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In the pursuit of net-zero, the decarbonization activities of organizations are a critical feature of any sustainability strategy. However, government policy and recent technological innovations do not address the digital carbon footprint of organizations. The paper aims to present the concept of single-use dark data and how knowledge reuse by organizations is a means to digital decarbonization.

Businesses in all sectors must contribute to reducing digital carbon emissions globally, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine “how” from a knowledge (re)use perspective. Drawing on insights from the knowledge creation process, the paper presents a set of pathways to greater knowledge reuse for the reduction of organizations’ digital carbon footprint.

Businesses continually collect, process and store knowledge but generally fail to reuse these knowledge assets – referred to as dark data. Consequently, this dark data has a huge impact on energy use and global emissions. This model is the first to show explicit pathways that businesses can follow to sustainable knowledge practices.

If businesses are to be proactive in their collective pursuit of net-zero, then it becomes paramount that reducing the digital carbon footprint becomes a key sustainability target. The paper presents how this might be accomplished, offering practical and actionable guidance to businesses for digital decarbonization.

Two critical questions are facing businesses: how can decarbonization be achieved? And can it be achieved at a low-cost? Awareness of the damaging impact digitalization may be having on the environment is in its infancy, yet knowledge reuse is a proactive and cost-effective route to reduce carbon emissions, which is explored in the paper.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the theme of managing operations and supply chains in the so-called “new normal”. It reflects the themes emerging from recent research and how these might be conceptualized.

The article reviews research presented at the EurOMA 2021 conference and eight papers subsequently developed into full journal papers. It considers conceptual themes contained in these papers and how they reflect recent turbulent events in the external business environment.

The article notes the themes of resilience in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental sustainability, especially climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals, and the significance of digital technologies. Additional themes relating to inter-organizational relationships, complexity and manager cognition are also considered. In order to provide useful insights for future disruptions, general concepts on epistemology and responsiveness are described.

The article discusses general principles across cutting-edge research in operations and supply chain management, to support improved performance to add economic and social value.

The direct selling model adopted in the beauty and cosmetics industry puts female consumer entrepreneurs at the heart of the business model. A neglected phenomenon in female entrepreneurship, this study aims to focus on female sales agents’ capabilities that are linked to sales performance and examine which capabilities might be shaped and enhanced through coaching and training in an emerging economy context.

Survey data were generated from a sample of 249 female sales agents who agreed to participate in a coaching and training programme run by a focal firm. Data were collected in two phases to investigate the capabilities linked to sales performance pre-intervention and the impact of coaching and training on the relationships between the capabilities and sales performance post-intervention. The time-lag data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

For female sales agents, self-efficacy and sales experience have a significant positive effect on adaptive sales performance both before and after the coaching and training intervention. In contrast, intellectual capital and self-motivation had a non-significant relationship with sales performance before the intervention. However, after the intervention, the relationship between these variables became positive and significant.

The study demonstrates the effects of pre- and post-coaching and training on female consumer entrepreneurs’ capabilities and the links to sales performance. These findings add critical empirical knowledge on how female consumer entrepreneurship may be developed and the role of entrepreneurship for female empowerment in the Asian context. Collectively, the findings bring to the fore the female sphere in consumer entrepreneurship research in emerging economies.

In the context of promoting sustainable development in SMEs, the present study aims to investigate the relationship among solution dimensions based on the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept.

The study employs a comprehensive methodology that includes a systematic literature review, workshop, grounded theory and interpretive structural modeling. Various dimensions concerning I4.0 sustainability are tested and evaluated using a questionnaire design followed by hypothesis formulation. Further, grounded theory is used to extract the key solution dimensions that capture the essence of I4.0 implementation in SMEs. Finally, the solution dimensions for I4.0 sustainability are modeled using the ISM approach to understand the structural interdependencies among them, and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) analysis is done to understand the driving and dependence power among these dimensions.

The study identified 14 solution dimensions for the implementation of I4.0 in SMEs for sustainable development. Out of the 14 solution dimensions, human resource training programs (D4) appear at level 11, followed by top management commitment (D1), strategic collaborations (D3) and coordination among key stakeholders (D5) at level 2 in the hierarchical interpretive structural modeling (ISM) model. Also, these dimensions have an effect size of more than 0.50 which indicates a substantial correlation between the sustainability dimensions and Industry 4.0 implementation in SMEs.

The study contributes to the overall goal of fostering sustainability within the SME sector, which can pave the way for various stakeholders for the successful implementation of I4.0 sustainable solution dimensions.

This study aims to systematically review the current academic literature on the role of technologies in low-carbon supply chain management (SCM), identify and analyse critical themes and propose an integrated conceptual model.

A systematic literature review of 48 papers published between 2010 and 2022 was conducted. A conceptual model was advanced.

Based on the analysis and synthesis of the reviewed papers, this review provides an initial attempt to integrate technology adoption and low-carbon SCM by developing a diffusion of innovation model of technology-enabled low-carbon SCM within the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework, in which drivers, enablers and barriers to technology adoption practices are identified. The environmental, economic and social outcomes of adoption practices are also identified.

This study provides a novel and comprehensive roadmap for future research on technology-enabled low-carbon SCM. Furthermore, policy, as well as managerial implications, is presented for policymakers and managers.

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the state-of-art literature on the net-zero economy in the field of supply chain management.

A systematic literature review of 79 articles published from 2009 to 2021 has been conducted to minimise the researchers' bias and maximise the reliability and replicability of the study.

The thematic analysis reveals that studies in the field of net-zero economy have mostly been done on decarbonisation in the supply chain, emission control and life cycle analysis and environmental and energy management. The findings highlight the strong positive association between digitalisation, circular economy and resources optimization practices with net-zero economy goals. The study also addresses the challenges linked with the net-zero economy at the firm and country levels.

Practitioners in companies and academics might find this review valuable as this study reviews, classifies and analyses the studies, outlines the evolution of literature and offers directions for future studies using the theory, methodology and context (TMC) framework.

This is the first study that uses a structured approach to analyse studies done in the net-zero field by assessing publications from 2009 to 2021.

Digital technologies provide an opportunity for the rail sector to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability, if implemented correctly. Unlocking the full potential of technology, however, will require significant changes beyond the technological. Physical assets will need to link with digital assets, making best use of data, simulation and modelling. Transformational leadership informed by systems engineering will be necessary to deliver the change process required to innovate across the whole railway life cycle. Each of these digital railway elements – technology, data, simulation, transformational leadership and systems engineering – presents challenges to be overcome. The authors believe that by instilling core values alongside technical expertise, by being open, resilient, responsive, customer-centric and valuing people, the digital railway has the power to transform the sector. It will enable improved railway processes; safer, faster and more reliable trains; better customer experience; cost-effectiveness; and reduced carbon emissions and more. The digital railway will not just realise the current vision but form the foundation for a sustainable railway to meet changing mobility needs well beyond 2050.

Many institutions of higher education have committed to carbon neutrality. Given this goal, the main economic issue is minimizing cost. As for society as a whole, dominant decarbonization strategies are renewable electricity generation, electrification of end uses and energy efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to describe the optimum combination of strategies.

There are four questions for eliminating the primary institutional greenhouse gas emissions: how much renewable electricity to produce on-site; where and at what price to purchase the balance of renewable electricity required; how to heat and cool buildings without fossil fuels; and how much to invest in energy efficiency. A method is presented to minimize decarbonization costs by equating marginal costs of the alternates.

The estimated cost of grid-purchased carbon-free energy is the most important benchmark, determining both the optimal level of campus-produced renewable energy and the optimum efficiency investment. In the context of complete decarbonization, greater efficiency investments may be justified than when individual measures are judged only by fossil-fuel savings.

This paper discusses a theoretically ideal plan and implementation issues such as purchasing carbon-free electricity, calculating marginal costs of conserved energy, nonmarginal cost changes, uncertainty about achieving efficiency targets, and dynamic pricing. The principles described in this study can be used to craft a cost-minimizing decarbonization strategy.

While previous studies discuss decarbonization strategies, there is little economic guidance on which strategies are optimal, on how to combine strategies to minimize cost or how to identify a preferred path to decarbonization.

In the twenty-first century, as the D3 technological revolutions of jobs, which include digitalisation, decarbonisation and decentralisation, is running in most businesses, we are faced with a new generation of fast processing, including decision-making of machines instead of humans. This matter opens a new gate of new and upgraded business infrastructure, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to replace artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks instead of human employees. Incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) into business processes is essential for SME growth. Big data analytics may use big data to communicate with their markets and consumers, enhance efficiency, cut costs, validate choices and spot trends by retrieving, analysing and managing data. So, in this regard, it seems simultaneous with the rise of intelligent networks that AI appears in human communities more tangible and efficient.