Search Results (7,447)

Despite the growing interest in purpose-driven business models, there is currently no operational, practice-based instrument that can be used to empirically assess corporate consciousness at the firm level based on the firm’s own reported practices rather than a self-report perceptual scale. This study addresses this gap by inductively developing the Conscious Business Index (CBi), an exploratory instrument built bottom-up from organizations’ reported practices using a sequential mixed-methods design. Drawing on data from 316 firms that participated in Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies (BMC) programme in Mexico (2023–2024), we conducted inductive thematic analysis (n = 243 open-ended responses), expert-panel evaluation (n = 7), and quantitative analysis (t-tests and k-means clustering). This was done to test whether BMC-awarded firms exhibit higher corporate consciousness than finalists. The results confirmed that the awarded firms scored significantly higher on the CBi than the finalists in both years ($d=1.04$ in 2023; $d=1.14$ in 2024), and this remained robust after controlling for cohort year, sector, firm size, and family business status ($\beta =0.098$, $p<0.001$). Furthermore, significant asymmetry emerged across the four pillars (Friedman $p<0.001$), with Higher Purpose solidifying over time as the lowest-scoring dimension. These results suggest that operational excellence does not consistently translate evenly into purpose-driven commitment. Current business-excellence frameworks capture the operational and cultural dimensions of conscious capitalism far more effectively than its philosophical core. This calls into question whether standard reporting requirements truly reflect genuine corporate consciousness. Full article

Saudi highland Arabica coffee has been cultivated for centuries on mountain terraces across Jazan, Asir, and Al-Baha. It commands premium prices (SAR 100–200 [USD 27–53] per kilogram) in one of the world’s fastest-growing coffee markets, while its UNESCO recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity further strengthens its market position. Yet, despite these favourable conditions, many smallholder farmers struggle to cover their production costs at current yield levels. This study examines the structural constraints that keep the sector in a low financial viability, drawing on a stratified survey of 346 farms, a purposive cost-structure dataset of 19 farms, and qualitative field observations. The analysis shows that labour and water account for 72% of variable production costs, median yield is only 0.25 kg per productive tree compared with a biological potential of 4.0 kg, and 42% of farmers report no commercial sales, relying instead on household consumption and social gifting. Government subsidies keep about 40% of farms profitable, but the employment-based eligibility criterion excludes many younger growers needed for the sector’s long-term sustainability. The study proposes a practical reform package centred on rural infrastructure, cooperative extension and shared labour, performance-based subsidies, and contract farming to transform highland coffee into a viable specialty commodity aligned with Saudi Vision 2030. Full article

Corporate ESG transformation is a multi-stage, multi-dimensional process of aligning a firm’s strategy, business model, and decisions with Environmental, Social, and Governance principles to create sustainable value. This study examines the mechanisms through which stakeholder pressure influences the financial outcomes of ESG transformation, focusing on the mediating roles of strategic ESG integration and initial transformation costs. Based on a sample of 384 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange surveyed in 2025, structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied. The results show that stakeholder pressure, differentiated into capital and non-capital market actors, is positively associated with financial outcomes. This relationship is mediated by the strategic approach to ESG integration. A direct association with financial outcomes was confirmed for non-capital market stakeholders only. However, the anticipated negative relationship between the perceived initial transformation costs and financial outcomes was not confirmed. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this paper shows how external pressures and internal strategic alignment jointly relate to sustainable value creation. By employing a dual mediation framework, separating strategic ESG integration from initial transformation costs, this study identifies key factors associated with the financial success of sustainable transformation regardless of initial cost burdens. Practically, the results highlight the necessity of a mature, strategic approach to sustainability. Empirically, the study provides novel evidence from Poland, addressing the literature gap on ESG transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Full article

Street vending plays an important role in supporting urban livelihoods and everyday consumption, while also posing challenges for inclusive urban governance. However, existing governance approaches often overlook the heterogeneity of street vendors and rely on standardized interventions. This study investigates vendor heterogeneity and its implications for inclusive governance based on questionnaire surveys conducted among street vendors in Suzhou, China. An integrated framework combining cluster analysis, multinomial logistic regression, multiple correspondence analysis, and structural equation modeling is developed to identify vendor profiles, explore their socio-economic associations, and examine satisfaction mechanisms. The results reveal substantial heterogeneity among street vendors. Four behavioral profiles are identified, namely High-Income Stable Vendors, Emerging Vendors, Low-Income Stable Vendors, and Long-Term Flexible Vendors, reflecting differences in operational stability, economic returns, and engagement patterns. Four preference-based profiles are further identified, including Low Demand Vendors, Rent-Support Oriented Vendors, Site-Environment Oriented Vendors, and Market-Order Oriented Vendors, demonstrating differentiated governance needs regarding operational support, physical conditions, and management arrangements. Further analyses demonstrate that vendor characteristics and socio-economic conditions are closely associated with profile membership, while physical and social environmental factors significantly influence business satisfaction. Moreover, the effects of environmental conditions on satisfaction differ across behavioral groups, indicating that vendors with different operational modes respond differently to urban environments and governance interventions. These findings suggest that street vendors should not be treated as a homogeneous group in the pursuit of socially sustainable urban development. Instead, inclusive governance requires differentiated strategies that align spatial support, management arrangements, and policy interventions with the diverse needs of vendor groups. This study contributes to sustainable urban governance by highlighting the importance of incorporating livelihood diversity into the planning and management of informal economic activities. Full article

Growing global challenges have made it imperative to evaluate economic activities not only in terms of economic growth but also from the perspectives of environmental and social well-being. Within this context, Women’s Production and Business Cooperatives have emerged as critical collective initiatives that support local development. In this study, “Women’s Production and Business Cooperatives” refer to cooperatives established and predominantly managed by women to collectively engage in the production and commercialization of goods and services, generate income and employment opportunities for their members, and promote women’s economic and social empowerment. Hereafter, these organizations are referred to as “women’s cooperatives.” However, studies that comprehensively examine the sustainability practices of women’s cooperatives through the framework of Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line (economic, social, and environmental sustainability) remain limited. From the perspective of Stakeholder Theory, cooperatives are regarded as organizations that extend beyond the pursuit of economic profit by creating value for both internal and external stakeholders, including women, local communities, the environment, consumers, and public institutions. Accordingly, this study aims to provide an in-depth examination of the sustainability practices adopted by women’s cooperatives within these three dimensions, as well as to identify the challenges they encounter. This study adopted a qualitative research design, utilizing in-depth interviews with seven presidents and managers representing women’s cooperatives. The findings suggest that zero-waste practices, the adoption of circular economy principles, and the transition toward green agriculture constitute the primary sustainability initiatives, whereas high technology and packaging costs, together with insufficient institutional collaboration, represent the major challenges to the environmental sustainability. Within the economic sustainability dimension, the findings indicate that the participating cooperatives have increasingly shifted toward industrial production standards, value-added by-products, and business-to-business (B2B) marketing strategies. Nevertheless, rising input and logistics costs, together with unfair competition, continue to pose significant challenges. As relates to social sustainability, the findings highlight intergenerational transmission of cultural heritage, psychosocial recovery, efforts to challenge social prejudice, inter-cooperative solidarity, and the allocation of resources for social benefit, including scholarship support. Overall, the findings reveal that these cooperatives make meaningful contributions to multidimensional sustainability and stakeholder well-being, thereby providing valuable empirical insights into the sustainability literature. Full article

The digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises necessitates more efficient engineering change management through data-driven decision support and process optimization. Although process mining has advanced considerably in recent years, most existing studies focus on descriptive or predictive process analysis, while prescriptive optimization integrated with sustainability considerations remains insufficiently explored. This study aims to develop and evaluate a prescriptive optimization model for Engineering Change Management based on process mining methods and Environmental, Social, and Governance considerations. The proposed model combines rule-based case routing, resource profiling, and risk-oriented alerts and is evaluated using a real-world event log from a manufacturing and engineering company. The methodological framework integrates process discovery using the Inductive Miner algorithm, conformance checking, performance and bottleneck analysis, deterministic rule-based case classification, resource profiling, and prescriptive analytics. The proposed model was evaluated through retrospective validation on a test dataset using both parametric and non-parametric statistical methods. The retrospective analysis estimated a 36.8% reduction in average active case processing time, from 6.31 to 3.98 h, while maintaining the modeled satisfaction level (p < 0.001). These results represent model-based estimates rather than effects observed after prospective implementation. The proposed approach extends existing process mining applications by combining prescriptive analytics with sustainability-oriented process governance. It provides a basis for integration into Product Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, and Engineering Change Management systems as a decision-support module, with the potential to improve operational efficiency and support sustainable manufacturing practices. Full article

Business organizations in the field of Information Technology (IT) ought to be prepared for withstanding and navigating unexpected incidents in order to ensure their continuity in this highly volatile market. Nonetheless, previous studies have not fully investigated the mechanisms that link structural preparedness and organizational sustainability in the context of IT business organizations. In order to address this gap, the present study adopted the Dynamic Capabilities Theory aimed to examine this link with employee innovative behavior as a mediating mechanism. The analysis is based on quantitative data that was collected from a total of 400 IT professionals across 35 IT firms in Saudi Arabia using questionnaire surveys. The data analysis process included employing Smart PLS 4.0 to perform SEM. The results showed that structural crisis preparedness did not directly influence organizational sustainability, but the connection was fully mediated by employee innovation. These findings outline the role of employee innovation as a catalyst in this mechanism, influencing the effect of crisis preparedness on the outcome variable, which is organizational sustainability. The study also contributes to the literature by drawing the attention of IT leaders to fostering work environments that support employee innovation to ensure long-term resilience and business continuity. Full article

This study evaluates how digital transformation can reshape communication effectiveness in the context of cultural tourism through the restructuring of the technology value chain role. Through the support of technology, cultural values are reinforced and conveyed authentically and engagingly to enhance personal and social experiences, thereby improving communication effectiveness. Through multiple surveys with 393 participants, 380 responses were collected, ultimately yielding 368 valid responses in Da Nang, Vietnam, of which domestic tourists accounted for the majority at 54.6%, with the remainder being international tourists. Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and AMOS, with hypotheses tested. The results show a positive but uneven impact of digital transformation on the quality of digital cultural content (greatest impact), digital engagement (second highest), and digital cultural experience. These results challenge some assumptions that role-playing experiences are the central strategy in creating digital value. It also shows that digital technology effectively supports the quality of media content while enhancing the inherent role of digital media in sharing, interaction, and personal immersion. Furthermore, perceived risks weaken the power of digital transformation on personal digital experiences but do not impact content quality. This result reflects the digital trust paradox, demonstrating both the effectiveness in increasing value for both customers and businesses, and the cautious attitude of tourists towards the potential risks from digital platforms. The distinct role of travel purpose in shaping travel behavior also reflects the contextual nature of the study. This research expands on implications beyond purely technology-accepting models by reflecting how technological infrastructure drives the creation of social value in terms of meaning and cultural tourism experiences. In practical terms, destination managers need to evaluate digital transformation as a strategic tool in creating human-centered content, fostering social–emotional connection and experiences to enhance sustainable destination communication effectiveness. Full article

The news media in Gulf countries are among the most important institutions shaping the public’s understanding of climate action. This study aims to explore the longitudinal developments, thematic framing, and sentiment tones of Omani English-language newspapers’ sustainability discourse during the period 2015–2025. The study applied a multi-stage computational method to analyze a deduplicated corpus of 709 news articles from two English-language dailies of Oman: Times of Oman and Oman Daily Observer for a time period from 2015 to 2025. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling was used to group topics into five types of macro frames. Results show that the focus of the Omani media is very localized, and the dominant frames are “Corporate ESG, Business & Green Investment” and “Clean Energy Policy, Research & Institutional Governance”. Furthermore, a sentiment analysis of headlines using VADER showed clearly defined sentiment polarity; domestic economic transition headlines were characterized by high positive polarity, while global climate crisis headlines had a higher negative polarity. The study concludes that the press in Oman is in a strategic process of “nationalizing” the climate change issue, moving from the conventional disaster discourse to making sustainability a local opportunity for economic diversification, technological modernization, and national resilience. Full article

This article reviews CFO gender as a role-specific executive diversity issue and addresses the fragmented literature in which gender effects are often interpreted without separating appointment selection from the authority and organizational context of the CFO position. Using a hybrid design, we combine bibliometric analysis with a systematic literature review. A Web of Science title-and-abstract search reported through PRISMA 2020 and manual eligibility assessment identifies 68 peer-reviewed journal papers published from 2010 through 2026 across 46 outlets. The bibliometric stage maps publication growth, outlet distribution, recurring vocabulary, a ten-topic Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model, and term co-occurrence. The evidence shows a recent and dispersed field: more than four-fifths of the sample appear from 2019 onward, and the papers span governance, management, finance, accounting, ethics, and sustainability journals. The systematic stage compares evidence on the internal and external determinants and consequences associated with CFO gender across financial policy, earnings management, executive governance, capital markets, compensation and labor-market signals, and adjacent business fields. The findings do not support a universal gender effect. Observed associations depend on CFO authority, CEO power, board composition, incentives, task domain, institutional setting, and research design. Relative to broad reviews of executive characteristics, this article provides a current CFO gender-specific cross-outcome synthesis. The review concludes by identifying selection and endogeneity, direct measurement of CFO influence, review scope limitations, and underdeveloped applications as future directions, and developing implications for boards, executive recruitment, governance practice, professional development, and policy. Full article

Against the backdrop of high-density Asian cities shifting from production- to consumption-oriented spaces, commercial pedestrian streets are key to urban public life and vitality. This study selects six major commercial pedestrian streets in Chongqing and employs natural language processing (NLP) and importance–performance analysis (IPA) methods to construct a four-dimensional evaluation framework (spatial, commercial, cultural, location/facility). It analyzes public perception and experience based on user-generated content (UGC). Findings show that: (1) Significant differences across dimensions form three development types: cultural identity, functional hub, and distinctive growth, reflecting structural bottlenecks in transitioning from single- to multi-functional spaces. (2) IPA identifies “business formats,” “cultural activities,” and “consumption experience” as priorities for improvement, while “commercial atmosphere” and “transportation conditions” are current strengths to maintain. (3) Sentiment analysis reveals that negative perceptions focus on basic functions and sense of place, whereas positive sentiments relate to cultural expression and spatial esthetics, highlighting the role of cultural soft power and visual design in street appeal. This study reveals public perception patterns via big data analysis, offering empirical support for the refined renewal, cultural preservation, and sustainable management of commercial pedestrian streets in high-density Asian cities. Full article

In contemporary Information Technology (IT) enterprises, workforce role configuration decisions sit at the intersection of leadership strategy, corporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation and sustainable operational governance. This study investigates how heterogeneous workforce role configurations affect Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance in SLA-aware Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) IT business processes, framing this as a people management and leadership decision problem with explicit Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-oriented trade-offs. A validated MATLAB Simulink simulation tool is employed to conduct structured scenario testing across combinations of human role configurations and AI maturity levels, measuring their impact on key Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). To support leadership decision making, a Workforce Sustainability Index (WSI) is introduced that integrates SLA compliance with workforce cost and AI dependency risk, where AI dependency risk captures the social dimension of ESG by emphasizing workforce skill development, upskilling and reskilling pathways, human oversight and responsible AI adoption. The simulation results reveal that no universally optimal configuration exists; the best-performing workforce design depends on organizational context and leadership priorities, as captured through scenario-based weight configurations representing performance-driven, cost-driven, human-centric and balanced governance orientations. These findings provide IT leaders and organizational decision-makers with actionable, evidence-based guidance for sustainable workforce design in the context of corporate AI transformation, contributing to the broader discourse on people management, merit-based organizational performance, responsible AI governance and sustainable digital operations management. Full article

The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces significant implications for sustainable trade and industrial decarbonization for non-EU industrial exporters. As a major cement supplier to the EU, Turkey faces key economic and environmental transition risks under this framework. This study quantifies the compliance exposure of Turkey’s cement exports to the EU by 2030 within an industrial sustainability framework across multiple carbon pricing, domestic policy, and decarbonization scenarios. Incorporating time-series forecasting, benchmark emissions intensities, and the operational 2026 CBAM regulatory framework alongside Turkey’s Climate Law No. 7552, the study evaluates compliance costs relative to export revenues. Results indicate that under business-as-usual conditions, without decarbonization or domestic carbon pricing, CBAM surcharges would equal 154% of total export revenue by 2030. Accounting for the 2030 CBAM phase-in factor (48.5%), compliance costs remain substantial at 75% of revenue. Establishing a national Emissions Trading System (TR ETS) under Climate Law No. 7552, with a domestic carbon price of €20/tCO₂e, reduces residual CBAM border payments to 44% of revenue, while a €50/tCO₂e domestic price offsets border surcharges entirely, redirecting carbon revenues to an industrial green transition fund. Furthermore, achieving a 41% reduction in direct cement emissions intensity lowers total carbon compliance costs to 21–26% of revenue. These findings demonstrate that domestic carbon pricing paired with dedicated resource allocation for low-carbon technologies is essential to advance long-term industrial sustainability, preserve export competitiveness, and prevent pass-through risks to downstream construction sectors. Full article

The sustainability of buildings and the built environment extends beyond energy and environmental performance to circular resource use, health and safety, digital infrastructure, and stakeholder collaboration. This exploratory integrative literature review examines how these established but insufficiently connected domains reshape business models in the built environment. Since the built environment is a major source of global carbon emissions and waste, a primary research stream concerns the transition toward circular economy principles beyond traditional profit-maximization logics. The literature also highlights the potential of health- and safety-oriented innovations to reduce risks and improve indoor environments. Other studies highlight the potential of digital innovations to improve life-cycle management, resource efficiency, and risk mitigation. However, their widespread adoption faces systemic barriers, including data interoperability and cybersecurity issues, implementation costs, skills shortages, organizational resistance, and regulatory and governance challenges. The literature often emphasizes technical potential while paying less attention to value-capture mechanisms and the allocation of costs, risks, benefits, and responsibilities among the actors involved. Integrating sustainable practices, digital infrastructures, circular-economy principles, and collaborative governance is therefore essential to develop economically viable, organizationally feasible, and ethically responsible business models for the built environment, across the building life cycle and among public and private stakeholders. Full article

As cities accelerate climate adaptation and decarbonisation, municipally owned companies (MOCs) play an important role in delivering sustainable urban infrastructure, accessing transition finance, and supporting Positive Energy Districts (PEDs). However, the expansion of sustainability reporting requirements under the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) raises questions about the preparedness of public infrastructure providers to meet evolving sustainability-information demands. This study examines ESG reporting readiness among Polish MOCs, focusing on current reporting activity, reporting intentions, regulatory awareness, indirect ESG information pressures, sustainable-finance and investment plans, and potential transition-risk exposure. The analysis is based on a Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing survey of 226 municipal enterprises conducted in August 2025. The results indicate substantial reporting gaps. Only 8% of surveyed MOCs had already prepared or planned to prepare a non-financial report. When companies planning EU Taxonomy reporting only were also included, 14% of the sample had some form of current or planned reporting, while the remaining 86% had neither current nor planned non-financial or EU Taxonomy reporting. Reporting readiness was lower among smaller companies, while indirect ESG information pressures arising from business relationships, stakeholder requests, and financing plans were also evident across the surveyed sample. The findings suggest that limited reporting preparedness, when combined with external sustainability-information demands, may contribute to potential transition-risk exposure relevant to municipal investment and financing processes. More broadly, ESG reporting readiness represents an organisational capability relevant to sustainable finance, municipal climate investment, and the development of PEDs and smart cities. Full article