offers a key opportunity to improve the textile and apparel industry. The
introduction of the digital product passport (DPP) serves as an inclusive tool that enables
industry stakeholders—companies, suppliers, stakeholders, government organizations,
public institutions, and consumers—to more accurately track the journey, characteristics,
components, and environmental impact of products. This study explores the implementation
and potential of the DPP, highlighting its transformative role as a bridge between
technological innovation and sustainability in the textile and apparel sector. By providing
unprecedented transparency and traceability, the DPP disrupts conventional industry
paradigms and facilitates sustainable practices. The findings highlight the DPP’s ability to
consolidate disparate data into a unified system that provides stakeholders with actionable
insights that were previously unavailable. In addition, the study identifies regulatory and
operational gaps and positions the DPP as a pioneering solution to these challenges. This is
significant progress toward operationalizing the principles of the circular economy and
fostering innovation along the entire value chain. In line with the European Commission’s
2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, the DPP complements initiatives such as the Ecodesign
for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and improves product traceability. By providing
stakeholders with reliable, comparable data, it supports informed decision making and
promotes transparency, decarbonization, and sustainability. This analysis underlines the
potential of the DPP to transform the sector into a better informed and environmentally
conscious industry. Full article