Nowadays, the buzzwords for organizations to be prepared for the competitive environment’s challenges are sustainability, digitalization, resilience and agility. However, despite the fact that these concepts have come into common use at the level of both scholars and practitioners, the nature of the relation between sustainability and resilience has not yet been sufficiently clarified. Above all, there is still no evidence of what factors determine greater resilience to change in an organization that also wants to be more sustainable, especially in times of crisis and discontinuity. This research aims to explore from a theoretical point of view, through the construction of a conceptual model, how these dimensions interact to help the business to become strategically resilient by leveraging digitization and agility as enablers. A new view of resilience arises from the study, which goes beyond the well-known ability to absorb or adapt to adversity, to also include a strategic attribute that could help companies capture change-related opportunities to design new ways of doing business under stress. A key set of strategically agile processes, enabled by digitalization, creates strategic resilience that also includes a proactive, opportunity-focused attitude in the face of change. Strategic resilience to lead to organizational sustainability must be understood as a multi-domain concept quite similar to the holistic view of sustainability: environment, economy and society. Finally, the research offers a set of propositions and a theoretical framework that can be empirically validated.

Sustainability’s growth, year after year, continues to be staggering, becoming a reference point for those working on these issues

Disruption in many supply chains has shown the vulnerability of global supply networks, especially resource-intensive ones, due to the simultaneous effects of pandemics and geopolitical crises. Reshoring and nearshoring strategies are the possible responses of manufacturing companies to disruptions in order to adapt to unforeseen events. The supply chain for the Italian ceramic sector, which is characterized by a high intensity of natural and energy resource consumption and a sourcing system with a high geopolitical risk, is examined in this study. The functional decomposition technique was used to analyze the supply chain; then, three scenarios were developed as potential remedies for the unexpected termination of Ukrainian plastic clay supply. The study also showed that complex issues require multifaceted analysis approaches, which is why a transdisciplinary approach was chosen. In addition, the analysis of the ceramic industry showed that nearshoring and reshoring strategies can reduce supply risk and have a positive impact on the environment. The study also showed how bringing extraction sources closer to factories significantly reduces CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere from transportation. The main contribution of this paper is the analysis of the complexity of supply chains in times of disruption, configuring reshoring and nearshoring options through transdisciplinarity.

This seminal study explores systemic sustainability within the Industry 5.0 paradigm, using the strategic lens of geoanthropology to shape the emerging concept of Industry 6.0. A transdisciplinary approach is adopted, integrating geoanthropological insights into the analysis of the Italian ceramic district. Seven key factors are considered: resource consumption, production dynamics, innovation, environmental impact, social impact, market dynamics, and economic impact. Historical events such as changes in Italian industrial policy, market slowdowns, and the COVID-19 pandemic are identified as significant for the sector. A contingent analysis tailored to the unique characteristics of the ceramic district provides an in-depth understanding of its challenges and opportunities. The incorporation of geoanthropology provides a transdisciplinary perspective that allows for an in-depth examination of the complex interactions between people and their environment in an industrial setting. The study highlights the central role of innovation, digitalization, and government policies in driving positive changes in production efficiency, market dynamics, and economic impact. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including the delicate balance between environmental sustainability and resource consumption, as well as the effective management of the social impacts of digitization. To address these challenges, a systemic sustainability index derived from geoanthropological insights is proposed as a pragmatic tool to measure and guide the development of sustainability initiatives in the ceramic district. The results of this study not only pave the way for new horizons in sustainability assessment but also provide valuable insights for industrial district managers to formulate strategies that foster organizational flexibility and resilience.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present alternative management practice methods for the cultural heritage sector apart from the traditional public support model. These alternatives rely on sponsorship and patronage as well as the newer and more innovative public-private partnership (PPP).Design/methodology/approach: The paper is organized in two conceptual sections based on a literature review. The first section presents and compares two closely associated business strategy forms that are increasingly becoming popular within companies: sponsorship and patronage. These strategies are analyzed to show their advantages and disadvantages and are assessed based on their best uses in terms of the benefits from their implementation to all stakeholders involved (benefactors, recipients and the public) and, more particularly, to the benefactor’s company communication policy. The second section analyzes the PPP as a newer innovative practice in the cultural heritage sector, a recent development that has great potential, especially during an economic crisis where public funds are reduced, which risks the future recovery and proper maintenance of sites.Findings: In the paper, the authors stressed that sponsorship, patronage and PPP are not merely alternative ways of primarily obtaining government funding for the cultural heritage sector but are also new strategic management practices that, when properly performed, will not only preserve and improve the sector but also allow more value to be distributed among all stakeholders.Originality/value: Although the topic of PPP is treated fairly in the scientific literature, especially with regard to infrastructure, there are few cases of the application of this model to cultural heritage management.

: Glass-based pigments have an important role in the panorama of artistic production due to the fact that their manufacturing processes involve a combination of different skills and understanding, and they have a role in disciplines ranging from glass technology to metallurgy, from glazed ceramic to stone imitation and from vitreous mosaic tesserae to painting materials. The main goal of this manuscript is to present a critical review of the literature relating to blue smalt and “yellow glass” (lead–tin yellow type II) pigments: presenting their historical background, the analytical protocol, the processes of alteration and decay and finally tracing issues. Several case studies analyzed by the authors will be presented. Particular attention was devoted to the correlation between micro-textural features and decay processes affecting the studied pigments, though the widespread heterogeneity of the analyzed materials and the variability of the artistic techniques in which the pigments were used as well as the effect of the relevant (micro-)environmental conditions dictate a cautious approach. These studies are presented in the context of information about the chain of production, the selection of the raw materials and relevant provenance studies.