We start with the Brundtland Report’s (1988) definition of the concept of sustainability to analyze key aspects and look at the essence of human nature. We realize that the way to meet people’s needs is key to optimizing their quality of life, integrating us back into nature and achieving the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The strategy that must be followed is the cooperation between the interested parties by bringing the places of residence, work and consumption closer to being able to have meeting spaces in the proximity of neighborhoods, but also within companies, public administrations and non-profit entities. Given that the purpose is to meet basic human needs in the consumer society we have built, we identify the quality of life indicators that allow us to analyze the sustainability of organizations and products throughout their lifecycle. The application of the quality of life indicators can be essential in our individual and collective decisions of everyday purchasing, both public and private, to raise awareness and to build a strong path towards sustainability. It will also help us design sustainable public policies, including public procurement.
The lack of consensus on the definition of innovation could lead to different interpretations affecting the understanding and relevance of innovation in business. Business strategy needs innovation because innovation is a key element that that clearly improves performance when applied. Up to three-quarters of productivity development in European industry can be attributed to innovation, and companies that apply innovation in their strategies show better performance. Innovation is a fundamental pillar of business strategy; it is not just a technological project, it is a culture, a mindset, a tool that provides competitive value to the company and added value to customers.
Business innovation needs its own strategy in order to be ready for firm sustainability and competitiveness. Innovation strategy is a set of actions that drive all procedures and guidelines in an organization to generate and manage innovations toward achieving the business objectives. It involves planning, prioritizing, and developing the right types of innovation (technological or not) ensuring the appropriate resources, knowledge, capabilities, and organizational structure, among others. It is important not to manage an innovation strategy in isolation or independently of the rest of the company’s functions. Innovation strategy should be based on corporate strategy and understood as an integral component of long-term strategic business management. With innovation strategy, a company can control and manage the generation of innovation, even though few companies have a clear innovation strategy.
It is positive to incorporate innovation strategy into business strategy to be better placed to compete in terms of differentiation, productivity and economic growth, and to achieve better financial results. This Final Work for the Master in Innovation and Digital Transformation, analyses different innovation strategies and their possible influential factors.
The objective of this article is to offer some strategies which women can use in order to develop their professional plan in the sphere of creating and managing companies, whether they are self-employed or working for someone else. Furthermore, it will allow them to overcome the difficulties that they may encounter due to gender when they set or achieve their objectives.
In order to be able to understand the foundations of the proposed strategies and measures, in the introduction section there is an identification of the principal environmental or external factors which explain the situation that women around the world have lived through and continue to live through. This situation is mostly characterised by the lack of equal opportunities.
The section on the strategies starts with that which is based on the entrepreneurship model in skills and which has its origins in the employability model referenced in the text. This model attempts to respond to four fundamental questions which allow for a definition and execution of the life project itself (professional, business and personal) with the greatest guarantee of success. As regards the other strategies, these are based on the empowerment of women, as well as on the support and personal and professional guidance from all those people with whom a relationship of mutual understanding and confidence can be established.
Finally, there is a proposal for a staff management model which places the focus of attention on the management of professional skills around the entire organization, as well as equal opportunities, independent of the personal factors involved, which allows for the building of a team with the male and female professionals who share the mission, vision and values of the project.
This article is a synthesis of my final degree project in Administration and Management, specifically in the area of Accounting and Financial Management, where I have analyzed a company in the leather tanning industry with the aim of determining the key factors towards meeting its target. For this purpose, I have done a quantitative (economic and financial) and qualitative analysis of the company, the industry it operates in and the macroeconomic variables of its environment.
The company studied in my FDP is Adobinve, S.L. It is a tanning company with a national and EU-wide scope, specializing in beamhouse operations with sheep and goat leather for the clothing industry.
For this article, I have deemed more appropriate to take the methodology used in the comprehensive study of the company in order to single out the key factors to meet its "Being Europe’s skin beamhouse" target. I am sure this can be helpful for future FDPs within Accounting and Financial Management.