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Sustainability of Sustainable Business Practices – Challenges and Innovations

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 14118

Special Issue Editors

School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Interests: green consumer behaviour; customer experience and engagement; resilience; technology adoption
Murdoch Business School, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia
Interests: energy and stock market; volatility of asset returns; green financing
Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
Interests: green marketing; environmentally sustainable consumer behavior; online consumption behavior; measurement & scale development
Engineering and Energy, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia
Interests: future electricity networks; microgrids; power systems reliability and stability analysis; renewable energy; and its enabling technologies; renewable energy integration into the grid-connected and off-grid electricity networks; energy efficiency and demand management; hydrogen economy; and sustainability in the energy sector
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There has been an increased awareness of how business practices contribute to climate change, the occurrence of frequent extreme weather events, the depletion of natural resources, and the shattering of consumers’ wellbeing. Sustainability thinking, conceived in the 1960s due to the fact that the finite nature of the world’s resources limits economic growth, has gradually encompassed relevant social, ecological, and environmental issues that are reflected in business models, enterprise strategies, and government practices (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 2021). Consequently, a dedicated body of knowledge on sustainable business practice has emerged in various streams, comprising green banking (Khairunnessa et al., 2021), green marketing (Machová et al. 2022), green finance (Gilchrist et al. 2021), green human resource management (Benevene and Buonomo, 2020), green supply chain management (Paliwal et al. 2020), environmental accounting (Novovic et al., 2022), green energy (D’Adamo & Rosa, 2020), and so on, all of which help in achieving the policy objectives of climate sustainability (Migliorelli and Dessertine, 2020). These are instrumental in facilitating the successful transition to a global low-carbon economy by efficiently allocating resources to eco-friendly sectors. Moreover, these business practices focus on innovation in order to help society strive for environmental sustainability and social justice as the norm (Martin and Schouten, 2014). The essence of such practices involves environmental, social, and economic stewardship while developing business strategies.

Sustainability is at the heart of the new business paradigm (Martin and Schouten, 2014). Firms, industries, and governments must address myriad world problems associated with climate crises that contribute to persistent poverty and socio-economic disparities across many parts of the world. One of the key challenges is alleviating and ultimately eradicating irresponsible consumption and unsustainable production (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 2021). The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal number 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) calls for a holistic effort to promoting sustainable consumption and production in a modern and materialistic society. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a serious threat to the sustainability of firms’ strategies despite their environmentally friendly orientations. Consumers, on the other hand, are more concerned about health, wellbeing, authentic and local sourcing of products than ever before. These factors raise the prospect for academics and practitioners to explore possible innovative solutions that firms need to adopt to ensure the sustainability of their business practices. Sustainability strategies require holistic transformation of business models as they demand engagement from multiple stakeholders without compromising the expectations of consumers (Grubor and Milovanov, 2017). Although innovation sits at the core of sustainable business practices, in order to address the above issues, business firms must think out of the box, transform their business models and existing sustainable orientations, and develop a new consumption and production culture capable of supporting sustainable development by going beyond the materialistic mindset. However, the extant literature is relatively silent on some fundamental questions in this regard, such as: (i) Do current business models adequately address recent environmental concerns such as the pandemic, climate change and frequent extreme weather events? (ii) Can marketing contribute to developing non-material culture, supporting responsible consumption and sustainable practices? (iii) What are the optimal sustainable business practices for firms to mitigate climate challenges? (iv) What are the economic and business considerations for green energy transition? (v) What are the optimal financial and investment strategies for firms to address climatic challenges and other contemporary issues?

Purpose and Themes 

This Special Issue aims to stimulate interdisciplinary research leading to thought-provoking works that have substantial relevance to sustainable business strategies and innovation supporting sustainable development. It invites conceptual/theoretical or empirical papers using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods from individuals and/or teams of researchers across academic fields around the world. The key themes of the Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

  • Innovations for effective sustainable marketing strategies;
  • Innovative business models to address climate change impact and environmental challenges;
  • Branding and corporate communication fostering sustainability;
  • Luxury branding and sustainability;
  • Responsible consumption and non-material culture;
  • Climate change, government regulations and macro marketing strategies fostering sustainable development;
  • Environmental degradation, sustainable consumption, and corporate strategy;
  • Sustainable business strategies addressing sustainable development goals (SDGs);
  • Concerns and challenges of effective sustainable marketing strategies;
  • Carbon labelling and green consumer behaviour;
  • Consumer behaviour towards green energy;
  • Economics of green and sustainable products;
  • Green energy transition and relevant economic, business and sustainability considerations;
  • Climate change, financial markets, and sustainable financing;
  • Climate disclosure and financial risks;
  • Financial and investment strategies to address climatic and other contemporary challenges;
  • Innovations in green banking;
  • Challenges of sustainability communications and new approaches to addressing ‘green washing’;
  • Innovations is green human resource management at the workplace;
  • Innovations for integrating sustainability in supply chain and ensuring transparency.

References

Benevene, P., & Buonomo, I. (2020). Green human resource management: An evidence-based systematic literature review. Sustainability12(15), 5974.

D’Adamo, I., & Rosa, P. (2020). AbHow do you see infrastructure? Green energy to provide economic growth after COVID-19. Sustainability12(11), 4738.

Gilchrist, D., Yu, J., & Zhong, R. (2021). The limits of green finance: a survey of literature in the context of green bonds and green loans. Sustainability13(2), 478.

Grubor, A. and Milovanov, O. (2017). Brand strategies in the era of sustainability. Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, 15(1): 78-88.

Khairunnessa, F., Vazquez-Brust, D. A., & Yakovleva, N. (2021). A review of the recent developments of green banking in Bangladesh. Sustainability13(4), 1904.

Machová, R., Ambrus, R., Zsigmond, T., & Bakó, F. (2022). The Impact of Green Marketing on Consumer Behavior in the Market of Palm Oil Products. Sustainability14(3), 1364.

Martin, D. M., & Schouten, J. W. (2014). The answer is sustainable marketing, when the question is: What can we do?. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition)29(3), 107-109.

Migliorelli, M., Dessertine, P. (Eds.) (2020). Sustainability and financial risk: The impact of climate change, environmental degradation and social inequality on financial markets. Palgrave Macmillan. 

Novovic Buric, M., Jaksic Stojanovic, A., Lalevic Filipovic, A., & Kascelan, L. (2022). Research of Attitudes toward Implementation of Green Accounting in Tourism Industry in Montenegro-Practices, and Challenges. Sustainability14(3), 1725.

Paliwal, V., Chandra, S., & Sharma, S. (2020). Blockchain technology for sustainable supply chain management: A systematic literature review and a classification framework. Sustainability12(18), 7638.

Sheth, J. N., & Parvatiyar, A. (2021). Sustainable marketing: Market-driving, not market-driven. Journal of Macromarketing41(1), 150-165.

Dr. Fazlul K. Rabbanee
Dr. Kamrul Hassan
Dr. Khan M. R. Taufique
Dr. GM Shafiullah
Dr. Ashraf Dewan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • sustainable business practices
  • innovation
  • climate change
  • green energy
  • green marketing
  • green consumer behaviour
  • green banking
  • green finance
  • green supply chain
  • green human resources
  • environmental accounting

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 786 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises: A Developed Model of Entrepreneurial Marketing Behaviors for Thailand’s MSMEs
by Liou-Yuan Li, Ahmad Mujafar Syah, Muhammad Syukur, Rachatawan Limkanchanapa and Chamaiporn Srisurat
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13135; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713135 - 31 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1583
Abstract
The main objective of this study is to propose a developed model of entrepreneurial marketing behaviors for sustainable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Thailand. This study aims to contribute to the existing literature on sustainable business practices and entrepreneurial marketing behaviors [...] Read more.
The main objective of this study is to propose a developed model of entrepreneurial marketing behaviors for sustainable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Thailand. This study aims to contribute to the existing literature on sustainable business practices and entrepreneurial marketing behaviors after a disaster by providing a framework that can be used for future research in this area, particularly after economic turbulence. The research method used in this study is quantitative. The study was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand. Primary data were collected from respondents via a questionnaire using a non-probability sampling approach (purposive sampling). A total of 511 out of 600 issued online and paper surveys were successfully returned, constituting an 85% response rate. The primary data were acquired from first-hand sources of Thai MSMEs’ business owners and managers. The hypothesis testing of this study proves that entrepreneurial marketing behaviors could influence business rebound during the COVID period. The study also concludes that business resilience practices mediate or carry the influence of entrepreneurial marketing behaviors on the business rebound. Full article
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14 pages, 466 KiB  
Article
Green Loans in Bank Portfolio: Financial and Marketing Implications
by Vera Mirovic, Branimir Kalas, Ines Djokic, Nikola Milicevic, Nenad Djokic and Milos Djakovic
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5914; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075914 - 29 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3454
Abstract
Banks represent important subjects in business, with dominant positions in the financial system in the world. Banks developed various financial products and services that can cover most market needs. As a result of adequate portfolio diversifications, banks recorded positive profitability rates. In addition [...] Read more.
Banks represent important subjects in business, with dominant positions in the financial system in the world. Banks developed various financial products and services that can cover most market needs. As a result of adequate portfolio diversifications, banks recorded positive profitability rates. In addition to being adjusted to competition, banks should also focus on the environment. Therefore, banks have recognized an opportunity to offer green products and services and support environmentally-friendly initiatives and projects. The aim of this paper is to identify whether crucial determinants of bank profitability are moderated by the presence of green loans in the bank portfolio. For this purpose, a panel fixed-effects approach was applied to data from the Republic of Serbia (2014–2021). The obtained results indicate that the presence of green loans in a bank’s portfolio moderates the influences of a bank’s liquidity on the bank’s profitability measured by return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The contribution of the conducted research is that it is, according to the authors’ knowledge, the first measurement and estimation of the moderating effects of green loans’ presence in banks’ portfolios on their profitability. In addition to financial, marketing implications were considered. Full article
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18 pages, 1375 KiB  
Article
Green Practices in Mega Development Projects of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
by Shakir Ullah, Sergey Barykin, Ma Jianfu, Taher Saifuddin, Mohammed Arshad Khan and Ruben Kazaryan
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5870; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075870 - 28 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2777
Abstract
This research aimed to investigate the green practices in the mega construction project of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Over recent years, there has been an increasing need for adopting and implementing more green and sustainable practices, leading to national and international sustainable [...] Read more.
This research aimed to investigate the green practices in the mega construction project of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Over recent years, there has been an increasing need for adopting and implementing more green and sustainable practices, leading to national and international sustainable and green environmental agendas. To address the issue, green project practices were considered an independent variable comprising green design, procurement, and construction. The dependent variables were environmental performance and economic performance. Primary data were collected from respondents working on the CPEC project. A representative sample of 276 respondents was used. The analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. The results indicated that green design significantly influences economic performance, green procurement has a positive and significant effect on environmental performance, and green construction has a positive and significant impact on both environmental and economic and financial performance. The research showed that construction management at CPEC should adopt all facets of green project practices together, reducing negative environmental effects, increasing environmental benefits, and improving long-term economic performance in the area. Full article
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17 pages, 966 KiB  
Article
Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Finance and Environmental Performance: Does Green Innovation Matter?
by Xiaofei Dai, Abu Bakkar Siddik and Huawei Tian
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013607 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4444
Abstract
This study aims to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green Finance (GI) on the Environmental Performance (EP) of banking institutions in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The study also examines the role of green innovation (GI) as a mediator in [...] Read more.
This study aims to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green Finance (GI) on the Environmental Performance (EP) of banking institutions in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The study also examines the role of green innovation (GI) as a mediator in the existent relationship between CSR, GF and EP. Data were obtained from 357 bankers of commercial banks in Bangladesh through the aid of structured questionnaires. A structural equation modeling approach was employed in the investigation of the obtained primary data, and results revealed that CSR had a significant positive impact on GI and EP, while GI strongly enhances EP. Besides, the findings revealed that GF had a significant positive influence on GI and EP. Furthermore, the research data indicated that GI fully mediates the link between CSR and EP, and GF and EP significantly. The study highlights the importance of CSR dimensions (social, economic and environmental), GF and GI in the attainment of EP, as well as the urgent need to incorporate sustainability into banking strategies to help achieve the country’s long-term economic development. As a result, major policy implications were further addressed. Full article
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