Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of economic growth and development. Innovation through digital transformation has the capacity to enable sustainability, competitiveness and customisation in products and services. However, adoption of digital technologies by SMEs to underpin sustainability outcomes is poorly understood. A systematic literature review identified an initial dataset of 1300 articles, which after screening and application of exclusion criteria resulted in a dataset of 64 articles for synthesis. Analysis was carried out according to three main areas, namely the technology aspects of digital transformation, sustainable development according to the triple bottom line (i.e. economic, environmental and social aspects), and the business characteristics of SMEs. In the latter case, business strategy and management, organizational structure, organizational culture, skills and qualifications, and leadership factors are identified from the literature. Furthermore, literature expressing the triple bottom line dimensions and the type of Industry 4.0 technology areas adopted are synthesized. Correlation of the data through bibliographic analysis is provided on the type of technology enabling SMEs towards a pathway for sustainable development as well as synthesis of future research directions arising from the study.

In today's digital age, many managers need to find new ways to manage collaborations where complementary partners co-create digital solutions. Collaborations with partners are at the center of digital projects, but managing these collaborations is challenging. This article objective is to investigate how research and development collaborations with scientific and business partners contribute to digital transformation. This has been achieved through an empirical investigation of three Brazilian manufacturers that are already on their journey toward digitalization. The research design involves multiple case studies and qualitative analysis, through data collection by interviews and questionnaires with participants from the tactical and strategic level followed by content analysis as well as nonparticipant observations. The findings indicate that the companies are at the early stage of building a digital ecosystem. However, they have already secured benefits from pursuing open innovation practices in the form of competitive advantage in operational processes. The results indicate that business success depends more on how (disruptive) technologies are developed and used by engaged people to add value to the enterprise, rather than simply adopting new technologies by themselves. Manufacturers need to act now to reshape their mindset, operational processes, and business models, respectively, enabling the understanding that: 1) organizational ecosystems are becoming more open and collaborative; 2) the value of data capture and analysis can be developed and used for data-driven learning, preventive and predictive capabilities, supporting decision-making; 3) customers' preferences need to be internalized to deliver customized experiences.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of university-industry research collaboration through the development of a new process model. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was carried out on collaborative partnering and supporting factors namely social capital and the role of knowledge. Empirical research involved a series of 32 structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, with subsequent grouping and conceptualisation allowing common themes to be identified and a new process model to be proposed. Findings – The study finds that there is a lack of integrative frameworks for the management of research collaborations. Through building on the suggested best practice described in the paper, application of the model to the management of an engineering research programme has allowed the benefits of this approach as well as some of the underlying issues to be explored in detail. Research limitations/implications – The research focused on university-industry research collaborations and although it may be applicable to other forms of collaborations, e.g. industry-to-industry, there could be features that are particular to the area under investigation. Practical implications – A model has been proposed, which is a logical methodology that can be utilised by practitioners from both academia and industry in order to improve the process of research collaboration and facilitate more effective transfer of knowledge. Originality/value – The model builds on previous literature on alliance and collaboration management but crucially is based on an innovative new process-based methodology, which provides practitioners with a “route map” of how to develop and manage research collaborations. The model uses a holistic approach to collaboration through capturing process, knowledge and social elements.

With the advent of the digital age and Industry 4.0, the communication skills of engineering students has been exerting gradually increasing influence on the need for enhanced student employability. To address this issue, this study evaluates the influence of communication skills on the employability of engineering students from the aspects of verbal and non-verbal skills through the four key elements of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) theory. A total of 130 college engineering students and practitioners participated in the questionnaire survey, and the hypotheses were tested by regression analysis and a structural equation model (SEM). The results show that in the digital age, the verbal (p < 0.01) and non-verbal (p < 0.001) components of students’ communication skills play a significant role in the employability of engineering students. Meanwhile, the employer’s assessment simultaneously makes a significant contribution to the further improvement of students’ communication skills, which can help educators further cultivate and improve students’ communication skills through the assessment of their employability by employers. Therefore, this research has theoretical and practical significance, which not only enriches the basic theoretical knowledge, but also broadens the training methods of engineering students in the digital age, thus enhancing their employability.