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The purpose of this study is to analyse the role played by institutional investors in a firm’s decision to hire sustainability assurance services and to determine the benefits of sustainability assurance for the functioning of the capital market. This analysis is complemented by examining the quality of the sustainability assurance service that institutional investors demand.

The authors selected a sample of 1,564 multinational firms from 2002 to 2017. Panel data logit and generalised method of moments (GMM) regressions were estimated to consider decisions about hiring sustainability assurance services or not, and the assurance quality indexes constructed by a checklist based on the academic literature, respectively.

Institutional pressures associated with the environmental and social impacts of a firm’s activities lead to the convergence of institutional investor attitudes towards corporate sustainability, so that, regardless of their investment horizon, they promote the hiring of sustainability assurance services by corporate boards, which favours analyst precision and a reduction in the cost of capital. Long-term (LT) institutional investors exert influence through a selection mechanism, whereas short-term (ST) institutional investors exert influence through their presence on the board. Once the company has decided to provide assurance about its sustainability report, both types of institutional investors promote a higher quality of such service, although this is not well valued by the stock market.

This paper extends research on the monitoring role of institutional investors into the sustainability assurance context. Researchers may benefit from this paper’s findings when they examine the factors that drive the hiring of sustainability assurance services and their characteristics. This paper also shows that sustainability assurance services are a significant weakness due to the lack of standardisation in comparison with financial auditing, which complicates the assessment of their quality by stock market participants, thereby penalising those companies that provide more complete sustainability assurance reports.

Considering this paper’s findings, it seems advisable that regulators establish a normative framework to standardise sustainability assurance processes. The results can also be used as an orientation for both companies, to design their sustainability disclosure policies and regulators, to improve the running of the capital market.

Sustainability assurance services have a positive effect on the running of the capital market and improve external stakeholder decision-making by providing more reliable information, which, in turn, will favour the implementation of more sustainable actions that contribute to the attainment of sustainable development goals.

This is one of the first papers to analyse the effect of institutional ownership on a firm’s decision to hire sustainability assurance services and consider the effect of the institutional investors’ investment horizon – LT versus ST – and the channel – selection methods and/or active engagement – used by them to exert their influence. The authors also propose several measures of sustainability assurance quality to demonstrate the relevance of the contents of the assurance statement for the capital market in general and the institutional investors in particular.

This paper discusses logistics service providers' (LSPs’) energy efficiency initiatives for sustainable development, both from an evolutionary perspective and based on a framework consisting of actions, processes (i.e. at the operations interface) and services (i.e. at the customer interface).

Following a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with sustainability managers at LSPs and the data were analysed via inductive coding. Based on the results and the literature, the authors developed a maturity model for LSPs' transitions to environmental sustainability.

LSPs' sustainable development occurs via operational processes, services at the customer interface, and actions that support those processes and services. Energy efficiency efforts are characterised by process depth that helps LSPs to align with their customers' energy efficiency improvement processes. While services related to energy efficiency connect LSPs and their customers, actions in support vary depending on the logistics activities in which LSPs participate.

Further research is needed to test and verify the maturity model and to clarify the interdependency of its three dimensions.

By categorising energy efficiency initiatives and proposing a maturity model for LSPs' sustainable development via energy efficiency, the authors have developed a tool for logistics actors to assess their progress towards improved sustainability.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing a three-pillar framework to understand the sustainability transitions of LSPs through energy efficiency. Developing a maturity model using this framework also contributes to the literature with an approach to assess sustainability advancement in the logistics industry.

This paper aims to propose a model which serves to illustrate that a number of factors are responsible for, and contribute to, the different forms of sustainability of digital information services. It also seeks to identify some areas of information research and their interrelationship in the context of sustainability of digital information services.

This research is based on critical analysis of a range of research and policy documents, and an environment scan, in different aspects of sustainability of information systems and services. Recent and relevant past research studies as well as some relevant government policies and initiatives have been critically analyzed in order to identify various factors that are said to contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of information services.

It is noted that the sustainability of information has not been studied within the mainstream information science research. However, several previous research studies have produced findings and models that can be used to achieve some aspects of sustainability of information. It is also noted that various parameters of sustainability are inter-related and hence a proper research agenda has to be prepared, and concerted research efforts are needed in order to be able to develop and manage sustainable digital information services.

A model has been proposed showing the various factors to be studied for achieving the economic, social and environmental sustainability of information services. Interrelations among the different factors and their implications for sustainability of digital information systems services are also discussed.

The model is expected to open new vistas for research in the economic, social and environmental sustainability of digital information systems and services. It will develop new tools, technologies and applications for building sustainable information systems and services appropriate for the digital era.

The debate about global integration (standardisation) versus responsiveness (adaptation) has recently been supplemented with perspectives that emphasise regionalisation. And while the discussion has also been extended from manufacturing to services, there are specific sectors and emergent topics that have not yet received much attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore how accounting firms (The Big Four) and particularly their sustainability services fit in the globalisation/regionalisation/localisation spectrum, and appear to standardise or adapt in key countries in various regions around the world.

Examined are the Big Four accounting firms in general, and their sustainability services in 15 countries in five regions and globally, as presented on their respective web sites.

While overall the Big Four are somewhere between globalisation and bi‐regionalisation, the traditional independent member firm structure appears to prevail in service offerings, as sustainability services do not exhibit standardisation and there are hardly signs of regionalisation/globalisation. This seems to result from special characteristics of services, such as inseparability of production and consumption, and local requirements regarding sustainability.

This exploratory study can be a starting point for further in‐depth analyses into sustainability and/or services sector(s), and the way in which they figure in current realities of international business.

The paper gives insight into the variety of sustainability services around the world, as well as the way in which the accounting firms have dealt with global issues that also have local dimensions.

The paper sheds light on a topic in a sector so far unexplored in the globalisation/regionalisation debate, bringing new dimensions and perspectives to it.

The paper aims to describe a novel framework for service design to achieve the overall goal of sustainability and to characterize it while exploring the benefit of doing so for both sustainability and service. This novel framework also proposes new opportunities for sustainability-oriented innovation.

The paper presents a novel approach to design and implement services that will lead to a reduction in the production of goods and will offer alternatives that will reduce whatever production process is involved in its creation, i.e. clean service – CleanServ.

The authors’ findings suggest that a CleanServ is a service that is competitive with, if not superior to, its conventional tangible or intangible counterparts and one that reduces the use of natural resources and cuts or eliminates emissions and wastes. CleanServs can be categorized into five different groups based on their fundamental contribution to sustainability: prevention, reduction, replacement, efficiency and offset. While the service sector continuous to grow in size and importance, CleanServs will play a key role in improving the sustainability of our society and in preserving the environment.

The CleanServ concept offers a new framework and novel opportunities for sustainability-oriented innovation in the service sector. Implementing CleanServs will enable services to be imbued with sustainability and will promote the exchange of the production of goods with the delivery of services that will supply the same solution more sustainably.

CleanServs are expected to change how we consume both products and services and will, therefore, promote a more rational use of natural resources and will reduce the discharge of pollution to the environment. Implementation of the CleanServ concept will, thus, advance the current state of the art in sustainable development and improve quality of life on a global scale.

This paper presents a novel approach and a framework that conceptualizes clean services, which we term CleanServs, while exploring the benefit of doing so, both for sustainability and for service science.

Sustainability-related risk management of logistics service providers (LSPs) is an essential part of sustainability performance of focal companies, as logistics services touch the entire supply chain (SC) – from raw material sources to end-customers. The purpose of this paper, draws on resource-based view and stakeholder theory in exploring how companies can manage environmental and social sustainability-related risks from logistics service suppliers. This kind of capability is essential in order to maintain reputation in the eyes of stakeholders, and to maintain long-term financial performance.

The data of this multiple-case study were collected from semi-structured interviews in eight case-companies in Finland. Five of the cases are primary logistics buyers, and three represent LSP companies.

The cross-case analysis showed that primary buyers of logistics services use their sustainability criteria as a prerequisite for LSP candidates, and when the level is adequate and equal, other factors, e.g. price and capacity, are decisive. Based on the analysis, large LSPs are preparing for the future competition, and act in a more sustainable manner than their customers (buyers) expect at the moment, while small LSPs strictly comply with the regulation. However, buyers’ requirements for sustainable logistics services are increasing as the stakeholder expectations for comprehensively sustainable SCs are growing.

Only little research has been conducted on sustainable logistics from the buyer company’s risk management perspective. This paper adds the knowledge of sustainability-related risk management in purchasing of logistics services and in the logistics industry.

The authors aim to describe the mutual perspectives of sustainability and service science and characterize them for the design and development of more sustainable services and to promote an overall shift toward sustainability.

The paper presents a novel model for the design of services that fulfill customer demands and that can be continued for long periods of time without having a negative impact on either the natural or the social environment. Sustainability was therefore incorporated into the service supply chain not only as a primary value, but also as a super value that enables the customer to deliver sustainability to the next generation.

The authors' findings suggest that a sustainable service should both imbue the core‐value of the service with sustainability and recruit the customer as a supplier of sustainability to future generations. Thus, sustainable service should mimic natural processes, in so doing achieving energy efficiency, using future‐oriented and life cycle perspectives, and evolving to smoothly adapt to changes in its environment. Moreover, sustainable service should account for the rational use of natural resources, technologies, and information and knowledge and integrate environmental, social, and economic elements together with the inclusion of services and of manufacturing and agricultural processes.

The authors present a novel approach and a model that conceptualizes sustainability as a service while exploring the benefit of doing so, both for sustainability and for service science.

Health-care (HC) is one of the most polluting industries and recognised as the second energy-intensive sector, emitting 8 per cent out of total 40 per cent of total carbon emissions. Integrating sustainability to facilities management operations is imperative and could significantly contribute to reducing energy consumption, waste and day-to-day operational costs of buildings. The integration of sustainability into FM practices depends on factors such as facility type, organisational scale, business sector and organisation characteristics. This paper aims to explore the SFM practice with a specific focus on HC-specific FM services and respective sustainable practice that could be integrated into FM operations.

A Delphi survey was administered to ten experts in two rounds, who are specialised in FM and sustainable practices in the HC sector. Data gathered from the survey were analysed using the Relative Importance Index to identify the most significant FM services and sustainable practices.

The study found 9 significant FM services and 49 sustainable in HC. The top three significant FM services include “building services (BS)”, “space planning (SP)” and “quality management (QM)”. Further, “identifying applications for energy-saving measures” and “ensure onsite, off-site storage and transport of wastes” were found as the topmost significant sustainable practices. The relevancy of these identified sustainable practices to the principles of sustainability was determined. The results showed that 22, 18 and 09 sustainable practices were relevant to environmental, social and economic principles of sustainability, respectively.

There is a dearth of literature that integrates sustainable FM practices in HC sector, and this study fulfills this research gap. The study is novel in offering a framework to integrate sustainability into FM practice in HC sector.

Despite increasing attentions to sustainable service supply chain management (SSSCM), a framework for performance evaluation of sustainable service only supply chain management (SSOSCM) is still missing. This paper tries to fill this gap and provides a novel conceptual framework.

The articles related to SSSCM are fetched from the databases of SCOPUS and Web of Science. Analysis of 174 articles identified by the systematic literature review is further carried out.

This research identifies the sustainable practices for service only supply chain (SOSC) as environmental management, social management, economic management, customer management, health, safety and risk management, technical sustainability, institutional sustainability, information and technology management as well as two performance measurement criteria as operational performance and organizational performance. This paper provides a novel conceptual framework for the performance evaluation of SSOSCM. The results call for future exploration in the following three broad directions-(1) customer's perception, involvement and their behaviour towards sustainability in SOSC context; (2) trade-off, incentive mechanism and multilevel evaluation for achieving sustainability in SOSC and (3) sustainability in SOSC from various point of views.

The managers can use the framework to assess the performance of the organization while researchers can explore the discussed research gaps.

This is the first paper that provides a novel conceptual framework for the performance evaluation of SSOSCM as well as potential future research directions.

This paper aimed to identify the impact that Industry 4.0 can have on the service sector and how its combination can generate benefits for Sustainability 4.0 in the context of the Triple Bottom Line.

A Systematic Literature Review (RSL) was developed using the following combinations of keywords on the Web of Science and Scopus databases: Industry 4.0 And Sustainability, Industry 4.0 And Service, and Industry 4.0 And Sustainable Development, in which 24 papers were selected.

As a result, the authors found 100 benefits for sustainable development, which were further categorized into 54 advantages for the economic area, 25 for the social segment and 21 for environmental aspects. In this way, the results can help private companies understand the use of these technologies aimed at sustainable growth, plus bolstering the government to conduct public policies to encourage these practices in technology organizations.

As a practical implication, this study offers insight into the evolution of sustainable development. It enables the emergence of works that wish to explore the service sector, providing relevant information for decision-making and influencing managers and policymakers on the importance of applying Industry 4.0 toward the sustainability of the service sector and its applications.

The originality of this study lies in expanding the understanding generated by 4.0 technologies, by diverting attention from the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, which have abundant literature on the subject. With this, this work demonstrated that modern technologies have greater possibilities of an action directed at the service sector, in addition to being able to contribute to Sustainability 4.0 from the perspective of the sustainability tripod.