Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability

Corporate sustainability (CS) literature has gone through a period of intense development. The moment is favorable to gather these contributions to consistently advance the state-of-the-art in CS and, also, discuss them in application to real contexts. The main objective of the paper is to systematize, through a literature review using content analysis of the 30 most cited articles from 2007 to 2017, the guiding pillars of CS management. A systematic search for papers was carried out in Scopus and Web of Science, and the initial screening of the papers was assisted by the coding software, MAXQDA 2018, through which the authors structured and analyzed their main insights, contributions, and conclusions. After getting acquainted with the sample, an in-depth reading of the texts was conducted and 60 CS elements were identified. The elements cited in the relevant literature were grouped into six pillars related to corporate sustainability strategy, corporate governance, human resources management, knowledge and innovation management, measurement, disclosure, and independent assurance, and management systems, and integrated management systems. The main contribution of this paper is to identify the management pillars of CS in a systematic way to consistently advance the state-of-the-art in the subject. Also, this study provides understanding to managers on the main aspects that make up the integration of this construct in the companies

Ahorro y costes potenciales de una intervención para reducir la no adherencia de los pacientes crónicos avanzados

La adherencia al tratamiento es muy baja entre pacientes crónicos avanzados, implicando un gasto aún más alto del que ya es. Esta situación está empeorando debido al crecimiento exponencial del número de pacientes crónicos. Este estudio estima el beneficio neto de una intervención para la reducción de la no-adherencia, que consiste en monitorizar regularmente a los pacientes para evitar errores en la toma de las medicinas

Guiding principles of integrated management systems: Towards unifying a starting point for researchers and practitioners

The Integrated Management System (IMS) seems to be a suitable strategy to manage multiple systems that have to meet the needs and expectations of various stakeholders. The main objective of this research is to establish the guiding principles of IMS and the essential elements for its development and maintenance in order to move towards unifying a starting point in the literature. This objective was reached through a systematic content analysis with focus on the content analysis of the most cited articles of Scopus and Web of Science databases from 2006 to 2016. The results indicate the existence of 28 elements for development and implementation of IMS. Through the critical analysis of these elements 6 principles of IMS were systematized: 1) Systemic Management; 2) Standardization; 3) Strategic, tactic and operational integration; 4) Organizational learning; 5) Debureaucratization; and 6) Continuous Improvement. Each principle is a pillar for development and maintenance of IMS. The scientific contribution of this study is that it represents a starting point towards the establishment of the IMS theory. Moreover, taking into account these results one can homogenize the basis of IMS, providing research results with a higher degree of comparability. The results of this work may also help company managers better target their efforts in the management of the IMS, serving as a guideline to assist them in developing and maintaining each one of the abovementioned pillars. The best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first attempts to unify the literature

Social Responsibility at Universities

Despite the fact that there has been an increase in the number of reports related to Social Responsibility practices published by universities, the content of these reports is unbalanced and heterogeneous. Social Responsibility reports have a problem with the evaluation and comparison of the university’s results achieved in this area. The main goal of this paper is to analyze different universities’ reports in order to obtain the information necessary to identify to which extent these reports are comparable to each other. A content analysis has been carried out by analyzing six different Catalan universities as a case study. Findings show that there are important differences in the structure and the content of these reports. With this information a basic guideline for the structure of these reports is proposed with the aim of improving the capacity to compare these documents and thus, the social responsibility of universities. The results of this study can be used as a tool to attract both students and investors to these universities

A case study of a simultaneous integration in an SME: Implementation process and cost analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the simultaneous implementation of an integrated management system (IMS) in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and its impact on costs. Design/methodology/approach Based on a case study, the paper presents and analyzes the implementation of the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management system (MS) standards. The organization analyzed is an SME of the heating and air conditioning sector that had no MSs implemented (common in the sector) and decided to implement an IMS based on both function-specific MS standards (MSSs) and also achieving the separated certification. The analysis of expected and real costs is also presented. Findings The results show that a simultaneous integration is possible and the cost analysis evidences the improvement of the organization's efficiency. The certificates for both MSSs were also achieved. These findings help in confirming theoretical statement posed in the literature of the integration of MSs: integration strategy, methodology and level. The organization values this integrated implementation as very positive internally and externally, as this is one of the first organizations of the sector implementing and integrating the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. Originality/value Although studies analyzing empirically the integration of MSs have been widely published in recent years, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first papers analyzing the implementation of an IMS directly and analyzing its costs. In addition, this paper provides evidence that those organizations implementing integration later than others, can learn from the beginners' experience

A qualitative study on integrated management systems in a non-leading country in certifications

The aim of this study is to analyse the integration of management systems (MSs) in a country with low certifications number and growth rate and propose a research agenda towards improving the competitiveness of organisations that implement multiple MSs. The main research questions focus on the implementation process itself and the effect of low level of national certification to the integration process. To serve this research purpose, an exploratory research is designed in Greece (a country with relatively low certification counts and rates to the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management standards). A case study approach is employed to enable deeper and comprehensive reasoning. A cross-case analysis is presented to explore patterns, similarities and differences among organisations. Findings show that four out of five organisations analysed are integrating its MSs at different levels, the integration methodology applied is similar for all organisations but audits are the most dissimilar aspect. This study is one of the first that addresses MSs' integration in Greece exploring contingency factors

Sustainable innovation through management systems integration

In an increasingly competitive world driven by fast changes, companies are challenged to pursue sustainable development through innovation. This matter has led to the discussion about how organizations manage to innovate in a way that they meet the demands of sustainability. Recently, researchers have identified the integration of management systems (IMS) as a potential practice to support both innovation and sustainability. This research aims to contribute to this field by exploring the relationship between IMS and sustainable innovation. European and Latin-American countries are included to contribute to the still scarce empirical evidence analyzing developed and less developed countries. Results suggest that IMS provides the managerial support to foster the adoption of cleaner production technologies. (...

Openness and management systems integration: pursuing innovation benefits

In a global and highly competitive environment, innovation is becoming riskier and costlier. Against this backdrop, firms are challenged to allocate their innovation resources efficiently to obtain the most benefits. To this end, integration of management systems and open innovation are internally- and externally-oriented managerial practices, respectively, that may foster innovation efficiency. However, they have been scarcely researched jointly. Based on longitudinal analyses of 220 Spanish firms, this study concludes that integrating management systems could foster innovation efficiency. Conversely, open innovation might hinder it. It is also evidenced that innovation efficiency is relevant to boost the sales productivity of new products

Analysis of the catalan haute cuisine success: the role of education and network creation

This paper analyses two of the success factors of the Catalan haute cuisine: education and network creation. Fifty-four interviews with Michelin-starred restaurant chefs were done, using two questionnaires, one for each factor studied. Cross-case studies were analysed. Results show that both factors are important and mutually correlated. Education is important to have the bases to understand and enrich the current cuisine, and also act as a pool of relationships creation. Regarding the second factor, the majority of chefs started their relationships at a professional level and some became personal. A framework of collaboration, respect, admiration and joint objectives are the most highlighted key results. The future of this sector, according to the interviewees, is ensured by the new generations of chefs but also because of the society interest. Additional aspects explaining the success of the cuisine are presented

Calidad de servicio en educación superior a distancia: Propuesta de los modelos DIHESQ y SIBDHE

La calidad de servicio se ha estudiado ampliamente enel sector de educación superior, pero no así en la educación no tradicional. Dado esto, el objetivo de este estudio es proponer el modelo "Distance Higher Education Service Quality (DIHESQ)", que está compuesto por las dimensiones: profesores y enseñanza, material de estudio y plan curricular, evaluación y feedback, administración y organización, plataforma funcional, plataforma emocional, apoyo institución, y social y laboral. Asimismo, se propone el modelo "Satisfaction and Intention of Behavior in Distance Higher Education (SIBDHE)", el cual está compuesto por los constructos satisfacción, retención, lealtad y disposición a pagar. El constructo DIHESQ se relaciona positivamente con la SATISF (satisfacción), y ésta última impacta de manera positiva en la intención de comportamiento de los estudiantes, a saber: retención, lealtad y disposición a pagar