Towards SDGs and Sustainable ESG Performance: The Synergistic Influence of Industry 4.0 and Governance Structure

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is an international inter-disciplinary domain of research attracting scholars, government regulatory bodies, standards setters and other stakeholders. Global warming and other environmental issues have led to corporate business model transformations towards ESG and sustainable performance and revolutionized the conventional practices of supply chain management to green sustainable supply chain management practices (Jabbour and de Sousa Jabbour, 2016).

The study of Song et al. (2022) articulates related topics underpinning green, sustainable supply chain management in platform economies, including technological innovations. In a more recent study, Bustinza et al. (2024) offer valuable insight into the intricate nexus between product–service innovation and green supply chain management and shed lights on the influence of Industry 4.0 in improving environmental performance. Other studies (e.g., Belhadi et al., 2022) explore the influence of Industry 4.0 on closed-loop supply chains. Industry 4.0 technology adoption facilitates corporate transformation towards SDGs and ecosystems. Industry 4.0 enables companies to increase flexibility and production efficiency, quality of manufacturing processes and amalgamating product innovation management practices with stakeholders (Meindl et al., 2021; Marantes et al., 2023).

Circular economy strategies enable reducing the environmental impact of the linear economy by reducing, reusing and recovering resources through production and consumption systems (see Alkaraan et al., 2022; Blackburn et al., 2023). Industry 4.0 technologies empowering sustainability initiatives, including restoration, waste management and emission reduction, raw material recycling, and water and energy conservation (Kumar et al., 2024). The extant literature has witnessed various domains of research regarding the influence of Industry 4.0 and governance structure on current practices of green business innovation and strategies and corporate transformation towards ESG performance and sustainability (see Alkaraan et al., 2024). To maintain the ESG investment trend, governments will observe ESG data and rating code of conduct mechanisms to promote best practice in the markets. However, the question remains open for debate; does ESG investing pay off  (Asteriou et al., 2023)?

This Special Issues contributes to the current debates on sustainability and articulates current issues surrounding corporate transformation towards ESG performance. This is through holistic perspectives with multi-theoretical lenses. We encourage colleagues to adopt multi-datasets with an integrated/amalgamated approaches utilizing quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods paradigms to examine various spheres underpinning sustainable performance maximization. Submissions are invited on, but not limited to, the following topics: 

• The influence of green finance on ESG performance.
• Carbon budgeting, control and companies’ performance.
• Boardrooms commitment to climate change and net-zero economy.
• The influence of FinTech adoption on ESG performance.
• The influence of green supply chain management on boardrooms commitment to climate change.
• The influence of corporate governance mechanisms on climate-related disclosure.
• Key pillars reinforcing ecosystems including Industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy strategies.
• The influence of governance structure, socio-economic and political factors on corporate transformation towards SDGs and sustainable performance maximization.
• Green business innovation strategies and ESG performance.
• The influence of environmental initiatives on SDGs and sustainable performance.
• The influence of green supply chain management on life cycle assessment and sustainable performance.
• Monitoring and evaluating ecosystems maintenance strategies.
• Accounting for waste management, water management and biodiversity and their influence on sustainability.
• Environmental management accounting and control system.

References

Asteriou, D., Pilbeam, K. and Pouliot, W. (2023). Does ESG investing pay off? An analysis of the Eurozone area before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Finance & Economics.  https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2865

Alkaraan, F., Elmarzouky, M., Hussainey, K., Venkatesh, V.G., Shi, Y., Gulko, N. (2023).
Reinforcing green business strategies with Industry 4.0 and governance towards sustainability: Natural-resource-based view and dynamic capability. Business Strategy
and the Environment, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3665

Alkaraan, F., Elmarzouky, M., Hussainey, K., Venkatesh, VG. (2023). Sustainable strategic investment decision-making practices in UK companies: the influence of governance mechanisms on synergy between Industry 4.0 and circular economy. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 187 ,122187,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122187

Alkaraan, F. Albitar, K, Hussainey, K, Venkatesh, V.G. (2022) Corporate transformation towards Industry 4.0 and financial performance: The influence of environmental, social and governance (ESG), Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 175, February 2022, 121423, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121423.

Belhadi, A., Kamble, S. S., Jabbour, C.J.D., Venkatesh, M., Sayed., A.R. Khan, F. & Touriki, E .(2022). A self-assessment tool for evaluating the integration of circular economy and industry 4.0 principles in closed-loop supply chains, International Journal of Production Economics 245 108372,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108372

Blackburn, O, Ritala, P. and Keränen, J. (2023). Digital platforms for the circular economy: exploring meta-organizational orchestration mechanisms. Organization & Environment, 36(2) 253-281, https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221130

Bustinza, O. F., Vendrell-Herrero, F., and Jabbour, C. J. C. (2024). Integration of product-service innovation into green supply chain management: Emerging opportunities and paradoxes. Technovation, 130, 102923, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102923

Jabbour, C. J.C., de Sousa Jabbour, A.B.L. (2016). Green Human Resource Management and Green Supply Chain Management: linking two emerging agendas, Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 3, 1824-1833, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.01.052

Song, M., Fisher, R, de Sousa Jabbour, A.B. L., Santibañez Gonzalez, E. (2022). Green and sustainable supply chain management in the platform economy, International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, vol. 25, 4-5, 349-363. https://doi.org/10.1080/13675567.2022.2045763

Kumar, M.  Raut, R.D., Mangla. S. K., Chowdhury, S., Choubey. V. K. (2024). Moderating ESG compliance between industry 4.0 and green practices with green servitization: Examining its impact on green supply chain performance, Technovation, 129 (2024), 102898, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102898

Dr. Fadi Alkaraan
Prof. Dr. Khaled Hussainey
Guest Editors

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