This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Dr. Alessandra Neri
Politecnico di Milano - Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering

Basic Info


Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Industrial Sector
0 Sustainability
0 circular economy
0 industrial sustainability
0 Occupational safety & health

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

Alessandra Neri is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. She teaches “Mechanical Plants” (BSc), “Energy Management Lab” (MSc) and “Sustainability of Industrial Systems” (PhD) at the School of Industrial and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. In 2019, she received her Ph.D. with honors at Politecnico di Milano with a thesis entitled “Enhancing sustainability in the industrial sector”. Her research interests are related to industrial circular economy, industrial sustainability, and occupational safety and health, with a specific focus on SMEs. She serves as regular referee for several international peer-reviewed journals.

Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 28 August 2021 in Sustainable Production and Consumption
Reads 0
Downloads 0

As industrial sustainability measures and interventions play a central role in enhancing the sustainability performance in industrial firms, it is of great importance to properly understand the factors that might influence the decision-making process leading to their adoption, namely barriers and drivers. However, there is scarce empirical literature discussing barriers and drivers to industrial sustainability as well as the effect of contextual factors or of the firm's approach towards sustainability issues. For this reason, we conducted an exploratory investigation in 26 small and medium enterprises operating in the chemical and metalworking manufacturing sectors across Germany and Italy. Our preliminary findings show that the sampled firms are mainly hindered by economic barriers and fostered by external drivers. The investigation highlighted the influence of the contextual factors sector, country, and size on the perception of barriers and drivers. Moreover, the presence of a dedicated manager for sustainability, the number of certifications held by a firm, and a holistic definition of sustainability, seem to affect the barriers and drivers perceived by the sampled industrial decision-makers. The paper concludes by offering insights to both theoretical and practical discussion over the adoption of industrial sustainability measures, while also providing additional knowledge to practitioners and policy makers on critical areas for the improvement of industrial sustainability.

ACS Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Andrea Trianni. Barriers and Drivers for the Adoption of Industrial Sustainability Measure in European SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Chemical and Metalworking sectors. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Alessandra Neri, Enrico Cagno, Andrea Trianni. Barriers and Drivers for the Adoption of Industrial Sustainability Measure in European SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Chemical and Metalworking sectors. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Andrea Trianni. 2021. "Barriers and Drivers for the Adoption of Industrial Sustainability Measure in European SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Chemical and Metalworking sectors." Sustainable Production and Consumption , no. : 1.

Review
Published: 12 August 2021 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The circular economy is a central and increasingly important topic within managerial and academic discourse. Although the circular economy could bring benefits to their performance, manufacturing firms still struggle with its adoption. As an effective adoption should pass for adequate performance measurement, the present study performs a systematic literature review to deepen the knowledge of circular economy performance-measurement systems for manufacturing firms, both from a general perspective and to provide specific insights for small–medium enterprises and new adopters. The results show the lack of an integrated, holistic, and scalable framework for measuring circular economy performance, and only a few and dispersed specific indications for small–medium enterprises and new adopters. Shortcomings of the extant literature are identified in terms of integration of the circular economy’s level, theoretical development and empirical application, characteristics of the indicators proposed, considerations of sustainability, holistic perspectives on industrial systems, and scalability to adapt to firms’ different characteristics. The study paves the way for further research while offering theoretical and practical implications.

ACS Style

Marta Negri; Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Gabriele Monfardini. Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9049 .

AMA Style

Marta Negri, Alessandra Neri, Enrico Cagno, Gabriele Monfardini. Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (16):9049.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marta Negri; Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Gabriele Monfardini. 2021. "Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters." Sustainability 13, no. 16: 9049.

Review
Published: 07 April 2021 in Applied Sciences
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The enabling role of Digital Technologies towards the Circular Economy transition has been recognized. Nonetheless, to support the transition, the operationalization of the discourse is still needed. The present study performs a systematic literature review, deepening the knowledge on the role of Digital Technologies in operationalizing the Circular Economy transition. The analysis is shaped according to the ReSOLVE framework, as it has been recognized as able to operationally guide industrial firms towards the Circular Economy transition. Despite the broad focus on the topic by the extant literature, the results of the analysis show limited Circular Economy aspects addressed and specific technologies considered, making it difficult to have a complete overview on the implementation of Digital Technologies in the Circular Economy transition, operatively addressing it. Shortcomings are identified regarding the lack of an integrated and holistic analysis of the relationships, the need for investigating the decision-making process and specific Circular Economy practices, all from an empirical perspective. The paper eventually suggests streams for further research while offering theoretical and practical implications.

ACS Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Marta Negri; Carlo Bassani; Tommaso Lampertico. The Role of Digital Technologies in Operationalizing the Circular Economy Transition: A Systematic Literature Review. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 3328 .

AMA Style

Enrico Cagno, Alessandra Neri, Marta Negri, Carlo Bassani, Tommaso Lampertico. The Role of Digital Technologies in Operationalizing the Circular Economy Transition: A Systematic Literature Review. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11 (8):3328.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Marta Negri; Carlo Bassani; Tommaso Lampertico. 2021. "The Role of Digital Technologies in Operationalizing the Circular Economy Transition: A Systematic Literature Review." Applied Sciences 11, no. 8: 3328.

Journal article
Published: 16 December 2020 in Sustainable Production and Consumption
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The measurement of sustainability within industrial supply chains is becoming increasingly relevant, with both industry and academia calling for the development of a general and manageable set of key performance indicators (KPIs). With more than 2,000 performance measures already identified by the previous literature, the real challenge lays in the development of the right set of indicators. Stemming from a thorough literature review, we propose a novel set of KPIs, based on a Balance Score Card - Supply Chain Operations Reference integrated framework. Whilst including a limited number of KPIs, the proposed set: i) assures a balanced coverage of the sustainability pillars and related intersections; ii) addresses different decision-making levels, financial bases and components of performance; iii) simultaneously tackles the sustainability performance of an entire supply chain. We empirically validated the set in 3 supply chains and 7 focal firms, by assessing its completeness, usefulness and ease of use. The set resulted suitable for different contexts of application and appropriate for the evaluation of the sustainability performance of an overall supply chain. We conclude with remarks for academia, industry and policy-makers, also sketching directions for further research.

ACS Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Marco Lepri; Andrea Trianni. A triple bottom line balanced set of key performance indicators to measure the sustainability performance of industrial supply chains. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2020, 26, 648 -691.

AMA Style

Alessandra Neri, Enrico Cagno, Marco Lepri, Andrea Trianni. A triple bottom line balanced set of key performance indicators to measure the sustainability performance of industrial supply chains. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2020; 26 ():648-691.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Marco Lepri; Andrea Trianni. 2020. "A triple bottom line balanced set of key performance indicators to measure the sustainability performance of industrial supply chains." Sustainable Production and Consumption 26, no. : 648-691.

Journal article
Published: 18 May 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Improved sustainability of industrial activities and measurement of its performance are becoming prime topics of discussion among policy-makers and industrial decision-makers. The current literature proposes a number of performance measurement systems and related indicators, but mainly lack a real capability to address all sustainability pillars and their intersections, as well as scalability to firms of different sizes, availability of internal resources, and maturity over sustainability issues, suggesting that further research is needed in this area. Building on the literature, our work develops a new framework for the evaluation of industrial sustainability performance, proposing three different Industrial Sustainability Performance Measurement Systems (ISPMSs), with a decreasing number of indicators suitable in different contexts of application. In the framework, selection mechanisms have been conceived and used to reduce the number of indicators considered, while still guaranteeing complete and adequate coverage of all sustainability pillars, as well as their intersections. The framework has been tested through semi-structured case studies in heterogeneous Northern Italian manufacturing firms. The preliminary results are sound as the different ISPMSs proved to be complete, useful, and easy to use. The proposed ISPMSs provide industrial decision-makers with a scalable framework applicable in different contexts, allowing benchmarking and development of specific implementation strategies for increased sustainability, and provide policy-makers with a framework to develop a more effective regulatory policy, better understanding how sustainability performance can be addressed in an integrated manner across industrial firms.

ACS Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Mickey Howard; Gianluca Brenna; Andrea Trianni. Industrial sustainability performance measurement systems: A novel framework. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 230, 1354 -1375.

AMA Style

Enrico Cagno, Alessandra Neri, Mickey Howard, Gianluca Brenna, Andrea Trianni. Industrial sustainability performance measurement systems: A novel framework. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 230 ():1354-1375.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Mickey Howard; Gianluca Brenna; Andrea Trianni. 2019. "Industrial sustainability performance measurement systems: A novel framework." Journal of Cleaner Production 230, no. : 1354-1375.

Journal article
Published: 09 May 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Measuring industrial sustainability performance in manufacturing firms is still a major challenge for both policy and industrial decision makers, with many firms, particularly small and medium enterprises, struggling to properly engage with them. Hence, to understand the level of adoption of industrial sustainability indicators and the issues preventing their effective measurement, and stimulate further research in this area, a multiple case analysis of 26 small and medium manufacturing enterprises across Germany and Italy operating in the chemical and metalworking sectors was conducted. The findings show that only 18 indicators are in place on average. Furthermore, too many firms still focus almost exclusively on the economic pillar of sustainability, while social and environmental pillars are addressed almost exclusively for compliance with legislation. Moreover, the research suggests that contextual factors may influence the firms’ perspective on sustainability and the way it is managed, as well as the certifications held by firms, influencing, in turn, the number and types of indicators considered. An exploratory investigation allowed identification of several important open issues, leading to future research avenues, and in particular towards the development of a novel model to gauge sustainability in industrial activities, as well as adoption of policy-making measures for further emphasis on environmental and social pillars when promoting the adoption of sustainability indicators.

ACS Style

Andrea Trianni; Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Mickey Howard. Measuring industrial sustainability performance: Empirical evidence from Italian and German manufacturing small and medium enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 229, 1355 -1376.

AMA Style

Andrea Trianni, Enrico Cagno, Alessandra Neri, Mickey Howard. Measuring industrial sustainability performance: Empirical evidence from Italian and German manufacturing small and medium enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 229 ():1355-1376.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Trianni; Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Mickey Howard. 2019. "Measuring industrial sustainability performance: Empirical evidence from Italian and German manufacturing small and medium enterprises." Journal of Cleaner Production 229, no. : 1355-1376.

Journal article
Published: 01 September 2018 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Giulio Di Sebastiano; Andrea Trianni. Industrial sustainability: Modelling drivers and mechanisms with barriers. Journal of Cleaner Production 2018, 194, 452 -472.

AMA Style

Alessandra Neri, Enrico Cagno, Giulio Di Sebastiano, Andrea Trianni. Industrial sustainability: Modelling drivers and mechanisms with barriers. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2018; 194 ():452-472.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandra Neri; Enrico Cagno; Giulio Di Sebastiano; Andrea Trianni. 2018. "Industrial sustainability: Modelling drivers and mechanisms with barriers." Journal of Cleaner Production 194, no. : 452-472.

Original article
Published: 03 February 2018 in Energy Efficiency
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The industry should take further efforts towards increased energy efficiency, that is a major contributor to improve industrial sustainability performance, by implementing energy efficiency measures (EEMs). However, the rate of adoption of these measures is still quite low. Hitherto, EEMs and barriers to their adoption have been evaluated almost exclusively from the viewpoint of energy efficiency decision-makers, not accounting for the broader sustainability perspective. This work aims at understanding whether an industrial sustainability perspective can better address issues related to EEMs adoption, analyzing the question through different viewpoints and insights offered by industrial decision-makers of different industrial sustainability areas within a firm. By doing this, we aim at offering a contribution in the understanding of the low rate of adoption of EEMs. As case studies, we investigated 12 firms from Northern Italy. In comparison to previous literature, results show that an industrial sustainability perspective can better explain the real decision-making process of adopting an EEM. Indeed, people knowledgeable about different industrial sustainability areas may perceive different barriers about the same EEM. EEMs may be negatively affected by reasons related to other areas of industrial sustainability, while positive reciprocal impacts may exist among areas of industrial sustainability; thus, EEMs may have effects on areas other than energy efficiency, and these effects may be perceived only by such areas. The study concludes with some remarks for policy and industrial decision-makers and advice for further research.

ACS Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Andrea Trianni. Broadening to sustainability the perspective of industrial decision-makers on the energy efficiency measures adoption: some empirical evidence. Energy Efficiency 2018, 11, 1193 -1210.

AMA Style

Enrico Cagno, Alessandra Neri, Andrea Trianni. Broadening to sustainability the perspective of industrial decision-makers on the energy efficiency measures adoption: some empirical evidence. Energy Efficiency. 2018; 11 (5):1193-1210.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri; Andrea Trianni. 2018. "Broadening to sustainability the perspective of industrial decision-makers on the energy efficiency measures adoption: some empirical evidence." Energy Efficiency 11, no. 5: 1193-1210.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2017 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Sustainability is constantly gaining relevance among industrial decision makers, policy makers and scholars. In order to be sustainable, firms need to implement industrial sustainability measures, however there are many barriers to doing this. This work is based on a review of literature on barriers to the areas of occupational health and safety, eco efficiency, energy efficiency and to sustainability, and contributes to industrial sustainability research by presenting a novel, integrated theoretical model of barriers to the implementation of sustainability measures. The model encompasses previous literature review contributions and is intended to characterize and evaluate barriers to the adoption of industrial sustainability measures in all its areas. We have conducted a preliminary validation of the model investigating eight northern Italian manufacturing firms, looking at its ability to represent barriers to sustainability, usefulness and ease of use. We conducted semi-structured interviews to people responsible of the different areas of industrial sustainability, complemented by questionnaires and secondary materials. Results show a positive overall judgment of the model by all the interviewees. Moreover, the model was able to be applied to issues deriving from different perspectives and different areas of industrial sustainability. The findings can help firms and policy makers overcome barriers and they also provide insight into the different perspectives on the adoption of industrial sustainability measures than can be used to promote their adoption

ACS Style

Andrea Trianni; Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri. Modelling barriers to the adoption of industrial sustainability measures. Journal of Cleaner Production 2017, 168, 1482 -1504.

AMA Style

Andrea Trianni, Enrico Cagno, Alessandra Neri. Modelling barriers to the adoption of industrial sustainability measures. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2017; 168 ():1482-1504.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Trianni; Enrico Cagno; Alessandra Neri. 2017. "Modelling barriers to the adoption of industrial sustainability measures." Journal of Cleaner Production 168, no. : 1482-1504.