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Sustainable Management Practices - Key to Innovation

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 May 2025 | Viewed by 11778

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Hafeezullah Memon

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Guest Editor

College of Textile Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Interests: nanocoatings; TiO₂; textiles; surfaces; functional coatings; finishes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today’s industry is critical to the development of technology, innovation, and information activities, as these measures will improve the efficiency of enterprises while ensuring their competitiveness [1]. It is considered that factories and enterprises should pay more attention to the environmental protection and recyclability of materials and practice corporate social responsibility. However, this is found less often in real cases. For example, carbon information disclosure is one of the most important aspects of sustainability assessment in the industries [2]; a little negligence has been shown while proving facts to the public in the case of carbon information disclosure.

In addition, it was found that leadership change was also considered an important factor for presenting carbon information disclosure [3]. It should be kept in mind that the fulfillment of corporate social responsibility always promotes corporate innovation, ensuring employees’ good health and well-being. Even in a commercial bank, if importance is given to sustainable financial supervision and a financial risk control system, it will lead to innovation. As in a previous study, green innovation for fashion brands is a sustainable approach for the textile and fashion industry [4]. Moreover, sustainable material management is also very important to how efficiently we can recycle and reuse the materials in the industry [5]. In brief, these sustainable practices help us to achieve innovation in today’s industry and sustainable development goals at the global level.

Although several research works have been completed, many challenging problems remain to be overcome, as follows:

Approaches to promoting corporate innovation
Social responsibility for innovation
Corporate social responsibility
Green marketing
Carbon information disclosure
Sustainable innovation
Public policy and innovation
Good health and well-being of employees

Thus, this Special Issue invites authors to address these new and innovative topics to fill the gaps in the research.

This Special Issue welcomes experts working in all sectors of industries desperate for sustainable development. These might include all sustainable management-related practices and efforts, including but not limited to corporate social responsibility, carbon information disclosure, sustainable innovation in the financial sector, green marketing, etc., to achieve sustainable development goals through management practices.

References

[1] Mathematics 2019, 7, 929, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math7100929.

[2] IJERPH 2020, 17, 8796, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17238796.

[3] Sustainability 2022, 14, 6948, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14126948.

[4] Sustainability 2021, 13, 4238, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13084238.

[5] Sustainability 2022, 14, 9453, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14159453.

Dr. Hafeezullah Memon
Guest Editor

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

business innovation
corporate social responsibility
green marketing
sustainable material management
sustainable practice

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Will Off-Balance-Sheet Business Innovation Affect Bank Risk-Taking under the Background of Financial Technology?

by Shuiwen Gao, Haifeng Gu, Guillermo Andres Buitrago and Habiba Halepoto

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2634; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15032634 - 01 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1630

Abstract

Given the rapid development of financial technology, the off-balance-sheet business innovations of banks may potentially impact bank risk-taking. This issue is of great importance to commercial banks and financial regulators. This paper analyzed the relationship between off-balance-sheet business innovation (OBI) and Bank Risk-Taking (BRT) in Chinese commercial banks, as well as the mediation role of the Bank Agency Cost (BAC), the impact of a bank’s Internal Control Quality (ICQ) on this relationship, and the moderating role of Bank Competition (BCMP) by analyzing panel data from a sample of 130 Chinese commercial banks from 2009 to 2019. The results of this empirical exercise showed that (1) OBI has a significant negative correlation with BRT, evidencing that off-balance-sheet business innovation can improve bank risk management processes and enhance the bank’s operating performance, thereby reducing their willingness to transfer risks, restraining the BRT level. Compared with state-owned and joint-stock banks, OBI has a more significant inhibitory effect on BRT in urban and rural commercial banks. (2) BAC showed a mediation role in the relationship between OBI and BRT levels. Bank OBI can inhibit BRT levels by BAC reduction, demonstrating an effective mediation channel. (3) The degree of BCMP displayed a positive moderation effect on the relationship between the explained and explanatory variables, which means that, at higher BCMP levels, the inhibitory effect of OBI on BRT levels becomes more significant. (4) Additionally, this exercise also found that a bank’s ICQ can enhance the impact of OBI on BRT. The research contributions of this paper constitute an important theoretical significance and reference value for researchers exploring mechanisms that can improve innovation in the commercial banking industry and give importance to financial supervision and financial system risk control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management Practices - Key to Innovation)

21 pages, 1162 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovation of the Social Security, Legal Risks, Sustainable Management Practices and Employee Environmental Awareness in The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor

by Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli, Shumin Wang, Xiaoshan Yan and Yuehan He

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1021; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15021021 - 05 Jan 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4550

Abstract

This research is about the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is an important and first project of the “Belt and Road” initiative (BRI). BRI is the framework and manifesto for the wide-ranging, fundamental collaboration signed by China and Pakistan in 2013. The CPEC vision and mission were initiated to develop economic growth and facilitate free trade, the people’s living standards of Pakistan and China through bilateral investments, trade, cultural exchanges, and economic activities between both countries. The initial investment for the project was $46 billion, with a tentative duration of fifteen years. This research aimed to inquire into the effects of legal risks (LR), social security (SS), and employee environmental awareness (EEA) on the project performance (PP) of the CPEC. It further investigates the significance of gender empowerment perspectives (GEP). A research framework consisting of this quantitative analysis and the bilateral impacts of the study were explored through several policies scenarios into 2025. The results of the risk analysis were rated on a Likert scale. A questionnaire survey was used in order to collect data and test the research framework and hypotheses. An empirical test was conducted using a dataset with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to validate the study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management Practices - Key to Innovation)

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22 pages, 316 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Fulfillment of Social Responsibility Enable Enterprises to Innovate? The Role of Corporate Financialization and Agency Costs

by Huiping Zhu, Haifeng Gu and Habiba Halepoto

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13799; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142113799 - 24 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1354

Abstract

This study constructs a panel model to conduct an empirical analysis on the influence of fulfillment of social responsibility on corporate innovation and its mechanism based on the annual data of A-share listed companies in China from 2010 to 2020. Research results show that (1) fulfillment of social responsibility has a positive effect on corporate innovation. Compared with enterprises with high economic policy uncertainty and low equity balance and non-state-owned enterprises, the implementation of social responsibility has a larger impact on the innovation of enterprises with low economic policy uncertainty and high equity balance and state-owned enterprises. (2) Corporate financialization and agency costs play a mediating role in the relationship between fulfillment of social responsibility and corporate innovation. Fulfillment of social responsibility can promote enterprise innovation by alleviating the capital-crowding effect caused by enterprise financialization and reducing agency costs. (3) Commercial credit has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between fulfillment of social responsibility and enterprise innovation. (4) Institutional investors have a negative moderating effect on the relationship between the fulfillment of social responsibility and enterprise innovation. The results can provide important theoretical guidance and serve as a decision-making reference for standardizing corporate social responsibility behavior and realizing the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management Practices - Key to Innovation)

Review

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30 pages, 1502 KiB

Open AccessReview

Eco-Efficiency, Environmental and Sustainable Innovation in Recycling Energy and Their Effect on Business Performance: Evidence from European SMEs

by Sara Majid, Xin Zhang, Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli, Feng Hong, Patricia Jie Hung King and Imran Haider Shamsi

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9465; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15129465 - 13 Jun 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3060

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of adopting resource efficiency actions, saving water, saving energy, using renewable energy, saving materials, minimizing waste, selling scrap, recycling, using durable products, promoting environmental responsibility, and offering green marketing products and services on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, we investigate specific resource efficiency actions and their impact on production costs, investment, the available support for product expansion, and the effect of encountered barriers on SME performance. We develop a theoretical framework based on stakeholder- and resource-based theories to serve as the foundation for this analysis. We use these theories to explain the link between eco-efficiency actions, firm performance, and ecological behavior, along with public policy and innovation. This study uses Flash Eurobarometer survey datasets FL342, FL381, FL426, and FL456, which cover SMEs across time and sectors in 28 EU countries. The data are analyzed through descriptive and ordered logit regression analysis, using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to test the relationship between the above variables and the parameters. In terms of practical implications, these findings are crucial in helping SMEs pursue sustainable development. According to the findings, SMEs lack information on how implementing eco-efficiency action affects their financial health and sustainable innovation. This study can provide valuable insights into how implementing eco-efficiency practices can positively impact a company’s bottom line, good health, and employees’ well-being and how SMEs can use this information to make more informed decisions. Additionally, the findings can help inform policy makers about how to better support SMEs in pursuing sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management Practices - Key to Innovation)

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