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Psychological Foundations of Sustainable Organization Management

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1184

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea
Interests: emotions; affect; prosocial behavior; group processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite submissions to this Special Issue titled Psychological Foundations of Sustainable Organization Management.” This Special Issue focuses on advancing the understanding of the intersection of psychology, organizational behavior, safety management, and sustainability. These research domains have addressed sustainability issues and current societal and organizational challenges by examining how organizations can promote psychological well-being, mental and physical health, and long-term organizational effectiveness.

As the challenges facing today’s workplaces evolve, sustainable management practices have become essential for maintaining thriving, future-ready organizations. Recent research has highlighted the importance of management practices that promote psychological safety, creativity, and innovative behavior and emphasize leadership approaches that support work–life balance, prevent burnout, and enhance psychological capital.

This Special Issue seeks to spotlight how job crafting, the development of psychological resources, and the shaping of emotionally intelligent and safety-conscious work cultures contribute to sustainable management. We welcome empirical and conceptual contributions that explore the psychological foundations of sustainable organizational practices and their impact on individuals and systems.

We encourage submissions across a broad range of disciplines and theoretical orientations, especially those addressing (but not limited to) the following areas:

  • Emotional and cognitive mechanisms driving work engagement and sustainability-focused behaviors;
  • Organizational contexts and leadership practices that enable or inhibit sustainable management;
  • Development and application of psychological resources and job-crafting techniques;
  • HR systems that cultivate innovative behavior, creativity, and sustainable performance;
  • Interventions that promote psychological safety, well-being, and resilience in the workplace.

We look forward to your valuable contributions that will enrich our understanding of how sustainable practices and psychological principles can together shape resilient and high-performing organizations.

Dr. Seung-Yoon Rhee
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 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-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

  • psychological resources
  • sustainable management
  • human resource management
  • innovative behavior
  • psychological well-being
  • leadership
  • mental and physical health
  • work–life balance
  • safety management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 455 KB  
Article
Beyond Service Recovery Performance: Humble Leadership and Psychological Safety as Durable Resources for Sustainable Service Management and Organizational Resilience
by Jong-Hyun Lee and HyoungChul Shin
Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4571; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094571 - 6 May 2026
Viewed by 374
Abstract
This study empirically examines the effects of humble leadership on service recovery performance, mediated by psychological safety, within the context of food-service operations. This research advances sustainable service management theory by identifying how leader humility and psychological safety function as durable resources that [...] Read more.
This study empirically examines the effects of humble leadership on service recovery performance, mediated by psychological safety, within the context of food-service operations. This research advances sustainable service management theory by identifying how leader humility and psychological safety function as durable resources that support sustainable frontline operations and organizational resilience over time. Using a structural equation model, data collected through a survey of restaurant employees reveal that humble leadership has a significant positive influence on psychological safety, facilitating a subsequent constructive impact on service recovery performance. Psychological safety, in turn, exerts a significant positive effect on service recovery performance and serves as a vital mediator in the relationship between humble leadership and service recovery performance. These results suggest that humble leadership encourages workers to respond more actively and flexibly to service failures by fostering a psychologically safe organizational environment. From a sustainability perspective, this study demonstrates that leadership-based psychological assets are critical for maintaining consistent service quality and long-term customer trust. Academically, this study expands similar research by integrating the relationship among humble leadership, psychological safety, and service recovery performance into a sustainable service management framework. Practically, the findings suggest that embedding humble leadership within the organizational culture secures long-term performance by strengthening employees’ psychological stability and autonomous problem-solving capabilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychological Foundations of Sustainable Organization Management)
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19 pages, 538 KB  
Article
Employees’ Perceptions of Organizational Readiness for Green Ergonomics: Development and Validation of the GEQ
by Nicolas Bert
Sustainability 2026, 18(6), 2785; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18062785 - 12 Mar 2026
Viewed by 373
Abstract
Organizations face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact while preserving worker health, well-being, and performance. While sustainability research increasingly emphasizes organizational and human dimensions, validated tools assessing how environmental sustainability is integrated into ergonomic practice remain limited. Green ergonomics provides a systemic [...] Read more.
Organizations face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact while preserving worker health, well-being, and performance. While sustainability research increasingly emphasizes organizational and human dimensions, validated tools assessing how environmental sustainability is integrated into ergonomic practice remain limited. Green ergonomics provides a systemic framework linking human factors and environmental objectives in sustainable work system design. This study aimed to develop and validate the Green Ergonomics Questionnaire (GEQ), a psychometric instrument designed to assess employees’ perceptions of organizational readiness to integrate sustainability into ergonomic practice. The GEQ was developed through a structured literature review, expert evaluation, and empirical validation using data from 412 employees across multiple occupational sectors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a seven-factor structure including knowledge, training and organizational learning, organizational practices, perceived impacts, obstacles, organizational culture, and employee involvement. Reliability indices indicated satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.78–0.86; CR = 0.80–0.88), and convergent and discriminant validity were supported. Overall, the GEQ provides a structured framework to assess employees’ perceptions of how environmental sustainability is embedded within ergonomic and participatory work system design processes, contributing to research at the intersection of ergonomics, sustainability management, and organizational change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychological Foundations of Sustainable Organization Management)
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