The use of knowledge management in the context of sustainability has been increasingly important over the years. Despite this importance, it is observed that this area is still little explored and there are many possibilities of academic research. Following a structured research protocol, the authors of this article performed a systematic review of the literature and identified plausible gaps to be explored in the development of future research. These gaps are presented in relation to the themes, strategies, objectives and research approach. From the point of view of the themes, there are opportunities related to the study of sustainability in small and medium enterprises, in relation to the potential of universities as engines for the generation of knowledge and in concerning the insertion of knowledge management to propose guidelines for obtaining productive systems. Regarding research strategies, the lack of studies that use action research as central focus Highlights• The deployment of knowledge management in sustainability contexts has increased over recent years • There are gaps which need to be better understood, in terms of themes, strategies, objectives and research approach • Research which leads to the development of models and specific tools directed to information sharing is growing

Sustainability leadership entails the processes, which leaders, policymakers, and academics undertake in order to implement sustainable development policies and other initiatives within their organizations. It encompasses approaches, methods, and systemic solutions to solve problems and drive institutional policy towards a more sustainable organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a particularly important role, especially with regard to their institutional leadership role in promoting sustainable development. There is a paucity of research focusing on sustainability leadership in universities. In order to address this gap, this paper discussed the concept of sustainability leadership based on literature and empirical insights. The study aimed to understand the main characteristics of sustainability leaders at HEI and the main challenges they are confronted with. Secondary research questions involved gender issues and positive outcomes of sustainability leadership. The empirical component of the study consisted of an online-questionnaire survey performed among leaders (n = 50) from a set of universities in 29 countries. The sampling scheme was purposive, based on the membership in the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Program (IUSDRP). The study was explorative in nature, and the descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. Due to the purposive sampling, the participants from top management positions could be considered as experienced, and their views were assumed to be information-rich. With a self-evaluation, the respondents described their leadership style and their usual traits, with inclusive style and systemic thinking being predominant in the sample. Regarding the skills, the respondents selected the ability to innovate, to think long-term, and to manage complexity from a pre-defined set of options. Connectedness with interdisciplinarity and knowledge about organizational settings, as well as global challenges and dilemmas, were stated as important issues related to the knowledge required for being a leader. Regarding requirements for a change towards more sustainable universities’ curriculum adaptation, investments in education for sustainable development (ESD), sustainable procurement, and reporting were mentioned. The study also revealed that gender issues were taken seriously among the sampled institutions, which is an encouraging trend. Challenges seen in implementing sustainability leadership are, for instance, a lack of interest by the university administration and among some members of the academic community, as well as lack of expertise and materials or resources. Based on the empirical insights, a set of measures were listed and which may be adopted in the future, so as to allow leaders of Higher Education Institutions to enhance their sustainability performance.

This paper aims to understand how the difficulties associated to the insertion of sustainability in engineering education are related. From the literature review, eleven difficulties were compiled and posteriorly, a panel of experts was conducted to divide them in two groups, named "difficulties associated with structure and planning" and "difficulties observed in didactic practice". These groups were used as a base of a questionnaire by survey, with lecturers who work with sustainability in engineering courses. The collected data were analysed through Structural Equation Modeling. A causal relationship between the two groups was verified through the present research, that is, the greater the difficulties associated with the structure and planning, the greater will be the difficulties observed in didactic practice. The results of this paper may be used by researchers in their future studies and by lecturers and coordinators as a guide to the insertion of sustainability in engineering education. The authors believe that these results may contribute to the engineering education improvement.

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Business model innovation is considered key for organizations to achieve sustainability. However, there are many problems involving the operationalization of business model innovation. We used a design science methodology to develop an artifact to assist business model innovation efforts. The artifact uses performance measurement indicators of the company's business model, which are powered by Big Data analytics to endow customer-driven business model innovation. Then, we applied the artifact in a critical case study. The selected company is a fashion ecommerce that proposes a vegan and sustainable value using recycled plastic bottle yarn as raw material, and ensures that no material with animal origin is used. Our findings show that the artifact successfully assists a proactive and continuous effort towards business model innovation. Although based on technical concepts, the artifact is accessible to the context of small businesses, which helps to democratize the practices of business model innovation and Big Data analytics beyond large organizations. We contribute to the business model innovation literature by connecting it to performance management and Big Data and providing paths for its operationalization. Consequently, in practice, the proposed artifact can assist managers dealing with business model as a dynamic element towards a sustainable company.Sustainability 2020, 12, 277 2 of 29 to frequent unsuccessful results about the underlying business logic and, therefore, perpetuating failures that slow down the process of knowledge creation and, thus, undermining possibilities for growth. In this regard, there is a gap between what has been studied in academia and what can be potentially useful for managers willing to innovate their BM [8,9].Thus, BM innovation, validation, and experimentation processes need to be structured and implemented. This is relevant in several industries as the greater frequency of disruption and dislocation are shortening business model life cycles and the sustainability of any specific business model is unclear [10,11]. In a scenario of constant change and need for a better structured management process for BMI, it is important to consider alternatives for testing and experimenting with new alternatives of BM. However, it is not clear in the BMI literature how to do this in the face of the recognized complexity of this process [12,13].Christensen, Bartman, and van Bever [14] argue that there is the need for a systematic mechanism to evaluate the relationship between opportunities and BM. Besides, it is necessary to consider that innovation in BM cannot be generated randomly through guesswork. Nonetheless, Laudien and Daxböck [15] show that, in many cases, innovations in BM are not deliberate strategic options but rather a result of an emergent process, often unplanned. Strategic options, however, are usually related to a company's performance management which means the measurement of a set of indicators on various perspectives of the company [16,17]. In this sense, it seems natura...

The potential for energy efficiency and for the deployment of renewable energy at universities is substantial, and they represent promising ways to meet an institution's energy needs on the one hand, without a large climate burden on the other. However, in order to achieve successful investment and results, it is imperative to understand the level of current commitment to energy actions. Therefore, this paper investigates the level of engagement in energy efficiency measures of a sample of 50 higher education institutions from round the world, and identifies which types of renewable energy are being used to date. Results show that in more than half of the universities only a small portion of energy consumption comes from renewable sources (1% to 20%) and solar/photovoltaics is the most used source (70%). Investment in energy efficiency is more common in the sample, with 54% of the universities reporting higher levels of engagement, mainly in buildings (78%) and equipment/machineries (56%). Departing from the assumption that sustainable energy use is a pre-condition for campuses to pursue sustainability, the paper identifies current deficiencies and discusses improvements in this key area, with experiences which may be replicable elsewhere.

Purpose Product development process (PDP) in the context of Industry 4.0 may present several marketing implications. To understand these implications, the purpose of this study is to identify the benefits and difficulties of Industry 4.0 related to the PDP and its impact in marketing strategies and operations. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used to perform this research was a systematic literature review. For this, five steps were followed, namely, research question formulation; studies location; studies selection and evaluation; analysis and synthesis; and reporting and use research results. Findings The systematic literature review considering PDP in Industry 4.0 context resulted in 28 benefits and 14 difficulties, in a total of 53 articles. From the analysis of these benefits and difficulties, several implications for marketing were identified, namely, better understand customer preferences; greater agility in marketing decision-making; better align marketing, product development and operations processes issues; better understand product/service lifecycle; analyze possibilities of new ways of distribution and communication channels; better define the value of products and services and location requirements. Originality/value The findings presented here can be used both by market professionals, interested in the subject and by researchers for future studies. The better understanding of PDP in the context of Industry 4.0 can enhance marketing strategies for market professionals and provide insights for researchers. No similar studies were found in the literature.

The objective of this research is to evaluate the engineering students' perception regarding sustainability. For this, a survey was developed based on sustainability parameters from a detailed analysis of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC). The parameters were initially divided into seven groups: Financial and Productivity Aspects (FPA); Concern with employees (CWE); Support for Local Communities (SLC); Ethical and corporate governance issues (ECI); Environmental aspects (ENA); Sustainable aspects in the operations network (SON); Customers, development of new products and services (CPS). The survey was conducted with engineering undergraduate students from two Brazilian universities. The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling technique, more precisely by means of the PLS-SEM algorithm. We obtained 162 answers, which enabled the validation of the model tested, and showed that the students, in general, do not consider support for local communities and concern with employees when they are analyzing sustainability. Additionally, the most important construct for them is the customers, development of new products and services. This is an exploratory study and we believe that these findings may contribute to expand the debate about the sustainability insertion in engineering courses, helping educators in their didactic activities. As future research, it is suggested the replication of this study in other higher education institutions.