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This qualitative study explores how multinational enterprises (MNEs) approach sustainable innovation through the lens of innovation theory and doughnut economics. The study proposes a conceptual framework to evaluate the practices of businesses and the findings illustrate how sustainable innovation occurs within two MNEs. Based on interviews with professionals of two Swedish MNEs, responsible for sustainability, the study examines how sustainable innovations lead to the redesign of core business pillars and transforms the operating market for the MNE. Overall, this study makes a theoretical contribution by formulating an application of Raworth’s (2017) doughnut model to business strategy. It also provides practical insight into the dynamics of sustainable innovation, which aims to inform and inspire further progress in sustainable development by businesses and academia.

The purpose of this study is to explore the interplay among self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations within microfinance institutions (MFIs) and to examine the extent to which organizational resilience plays a significant role in shaping these dynamics as a mediator.

This paper adopted a cross-sectional research design combined with analytical and descriptive approach to collect the data. Smart partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to construct the measurement model and structural equation model to test the mediating effect under this study.

The results revealed that organizational resilience is a significant mediator in the relationship between self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations among microfinance institutions in Uganda.

The data for this study were collected only from microfinance institutions in Uganda. Future studies may collect data from other formal financial institutions like commercial banks and credit institutions to test the mediating effect of organizational resilience. More still, the study adopted only a single approach of using a questionnaire. However, future research through interviews may be desirable. Likewise this study was cross-sectional in nature. Therefore, a longitudinal study may be useful in future while investigating the mediating role of organizational resilience traversing over a long time frame.

A possible implication is that microfinance institutions which desire to have sustainable innovative solutions for their business operations in disruptive circumstances may need to scrutinize their capacity to be resilient and self-organize.

Microfinance institutions play a great role to the underserved clients. Thus, for each to re-organize to be able to provide services that meet users’ needs, without physical products so as to ensure long-term financial and social welfare combined with the ability to bounce back and adapt in times of economic downturn to avoid mission adrift.

While most studies have been carried out on organizational resilience, this paper takes center stage and is the first to test the mediating role of organizational resilience in the relationship between self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations, especially in microfinance institutions in Uganda. This paper generates strong evidence and contributes to the powerful influence of organizational resilience in enhancing the level of sustainable innovations based on self-organization and networks.

The study aimed to analyze the association between dynamic capabilities and sustainable business model innovation of startups in the Brazilian logistics sector.

A qualitative approach was used through a multiple case study that was operated from semi-structured interviews and secondary data analysis.

The evidence found pointed to different types of innovations in sustainable business models and distinct activities inherent to the three dynamic capabilities surveyed. In addition, the results confirmed that dynamic capabilities can be considered internal drivers that stimulate sustainable business model innovation, since the conception until the change or dissemination.

The diffusion of a model that jointly addresses the theory of dynamic capabilities and sustainable business model innovation.

For managers, the study provides insights into the archetypes of sustainable business model innovation and guidance on how to incorporate into the organization's strategic activities aimed at the different dynamic capabilities to achieve sustainable innovation.

Sustainable business model innovation is seen as a key factor for competitive advantage and corporate sustainability. However, a more comprehensive understanding is necessary for those that promote the design and innovation of sustainable business models. Therefore, the paper addresses this gap by (1) systematizing sustainable logistics initiatives, (2) detailing the processes that support the development of startups' sustainable dynamic capabilities and (3) proposing a framework that establishes connections between capabilities, business model innovation processes, business model archetypes and the environmental, social and economic impacts.

Conditioning factors of the globalized world have created new requirements and opportunities in developing management models for organizations that englobe sustainability aspects, which presume substantial investments in innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between sustainable innovation practices and the performance of industrial companies.

This was a quantitative study and carried out by applying a research survey in Brazilian industrial companies.

The results showed that there are significantly positive associations between several variables related to sustainable innovation practices and company performance, being, therefore, possible to confirm the original proposed hypothesis.

The main limiting factors were theoretical choices, comprehension of the phenomenon through the perception of the respondents, and the number of companies in the sample, as little representation was found in the researched population. In this manner, the results cannot be applied to the universe of considered research, being restricted solely to the group of companies in the sample.

From the main contributions, it is possible to highlight, at a theoretical level, the joint approach to issues of sustainable innovation and performance, since there are few studies covering the impact of adopting innovation practices on company performance. At a practical level, understanding of how the behavior of Brazilian industrial companies contributes to the wide distribution of practices that may contribute to better business performance and generate competitive advantages.

At a social level, understanding of the benefits in adopting sustainable innovations practices favors the minimization of negative socio-environmental impacts.

By analyzing the themes of sustainable innovation and industrial performance, the present study may contribute to adopting business behavior that strategically and systemically integrates the objectives of sustainable innovation.

The study aims to determine the impact of sustainable manufacturing on environmental performance through government regulation and eco-innovation in Indonesian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The results indicate sustainable manufacturing plays a significant role in SMEs' environmental performance and regulations, and eco-innovation can moderate it. It also reveals that government regulation has a positive and significant effect on environmental performance. Moreover, eco-innovation has a positive and significant effect on environmental performance.

The findings of this study indicate that SMEs can embrace sustainable manufacturing practices and achieve their long-term sustainability goals by adhering to regulations, collaborating with stakeholders and implementing eco-friendly innovations.

This research uncovers ground-breaking perspectives on the evolution of scientific knowledge about the impact of eco-innovation, regulatory measures and sustainable manufacturing practices on the environmental performance of SMEs.

This study aims to take a holistic perspective to investigate how open innovation supports sustainability and the contribution to the Unite Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study is based on an in-depth single case study of Andriani SpA, a leading Italian company in the food industry. The case is built by triangulating data from direct observations, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews.

The findings show an organization that has developed its competitive advantage by adopting open innovation to embed sustainability in its strategy and business model. The case study complements the understanding of how open innovation can effectively drive strategic renewal and innovation activities to address sustainability objectives in the food industry.

This study contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms' strategic behaviour and coevolution toward sustainability via open innovation. It provides practitioners, policymakers, researchers and students with reflections and inspiration about how open innovation may be deployed to support a holistic strategic renewal aimed at sustainability objectives, such as the SDGs, in the food industry.

This article presents the Special Issue (SI, 35-2) of ARLA, edited (not exclusively) with the best articles from the specialized conference of the Academy of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Knowledge (ACIEK, 2021) conference and performs a bibliometric analysis on innovation, management, governance and sustainable growth.

Guest editors conduct a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the scholarly literature by examining the characteristics of publications and how articles published in this SI contribute to their growth.

Innovation, management and governance for sustainable growth is an area that revolves around five points: (1) sustainable innovation in SMEs, (2) technological innovation, social capital and information patents to create value chains and financial development in the textile industry, (3) knowledge management and competitiveness for growth and productivity, (4) social entrepreneurship, business ecosystems and startups for sustainable development and (5) marketing-based business strategies for sustainable development.

From the analysis conducted, it is concluded that more research is needed on knowledge management and competitiveness in developing countries, such as Latin American and African countries, and to compare the results with more developed countries.

Este artículo presenta el Número Especial (SI, 35-2) de ARLA, editado (no exclusivamente) con los mejores artículos de la conferencia especializada de la conferencia Academy of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Knowledge (ACIEK, 2021) y realiza un análisis bibliométrico sobre innovación, gestión, gobernanza y crecimiento sostenible.

Los editores invitados realizan un análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de la literatura académica examinando las características de las publicaciones y cómo los artículos publicados en este SI contribuyen a su crecimiento.

La innovación, gestión y gobernanza para el crecimiento sostenible es un área que gira alrededor de cinco puntos: (1) innovación sostenible en las PYMES, (2) innovación tecnológica, capital social y patentes de información para crear cadenas de valor y desarrollo financiero en la industria textil, (3) gestión del conocimiento y competitividad para el crecimiento y la productividad, (4) emprendimiento social, ecosistemas empresariales y startups para el desarrollo sostenible, y (5) estrategias empresariales basadas en el marketing para el desarrollo sostenible.

Del análisis realizado se concluye que es necesario investigar más sobre la gestión del conocimiento y la competitividad en los países en desarrollo, como los latinoamericanos y africanos y comparar los resultados con los países más desarrollados.

Environmental problems and natural resources scarcity are changing contemporary organizations management. The current society quest sustainable companies, mostly concern with the consumption and efficient management of natural resources; those innovative and sustainable companies have the capacity to create innovations and beneficial outcomes for the environment and society. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relevance of sustainable innovation on products and services innovation, in companies in the northern region of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).

In the research, the authors applied a descriptive and quantitative method, through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with the use of varimax rotation and multiple linear regression. The final sample of the survey consists of 107 respondents.

The results indicate that sustainable innovation (SI) has an influence on products and services innovations in the organizations, moreover the process innovations can provide reduced energy consumption and waste emissions, indicating the awareness regarding the environmental issues.

It is emphasized that environmental issues must be linked to investments in environmental education projects in organizations, thus enabling a systemic and effective vision on this issue.

This research presents managerial and academic contributions, as it has developed a scale to measure the importance of SI on products and services innovation.

The study developed a measurement model, with observable variables based on the specialized literature. The measurement model consists of the constructs of product/service innovation and SI, which were statistically validated through the tests of normality, reliability and EFA.

Considering the vital role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in accomplishing sustainable development goals, this study aims to examine how and when sustainable leadership (SL) influences sustainable performance by examining social innovation (SI) as a mediating mechanism and managerial discretion (MD) as a boundary condition based on upper echelon theory.

This study is cross-sectional in nature. The authors adopted a cluster-sampling approach to collect data from 500 employees of HEIs in Pakistan and China. The response rate for this study was 52.63%. As the proposed model is complex, the authors used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the research hypothesis.

The empirical findings confirm the presence of SI as a competitive partial mediator between SL and sustainable performance. Nevertheless, the findings of this study do not suggest a higher positive effect of SL on SI in the presence of high MD.

The study evaluated the role of SL and SI in fostering sustainable performance from the perspective of employees in HEIs in China and Pakistan. Before the empirical evidence can be generalized, there is a need to conduct similar studies in other parts of Asia and Western countries as well.

This study presents implications for higher education leaders and policymakers at the national level to foster the sustainable performance of their institutions.

The current evidence reveals the effectiveness of SL in achieving the social goals of HEIs through SI. The recommendations presented in this study can have an impact on society, providing it with a sustainable future.

This study is the first of its kind to examine the mediating role of SI on the relationship between SL and sustainable performance. The present study also provides pioneering empirical evidence about the negative effects of MD in the context of HEIs.