Indicators and Framework for Measuring Industrial Sustainability in Italian Footwear Small and Medium Enterprises

Autor: Roberto Panizzolo, Azemeraw Tadesse Mengistu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Indicator
framework
industrial sustainability
Italian footwear SMEs
fuzzy Delphi method
0209 industrial biotechnology
media_common.quotation_subject
Geography
Planning and Development

TJ807-830
Context (language use)
02 engineering and technology
010501 environmental sciences
Management
Monitoring
Policy and Law

TD194-195
01 natural sciences
Renewable energy sources
020901 industrial engineering & automation
Quality (business)
Performance measurement
GE1-350
Product (category theory)
Empirical evidence
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
media_common
Environmental effects of industries and plants
Renewable Energy
Sustainability and the Environment

indicator
Environmental economics
Environmental sciences
Sustainability
Customer satisfaction
Business
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Zdroj: Sustainability, Vol 13, Iss 5472, p 5472 (2021)
Sustainability
Volume 13
Issue 10
ISSN: 2071-1050
Popis: As small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have limited resources, they need a manageable number of indicators that are simple and easy to use for measuring sustainability performance. However, the lack of suitable indicators tailored to industry needs, particularly for SMEs, has been a major challenge in measuring and managing industrial sustainability. Our study aims to empirically analyze and select the useful and applicable indicators to measure sustainability performance in Italian footwear SMEs. To achieve this objective, we proposed a methodological approach to identify, analyze and select sustainability indicators. First, we carried out a systematic review to identify potential sustainability indicators from the literature. Then, we developed a questionnaire based on the identified indicators and pre-tested it with selected industrial experts, scholars, and researchers to further refine the indicators before collecting data. We applied the fuzzy Delphi method to analyze and select the final indicators. Based on a sample of 48 Italian footwear SMEs, the results of our study show that product quality, material consumption, and customer satisfaction were the top priorities among the selected indicators for measuring the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of industrial sustainability, respectively. The selected indicators stressed the measuring of industrial sustainability performance associated with financial benefits, costs, market competitiveness, resources, customers, employees, and the community. Our study proposed a framework that helps to apply the selected indicators for measuring sustainability performance in SMEs. Finally, our study contributes to the existing theory and knowledge of industrial sustainability performance measurement by providing indicators supported by empirical evidence and a framework to put the indicators into practice in the context of SMEs.
Databáze: OpenAIRE