Sustainable Business Models and Digital Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable business models and digital transformation are key drivers of systemic change in modern economies. From a systems perspective, businesses operate within complex, interconnected environments where economic, sustainability, and technological factors continuously evolve. Systems thinking provides a holistic framework for understanding the dynamic interactions between businesses, digital innovations, and sustainability principles, ensuring that transformations align with broader economic and societal goals.

Entrepreneurship plays a central role in shaping sustainable business models, as entrepreneurs identify, design, and implement innovative strategies that balance economic viability with environmental and social responsibility. Business models serve as systemic constructs that integrate value creation and delivery, and capture mechanisms within these frameworks. The emergence of digital technologies further enhances the scalability and adaptability of sustainable business models, fostering resilience in the face of global challenges.

This Special Issue seeks to explore how systemic approaches to sustainable business models and digital transformation contribute to the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystems, corporate strategies, and policy development. We invite contributions that examine the interplay between digitalization and sustainability from a systems-oriented perspective, offering insights into frameworks, methodologies, and real-world applications that shape the future of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Sustainable business model innovation;
• Digitalization and circular economic strategies;
• Technology-driven sustainability solutions;
• Digital platforms and sustainability transitions;
• The role of artificial intelligence in sustainable business;
• Systemic approaches to sustainable digital transformation;
• Measuring the impact of digital sustainability initiatives;
• Policy and governance frameworks for digital sustainability;
• Corporate strategies for achieving SDGs through digital means.

This topic aligns with the scope of Systems by emphasizing holistic, interdisciplinary, and systemic approaches to business model transformation and digital innovation for sustainability. We encourage researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to contribute to this Special Issue and advance the discussion on integrating sustainability and digital transformation into business systems.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Bradač Hojnik
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. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.