Stakeholder engagement has been at the forefront of the organisational sustainability debate, particularly focusing on operational sustainability practices (OSP). While sustainability literature increasingly focuses on sustainable business models (SBMs) and the relationship to OSP, research on stakeholder engagement in SBMs and how this relates to engagement in OSP has been scarce. Based on case study research, this paper contributes to the debate by first providing empirical evidence on engagement practices for implementing SBMs. Second, this paper proposes the stakeholder engagement flow model, highlighting how stakeholder engagement for implementing SBMs need to be adapted in relation to stakeholder engagement in OSP. While stakeholder engagement is often continuous for a broad range of stakeholders, successfully implementing SBMs may also require changing engagement practices both in terms of engagement approach and role of stakeholders. The results advance the theoretical debate on stakeholder engagement for organisational sustainability and support practitioners to rethink and evaluate their stakeholder engagement efforts when aiming to implement OSP and SBMs.

The use of Lean principles has long enabled the improvement of efficiency and competitiveness in manufacturing firms, but during the last decade, advanced digital and automated solutions have been more in the spotlight. It has been suggested by some authors that Lean and digitalisation are mutually exclusive, although most authors now agree that the two are indeed compatible. It thus seems that the most urgent question is not whether Lean and digital technologies can be combined, but rather how. This paper uses a large-scale survey of manufacturing units in Europe to explore the relationship between three types of Lean production practices and the use of digital technologies in production. The analysis shows that three types of Lean practices – Lean flow, Lean work organisation and Lean human resource management – are strongly associated with firms’ adoption of digital technologies in production by manufacturing firms. Based on the results it is suggested that, as a theoretical explanation, a firm’s experience of Lean may act as an absorptive capacity when adopting digital technologies. A number of practical explanations are also provided, e.g., that systematic improvement efforts are also beneficial when implementing digital technologies.

While it is known that ‘innovative suppliers’ can contribute to their customers’ innovation processes, and that internal capabilities are important, it is not well understood what these capabilities are. Based on a survey of Swedish manufacturing firms, the paper finds that ‘innovative suppliers’ tend to have more digital capabilities than other firms and that there is a positive relation between digital capabilities and innovation performance. The study furthers knowledge on the implications of increased industrial digitalisation on ‘innovative suppliers’ and contributes to a practical understanding of the capabilities needed for ‘innovative suppliers’.

Given that aligning supply chain strategies with changing productcharacteristics across the phases of the product life cycle is increasinglyimportant, this study investigates the changes in supply and demand uncertaintywhen a product enters the decline phase and how these changes in turn affectthe supply chain strategies applied. Based on four case studies, the analysisreveals that the uncertainties increase in three of four cases when the productenters the decline phase, and that the type of uncertainty, as well as the relatedchallenges, depends on the product’s initial uncertainty of supply and demand.This implies that companies need to redesign their supply chain strategiestowards either more lean or more agile supply chains, or combinations thereof,when the products are declining.

Sustainability is aimed at addressing environmental and socio-economic issues of this generation and future ones. Sustainability requires the engagement of stakeholders, as highlighted by Agenda 21 where stakeholder engagement and participation in economic, environmental and social change as one of its most important themes. The purchasing power of public-sector organizations can increase considerable the demand for sustainable products and services can be promoted, set a trend for other organizations and enlarge the market for sustainable products or services. Collaboration is a sine qua non of sustainable public procurement, since it harvests its benefits from differences in perspectives, knowledge and approaches, solving problems while at the same time offering benefits to all those involved in the process. Most sustainable public procurement discussion have focused on the interactions between procurer and suppliers. The triple helix helps to explain to the relations between university-industry-government. It also represents social innovation. The quadruple helix model is an extension of the triple helix, where the fourth helix of civil society is added. The quintuple helix model is based on the earlier helix models but are also take natural environments of society into account. This includes stakeholders such as local communities, employees, shareholders, business partners, suppliers, customers, public authorities and NGOs. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to SPP by proposing to move from engaging only supplier and procurer to a collaborative approach of the quadruple helix. The chapter is empirically based on a function procurement project (of lightening) in Bollnäs, Sweden, focusing foremost on economic sustainability and aiming to develop a quadruple helix model of public procurement. The Bollnäs municipality had a need for changing old roof and lightning and makes the schools and preschools local more flexible for different activities and individual needs. The procurement was done in a collaborative quintuple helix process and focusing on innovation within a holistic approach. The procurement was designed to achieve an effect on flexibility/modularity, sustainability in environment aspect and increased knowledge. The smallest company/supplier was able to win the contact because the process focused on new solutions/innovation. To work in collaborative quintuple helix process give a higher effect and outcome than just the contract. The stakeholders who participate in the process increased their knowledge and changed their mind set to a more holistic point of view, sustainable thinking. © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Marta Andhov, Roberto Caranta and Anja Wiesbrock; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.