Programa del congreso

This study aims to present a circular economy (CE) implementation and performance management model for manufacturing firms, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which has been created and enriched with academic and practical contributions since 2021. The model used both relevant concepts related to CE, corporate climate governance, eco-innovation, firm performance, and theories such as resource-based view and dynamic capability view. To achieve the objective, a systematic literature review was carried out in Scopus and Web of Science. Likewise, company reports, international consulting firms and international standards for the preparation of sustainability reports were reviewed. The model developed was applied in 10 Colombian companies, which allowed for its improvement. Moreover, meetings were held with international experts on topics such as eco-innovation, CE, and sustainability, who reviewed the model and made suggestions for further improvement. The resulting management model helps companies to analyze their strategy and corporate climate governance, identify internal and external factors that enable or block the implementation of the CE, detect key resources, characterize eco-innovations, understand the adoption of circular practices, make management decisions, and improve communication with key stakeholders around CE.

Digital technologies are profoundly impacting businesses. Accordingly, many efforts have been put into investigating the digital transformation process and its consequences. In contrast, the antecedents that ignite digital transformation have received considerably less attention, especially at the firm level. This study addresses this gap by exploring a neglected triggering factor, such as competitive strategy. Product differentiators seek perceived exclusivity from the demand side that represents the customers makes it difficult to skip digitalization when the sociological trends are pushing in that direction across industries. On the contrary, digital transformation is only valuable for a cost leader as long as it significantly reduces unitary costs. Using a sample of 585 manufacturing firms competing in Spain, the regression results support that product differentiation enhances industrial digitalization. In contrast, cost leadership hampers it after firm attributes, market characteristics and manufacturing context are controlled. The study contributes to the unexplored issue of firm-level antecedents of digital transformation, bringing to the picture the role competitive strategy plays in an encompassing socio-technical and contingency view of industrial digitalization. From a managerial perspective, the findings cast doubts on the vulnerability of low-cost firms in the face of accelerated digital change across industries.

This article explores the impact of environmental regulations on the interplay between critical resources and capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the advancement of circular economy (CE) practices. Employing the institution-based view, we investigate how the stringency of environmental regulations moderates the relationship between SMEs' resources and capabilities and the adoption of CE initiatives. Our analysis utilizes data from 41,773 SMEs across 35 countries, spanning three waves of research conducted by Flash Eurobarometer (European Commission) in 2015, 2017, and 2021. The findings indicate that the strictness of environmental regulations within a country positively moderates the relationship between various resources and capabilities of SMEs (such as technical expertise, financial backing, and eco-friendly products) and their engagement in circular practices.

Industry 4.0 is not merely an optional upgrade but a fundamental shift that is reshaping the competitive landscape, compelling companies to adapt or risk obsolescence. Considering this critical role in advancing manufacturing enterprises, the literature frequently addresses a key inquiry: what factors may facilitate or hinder the uptake of these technologies. The literature posit that organizational factors like digital skills, company size, and R&D intensity have the most significant impact on AI adoption in manufacturing, but it remains unclear which elements most significantly facilitate or hinder the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Furthermore, the causal relationships between ex-ante drivers and ex-post adoption outcomes have yet to be fully established.

To address these gaps, our paper aims to contribute to the literature on the adoption of Industry 4.0 in three significant ways: a theoretical perspective that underscores the importance of aligning firm strategy with technological adoption; assess the impact of a firm’s resources and capabilities on the implementation of new digital technologies, aiming to understand the role of these strategic assets ex-ante and lastly a methodological one, utilizing a quantitative approach based on extensive panel data from the Encuesta Sobre Estrategias Empresariales (ESEE), or Spanish Survey on Business Strategies.