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Sustainability, Industry 4.0, and Economics

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2023) | Viewed by 5635

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Economic and Administrative Science, Department of Banking and Finance, Lefke, European University of Lefke, Northern Cyprus, TR-10, Mersin, Turkey
Interests: environmental economics and macroeconomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Cyprus International University, North Cyprus, Turkey
Interests: business finance; sustainable banking; islamic finance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Changing technologies and the history of the Industrial Revolution have led to new trends in industries. These trends include the rise of the so called ‘Industry 4.0’ and ‘Smart Manufacturing’. The adoption of these new concepts is hailed by some, while others simply view them as a symbiotic amalgamation of traditional industries and information technology. Industry 4.0 opens the possibility to adjust products more swiftly. Consequently, it allows for predictive maintenance, extended life cycles, and reduced waste, which contribute to sustainability. As a result of Industry 4.0, the labor market, education, and skills will need to adapt.

Technological innovation is crucial, but there is little empirical evidence. Moreover, a country’s ability to deal with a changing environment is enhanced by technological innovation. Green innovation can be an important tool to cope with increasing pressures and the changing environment. A crucial question can be raised regarding the potential linkage between technological development and macroeconomics, the linkage between sustainability and Industry 4.0, the linkage between business sustainability and industry 4.0, and the linkage between environment and Industry 4.0.

This Special Issue will focus on research highlighting the linkage between Industry 4.0 and macroeconomics, the linkage between sustainability and Industry 4.0, the evolution of sustainability in the new technological era, socioeconomic challenges with the implementation of Industry 4.0, circular economics and digitalization, green economics, environmental sustainability, and business sustainability. Therefore, the editors encourage the submission of manuscripts associated with empirical and theoretical studies that could link to the main scope of this Special Issue.

References:

Hysa, E., Kruja, A., Rehman, N. U., & Laurenti, R. (2020). Circular economy innovation and environmental sustainability impact on economic growth: An integrated model for sustainable development. Sustainability12(12), 4831.

Ghobakhloo, M. (2020). Industry 4.0, digitization, and opportunities for sustainability. Journal of cleaner production252, 119869.

Furstenau, L. B., Sott, M. K., Kipper, L. M., Machado, E. L., Lopez-Robles, J. R., Dohan, M. S., ... & Imran, M. A. (2020). Link between sustainability and industry 4.0: trends, challenges and new perspectives. Ieee Access8, 140079-140096.

Dantas, T. E., De-Souza, E. D., Destro, I. R., Hammes, G., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Soares, S. R. (2021). How the combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production and Consumption26, 213-227.

Sverko Grdic, Z., Krstinic Nizic, M., & Rudan, E. (2020). Circular economy concept in the context of economic development in EU countries. Sustainability12(7), 3060.

Zhou, X., Song, M., & Cui, L. (2020). Driving force for China’s economic development under Industry 4.0 and circular economy: Technological innovation or structural change?. Journal of Cleaner Production271, 122680.

Dr. Dervis Kirikkaleli
Dr. Seyed Alireza Athari
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

  • Industry 4.0
  • sustainability
  • sustainable development
  • green economics
  • macroeconomics
  • circular economy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1600 KiB  
Article
The Role of Resource Acquisition in Achieving Sustainable Competitive Performance for SMEs in an Emerging Market: A Moderated Mediation Analysis
by Omar Radwan Traboulsy
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151612302 - 11 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1425
Abstract
The extant literature shows that due to resource limitations, many small businesses fail to survive in the long term, particularly in developed countries. However, the effect of resource limitations on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains largely ignored, particularly in [...] Read more.
The extant literature shows that due to resource limitations, many small businesses fail to survive in the long term, particularly in developed countries. However, the effect of resource limitations on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains largely ignored, particularly in the context of emerging economies. Therefore, using the resource-based view and upper-echelon theories, this study aims to fill this knowledge gap and examine the role of resource acquisition in SMEs in achieving sustainable competitive performance in the context of the emerging country of Lebanon. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a comprehensive survey of 426 managers and owners of SMEs in the top five provinces in Lebanon, where the majority of its SMEs are located. The empirical results show that resource acquisition has positive direct and indirect effects (through structural flexibility) on sustainable competitive performance. In addition, they reveal that structural flexibility has a positive effect on sustainable competitive performance and partially mediates the resource acquisition–sustainable competitive performance relationship. Furthermore, the results highlight that management commitment to strategic performance moderates the direct resource acquisition–structural flexibility and resource acquisition–sustainable competitive performance nexuses, and the positive effect is further enhanced (or diminished) in SMEs with high (or low) management commitment to strategic performance. The results are robust and have important policy implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Industry 4.0, and Economics)
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18 pages, 682 KiB  
Article
Applying Green Human Resource Practices toward Sustainable Workplace: A Moderated Mediation Analysis
by Maya Chreif and Panteha Farmanesh
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9250; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14159250 - 28 Jul 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2992
Abstract
The significant need to achieve business sustainability calls for a new business perspective grounded on leaders’ abilities and the effective execution of green human resource management (GHRM). This study aims to emphasize the role of ethical leadership and GHRM in moving organizations toward [...] Read more.
The significant need to achieve business sustainability calls for a new business perspective grounded on leaders’ abilities and the effective execution of green human resource management (GHRM). This study aims to emphasize the role of ethical leadership and GHRM in moving organizations toward sustainability. GHRM supports companies to match their corporate strategies to the environment mainly in the presence of ethical leaders who can walk the talk and the provision of adequate practices and training by HRM to foster a working environment, where employees can exhibit creativity, passion, and positive behaviors towards sustainability. Specifically, this research studies the impact of ethical leaders via GHRM and harmonious environmental passion on employees’ green behaviors using a quantitative method in which a dyadic approach (supervisor–employee) was employed to collect data from two sources through a structured questionnaire from non-profit organizations in Lebanon. The research hypotheses were tested using Partial Least-Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed a significant impact of ethical leadership on employees’ green behaviors. In addition, GHRM and harmonious environmental passion mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ green behaviors. Besides, it was noticed that green creativity strengthened the association between ethical leadership and GHRM, while a psychological green climate strengthened the association between GHRM and employees’ green behaviors. The study has practical implications for leaders and policymakers who are apprehensive about business sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Industry 4.0, and Economics)
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