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The market for socially conscious products and services has grown exponentially in the last years. Consequently, adding social value is among the great challenges that companies have to face nowadays. In view of this, companies need leaders with a set of specific skills that prepares them to act and compete in this new environment. This is especially true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are even more dependent on their leaders' competences. The aim of this article is to analyse the influence of leaders' sustainability competences on the social entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs of the tourism sector, as well as the influence of this strategy on the firm's performance. The methodology used to validate the measurement scales is exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation modelling technique is applied to analyse the causal relationships proposed in the model. The results show that sustainability competences positively affect social entrepreneurial orientation; specifically, the social risk-taking and proactivity competence has a positive influence on the economic and social performance of SMEs, and in particular, on their green innovation performance. These results highlight the key role that leaders' competences have in SMEs' social orientation and thus, the importance of training in competences for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of the sources of motivation that lead companies to adopt a global standard of the Environmental Management System and the barriers found in the process, on the perceived benefits of the implementation and certification of the standard. To achieve the objectives proposed, primary data were collected using a survey questionnaire that was administered to a representative sample of companies certified as EMAS-Eco-Management and Audit Scheme of the Autonomous Community of Galicia (sample of 114 of the 255 companies). An extensive review of the academic literature published on ISO 14001 and EMAS about motivations, barriers and benefits was carried out in order to establish the working hypotheses that are analyzed using structural equation models as the statistical tool. The findings of this study show that the motivations positively affect the benefits derived from implementation, noting that the internal motivations (related to efficiency; improved performance, productivity and profitability) have a stronger influence on the benefits than the external motivations (related to stakeholders’ social pressure). In addition, the motivations also affect the perceived barriers, and these affect the benefits negatively, i.e., the higher the barriers encountered, the lower the perceived benefits. The results obtained allow us to identify important implications for managers, which will help them establish management strategies in the field of environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the potential contribution to economic and cultural sustainability of fostering wine tourism activity in a Mediterranean mature mass tourism destination like the Balearic Islands. A causal model was designed linking winery visitors' satisfaction with both the local wines and the visit to the winery and future purchasing intentions as well as the interest in the destination cultural offer, global satisfaction with the trip, and image of the destination. Field research was carried out within the wineries where a questionnaire was administered personally to a sample of 200 winery visitors. The managers of the wineries were contacted previously to ensure their cooperation in the research. The statistical method used for the analysis of the exploratory causal model was the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. Results indicate that there is a great growth potential for wine tourism activity in the islands with important positive externalities on gastronomic tourism and the overall image of the Islands. Results show that wine tourism might boost the sales and exports of wine in the medium and long term. Finally, it can be concluded that there are important synergies between rural tourism, mass tourism, and wine tourism in the islands which are still not sufficiently optimized, and that greater support to wine tourism development could contribute not only to a more sustainable rural development but also to a more sustainable tourist activity overall within a more diversified economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two of the greatest challenges that threaten sustainable development are the water supply crisis together with the control of water resources pollution. The United Nations recognises that the right to safe drinking water and sanitation is an essential right, and states are called upon to intensify their efforts to provide the entire population with affordable access to safe drinking water. However, due to population growth and climate change, water resources are under great pressure, producing millions of cubic metres of wastewater. Due to the near impossibility of increasing water supply in a natural way, the importance of wastewater management as a method has grown in recent years, which, although it is not to increase the amount of this resource, but to facilitate its successive use before its final return to the sea. The objective of this article is to carry out a bibliometric analysis regarding the production and impact of the scientific research related to wastewater management indexed in the WoS and Scopus databases. The purpose is to know key aspects such as the progression of production over the years, maturity in research, coverage of the subject, identifying the most discussed topics and therefore identifying the gaps, the most relevant authors and the core of journals through which knowledge in this area is disseminated, as well as its impact through the analysis of citations. This analysis can help future researchers in this field by providing an overview of the current literature that helps them identify new research approaches to position their own work and identify the most relevant authors in this field. Likewise, a comparison is made on coverage and overlap between the two main international databases WoS and Scopus. From the analysis of the 211 articles selected through an advanced search by terms with a time limit set in 2018, it is concluded that we are facing a very incipient field of knowledge that has aroused great interest since 2010, with about half of the articles published in the period 2012–2018. Although WoS and Scopus differ in general terms in scope and coverage policies, both systems are complementary and not exclusive. In the specific area of wastewater management, Scopus is the base that provides the best coverage taking into account the number of articles published and the number of citations received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While global water demand continues increasing, the quantity and quality of water resources is decreasing in many regions. Conflicts over competition in the use of water are likely to increase as societies face social, economic and political challenges, especially aggravated by climate change. In this scenario, sustainable management of water resources is a key priority to meet the growing demand for water and to achieve a safe and environmentally sustainable future supply. The main objective of this article was to show an image of the international scientific production related to "Sustainable Water Resources Management" by using the comparative bibliometric study of the documents indexed in the WoS(Web of Science) and Scopus databases as a tool; and to analyze relevant aspects such as their coverage, correlation, overlap, growth, citation, dispersion or concentration, among others. For this purpose, and by means of an advanced search of terms, a representative set of 160 articles in WoS and 210 in Scopus were selected (with a time limit that limited the results to anything published before 2017, including 2017), which form the ad-hoc basis of the analysis. Their significant increase in both the number of articles and citations received in the last 10 years demonstrates the growing interest of the scientific community in its study. Regarding the analysis of the databases, although WoS and Scopus differ in terms of scope, volume of data and coverage policies, both information systems are complementary and non-exclusive. Despite their similarities, Scopus performs better coverage in the specific area of Sustainable Water Resource Management by collecting a greater number of articles and receiving a greater number of citations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as larger enterprises, generate economic, social, and environmental impacts on their environment. However, in the case of these types of enterprises, the accumulation of these impacts is very significant in the immediate surroundings where they offer their products and services. This discussion is particularly relevant in Ecuador, where 99% of all enterprises are SMEs. The objective of this research is to find out if small and medium-sized enterprises in this country are involved in the adoption of sustainable practices as well as see if there are significant differences in adoption based on size, sector, and age. The methodology used is the performance of a descriptive analysis and regression of the data obtained through a structured questionnaire (indicators of the Ethos Institute of Brazil). Previously, the reliability of the questionnaire was validated through an exploratory factor analysis. The target population consists of 9843 enterprises, obtaining a sample size of 188 valid surveys, which implies a response rate of 2%, representing a sampling error of ±7.08%. The results obtained enabled us to perform a sustainability diagnosis of SMEs in Ecuador, identifying the strengths and weaknesses. The managers have a positive and favourable attitude towards sustainability. The practices considered show a medium-high implementation level of 79.71% in economic sustainability, 82.28% in social sustainability, and 78.14% in environmental sustainability in the enterprises considered in the sample. Although these percentages are significant, there is plenty of scope for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]