Triple bottom line (3BL) approaches to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) often involve trade-offs between their three dimensions (economic, environmental, and social), thus curtailing its application and leading to goal unalignment among stakeholders. Under some circumstances, however, synergic approaches (typically involving disruptive innovations) might allow simultaneous improvement in one or more dimensions without compromising the others. This paper analyzes one such case: the potential of properly designed additive manufacturing approaches in the automotive spare parts industry to simultaneously boost profits and reduce environmental impact. It is based on the systematic analysis of the real spare parts business of a mid-size automotive brand in Spain. Its results suggest that such synergic, self-reinforcing opportunities do indeed exist, and might even be further developed by strategically integrating sustainability constituents such as circularity.

This study analyzes supply chain sustainability governance mechanisms, and their characterization, typology, adoption and relationship with the overall level of sustainability in the supply chain, and with the adopting firm’s competitive strategy. It is a case-based study conducted in the Spanish retail sector. A representative set of mechanisms is identified, and both their theoretical background and their degree of practical adoption is established. These mechanisms are then characterized in terms of several traits regarding either the mechanisms themselves or the way they are adopted both by the focal company (internal view) and by its suppliers (external view) in each of the cases. Results suggest that mechanisms might be classified into either ‘enablers’, which increasingly constitute a prerequisite for achieving acceptable levels of sustainability, and ‘differentiators’, which can potentially confer sustainable strategic advantages. Actually, achieving these advantages, however, seems contingent on the additional attainment of a comprehensive ‘depth’ in the implementation of an integrated set of mechanisms of both types, both internally within the focal company and throughout the whole supply chain, as measured by the traits proposed in the study. Furthermore, the concept of ‘circular improvement models’ for sustainable supply chains, akin to Total Quality Management models, is proposed by the authors. The resulting model encompassing enabling and differentiating governance mechanisms could guide the self-evaluation and improvement plans of companies aiming to improve their supply chains sustainability; further guidance on ‘deep adoption’ comprehensive strategies and on the potential for self-reinforcing continuous improvement in sustainability beyond a certain threshold are provided by the study’s conclusions.

In today’s volatile business arena, companies need to be resilient to deal with the unexpected. One of the main pillars of enterprise resilience is the capacity to anticipate, prevent and prepare in advance for disruptions. From this perspective, the paper proposes a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for optimising preparedness capacity. Based on the proposed reference framework for enterprise resilience enhancement, the MILP optimises the activation of preventive actions to reduce proneness to disruption. To do so, the objective function minimizes the sum of the annual expected cost of disruptive events after implementing preventive actions and the annual cost of such actions. Moreover, the algorithm includes a constraint capping the investment in preventive actions and an attenuation formula to deal with the joint savings produced by the activation of two or more preventive actions on the same disruptive event. The management and business rationale for proposing the MILP approach is to keep it as simple and comprehensible as possible so that it does not require highly mathematically skilled personnel, thus allowing top managers at enterprises of any size to apply it effortlessly. Finally, a real pilot case study was performed to validate the mathematical formulation.

This article analyzes the influence and foreseeable evolution of three main leadership styles in sustainable development for social reconstruction in two leading companies, the European Airbus and the Indian Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) (Hyderabad, India). Inductive research was employed, using two cross-national case studies and a comparative analysis applying statistical testing. Data were collected through interviews and a survey among principal company leaders with several functions. The study focused on three styles: transactional, transformational, and servant leadership. The strength of this paper is that it sheds light on an understudied industry by providing findings on both the present (as-is) state and the advisable reorientation (i.e., future state suggested by respondents). This could contribute to filling the current gap in understanding the influence of leadership styles on the aerospace and defense industries’ economic, social, and environmental outcomes. By analyzing the results obtained in both companies, we concluded that even though all three styles are present in both companies, servant and transformational leadership provide better results for sustainable development for social reconstruction. Regarding the advisable reorientation, according to the respondent’s suggestions, the style best suited to influence sustainable development for social reconstruction in the long term in both companies is the servant style. As for the transitional phase, respondents suggest a hybrid leadership model, encompassing features of both the transformational and the servant styles.

Este artículo expone el uso de un videojuego de simulación empresarial como metodología activa de aprendizaje en alumnos de asignaturas del área de conocimiento de Ingeniería de Organización. Tras un proceso previo de análisis y valoración, se decide la aplicación de un videojuego de simulación empresarial para su aplicación en una asignatura cuyos conceptos son complejos. Se pretende que el uso del videojuego ayude a los alumnos a comprender mejor dichos conceptos además de mejorar la motivación. Entre todos los videojuegos analizados, se utiliza Virtonomics, que proporciona una serie de ventajas sobre el resto. Tras la implementación y evaluación de los resultados, se puede concluir que el uso de dicho videojuego cumple con los objetivos propuestos además de mejorar el espíritu emprendedor de los alumnos.Palabras clave: Gamificación; Innovación docente; Educación superior; Enseñanza activa.