Corporate Strategy and Sustainable Development: Perspective on Digital Innovation

Dear Colleagues,

The United Nations (UN) World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED 1987:16) highlighted that “Sustainable development is a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The United Nations (UN) created and defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for an equitable, environmentally sustainable, and healthy society (United Nations, 2018). Von Kutzschenbach and Daub (2021) pointed out that “business leaders and managers are at a point where they need to rethink the way business can leverage digital transformation to support engagement with sustainability challenges”.

Digital transactions currently account for 20% of business transactions—such as banking, retailing, manufacturing, and logistics—in industrialized economies (Dahwan and Raju, 2021). Digital or technical innovation can reduce the influence of fiscal growth considerably and focus on sustainable growth (Umar et al., 2020). The role of digital innovation through corporate strategy in meeting sustainable development is very vital. Companies such as Nokia emphasize achieving SDGs, stating that “At the core of our sustainability approach is the belief that our technology improves people’s lives. It is aligned with our new company purpose. We take responsibility for our actions and impact on the world, minimizing potential negative impacts while maximizing the many potential positive impacts of the technology we create and deliver.” 

Digital innovation is the process of applying digital technology to resolve existing business problems. For example, mobile apps, chat-bots, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), big-data, wearables (smart-watches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays, etc.) are a part of corporate strategy for the company to solve business problems. Digital innovation leading, for example, smart houses or transportation systems will enhance financial flow by minimizing transaction costs (Pasolini et al., 2018). VR/AR is permitted for improving a patient's health by training their physical and cognitive abilities (Zucchella et al., 2018).

The technologies most commonly used in digital sustainability activities include distributed ledger technologies (blockchain), artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), big data analytics, mobile technology and applications, sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and telemetry tools (satellites and drones) (George et al., 2019). The digital revolution affects the acceptance of digital tools and technologies to substitute labor-intensive activities and integrate the different businesses and services to offer value to end-customers. The use of digital technology enhances the efficiency of processes and utilization of resources with proper monitoring of production activities (Parida et al., 2019). Economics and regulatory changes forced the companies to focus on digitization and adhere to the sustainability issues based on the present socio-economic concerns. Digital technologies present the inimitable opportunity for businesses to come up with new business models to improve sustainability (Feroz et al., 2021).

The goal of this Special Issue is to explore the topic of digital innovation for sustainable development in marketing, human resource management, operations and supply chain management, finance and accounting, information technology, strategy and entrepreneurship, and general management.

The Special Issue aims to extend the rich literature of studies of digital innovation with a focus on corporate strategy and sustainable development. Further, it aims to bring together researchers from larger and diverse disciplines researching issues of sustainability and digital innovation.

This Special Issue of Administrative Sciences, entitled ‘Corporate Strategy and Sustainable Development: Perspectives on Digital Innovation’, aims to address the topics outlined above. This call for articles also welcomes submissions on adjacent topics that fit into the general trend of influence of digital innovation in corporate strategy and sustainable development, and linking theory with practice.

Dr. Lubna Nafees
Dr. Mokhalles Mehdi
Guest Editors

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