The electrical and electronic equipment industry is key to climate and energy transitions, but its activities have a significant environmental footprint. Tangible improvements in the sustainability of this sector are difficult because of the layers of complexity that characterize this industry’s products, processes and supply chains. This article analyzes the different facets of complexity relevant to sustainability in the industrial electronics sector, by implementing an in-depth longitudinal case study of a leading Italian business-to-business multinational company. We identify three core dimensions of complexity management that are pivotal for corporate sustainability: internal complexity, supply chain complexity and external complexity. We find that handling sustainability in complex production systems with multitier and multiproduct value chains presents organizational and managerial challenges but also offers new competitive opportunities for resilience and innovation. Once the appropriate metrics, know-how and information flows are established, our results highlight the transferability of sustainable innovations in these complex environments.

电气和电子设备行业是气候和能源转型的关键，但其活动具有显着的环境足迹。由于该行业产品、流程和供应链的复杂性，该行业的可持续性很难得到切实改善。本文通过对一家领先的意大利企业对企业跨国公司进行深入的纵向案例研究，分析了与工业电子领域可持续发展相关的复杂性的不同方面。我们确定了对企业可持续发展至关重要的复杂性管理的三个核心维度：内部复杂性、供应链复杂性和外部复杂性。我们发现，在具有多层和多产品价值链的复杂生产系统中处理可持续性带来了组织和管理挑战，但也为弹性和创新提供了新的竞争机会。一旦建立了适当的指标、专业知识和信息流，我们的结果就会凸显可持续创新在这些复杂环境中的可转移性。