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Introduction
Emerging markets face urgent sustainability challenges including rising resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and social inequality as they pursue rapid economic growth (Gladys and Thierry, 2023; Garri, 2022; Qian, Li and Rugman, 2013). Profit expectations, strategic behaviour/orientation, and strategic leadership are important antecedents driving MNEs and SMEs to pursue sustainability in emerging and developing markets, not just institutional pressures (Aguinis and Glavas, 2012). Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, internet of things, and advanced robotics provide promising opportunities to enable more sustainable practices across sectors like manufacturing, transportation, energy, and agriculture (Tsolakis et al., 2022; Spanaki et al., 2022). However, if not managed responsibly, the proliferation of data-driven technologies could also have unintended consequences that contradict sustainability aims, such as increased emissions, threats to worker livelihoods, and breach of privacy (Schaltegger et al., 2022).
Social entrepreneurship combines the principles of business and social impact to address these sustainability challenges in an effective and community-driven manner (Hassan, 2020; Rivera-Santos, 2015). By creating innovative, economically viable and community-driven solutions, social entrepreneurs contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future (Roslan, et al., 2022; Gupta et al., 2020).
Sustainable development has previously been explored using agency theory (Kudla and Thorsten, 2012), stakeholder theory (Hörisch, Freeman and Schaltegger, 2014), resource-based theory (Evangeline, 2017), and institutional theory (Ebrahimi and Koh, 2021), as corporate citizenship (Lee, 2021; Albareda, 2008), as a strategic activity (Zanten and Tulder, 2021; Christ, Burritt and Varsei, 2017) and as a response social performance of companies in the supply chains (Amann et al., 2014). In addition to these perspectives, social entrepreneurship has emerged as another approach pursued by organisations to integrate business principles with social and environmental objectives. The complex interplay between digitalisation, sustainability, and society in emerging economies remains underexplored in current literature. To advance understanding, this special issue brings together critical perspectives examining how to best leverage digital transformation as an enabler – rather than a barrier – to building environmentally sustainable and socially equitable emerging markets aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Contributors for this special issue will critically examine the opportunities and challenges involved in leveraging digital innovations - such as big data, AI, and smart cities - to address environmental issues from climate change to waste management. New theoretical perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged to study this multidimensional relationship. Aligning with several SDGs, the issue ultimately aims to generate thoughtful and pragmatic analysis on harnessing the digital revolution for building environmentally sustainable emerging economies.
This issue welcomes rigorous theoretical and empirical research on the intersection of digital transformation and sustainability in emerging market contexts from diverse disciplines. It aims to further understanding of how organisations can effectively utilise AI, big data, blockchain and other digital innovations to address environmental issues while considering ethical implications. We encourage critical examination of the tensions between digital innovation and sustainability, including topics such as e-waste generation, energy consumption of data centres, and responsible innovation principles.
List of Topic Areas
- Opportunities and risks of digital technologies for advancing sustainability
- Greenwashing and selective sustainability disclosures
- Theories e.g. institutional theory, stakeholder theory, critical perspectives
- Responsible technology innovation and use policies
- Role of stakeholders - government, civil society, private sector
- Digital divides and access to sustainable technology
- Environmental footprint and responsible management of digital infrastructure
- Circular economy and sharing economy enabled by digital platforms
- Comparative research on sustainability strategies between emerging markets and mature economies
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/11/2023
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31/12/2024
References
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Albareda, L. (2008). Corporate responsibility, governance and accountability: from self-regulation to co-regulation. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 8 (4), pp. 430-439.
Amann, M. , Roehrich, J. , Essig, M. and Harland, C. (2014), Driving sustainable supply chain management in the public sector. The importance of public procurement in the European Union, Supply Chain Management. An International Journal, 19 (3), pp. 353-368.
Christ, K.L., Burritt, R.L. and Varsei, M. (2017), Coopetition as a potential strategy for corporate sustainability, Business Strategy and the Environment, 26 (7), pp. 1029-1040.
Ebrahimi, M. S. and Koh, L. (2021). Manufacturing sustainability: Institutional theory and life cycle thinking. Journal of Cleaner Production, 298, 126787.
Evangeline, O. E. (2017). Does recognition of climate change related risks and opportunities determine sustainability performance? Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, pp. 956-966.
Garri, M. (2022). MNE’s sustainability strategies in emerging and developing markets. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 30 (3), pp.743-759.
Gladys, T. B. and Thierry, R. J. (2023). Sustainability Discourse in Emerging Market multinationals: The Case of South Africa’s Largest Firms, Journal of African Business, 24 (2), pp. 188-213.
Gupta, P., Chauhan, S., Paul, J., & Jaiswal, M. P. (2020). Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 113, pp. 209–229.
Hassan, H. K. (2020). Intention towards social entrepreneurship of university students in an emerging economy: the influence of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurship education. On the Horizon, 28(3), pp. 133-151.
Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E. and Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying Stakeholder Theory in Sustainability Management: Links, Similarities, Dissimilarities, and a Conceptual Framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), pp. 328–346.
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Lee T. H. (2021). How Firms Communicate Their Social Roles through Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Citizenship, and Corporate Sustainability: An Institutional Comparative Analysis of Firms’ Social Reports. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 15:3, 214-230.
Qian, G., Li, L., and Rugman, A. M. (2013). Liability of country foreignness and liability of regional foreignness: Their effects on geographic diversification and firm performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 44(6), pp. 635–647.
Rivera-Santos, M., Holt, D., Littlewood, D., & Kolk, A. (2015). Social entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(1), pp. 72-91.
Roslan, M. H. H., Hamid, S., Ijab, M. T., Yusop, F. D., and Norman, A. A. (2022). Social entrepreneurship in higher education: challenges and opportunities. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 42(3), pp.588–604
Schaltegger, S., Christ, KL., Wenzig, J. and Burritt, RL. (2022). Corporate sustainability management accounting and multi-level links for sustainability – a systematic review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 24, pp. 480–500.
Spanaki, K., Karafili, E., Sivarajah, U., Despoudi, S. and Irani, Z. (2022). Artificial intelligence and food security: swarm intelligence of AgriTech drones for smart AgriFood operations, Production Planning & Control, 33 (16), pp. 1498-1516.
Tsolakis, N., Zissis, D., Papaefthimiou, S. and Korfiatis, N. (2022). Towards AI driven environmental sustainability: an application of automated logistics in container port terminals, International Journal of Production Research, 60 (14), pp. 4508-4528.
Zanten, v. J. and Tulder, R. (2021). Analyzing companies' interactions with the Sustainable Development Goals through network analysis: Four corporate sustainability imperatives. Bus Strat Env., 30, pp. 2396–2420.
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