Scientific Coordination: Maria Claudia Lucchetti, Ornella Malandrino, Maria Francesca Renzi, Alessandro Ruggieri, Stefania Supino
Research context
Organisations are increasingly oriented towards the realisation of a comprehensive and global approach to sustainability, whose objectives go beyond the mere environmental dimension and encompass aspects related to quality, safety at work, ethics, equity and solidarity and social inclusion, with a view to co-creating value. The current economic, social and environmental scenario requires the affirmation of innovative production and consumption systems, in which quality and sustainability are at the heart of the transition towards circular economic systems.
Every organisation must know how to manage quality internally – be it profit or non-profit, production or service delivery. It is a research topic that has always engaged scholars in the development of models, tools and methods for the continuous and systematic improvement of all value-creating processes. Quality management requires a holistic interpretation of the organisation starting from strategic choices and authoritative leadership, human resources management, production, customer and supplier management from a supply chain management perspective. This continually evolving strand of research contributes to the reinterpretation of the concept of quality management as a function of transformations in business models, technological innovation and organisational and cultural changes. Due to its holistic and multi-disciplinary character, quality management creates value at the company level with a view to balance and environmental protection, equality, inclusion and social cohesion, in the awareness of the interdependence and complementarity between the aspects of quality, environment, safety and social responsibility.
Type of paper expected
The aim of this track is to promote an advancement of the body of scientific knowledge according to different perspectives; of interest in this area are the researches concerning product, process and company system quality. Furthermore, it aims to gather analyses and research that contribute to promoting an advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of Quality and Sustainability, i.e. Corporate Sustainability Management, through the adoption of different theoretical perspectives and research methodologies, both quantitative and
qualitative.
Suggested topic areas
The track invites researchers to submit contributions in the following areas:
• product quality and characterisation
• methodologies for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of organisational processes such as Lean production Lean Six Sigma, Agile, Project Management
• stakeholder engagement and models of excellence such as EFQM; Malcolm Baldrige
• customer satisfaction and customer listening systems
• quality, digital transformation and industry 4.0
• sustainable supply chain management
• social and individual quality and well-being
• product certification
• quality management systems
• Circular Economy models and tools
• models and tools of Industrial Ecology and Symbiosis
• environmental protection and management of natural and energy resources
• waste management
• environmental technologies
• sustainability indicators and circularity indices
• Life Cycle Thinking and related tools (LCA, LCC, S-LCA)
• sustainable production and consumption models
• social responsibility systems and tools
• Diversity Management;
• ESG
Possibility of publication
Opportunities for publication will be identified and reported later.