The Path to Sustainable Technological Entrepreneurship

Dear Colleagues,

The dynamic world of the 21^st century is characterized by a vast array of global and societal challenges faced in terms of environmental and social challenges. At the same time, in this unprecedented era, innovative and advanced technologies are continuously developed by entrepreneurs, leveraging the economy. As a result, in recent years, we have witnessed two emerging research disciplines: sustainably management and technological entrepreneurship management. However, these two fields of study are very rarely connected or integrated into complementary and coherent research.

Having been examined for many years by specialists and institutions (Polanyi, 1957), sustainability has recently received growing attention among businesses in order to adopt a strategic perspective and implement a broad range of practices addressing sustainability challenges (Eccles et al., 2014; Epstein et al., 2015). These challenges are addressed by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in which the following four key dimensions are included: inclusive social development, inclusive economic development, environmental sustainability, and peace and security (Habanik et al., 2019).

Since the 1970s, technological entrepreneurship has been developed, serving as “a vehicle that facilitates prosperity in individuals, firms, regions, and nations” (Bailetti, 2012) and stimulating economic growth (Arin et al., 2015). Studies concerning entrepreneurial and innovative activities are necessary, since they are the core competence to the survival of companies (Ha, 2022). Existing and novel scientific knowledge is needed to respond to advanced market needs. However, there is a growing trend of applying technological innovations in order to generate novel solutions to social and environmental challenges on the global, regional, or national levels (Oyedele et al., 2020; Tripathi and Brahma, 2018; Lamine at al., 2018).

The objective of this Special Issue titled “The Path to Sustainable Technological Entrepreneurship” is to highlight the challenges and opportunities in conceiving, designing, building, utilizing, and commercializing novel technology solutions aiming to impact individuals and communities around the world.

This Special Issue focuses on the role of technological entrepreneurship in the ecosystem of environmental–social–economic sustainable development, both in global and local contexts. First, it aims to explore perceptions, theories, policies, strategies, and practices related to various ways in which technology can and should serve global challenges. Second, it aims to better understand whether and how novel technological initiatives can and should be conceptualized, structured, and operated in a sustainable manner in line with the double or triple bottom line, where businesses aim to create economic value as well as environmental and social value (Norman and MacDonald, 2004).

We welcome theoretical, empirical, conceptual, and experimental studies significantly contributing to the theory and practice of integrating sustainability and technological entrepreneurship. We are open to a wide range of research methods, as long as they are consistent with the aims and scope of this Special Issue.

In detail, we call for submissions focusing on, but not limited to, the following:

• Novel business models to face global challenges;
• Innovative technologies to increase sustainability;
• Social technological entrepreneurship;
• Environmental technological entrepreneurship;
• Cryptocurrencies and FinTech entrepreneurship;
• Triple bottom line in entrepreneurial activities;
• Innovative technologies for sustainable impact;
• Technological solutions to global and local challenges;
• Sustainable technological transfer from academia to industry;
• Incentives to foster sustainable technology;
• Marketable outcomes of sustainable technology;
• Sustainable technology in developing countries and emerging markets.

References:

Arin, K. P., Huang, V. Z., Minniti, M., Nandialath, A. M., and Reich, O. F. (2015). Revisiting the determinants of entrepreneurship: A Bayesian approach. Journal of Management, 41(2), 607-631.

Bailetti, T. (2012). Technology entrepreneurship: overview, definition, and distinctive aspects. Technology Innovation Management Review, 2(2).

Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., and Serafeim, G. (2014). The impact of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance. Management Science, 60(11), 2835–2857.

Epstein, M. J., Buhovac, A. R., and Yuthas, K. (2015). Managing social, environmental and financial performance simultaneously. Long Range Planning, 48(1), 35–45.

Ha, J. C. (2022). Capturing Emerging Business Opportunities through Entrepreneurial Orientation and Innovation Behavior: The Moderating Role of Leader-Member Exchange. Sustainability, 14(6), 3585.

Habanik, J., Grencikova, A., and Krajco, K. (2019). The impact of new technology on sustainable development. Engineering Economics, 30(1), 41-49.

Lamine, W., Mian, S., Fayolle, A., Wright, M., Klofsten, M., and Etzkowitz, H. (2018). Technology business incubation mechanisms and sustainable regional development. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 43(5), 1121-1141.

Norman, W., and MacDonald, C. (2004). Getting to the bottom of “triple bottom line”. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(2), 243-262.

Oyedele, O. O., Paul, I. O., Ganiyu, I. O., Derera, E., and Oyero, M. A. (2020). Technopreneurship as a pathway to sustainable business performance: Empirical evidence from SMES in Nigeria. The Journal of Accounting and Management, 10(2).

Polanyi, K. (1957). The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Beacon Press: Boston, MA, USA.

Tripathi, S. S., and Brahma, M. (2018). Technology entrepreneurship in emerging markets: An exploration of entrepreneurial models prevalent in India. Technology Innovation Management Review, 8(1).

Prof. Dr. Vered Holzmann
Prof. Dr. Eli Gimmon
Prof. Dr. Ying Teng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• technological entrepreneurship and innovation
• sustainable finance
• environmental–social–economic ecosystem
• social challenges
• startups and spinoffs