Business Innovation and Corporate Governance to Achieve Sustainable Organizations

A special issue of World (ISSN 2673-4060).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 9124

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
GOVCOPP, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: open innovation; sustainability; industrial management; soft computing

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Guest Editor
Escola Superior de Ciências da Administração, Instituto Politecnico da Lusofonia (IPLUSO), 1950-396 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: business innovation; entrepreneurship; corporate strategy; HR analytics; organizational behavior; sustainability; business management; supply chain management; Industry 4.0; blockchain
Technical Scientific Council of EET School (EET), Instituto Politecnico da Lusofunia (IPLUSO), 1700-098 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: Industry 5.0; IoT in logistics; communications; IoT cloud
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Informatics and Engineering Systems, University of South Carolina Upstate, SC 29306, USA
Interests: AI; blockchain; complex system governance; engineering management; Industry 5.0; IoT; risk management; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to bring together new research concerning the areas of business innovation, sustainable development, and corporate governance to bring value to organizations and society in general.

Although business innovation can be summarized as “doing something different to create value”, the importance of having a good corporate governance structure, integrated with sustainability policies/measures, allows governments to boost value for organizations in general.

Therefore, the exists a challenge regarding how to achieve more sustainable companies through more innovative business approaches and/or through corporate governance policies.

Thus, we welcome submissions that represent original, high-quality, theoretical, and empirical research, as well as policy-oriented research papers, to enrich our knowledge of areas related to business innovation, corporate governance, and sustainability.

It is especially encouraged the research that focuses on technologies and applications that have been profoundly transforming businesses and the organizations in general, presenting therefore new challenges and opportunities to achieve sustainability within companies. Some topics of interest include, but are not limited to, are as follows: IoT in Logistics, data analytics and business intelligence in Industry 5.0, AI, machine learning, blockchain, smart contracts, robotics and M2M (machine to machine), open innovation, sustainability, and, last but not the least, the issue of the privacy and security of data.

Dr. Ricardo Simões Santos
Dr. Antonio Pimenta de Brito
Dr. Luis Pires
Dr. Polinpapilinho Katina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. World is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1200 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

  • Industry 5.0
  • corporate governance
  • IoT in logistics
  • sustainable business environment
  • corporate social responsibility
  • open innovation
  • AI
  • machine learning
  • blockchain
  • smart contracts
  • robotics
  • M2M (machine to machine)
  • privacy
  • security

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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30 pages, 678 KiB  
Article
Assessment of TCFD Voluntary Disclosure Compliance in the Spanish Energy Sector: A Text Mining Approach to Climate Change Financial Disclosures
by Matías Domínguez-Quiñones, Iñaki Aliende and Lorenzo Escot
World 2025, 6(3), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/world6030092 - 1 Jul 2025
Viewed by 690
Abstract
This study investigates voluntary compliance with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework in 64 financial, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports from six Spanish IBEX-35 energy firms (2020–2023) and explores the implications for intangible assets and corporate reputation, employing empirical [...] Read more.
This study investigates voluntary compliance with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework in 64 financial, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports from six Spanish IBEX-35 energy firms (2020–2023) and explores the implications for intangible assets and corporate reputation, employing empirical quantitative text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Python. A validated scale-based taxonomy within the TCFD framework applies query-driven rules to extract relevant text. This enables an evaluation of aspects of the reports, facilitating the development of a compliance index measuring each company’s adherence to TCFD recommendations. All companies showed year-on-year improvements (2023 was the most comprehensive), yet none fully adhered due to information gaps. Disparities in the disclosures of Scope 1,2 and 3, persisted, suggesting reputational risks. A replicable methodological model generating a compliance index that assesses the ‘being’ (‘true performance’) versus ‘seeming’ (‘external perception’) dichotomy within sustainability reports and acts as a potential reputational barometer for stakeholders. By providing unprecedented evidence of TCFD reporting in the Spanish energy sector, this study closes a significant academic gap. Future research may analyze ESG reports using AI agents, study the impact of ESG on energy-intensive companies from AI data centers, supporting services like Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and extend this methodology to other industrial sectors. Full article
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Review

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28 pages, 758 KiB  
Review
The Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model Revisited: Its Role in Sustainable Organizational Development
by Ana Del Pino-Marchito, Agustín Galán-García and María de los Ángeles Plaza-Mejía
World 2025, 6(2), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/world6020063 - 7 May 2025
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Abstract
Given the increasing complexity of leadership roles in global, sustainability-driven organizations, this study examines whether Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model (SLM) provides a sufficiently comprehensive framework for contemporary leadership demands or requires theoretical and practical modifications. Can SLM, originally designed for adaptability [...] Read more.
Given the increasing complexity of leadership roles in global, sustainability-driven organizations, this study examines whether Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model (SLM) provides a sufficiently comprehensive framework for contemporary leadership demands or requires theoretical and practical modifications. Can SLM, originally designed for adaptability in leader–follower dynamics, effectively integrate sustainability principles such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors; corporate social responsibility (CSR); and ethical governance? How can leadership models evolve to balance immediate responsiveness with long-term resilience and sustainability-driven decision-making? This research systematically evaluates the synthesis of empirical evidence on the application of the SLM across diverse organizational contexts while exploring its alignment with sustainability-focused leadership approaches. The study further investigates the role of Servant Leadership as a conceptual bridge between SLM and sustainability principles, emphasizing its ethical foundation, stakeholder-oriented approach, and long-term commitment to workforce well-being. Findings suggest that while SLM remains a relevant and adaptable framework, it exhibits a deficiency in explicitly addressing the sustainability dimension. However, integrating Servant Leadership’s emphasis on ethical governance and organizational resilience into SLM could enhance its applicability to sustainability-driven leadership models. By addressing these gaps, this study contributes to contemporary leadership theory by proposing an evolved SLM framework that incorporates sustainability-focused leadership competencies. Future research should focus on refining SLM to ensure its alignment with the ethical and environmental imperatives of modern organizations, equipping leaders to navigate the complexities of sustainable corporate governance while maintaining situational adaptability. Full article
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