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This paper aims to propose a generative design method combined with meta-heuristic algorithm for automating and optimizing the floor layout of modular buildings using typical standardized module units, which are the room module, the corridor module and the stair module.

The integrated framework involves the generative design method and optimization for modular construction. The generative rules are provided by geometric relationships and functionalities of the module units. An evaluation function of the generated floor plans is also presented by the combination of project cost and cost penalties for the geometric features. The multi-population genetic algorithm (MPGA) method is provided for the optimization of the combination of costs.

The proposed MPGA method is demonstrated fast and efficient at discovering the globally optimal solution. The results indicate that when the unit price of modules is high, the transportation distance is long, or the land cost is high, the layout cost, which related to the symmetry, the compactness and the energy is tend to be lower, making the optimal layout economical.

This paper presented an integrated framework of generative floor layout and optimization for modular construction by using typical module units. It fulfills the need for automated layout generation with repetitive units and corresponding assessment during the early design stage.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that intends to help organisations achieve the sustainability goal by means of a methodology that integrates sustainability in both the planning and management tasks of the organisation and that serves as a base for the implementation of an information system aligned with the business strategy.

After an exhaustive review of literature about corporate social responsibility, strategic planning of organisations and balanced scorecards (BSCs), a methodology has been developed that describes the process of designing and implementing a sustainability BSC for sustainability strategic planning and management.

The methodology can be easily implemented at companies with a minimum of computer resources, but managers play a key role in its success, since they are the responsible for providing the necessary environment for overcoming such an important change.

The methodology has only been applied once and their results will only be able to be analysed after a long time. Meanwhile, more implementations have to be performed to test and improve the different steps und tools until the methodology can be considered definitive.

The methodology could be used by many organisations, improving their social and environmental performance and contributing to their sustainability and the sustainability of all of their stakeholders, specially for society as a whole. Readers of this paper could see a practical application of methodology and its viability by means of the case.

An innovative structure for BSCs which has been developed having in mind the sustainability since the beginning, but not justly adding environmental and social variables to a model designed with economical purposes.

This study aims to empirically analyze a sound commitment and a consistent integration of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the corporate reporting and management systems of companies that have a leading position in sustainability.

The study applies a content analysis procedure based on a proposed analytical framework to codify the commitment and the SDG integration. In order to analyze the consistency of the integration, this study has provided a “SDG integration” score based on fuzzy inference systems methods. The companies in the sample have been identified as benchmarks in terms of sustainability in a specific region of Spain.

The findings show a lack of formality regarding the SDG commitment at the highest decision-making level and a low level of SDG integration in the reporting and management systems. These results are mainly explained because the most companies do not prioritize according to the materiality analysis and those SDGs more reported have not been deployed along targets and KPIs in a consistent way.

The results provide practical implications that help to overcome the limitations in terms of comparison and consistency of the SDGs-reported information. It also illustrates how the leading sustainable companies are doing the SDG reporting and suggests which elements could be improved to promote a consistent integration of the SDGs in the management systems.

This study provides new work lines in the promotion of an effective SDG-business reporting based on a robust management structure that allows an alignment among the SDG-business decisions based on a normative, strategic and operational approach.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how effectively leading sustainable hotels have integrated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their reporting. The main aim is to pinpoint areas for improvement concerning SDG reporting which can help the hospitality industry to achieve a transformation in a more SDG-aligned global tourism system.

For this study, a content analysis technique was used to extract the information regarding strategic consistency of SDG reporting. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied to the analysis of this information. This paper seeks to assess the extent to which the materiality analysis, corporate targets and performance indicators defined by the world’s top sustainable hotels in their sustainability reports are consistent with those SDGs linked to the business. To that end, the authors have selected the most sustainable hotels according to the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment in 2020.

The results of this study show that the most sustainable hotel companies did not take a strategic consistency approach when reporting the SDGs. These findings identify four areas for improvement concerning reporting, which may promote the adoption of a strategic and consistent approach in SDG reporting.

This study includes a set of recommendations to provide the market with complete, coherent and comparable information on their contribution to the SDGs and, therefore, foster collective learning to bring about sustainable tourism transformation.

This paper represents a contribution to the discussion on the strategic or symbolic implementation of SDGs at a corporate level. In addition, this paper reflects a deeper understanding of how hotel companies could improve their reporting and management system to contribute to SDGs.

This chapter deals with the development of banking in the Crown of Aragon from the end of the thirteenth century through the establishment of money changers, which followed similar patterns as in other Western European territories. It starts with a review of existing literature and follows with an explanation on the different banking services provided by money changers and the specific legal framework that supported such activities. It then examines the geographical distribution of private banks in cities and towns within the domains of the kings of Aragon, as well as their evolution throughout the fourteenth century. After that, it offers an analysis of the most common professional profiles among these bankers and financers. Finally, drawing on a heterogeneous pool of unpublished data, it seeks to shed light on the diversity of investors and clients of these establishments, a crucial proof of their role in integrated financial markets.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the onset of the financial crisis caused changes in the influence of top management team (TMT) on corporate results.

The sample is comprised of the list of S & P 500 Index firms between 2002 and 2008. The study uses a longitudinal panel methodology applying a two-step GMM estimator system. This approach addresses potential unobserved heterogeneity, simultaneity, and dynamic endogeneity.

The primary results reveal that the onset of the financial crisis stimulated those TMTs with large teams and a high frequency of meetings to improve corporate performance, without leading to a reduction in corporate risk taking.

This study reveals that different environmental conditions call for different behaviour from TMTs to fulfil their responsibilities. This study also suggests changes in normative and voluntary guidelines for improving the quality of the TMT’s work.

To determine whether the strategic commitment of the company to its stakeholders is positively related to its social and financial performance.

This paper analyses the mission statements and the sustainability reports, of a sample of 52 Spanish listed firms (70 per cent Madrid stock index capitalization). The vision, mission and values of the company will define its strategic stakeholder or shareholder orientation. In the process of evaluation of the social performance of the firm it is built a scale (strategic consistency index (SCI)) which considers the quality of the sustainability reporting using the GRI Guidelines. Some traditional financial and economic indicators are used to analyse the company's financial performance.

Results show a not very high level of the stakeholder approach in Spanish companies, a high level of publication and quality of sustainability reports and, finally, a positive and not significant relationship between these variables and a positive financial performance.

The unavailability of a long series of sustainability reports is an obstacle for a broader analysis. This research could transmit to companies the positive relationship between social and financial performance.

The use of GRI sustainability reports as a component of a broader corporate sustainability index and the analysis of the strategic commitment to their stakeholders through the construction of a SCI and the relationship with their financial results.

The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of stakeholder engagement in the context of sustainability reporting (SR) for higher education institutions (HEIs), together with the materiality principle and stakeholder expectations.

This research uses an exploratory approach based on content analysis, a case study and descriptive and inferential statistics.

Three key findings come out of this research. First, the results indicate that HEIs use diverse criteria for grouping stakeholders and that stakeholder engagement is a heterogeneous process. Second, the expectations of internal stakeholders align with the material aspects of SR. Finally, among internal stakeholders, students and academics disagree on the prioritisation of some sustainability aspects, with non-academic staff adopting an intermediate position.

This analysis improves our knowledge of stakeholder engagement in HEIs. It helps to identify the relevant impacts of stakeholder engagement, enhances the quality of reporting and encourages a real dialogue with stakeholders.

The study examines stakeholder engagement and how the materiality principle is adopted by HEIs through SR. Furthermore, it compares these results with stakeholder expectations, considering the discrepancies between stakeholders. The results open the way to future research to explore the potential conflicts and collaborations between and within stakeholders to advance towards more sustainable institutions in the higher education sector.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the degree to which employees’ proactive behavior contributes to innovation performance in firms operating in high-technology sectors. Despite the benefits of these behaviors for individuals and organizations, few studies have analyzed the contextual conditions that enable firms to capture their value in order to improve innovation performance. Drawing on the interactionist perspective, the authors also examine the extent to which informal and formal controls, such as perceived support for innovation and innovation process formalization, can facilitate the contribution of proactive behaviors to improve innovation performance (product and process innovation).

Based on an empirical study with a sample of 173 firms operating in chemical and information technology service sectors, hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the relationship between employees’ proactive behavior and innovation performance, and the moderating effects of informal and formal controls.

The results reveal a positive and significant association between proactive behaviors and product and process innovation performance. Both control mechanisms positively moderate the association between proactive behavior and product innovation, but no moderating role was found for process innovation. Moreover, rather than inhibiting innovation performance, innovation process formalization is positively associated with innovation. More specifically, a curvilinear relationship was found, which implies that when the level of formalization is high, it is able to improve product and process innovation.

The findings suggest that managers should consider proactive behavior in selection processes and performance management, and should cultivate a climate to support innovation and establish formal controls for innovation as a way to channel employees’ initiatives into product innovation.

This study contributes to the theoretical and managerial understanding of the extent to which proactive employees and organizational controls are able to enhance innovation in a technologically dynamic context.

This work has two main objectives: to obtain a set of scales for measuring the patterns, attitudes and practices of integration that can be extrapolated to different scopes (both internal and external) and participants (supplier and customer) within the supply chain; and to evaluate the relations between the different components of integration.

Based on previous literature on the content, measurement and scope of the concept of integration, a model is presented and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected from 450 enterprises from the Spanish construction materials sector.

The authors' results suggest that integration is a multidimensional concept that covers the different organisational levels of the company: corporate through attitudes; strategic through patterns; and operative through practices. These components have a different structure and, although attitudes and patterns behave similarly, practices do not, and so there is no single dimension of integration that includes the three levels. With regard to scope, internal and external integration are related but do not constitute one single concept of integration. It therefore cannot be measured as a single dimension in order to relate the integration of the firm with its (corporate, logistic or marketing) performance.

From a methodological point of view, data were collected from a single sector, in a single moment in time and with a single respondent in each company.

Patterns and attitudes have a complete, corporative and strategic content, whereas practices are independent from each other and have a more operational vision.

Unlike studies that analyse integration and its relationship with outcomes, this work focuses on the concept of integration itself by analysing its three components. Thus, it extends the study of internal and external integration and focuses on the behaviour of the enterprise with two different members of the supply chain (suppliers and customers), thereby extending the analysis beyond the dyad.