Special Issue "Integrating Sustainability and Gender Equity: Emerging Trends in Business Policy, Strategy, and Practice"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nazim Taskin
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Management Information Systems Department, Bogazici University, 34342 Bebek/Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: strategic alignment; decision making; knowledge management; data analytics; sustainability
Prof. Jane Parker
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management, Massey University, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Interests: diversity, inclusion and equity; corporate social responsibility; sustainable development, comparative employment relations and regulation; strategic human resource management
Dr. Aymen Sajjad
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management, Massey University, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Interests: sustainability; sustainable development; corporate social responsibility; sustainable supply chain management; green supply chain management; united nations sustainable development goals; sustainability leadership; social sustainability; environmental management; sustainable business strategy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability has become a key business imperative and opportunity for contemporary organizations (Lubin & Esty, 2010). Increasingly, smart companies are integrating sustainability aspects into their business strategy and practice to achieve competitive advantage and improve social legitimacy (Kiron, Kruschwitz, Haanaes, & Velken, 2012). However, the sustainability literature indicates that socio-cultural aspects of sustainability are mostly ignored or neglected by the corporate sector (Colantonio, 2007; Bebbington & Dillard, 2008; Missimer, Robèrt, & Broman, 2017). Yet, understanding the nexus between sustainability and gender equity has never been more important (Koehler, 2016) as these issues are intrinsically linked. According to the United Nations (UN) (2012, 2014a, 2014b ) and UNICEF (2019), achieving gender equity and addressing critical issues including discrimination and gender-based disparities, human rights, dignity, well-being, empowerment, livelihood, and capability of diverse groups of women is a key requirement of a just and sustainable world. Furthermore, gender equality and sustainable industrialization themes permeate the focus targets of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 2030 Development agenda, particularly sustainable development goals 5 and 9 (ILO, 2020), and are stressed in a recent global report from the UNHuman Rights Council’s Working group on discrimination against women and girls (UN Human Rights Council, 2020).

Accordingly, the purpose of this Special Issue is to bridge key gaps in the literature by offering scholars the opportunity to examine emerging trends in corporate policy, strategy, and practice pertaining to sustainability and gender equity issues. The Covid-19 outbreak has further underscored the need for organizations to review their resource acquisition and usage in a manner that emphasizes sustainable development and a related regard for equitable and ethical approaches. With women constituting an increasing share of the paid workforce in many advanced economies, and often the majority of informal economy workers, the nexus between organisations’ drive for business sustainability and women’s contributions to this aim and equitable treatment is emphasised. The integration of business sustainability and gender equity also raises key questions about the character and significance of the workplace parties – including employers, employees, unions and the state – in progressing the integration of sustainability and gender equity in the organizational setting.

The Special Issue accepts both empirical and conceptual papers that offer theoretical and practical contributions to the areas of interest. The Special Issue accepts completed research papers using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods. Contributors are encouraged but not confined to focusing on the following areas:

Key themes/topics:

  • Gender-equitable sustainable development
  • Sustainability, corporate governance, and gender equity
  • Nexus between gender equity, sustainable consumption, and the green economy
  • Social sustainability, health and wellbeing, women’s empowerment and gender equity
  • COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, and gender equity
  • Technology, sustainable development and gender equity
  • Public policy initiatives and regulatory frameworks for promoting gender equity and sustainability
  • Gender equity, environmental sustainability, and climate change
  • Diversity and equal employment issues in public and private sector organizations
  • Poverty eradication, human rights issues and gender equity
  • The role of trade unions and community organizations in promoting gender equity and sustainable industrialization
  • The role of business, government and society in addressing gender inequity and sustainability challenges

References

Bebbington, J., & Dillard, J. (2008). Social sustainability: An organizational-level analysis. Understanding the social dimension of sustainability (pp. 173–189). London: Routledge.

Colantonio, A. (2007). Social sustainability: An exploratory analysis of its definition, assessment methods metrics and tools. EIBURS Working Paper Series, No. 2007/01.

ILO. (2020). 2030 Development agenda: ILO Focus targets. Retrieved from http://www.oit.org/global/topics/sdg-2030/targets/lang--en/index.htm

Kiron, D., Kruschwitz, N., Haanaes, K., & Velken, I. V. S. (2012). Sustainability nears a tipping point. MIT Sloan Management Review53(2), 69-75.

Koehler, G. (2016). Tapping the Sustainable Development Goals for progressive gender equity and equality policy?. Gender & Development24(1), 53-68.

Lubin, D. A., & Esty, D. C. (2010). The sustainability imperative. Harvard Business Review88(5), 42-50.

Missimer, M., Robèrt, K.-H., & Broman, G. (2017). A strategic approach to social sustainability–Part 2: A principle-based definition. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 42–52.

UN Human Rights Council, (2020). Report of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. 16 April. Retrieved from https://undocs.org/A/HRC/44/51?utm_source=Unknown+List&utm_campaign=10250d60a3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_07_06_11_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-10250d60a3-&utm_source=Unknown+List&utm_campaign=10250d60a3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_07_06_11_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-10250d60a3-&utm_source=Unknown+List&utm_campaign=10250d60a3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_07_06_11_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-10250d60a3-

UN. (2012). Powerful synergies Gender Equality, Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/gender/Gender%20and%20Environment/Powerful-Synergies.pdf

UN. (2014a). World Survey on the role of women in development 2014: Gender Equality and Sustainable Development. A report signed by the Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Women. Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2014/10/world-survey-2014

UN. (2014b). Human Development Report 2014Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-report-en-1.pdf

UNICEF. (2019). Gender Equality Global Annual Results Report 2019. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/media/73826/file/Global-annual-results-report-2019-gender-equality-accessible.pdf

Dr. Nazim Taskin
Prof. Jane Parker
Dr. Aymen Sajjad
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • Sustainability
  • gender equity
  • organizations
  • formal economy
  • informal economy
  • business strategy and practice

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
The Interconnection between Decent Workplace and Firm Financial Performance through the Mediation of Environmental Sustainability: Lessons from an Emerging Economy
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4570; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084570 - 20 Apr 2021
Viewed by 487
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the impact of some important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the decent workplace, climate change, and economic sustainability on firm financial performance (see Goals 8 and 13). By adopting an index from the previous literature, this study [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of some important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the decent workplace, climate change, and economic sustainability on firm financial performance (see Goals 8 and 13). By adopting an index from the previous literature, this study collected data from the annual and sustainability reports of the publicly listed companies of a developing country through content analysis from 2016 to 2018. The results revealed a significant increase in the level of compliance with workplace and environmental sustainability during the corresponding period. Furthermore, the estimations of ordinary least squares (OLS) and two-stage least squares (2SLS) panel data also unveiled a positive impact of workplace sustainability on the firm’s environmental and financial performance. Additionally, we noted that the findings were pronounced after addressing the problem of endogeneity. Moreover, the study also found a novel significant and positive mediating role of environmental sustainability in the relationship between workplace sustainability and the firm’s financial performance. This study has theoretical significance by proposing sustainability training and development as instrumental variables in the relationship of the workplace and environmental sustainability to firm financial performance. This study offers practical implications for regulatory bodies and business firms to integrate workplace and environmental sustainability practices into their routine operations for achieving sustainable industrialization. Full article
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Article
The Incidence of Social Responsibility in the Adoption of Business Practices
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2794; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052794 - 05 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 586
Abstract
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies are evidenced by adopting socially relevant business practices for people, communities, companies, and related institutions. Based on this conception, the present work determines the incidence of ethics and CSR on practices regarding diversity, environment, and community of Chilean [...] Read more.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies are evidenced by adopting socially relevant business practices for people, communities, companies, and related institutions. Based on this conception, the present work determines the incidence of ethics and CSR on practices regarding diversity, environment, and community of Chilean companies. The method, applied to a sample of 3179 Chilean companies, was descriptive and correlational. Results demonstrate an incipient level of standardization in the adoption of social responsibility practices. The dimension regarding diversity presented a higher cumulative correlation coefficient, which could lead to a change in CSR practices. It is concluded that the collective impact of the ethics and CSR policies was positive and significant in the adoption of practices related to diversity, environment, and community. Full article
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