In view of the increasing importance attributed to social responsibility and stakeholder relationship management, more universities have expanded their research topics and their educational programs through the years. High attention is dedicated to the dominant principles and values of internal and external relations, to the innovation processes designed to ensure an approach to sustainable development. However, less attention is dedicated to the sustainability governance orientation and to the development of a strong institutional culture of sustainability, which is a key success factor to improve the quality and the image. This article observes the sustainability governance orientation, through the analysis of the information on the websites of three fair groups of universities in the international Top 500-ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) 2015 ranking. The aim is to verify if there is a link between the degree of sustainability culture in the management and the positioning of the universities in the international ranking. In addition, the analysis is compared with self-assessment data carried out by the same universities in terms of performance sustainability through the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) online platform. As principal consideration, we have noted that the best universities in the ranking have a management approach based on a shared vision of sustainability development of their university leaders, who play an essential role affirming and disseminating a sustainability culture. All this opens broader future implications intended to highlight the importance of management sustainability as a quality improvement factor of universities.

An international context of increasing attention to the quality of educational systems in school establishments is becoming more important to develop a governance that is compatible with the principles of sound and prudent management, inspired by effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainable development, in the long run. The article initially investigates the evolution of national evaluation system of schools as an important tool for management and for school quality improvement. The analysis is carried out on the 43 education systems belonging to the Eurydice Network in the period July–September 2018. Mainly, we have noticed a wide diffusion of evaluation and self-evaluation mechanisms and therefore the development of a school management culture to improve the quality of the system and students’ performance. Subsequently, we aim to verify whether it is possible to identify a linear relationship between the assessment indicator expressed by the international statistical surveys on student performance and the overall quality of the school system. In this regard, the research data on the evolution of the national evaluation system and the statistical data of the OECD-PISA surveys are cross-referenced. Briefly, results on student performance show that the assessment of the quality improvement of the school system cannot be based exclusively on pupils’ performance. However, there is a generalized evolution in the adoption of national evaluation systems, confirming that the managerial culture in European schools is growing. As a further future study, the research will observe the above reflections taking into account the evolution of student performance results for the three-year period of 2015–2018 (OECD-PISA 2018 will be published in December 2019), considering a substantial evolution of national evaluation systems in schools during this three-years period.

Governments and international organizations are focusing on resource consumption, both on the way resources are produced or extracted, and on the disposal of waste produced at the end of product lifecycle. At the same time, companies are called upon to rethink their business strategies and to adapt their management models, which need to be inspired by sustainable development. In this sense, a systemic and integrated vision of the economic, social and environmental dimensions is essential to guarantee an effective corporate governance sustainability strategy. Furthermore, the change of business model towards the Circular Economy implies new challenges as managing the strategic risk in an integrated way. The aim of this article is to provide theoretical considerations about the transition from linear to circular economic model, in relation to the profound change of the company’s core values and strategic risk.

Limited resources, recent reforms of educational system that impose rapid changes in the governance system, high demand for managerial skill and operational autonomy, impose the capability to optimize performance, transparency of behaviour, dialogue with stakeholder to grow results in the school system. It therefore draws attention to the importance of activate long-term positive relations between schools, students, families, governmental authority and other structures of public Administration to improve quality and performance in school management. So is critical an effectiveness accountability system as starting point to develop the quality of relations between the schools and their stakeholders. In this regard, this article proposes the Network Governance as lever to improve an effectiveness stakeholder engagement and to optimize performance in the School System. This study represents a dissertation that aims to raise awareness about the cycle of performance management in schools and for the optimization of the use of public resources.

The increasing attention placed by corporations on sustainable development due to the growing importance attributed to this issue by institutions at an international level, leads to a reconsideration of the concept of the global responsibility of companies as a pre-requisite for effective multi-stakeholder relationships. All levels of responsibility are taken into consideration within this broad spectrum: legal, social, economic and environmental, leading to a more integrated approach to management of reputation risk. This study is a theoretical reflection on the relationship between the interests of stakeholders, the extent of corporate responsibility and management of reputation risk.

The EU strategy of intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth and the spending review ask for effective and transparent models of performance improvement of the public institutions. The importance of good governance is particularly evident against fundamental and inalienable individual rights like instruction and training. Recent reforms of Italian educational system impose rapid changes in the school governance system, high demand for managerial skill and operational autonomy, the capability to optimize performance, dialogue with stakeholders, and transparency of behaviour. The Italian school is called to face a profound change to improve its performance and to build an effective network with its stakeholders.