sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Strategic Orientation and Product Innovation for Sustainable Development

A Special Issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) belonging to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 1393

Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Business, School of Economics, Business and Computer Science, Neapolis University Pafos, Paphos, Cyprus
Interests: ICT integration in learning & teaching; technology; innovation management and enterpeneurship; diversity and inclusion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Business, School of Economics, Business and Computer Science, Neapolis University Pafos, 8042 Paphos, Cyprus
Interests: sustainable entrepreneurship; sustainable development; EU policies; rural businesses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Communication and Creativity, School of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Neapolis University Pafos, Pafos 8042, Cyprus
Interests: marketing management; consumer behaviour; marketing communication; strategy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current Special Issue invites studies that examine how strategic orientation and product innovation drive sustainable development across different industry sectors. It is evident that many enterprises across the world strive to overcome environmental challenges, whilst the alignment of corporate strategy with sustainable product development plays a pivotal role in the context of certain structural and transformative changes. Alongside their contribution to low-carbon and circular economy efforts, the latter relate to meeting societal expectations and complying with relevant regulations. Ultimately, this perspective ensures that business growth is adequately balanced with environmental and societal goals, making the green transition a viable and competitive path to long-term success.

In this regard, this Special Issue welcomes submissions from academics and scholars in the areas of business sustainability, strategic management, innovation studies, environmental management, and circular economy research. Additionally, interdisciplinary contributions from industry experts/practitioners and policy specialists in the field addressing the aforementioned issues are also encouraged.

We welcome conceptual, empirical, and review papers on concrete sustainability-oriented strategies shaping innovation processes, strengthening dynamic green capabilities, and enhancing triple-bottom-line performance.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Strategic sustainability orientation;
  • Green product innovation;
  • Dynamic green capabilities;
  • Circular and low-carbon transitions;
  • Eco-innovation and green technologies;
  • Market, technology, and sustainable development;
  • Sustainable product design, and value creation;
  • The interface of environmental and social sustainability;
  • Stakeholder and policy drivers;
  • Policy effectiveness on influencing product innovation for sustainable development.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Nicholas Theodorakopoulos
Dr. Sotiris Apostolopoulos
Dr. Andreas Masouras
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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

  • strategic sustainability
  • circular economy
  • low-carbon transition
  • eco-innovation
  • dynamic green capabilities
  • sustainable product design
  • sustainable value creation
  • green technologies
  • sustainability-driven innovation
  • policy drivers for sustainability

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

44 pages, 6680 KB  
Article
Strategic Orientation Toward Sustainable Product Innovation in the Low-Carbon Automotive Transition: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of SUV Powertrain Technologies and End-of-Life Scenarios, 2025–2050
by Katarzyna Piotrowska, Izabela Piasecka, Patrycja Bałdowska-Witos and Patryk Leda
Sustainability 2026, 18(15), 7890; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18157890 - 4 Aug 2026
Viewed by 690
Abstract
The decarbonisation of the automotive sector requires product innovation, circular end-of-life management and energy-system transformation to be treated as interdependent strategic choices. This study proposes a decision-oriented life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for evaluating sustainable product innovation in sport utility vehicles (SUVs), focusing [...] Read more.
The decarbonisation of the automotive sector requires product innovation, circular end-of-life management and energy-system transformation to be treated as interdependent strategic choices. This study proposes a decision-oriented life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for evaluating sustainable product innovation in sport utility vehicles (SUVs), focusing on how powertrain selection and post-consumer management support the low-carbon transition. Six SUV powertrain technologies—petrol, diesel and CNG internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), petrol plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)—were assessed for 2025–2050 using ReCiPe 2016, IPCC 2021, Cumulative Energy Demand, CML-IA and Ecological Scarcity 2021. Landfilling and recycling scenarios were combined with fuel- and energy-cycle modelling, including well-to-tank (WTT) and tank-to-wheel (TTW) emissions and a Paris Agreement-compatible 2050 pathway. Recycling generally outperformed landfilling, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26–35%, cumulative energy demand by 28–59%, carcinogenic air emissions by 27–43% and heavy-metal impacts on soil by 62–80%, although eutrophication revealed category-specific trade-offs. BEV and FCEV configurations were particularly sensitive to material recovery and energy-supply decarbonisation, whereas ICEV impacts remained dominated by fuel use. The findings show that sustainable SUV design requires strategic alignment of product architecture, circular supply chains, recycling technologies and low-carbon energy policy. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop