Ethical and Innovative Systems for High-Performing Sustainable Organizations

A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 3769

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Ovidius University of Constanta, 900470 Constanta, Romania
Interests: corporate governance; green finance; organizational models; risk management; data analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Accounting and Audit, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: international accounting; environmental accounting; education; sustainability accounting and finance
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Guest Editor
Department of General Economy, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Ovidius University of Constanta, 900470 Constanta, Romania
Interests: econometrics; sustainability; education; ethical behavior; social sciences
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Confronted with accelerating environmental, economic, and social challenges, businesses must transition toward performance-oriented strategic management and sustainable growth. Organizations are increasingly expected to act as key drivers in this transformation, aligning their internal systems, strategies, and operations with sustainability objectives while maintaining high levels of performance, innovation, and ethical responsibility.

To respond effectively, organizations must adopt integrated approaches that support circular economy principles, promote technical and green innovations, and foster moral standards that guide long-term strategic decisions. This requires systemic thinking, innovative organizational models, and new performance metrics capable of balancing environmental responsibility with operational efficiency and competitiveness.

Despite growing interest, there is a pressing need for further research on how organizational systems can be designed, implemented, and scaled to achieve sustainable outcomes. Key gaps remain in understanding how sustainable business models, governance mechanisms, technological advancements, leadership, and organizational culture intersect to enhance both sustainability and performance.

This Special Issue aims to bring together a wide range of perspectives and empirical insights to advance the discourse on sustainable organizational systems. We welcome high-quality contributions that explore models, tools, frameworks, and case studies demonstrating how organizations can effectively integrate sustainability into their core structures and practices.

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

  • Circularity strategies in organizational systems
  • Technical and green innovations in sustainability
  • Ethical frameworks and moral standards in organizational governance
  • Business models aligned with sustainable development goals
  • Waste management systems and value recovery
  • Metrics and indicators for organizational sustainability performance
  • Systems thinking in sustainable organizational transformation
  • Cultural and strategic enablers of performant organizations
  • Enhanced educational models to upgrade leadership and green development

Researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders are encouraged to submit conceptual, empirical, and review papers that contribute to this critical and evolving field. By doing so, we hope to foster dialogue and provide practical insights for building resilient, ethical, and performant organizations committed to a sustainable future.

We encourage original research articles, conceptual papers, case studies, and reviews that advance knowledge in this interdisciplinary field.

Dr. Ionela Munteanu
Prof. Dr. Liliana Ionescu-Feleaga
Prof. Dr. Kamer-Ainur Aivaz
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 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.

Keywords

  • performant organizations
  • ethics and moral practices
  • sustainable business systems
  • waste management
  • risk management
  • resilience culture
  • green innovations
  • circular economic systems
  • value recovery
  • educational models

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 513 KB  
Article
Communicating or Not Communicating? A Consumer-Based Indicator for Sustainability Communication: Developing a Greenhushing Attitude Scale
by Volkan Yakın, Süleyman Çelik and Göker Gülay
Systems 2026, 14(5), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems14050463 - 24 Apr 2026
Viewed by 376
Abstract
Debates around corporate greenwashing increase consumer skepticism toward environmental claims and heighten reputational risks in sustainability communication. Consequently, some corporations strategically limit the visibility of their environmental practices, making it more difficult for stakeholders to interpret sustainability communication. This study develops and validates [...] Read more.
Debates around corporate greenwashing increase consumer skepticism toward environmental claims and heighten reputational risks in sustainability communication. Consequently, some corporations strategically limit the visibility of their environmental practices, making it more difficult for stakeholders to interpret sustainability communication. This study develops and validates a multidimensional scale to measure consumer attitudes toward greenhushing. An initial pool of 35 items was refined through evaluation by 12 experts, followed by sequential exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using pilot (n = 94) and main study (n = 401) data. The resulting 16-item, three-dimensional scale comprising greenhushing approval, price-based trust, and greenwashing skepticism was supported by convergent and discriminant validity tests alongside internal consistency measures. Rather than directly measuring sustainability communication performance, the scale offers a stakeholder-level diagnostic indicator of how limited sustainability communication is perceived by consumers, providing a quantitative foundation for empirical research and managerial decision-making. Full article
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17 pages, 542 KB  
Article
Professional Determinants in ESG Reporting for Sustainable Financial Assessment
by Alina-Iuliana Tăbîrcă, Valentin Radu, Angela-Nicoleta Cozorici, Loredana-Cristina Tanase and Florin Radu
Systems 2025, 13(10), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13100898 - 11 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2619
Abstract
This paper explores the key professional and institutional factors that influence the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into financial evaluation and auditing processes. The study investigates the impact of legal familiarity, ESG experience, professional qualifications, and digital competencies on ESG [...] Read more.
This paper explores the key professional and institutional factors that influence the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into financial evaluation and auditing processes. The study investigates the impact of legal familiarity, ESG experience, professional qualifications, and digital competencies on ESG readiness among financial analysts, auditors, and economists. By integrating a structured review of academic literature with an in-depth analysis of European regulatory instruments, the research identifies how dual materiality principles, standardized ESG metrics, and taxonomy-aligned disclosures reshape professional practices. A structured, ethics-approved survey (10 items) was administered nationally, and 145 responses were retained for analysis across economists, analysts, and auditors. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and linear/multiple regressions were used to test three hypotheses regarding ESG experience, legislative familiarity, and multifactor effects. The results reveal that familiarity with EU legislation is the strongest predictor of ESG integration capacity, while ESG-related experience and digitalization also show moderate to strong influence. The multiple regression model confirms the multifactorial nature of ESG implementation, though not all professional predictors contribute equally. Residual analysis confirms the statistical robustness of the models. The study highlights the need for regulatory literacy, targeted training, and digital adaptation as critical components of ESG competency. Full article
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