Research background: The concept of the university entrepreneurship ecosystem is nowadays a part of the current trends in researching the determinants of support for commercialization of research results. The subject is relatively new, because the first papers in this topic are dated to 2009, and in fact it has only been in the last 3 years that the interest of researchers in this subject has increased. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to analyze the state of research on the issue of the university ecosystem of academic entrepreneurship and to identify the main research trends related to this topic. Methods: The article was based on a systematic review of the literature (SLR), which included the selection of basic literature and selection of publications, mayor researchers, bibliometric analysis and content analysis. Findings & Value added: The results of the conducted research indicate that the study of the university ecosystem of academic entrepreneurship is still a new issue, poorly recognized in literature, without a solid methodological foundation and which may constitute a current and interesting research area. Our paper adds to existing research in four important ways. We provide a holistic review of university entrepreneurial ecosystem. We also identify the challenges identified in this area and suggest how they may be developed. Third, our results are also policy-relevant. For policy-makers, it is important to know whether academic engagement is driven by mechanisms existing in academic ecosystem or affected by factors that may not be activated by it.

Lean Manufacturing (LM) practices have gained popularity as a means to achieve high-quality products while reducing costs and delivery times. However, the implementation of LM can be challenging, with a high failure rate. This paper aims to explore the perspectives of employees and managers on LM practices implemented in an automotive company. The research involved primary and secondary data analysis, combining observation, interviews, and a questionnaire survey. The survey assessed knowledge and skills, impact on quality improvement, motivation, supervisor support, control, and engagement in LM development. The results highlight the importance of management commitment and support in achieving successful LM implementation. Moreover, the study emphasises the positive impact of LM practices on employee motivation and the overall quality of processes and products. The PDCA cycle emerged as the most impactful tool, along with other recognised tools like Poka Yoke, Andon, Kaizen, Visual Management, and the 5S method. The findings contribute to understanding the implementation and effects of LM practices, providing insights for companies seeking improvement through Lean Manufacturing methodologies.

Los sistemas de fabricación holónicos constituyen un nuevo paradigma de producción. Incluidos dentro de las metodologías distribuidas, proponen nuevos esquemas de gestión de la fabricación que combinan auto-organización, jerarquías dinámicas y relaciones horizontales. Este enfoque es más cercano a la naturaleza de los sistemas de fabricación que las aproximaciones clásicas, centralizadas o estrictamente jerárquicas y permiten modelar los sistemas productivos de forma más realista, facilitando la implementación de sistemas más flexibles, escalables y robustos. En este artículo proponemos un sistema de programación y control para sistemas de fabricación flexibles desarrollado según el paradigma holónico. El sistema se basa en una nueva arquitectura que integra dos niveles de decisión: uno de programación basado en subastas, donde cada holón realiza su propio programa local; y otro de lanzamiento y control, a través del cual se coordinan las actividades de los holones. A diferencia de otros trabajos, donde los programas locales son integrados en un programa global que centraliza el sistema, en el sistema propuesto no ocurre así. Es el mecanismo de lanzamiento y control el que integra los programas locales. Además, el prototipo desarrollado puede funcionar con diferentes grados de descentralización, lo que permite valorar las ventajas que proporciona nuestra aproximación mediante simulaciónJunta de Castilla y León, Proyecto VA056A12-

Companies are increasingly implementing sustainable solutions as they face a growing sustainability demands from different stakeholders. The question is whether car manufacturers adhered to sustainable production principles and at what level they are doing it in practice. The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (LCSP) is used as a model to analyse the main aspects of sustainable production and assess the companies in the automotive sector in European Union. The data was collected from the Corporate Social Responsibility/ Sustainability reports of the individual car manufacturers found in the online data base of Global Reporting Initiative. Empirical evidence shows the adherence of these companies to the LCSP sustainable production principles. All the studied companies seem to be conscious of the significance of sustainability for the automotive industry. Although most of the sustainable production practices are focused on the environmental dimension of sustainability, employee and social aspects are not ignored in the reports.

A socially responsible company should take responsibility for its impact but also take care of the impact throughout its supply chain. Its perspective must be wider than only its own practices. Supplier development process can be used to spread socially and environmentally responsible practices across the supply chain. The aim of the paper is to identify and classify the socially responsible activities practised by the car producers and dedicated to their suppliers. In the paper sustainability reports of seven automakers were analysed. The authors used the technique of content analysis. The socially responsible practices dedicated to suppliers was classified into three dimensions and four categories. All of the automakers disclose information in their sustainability reports on socially responsible practices focused on their suppliers. However, the practices differ in terms of dimension and the area of CSR applied.

Much research has already been dedicated to the impact of the supply chain, but less attention has been paid to the potential of supplier development (SD) processes in strengthening enterprises’ sustainability performance. This study aimed to indicate how the approach to socially responsible supplier development has changed over the years (2010–2019) in the automotive sector considering the types of practices and the applied areas of social responsibility. The study was based on original and empirical content analysis research of sustainability reports of car producers. To identify changes in the approach to socially responsible supplier development (SRSD) practices, 17 criteria were identified within direct as well as indirect types of supplier development practices. Considering areas of social responsibility, we applied the core subjects of social responsibility based on the ISO 26000 standard. The findings revealed that during the analyzed period, there has been a recursive use of both direct and indirect SD practices by the car producers but to varying degrees. The environmental protection, human rights, labor practices, fair operating practices, and organizational governance issues were the major concerns. When comparing 2010 and 2019, a clear increase was observed within all identified SRSD initiatives. The study outputs and examples of SRSD practices of car producers can act as a role model for automotive suppliers as well as other industries regarding how to incorporate sustainability into supplier development processes.