Operationalizing Sustainability with Digital Tools: Measurement, Policy and Performance

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue highlights the crucial intersection of strategic management, innovation and sustainability, exploring how their intentional integration, especially through digital transformation, drives lasting, measurable economic value amid resource scarcity, climate risks and changing regulations. The core idea is that firms no longer compete on just price or efficiency but also in their ability to embed ecological limits into their innovation and business models (Hart, 1995; Porter & van der Linde, 1995). Hybrid models, such as product-as-a-service (PaaS), circular supply chains and AI-driven energy optimization, are increasingly shifting from experimental projects to strategic priorities, particularly when supported by digital tools and robust governance (Teece, 2007; Christensen et al., 2021). Despite growing managerial interest and policy momentum, the theoretical and empirical link between specific combinations of sustainability innovation and digital technologies and their causal impact on economic outcomes remain profoundly underdeveloped. Few studies have moved beyond aggregate correlations between sustainability (generic ESG scores) and financial performance (Friede et al., 2015), failing to unpack the mechanisms, heterogeneity or boundary conditions that determine whether and how these synergies yield value. We encourage theoretical extensions of the natural resource-based view (NRBV), dynamic capabilities and institutional theory to explain not just if green–digital hybrids perform better, but also “how, when and for whom”. We welcome mixed-method studies that combine qualitative process tracing with quantitative causal estimates, and we prioritize work that fall under the following themes:

1. Hybrid and Circular Business Models (Servitization, PaaS)
2. AI/IoT for Energy and Process Optimization
3. Digital Twins and Eco-Design
4. Supply Chain Traceability and Information Frictions
5. Green and Digital Complementarities in Product Innovation
6. Risk Management, TCFD/ERM and Resilience
7. Financing Transition (Cost of Capital, Capital Allocation)
8. Assurance, Disclosure Quality and Market Reactions
9. Policy Shocks and Real Effects (ETS, Carbon Taxes, CBAM)
10. Human Capital, Incentives and Culture for Twin Transition
11. Governance and Ownership Heterogeneity
12. SMEs vs. Large Firms; Sectoral and Regional Heterogeneity

(a) Focus. Mechanisms linking specific digital tools (AI/ML, IoT sensors, blockchain, digital twins, advanced analytics) with specific sustainability innovations (eco-design, circularity, low-carbon operations) to produce measurable economic outcomes (productivity, resilience, financing costs, revenue growth).

(b) Scope. Cross-industry and cross-region; SMEs and large firms; private and state-owned enterprises. Designs may include quasi-experiments (DiD, RDD, event studies), panel/micro-data, patent text and project-level data, plant-level emissions, supply chain network data and policy shocks (ETS, carbon taxes, CBAM, CSRD/ESRS). Mixed-method papers are welcome.

(c) Purpose. Move beyond aggregate ESG–performance correlations to causal, mechanism-based evidence; offer clear measurement frameworks; specify boundary conditions; provide practical guidance for strategy, investment and policy.

This Special Issue supplements existing research by replacing generic notions of digitalization and sustainability with testable configurations, by prioritizing identification and micro-data, and treating heterogeneity (industry, supply chains, ownership, size, policy exposure) as central to theory. By integrating a mix of solid theoretical foundations, the Special Issue delivers mechanism-based, actionable findings for strategy, investment and disclosure.

The Special Issue supports the journal’s mission to define, measure and apply sustainability. It advances operational definitions of green–digital configurations and specifies inputs, processes and outcomes with auditable indicators (emissions, energy, waste, material circularity and resilience). It evaluates tools and applications (digital twins, optimization systems and dashboards) that enhance decision quality and reduce information gaps. It examines the real effects of policies and laws, including CSRD/ESRS, ETS, carbon taxes and CBAM, on investment, operations and disclosure quality. It takes an integrated socio-economic view by analyzing impacts on large companies and SMEs, skills, jobs and regional development and by encouraging transparent methods, comparable metrics and, where possible, data and code sharing.

List of References

Christensen, H. B., Hail, L., & Leuz, C. (2021). Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: Economic analysis and literature review. Review of Accounting Studies, 26(3), 1176–1248.

Friede, G., Busch, T., & Bassen, A. (2015). ESG and financial performance: Aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 5(4), 210–233.

Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 986–1014.

Porter, M. E., & van der Linde, C. (1995). Toward a new conception of the environment–competitiveness relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(4), 97–118.

Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319–1350.

Dr. Nohade Nasrallah
Dr. Christian Haddad
Dr. Rima Assaf
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• strategic management
• hybrid business models
• eco-innovation
• natural resource-based view
• dynamic capabilities
• digital transformation
• circular economy
• risk management
• cost of capital