Special Issue "Innovation, Emerging Technologies and Sustainability in R&D Intense Industries"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonello Cammarano
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 – 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
Interests: innovation; technological strategies; knowledge management; new product development; start-ups; open innovation; patent data
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Francesca Michelino
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 – 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
Interests: innovation management; technology management; open innovation; technological strategies; patent data; supply chain management
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Mauro Caputo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 – 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
Interests: innovation management; supply chain management; operations management; open innovation
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

the special issue aims to collect theoretical and empirical studies that contribute to developing a better understanding of the relationship between innovation, emerging technologies and sustainability in R&D intense industries.

Indeed, R&D intense companies carry out relevant resource efforts to achieve innovation and competitive advantage. Consequently, sustainability-oriented innovation strategies and Sustainable Development Goals will radically affect companies, their supply chains and their markets. Therefore, implementing sustainability for new technology development is a relevant research topic, since it will change R&D management. In addition, sustainability will orientate R&D efforts towards specific emerging technologies and digitalization processes, such as: 3D printing, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, automatic intelligence, autonomous vehicles, big data, blockchain, biometrics, chat bots, clean tech, cloud computing, computer vision, crowdsourcing, cryptocurrencies, cybersecurity, data analytics, data mining, deep leaning, digital bots, digital platforms and applications, digital traces, drones, immersive environments, immersive media, industrial robots, intelligent diagnostics, intelligent manufacturing, internet of things, knowledge communities, machine learning, mobile applications, open science, open source, platform work sites, proximity tech, quantum computing, robotics, semantic web, smart cities, smart factories, smart sensors, social media, speech recognition,virtual reality, voice assistance, work gamification.

In addition, within R&D intense industries, specific new product development models and R&D strategies are growing. In particular, open innovation and product modularization are carried out to manage product complexity and integrate external technologies and knowledge. Few researches have been conducted in order to delineate the impact of such models on sustainability.

Therefore, researchers are encouraged to submit papers that contribute to the literature by proposing new theories and practical issues related to innovation, emerging technologies and sustainability after the company perspective. Some example topics are, among others:

  • Advantages in implementing sustainability for firms, in terms of reputation, competitive advantage, technological development, innovation output, economic performance;
  • Sustainability-oriented technological, innovation and R&D strategies;
  • The role of sustainability in R&D processes and new product development;
  • Sustainable Development Goals after the perspective of R&D intense companies;
  • Changes in R&D management after sustainable perspectives;
  • Breadth, diffusion and impact of new technologies developed to achieve sustainability;
  • Metrics for measuring sustainability in R&D intense firms;
  • Digitalization, emerging technologies and their impact on sustainability;
  • Sustainable supply-chains in R&D intense industries;
  • Sustainability and open innovation;
  • Product modularization and impact on sustainability;
  • Features of R&D teams and new sustainable technologies.

Dr. Antonello Cammarano
Prof. Francesca Michelino
Prof. Mauro Caputo
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
  • Innovation
  • Emerging technologies
  • Business sustainability
  • Economic sustainability
  • Technological strategies
  • Innovation strategies
  • R&D strategies
  • New product development
  • New sustainable technologies
  • Open Innovation
  • Product modularization
  • R&D teams
  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Sustainable supply chains
  • R&D teams and sustainability

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Article
The Unknown Potential of Blockchain for Sustainable Supply Chains
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9400; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229400 - 12 Nov 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1098
Abstract
The growing attention to emerging technologies has raised several doubts regarding the sustainability aspects. Among the new technologies, blockchain has laid the foundations for a revolution in the financial field but also in the energy, tourism, medical, industrial and supply chains sectors. Through [...] Read more.
The growing attention to emerging technologies has raised several doubts regarding the sustainability aspects. Among the new technologies, blockchain has laid the foundations for a revolution in the financial field but also in the energy, tourism, medical, industrial and supply chains sectors. Through a systematic literature review, 37 documents were analyzed to describe the sustainable aspects generated using blockchain in supply chains. Therefore, the results achieved provide two levels of analysis. The former highlights the impact of the adoption of blockchain in supply chains based on the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, economic and social. The latter shows the positive and negative impacts of each form of sustainability. The purpose of the work is to summarize the current state of the art in order to propose a future development agenda based on the need to simulate and define a measurability for each dimension of sustainability. Finally, the study provides a broad overview of practical and managerial implications for entrepreneurs and researchers. On the one hand, the work shows how the use of blockchain improves the profits and reputation of companies. On the other hand, it highlights several research gaps to be investigated and considered by researchers. Full article
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Article
Alliance Network Diversity and Innovation Ambidexterity: The Differential Roles of Industrial Diversity, Geographical Diversity, and Functional Diversity
Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1041; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031041 - 01 Feb 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1165
Abstract
Innovation ambidexterity, namely, performing exploitative and exploratory innovation simultaneously, is important for high-tech firms to achieve sustainable success. This can be achieved by building an egocentric alliance network. Research into the influence of alliance network diversity on innovation ambidexterity is seeing more attention. [...] Read more.
Innovation ambidexterity, namely, performing exploitative and exploratory innovation simultaneously, is important for high-tech firms to achieve sustainable success. This can be achieved by building an egocentric alliance network. Research into the influence of alliance network diversity on innovation ambidexterity is seeing more attention. However, the differences among multiple alliance network diversities are unclear. Grounded on a knowledge-based view, organizational learning theory, and transaction cost theory, this study investigates in-depth the roles of geographical diversity, industrial diversity, and functional diversity of the alliance network. The empirical analysis based on panel data, including alliance data from the SDC Joint & Venture database and patent data from the Derwent Innovation Index database of 106 top high-tech firms from electronic information and biopharmaceutical industries, suggests that industrial diversity enhances firm innovation ambidexterity, geographical diversity impedes firm innovation ambidexterity, and functional diversity shows an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm innovation ambidexterity. These results provide practical suggestions about alliance network diversity configuration and innovation ambidexterity construction for high-tech firms. Full article
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Review

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Review
Driving the Transition to a Circular Economic Model: A Systematic Review on Drivers and Critical Success Factors in Circular Economy
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10672; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410672 - 21 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 854
Abstract
The circular economy (CE) is arising as a novel economic system that is restorative by design. In light of its capability to boost sustainable economic development and to cope with environmental challenges, it has recently attracted increasing attention from academics, practitioners, policymakers, and [...] Read more.
The circular economy (CE) is arising as a novel economic system that is restorative by design. In light of its capability to boost sustainable economic development and to cope with environmental challenges, it has recently attracted increasing attention from academics, practitioners, policymakers, and intergovernmental organizations. Despite the wide speculation on this issue, the scientific literature lacks a wide-ranging, systematic, and updated identification and classification of the main drivers and Critical Success Factors of CE initiatives, which appears increasingly necessary to facilitate future scientific work, practical implementations, and policy guidelines. With this aim, this paper develops a systematic literature review by starting with over 400 manuscripts. A final set of 55 selected papers was selected for singling out and classifying drivers and Critical Success Factors in the CE context. The results may provide clear indications for further research, may help business organizations in evaluating CE initiatives, and may guide policy makers in developing and refining CE normative frameworks. Full article
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