**About the Editors**

**Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira** has an MBA (Cardiff Business School, 1993), a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management, from FEUP (University of Porto, 2012), and a post-doc from the University of Aveiro (2016–2019), entitled "Elements that contribute to organizational competitiveness". Manuel has lectured at a number of higher education institutions, including FEUP, where he lectured on the Master's in Innovation and Technological Entrepreneurship (MIETE). Manuel is currently an Assistant Professor with Habilitation at the University of Aveiro, where he has been lecturing since February 2009. Manuel is an integrated researcher at GOVCOPP and also collaborates with INESC TEC. Manuel has a passion for education, and his lectures are somewhat "out-of-the-box", whereby Manuel enjoys challenging his students to think beyond convention. Manuel has around 300 publications, on innovation, strategy, technology, research methods, and tourism. Manuel is the Director of the Master's in Management, at the University of Aveiro, and is a member of the Executive Committee of his department—DEGEIT (the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism). As the Coordinator of the Committee for Ethics and Social Responsibility, at DEGEIT, Manuel wants to make a positive difference, and has registered a series of brands, including with students, to that end. With numerous awards during his career, and many with students, for their joint-work, Manuel enjoys publishing by himself as well as with students from all levels of higher education, from the undergraduate level to the post-doc level.

**Maria Jos ´e Sousa** is a University Professor and a research fellow at ISCTE/Instituto Universitario de Lisboa. Her current research interests are public policies, information science, ´ innovation and managemen<sup>t</sup> issues. She is a best-selling author in ICT and People Management and has co-authored over 70 articles and book chapters, in addition to being published in several scientific journals (e.g., Journal of Business Research, Information Systems Frontiers, European Planning Studies, Systems Research, and Behavioral Science, Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Future Generation Computer Systems and others). She has also organized and peer-reviewed international conferences, and is the gues<sup>t</sup> editor of several Special Issues. She has participated in several European projects of innovation transfer and is also External Expert of COST Association—European Cooperation in Science and Technology and President of the ISO/TC 260—Human Resources Management, representing Portugal in the International Organization for Standardization.

#### **Preface to "Sustainable Marketing and Strategy"**

We are very happy with the reception we had to our Special Issue in *Sustainability* (MDPI) on Sustainable Marketing and Strategy. The topic is both current and challenging. Without attention to sustainability, there is no marketing or strategy to speak of. This is especially true after the COVID-19 pandemic, during which matters regarding the environment and aid to local communities have gained in prominence amongs<sup>t</sup> consumers and firms alike. Corporations, large and small, may choose to ignore these issues, but they will do so at their own risk.

Peter Drucker stated that marketing and innovation were essential aspects regarding firm success. Without innovation, there can be no strategy. Without attention to markets and customers, we would have no business. Even in the case of not-for-profit firms this is true.

The range of articles in this Special Issue of *Sustainability* (MDPI) touch upon many aspects of corporate marketing and strategy, namely: the role of opinion leaders in advice networks (a Chinese travel content community); R&D investment (a sustainable development strategy); global expansion (food and beverage franchisors in Malaysia); strategic talent managemen<sup>t</sup> (employer branding); wine tourism (holistic behaviour measurement of wine tourists); employee engagemen<sup>t</sup> (new ways of working and the physical environment); a systematic literature review of employer branding as a talent managemen<sup>t</sup> tool; and case study research linked to sustainability in the coffee supply chain and purchasing policies.

Therefore, we are happy to release this book as a collection of articles from the Special Issue. We hope that the articles may encourage further debate on these themes. Despite the noise and uncertainty regarding the future, to quote Nobel Prize Laureate (in Economic Sciences) Daniel Kahneman's work, we are sure of having learned that these themes are still strategic: leadership, R&D, the internal environment (employees), the importance of experiences (tourism is still a major sector, resurging, following COVID-19), and sustainability (regarding the environment as well as local communities). We are anxious for a new beginning after what has been a difficult two years of mayhem and isolation worldwide. Let us learn from our experience and make marketing and strategy truly green core issues.

In the future, we hope to see other new themes emerge in tandem with the above. Themes such as behavioural economics (Nobel Prize Laureate (in Economic Sciences) Richard Thaler is mandatory reading), servant leadership (whereby creativity and open knowledge exchange may flourish in organizations), as well as advanced business analytics (to aid more informed decision-making).

Finally, we would like to thank the Editorial Team at MDPI for their invaluable assistance, guidance, and professionalism throughout the whole publication process. Without their help, none of this would have gone as smoothly as it did, and in parallel with our many other academic duties, including as lecturers and managers.

> **Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira and Maria Jos´e Sousa** *Editors*
