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Section 6.1 explores the prerequisites for the formation and features of the development of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Belarus, which is a complex of scientifically grounded directions for solving national problems that are closely interrelated with world development. During the years of the state sovereignty of Belarus, three national strategies of sustainable development were developed and adopted by the government. The strategic goal of sustainable development in the latter national strategy is to ensure high living standards of the population and conditions for the harmonious development of the individual through the transition to a highly efficient economy based on knowledge and innovation, while maintaining a favorable environment for current and future generations. The objectives of sustainable development, defined in the strategy for the first five years, are detailed in the National Action Plan for the Development of a Green Economy in the Republic of Belarus until 2020.

In Section 6.2, it is noted that the green economy is becoming a new engine of growth, contributes to the creation of decent jobs, and is a vital factor in the eradication of poverty and destitution. The main factors of the transition to a green economy and the main directions of its development in the Republic of Belarus are outlined.

In Section 6.3 the features of the concept of circular economy and the formation of business models for its implementation are analyzed. The study concluded that the concept of sustainable development is a theoretical model of the desired future of mankind, and the green and circular economies provide very specific projects for the practical implementation of the sustainable development paradigm.

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.

This chapter proposes frugal eco-innovation as an eco-efficient way into which firms might shift their existing business models, exploring how firms are able to cut costs and reduce negative environmental impacts simultaneously.

This work introduces the concept of frugal eco-innovation based on numerous examples about how several European companies are adopting this management perspective. These examples are obtained from these companies’ public environmental reports.

A summary of how cost reduction could be achieved by firms on the basis of frugal eco-innovation; further, the pathway for how managers could achieve an effective implementation of frugal eco-innovation.

By developing frugal eco-innovation, managers are able to benefit from a management alternative that is ecologically sustainable and economically profitable.

This work highlights how frugal eco-innovation could benefit, on the one hand, firms via the achievement of cost reduction and, on the other hand, the society in general via the diminution of the negative environmental impacts generated by the business activity.

This work analyses a management orientation that could be implemented in order to shift business models towards a more ecological production, highlighting how firms are able to do more with less.

Social organisations and their entrepreneurial approaches are quite challenging to avail a robust and sustainable platform. Yet it is more difficult when the venture is aimed to serve an uncommon service that the target group are not aware of. Leveraging morale boosts and power of the mind through yoga and transcendental meditation practices could be an approach of a social enterprise that are outlined in this chapter. How tranquility and mental peace in the midst a huge number of people can be achieved by some innovative steps, that is also conferred here.

Empirical evidence from the past decade confirms that multinationals increasingly see the environment as a strategic issue, whether in terms of limiting damage to the bottom line from adverse publicity, or actually gaining in the marketplace by pioneering more environmentally conscious solutions. During the same period, NGOs have become a visible part of the political process, in influencing the environmental strategies of multinationals through direct action, as well as by forming broader coalitions aimed at influencing the agenda at multilateral institutions such as the WTO and the OECD regarding environmental concerns and the behavior of multinationals. This chapter explores the importance of different environmental drivers on the behavior of firms in the pulp and paper industry, with particular focus on the role of Greenpeace in changing industry practices. We discuss the extent to which the paper industry might be a special case in this respect, and conclude by assessing the implications for public policy.