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Blockchain for Sustainable Business Management: Innovations and Applications

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 2 September 2025 | Viewed by 5274

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Business Analytics, University of New Haven, Orange, CT 06477, USA
Interests: business process analysis; sustainable supply chains; probability and statistics; machine learning; applied artificial intelligence; fuzzy systems; forecasting and operations research
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Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Business Analytics, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT, USA
Interests: supply chains; service management; sustainability; blockchains

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Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Business Analytics, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
Interests: macroeconomics; international economics; development economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative force across various industries, promising enhanced transparency, security, and efficiency. Simultaneously, the pressing need for sustainable business practices has never been more critical, as organizations globally strive to address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges. This Special Issue on “Blockchain for Sustainable Business Management: Innovations and Applications” aims to bring together these two pivotal areas, highlighting the synergies and innovative solutions that blockchain can offer to promote sustainability.

The integration of blockchain technology with sustainable business management represents a paradigm shift in how organizations can operate more responsibly and ethically. Blockchain’s inherent characteristics—immutability, transparency, and decentralization—align seamlessly with the goals of sustainability. By ensuring traceability and accountability in supply chains, enabling efficient resource management, and fostering ethical business practices, blockchain holds the potential to revolutionize sustainable business strategies.

This Special Issue seeks to uncover the multifaceted applications of blockchain in driving sustainable development. From enhancing supply chain transparency and promoting circular economies to enabling green finance and supporting renewable energy initiatives, blockchain offers a wealth of opportunities for innovation. Contributors are encouraged to explore these intersections, providing empirical research, theoretical analyses, and practical case studies that demonstrate the transformative potential of blockchain in achieving sustainable business goals.

In addition, this issue will address the regulatory and policy implications of blockchain adoption, offering insights into the frameworks needed to support its integration into sustainable business practices. Technological innovations, such as the combination of blockchain with IoT and AI, will also be explored to highlight their role in advancing sustainability.

By contributing to this Special Issue, researchers and practitioners have the opportunity to shape the future of sustainable business management through blockchain technology. This is a call to advance the dialogue, present groundbreaking research, and share innovative solutions that can lead to a more sustainable and ethical global economy.

Join us in this exploration and help pave the way for a future where blockchain technology drives sustainable business transformation.

Scope:

The intersection of blockchain technology and sustainable business management is an emerging area of interest in academia and industry. This Special Issue seeks to explore the potential of blockchain technology to enhance sustainable business practices, improve transparency, and foster ethical decision making. We invite high-quality, original research papers that offer theoretical, empirical, and practical insights into the integration of blockchain technology with sustainable business management.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Blockchain in circular economy;
  • Sustainable finance and blockchain;
  • Blockchain for supply chain transparency;
  • Blockchain for ethical business practices;
  • Blockchain and renewable energy;
  • Blockchain and sustainable development goals (SDGs);
  • Technological innovations and blockchain.

Dr. Gazi Murat Duman
Dr. Ahmet Ozkul
Dr. Kamal P. Upadhyaya
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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

  • blockchain
  • sustainability
  • sustainable development
  • environmental, social and governance
  • ESG, cryptocurrency, sustainable development goals
  • SDG
  • circular economy
  • green blockchain
  • sustainable business management
  • supply chain sustainability
  • smart contracts
  • green energy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 1573 KiB  
Article
Blockchain Adoption and Corporate Sustainability Performance: An Analysis of the World’s Top Public Companies
by Ozlem Sayilir, Ahmet Semih Ozkul, Mehmet Balcilar and Ronald Kuntze
Sustainability 2025, 17(7), 2855; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072855 - 24 Mar 2025
Viewed by 646
Abstract
Using blockchain adoption (BCA) data for 81 leading public companies in 2021, this study examines the impact of blockchain adoption on organizations’ environmental, sustainability, and governance performance. Employing the 2022 ESG scores from LSEG (Refinitiv) Database, which assess corporate sustainability performance across environmental, [...] Read more.
Using blockchain adoption (BCA) data for 81 leading public companies in 2021, this study examines the impact of blockchain adoption on organizations’ environmental, sustainability, and governance performance. Employing the 2022 ESG scores from LSEG (Refinitiv) Database, which assess corporate sustainability performance across environmental, social, and governance dimensions, we regress ESG scores against blockchain adoption levels, company size, and various financial performance metrics. The results from the regression analysis reveal that blockchain adoption is significantly and positively associated with two sub-dimensions of environmental sustainability performance: resource usage and emissions. Additionally, firms exhibiting higher profitability and greater financial leverage appear to more effectively control blockchain adoption to enhance their corporate sustainability performance. These findings support the notion that blockchain adoption offers eco-efficient solutions that contribute to improved corporate sustainability performance, particularly through improved resource management and emissions control, while also offering actionable recommendations for policymakers and industry leaders. Full article
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18 pages, 279 KiB  
Article
Blockchain Technology and Corporate Performance: Empirical Evidence from Listed Companies in China
by Jie Zhang and Chen Ruan
Sustainability 2024, 16(21), 9177; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219177 - 23 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2068
Abstract
Blockchain technology is widely recognized and adopted by many organizations, as it serves as a fundamental technological infrastructure for the digital economy. This has led to a rapid acceleration of industrial transformation and digital innovation. This study employs empirical data from a substantial [...] Read more.
Blockchain technology is widely recognized and adopted by many organizations, as it serves as a fundamental technological infrastructure for the digital economy. This has led to a rapid acceleration of industrial transformation and digital innovation. This study employs empirical data from a substantial sample to investigate the potential applications, strategies, and advantages of blockchain technology. This paper examines A-share listed companies in China from 2015 to 2021, offering valuable empirical insights that demonstrate how the implementation of blockchain technology can markedly improve corporate performance in a major global economy. The research in this paper examines the differential effects of blockchain technology by innovatively integrating financial and environmental performance metrics into an empirical model, revealing that implementing blockchain technology significantly enhances environmental performance. Furthermore, it has been observed that blockchain technology adoption can contribute to corporate performance by improving information transparency. It is worth noting that blockchain technology’s influence on enterprises’ performance exhibits discernible variations based on the ownership structure, environmental sensitivity, and technical features of said enterprises. This paper can be used as a guide for enterprises looking to implement blockchain technology and for governments seeking to develop digitalization legislation. Full article
22 pages, 3158 KiB  
Article
Adaptive Strategies and Sustainable Innovations of Chinese Contractors in the Belt and Road Initiative: A Social Network and Supply Chain Integration Perspective
by Jiaxin Huang and Shui Ming Li
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 8927; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16208927 - 15 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1885
Abstract
As global economic integration and rapid technological advancements transform international business, international engineering contracting has become essential for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper investigates the significant impact of China’s strategic initiatives, notably the “Going Global” strategy and the Belt and Road [...] Read more.
As global economic integration and rapid technological advancements transform international business, international engineering contracting has become essential for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper investigates the significant impact of China’s strategic initiatives, notably the “Going Global” strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), on the operational practices of Chinese enterprises involved in overseas investments. Central to this transformation is the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) model, which emphasizes the integration of supply chain management and stakeholder collaboration to enhance performance in international EPC projects and underscores the crucial role of these elements in promoting sustainability. Incorporating insights from social network data analysis, this study reveals that contractors collaborating with various stakeholders—such as owners/consulting engineers, domestic and foreign customs departments, and group headquarters/design parties—exhibit a high degree of similarity in personnel profiles. This suggests that the internal organizational structure and personnel allocation of contractors could be optimized to enhance operational efficiency, aligning with the collaborative patterns identified. This study addresses a critical research gap by exploring how effective supply chain management and collaborative stakeholder engagement within multinational EPC projects contribute to sustainable outcomes. Employing advanced social network analysis software, the research examines the complex interactions among stakeholders and their influence on procurement dynamics. Findings indicate that strong relational networks and strategic collaborations significantly enhance procurement efficiency and project success, underscoring the importance of supply chain integration. Ultimately, integrating supply chain management principles into the EPC model not only offers innovative perspectives for advancing sustainability in international projects but also provides actionable insights for improving project outcomes within the BRI framework. This research underscores the pivotal role of supply chain organization and stakeholder cooperation in achieving sustainability objectives, thereby enriching the discourse on sustainable enterprise operation and supply chain management in the context of global initiatives. Full article
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