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Given the unprecedented rise in environmental problems today, global manufacturing businesses are strategically diverting their attention toward green sustainability. Green sustainability emphasises environmental management throughout manufacturing processes to address firms’ sustainable performance. This study investigates whether green sustainability and eco-regulatory compliance, as strategic management approaches, influence manufacturers’ economic, social and environmental performances.

Using structured questionnaires, this quantitative-based explanatory research obtained a usable dataset of 385 from manufacturing firms in Ghana, a developing country. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modelling.

The study found green sustainability and eco-regulatory compliance to influence manufacturers’ sustainable performance positively. Also, eco-regulatory compliance partially mediated the green sustainability-sustainable performance nexus in a developing economy, particularly Ghana.

The study’s conceptual model is limited to manufacturing industries in developing economies, particularly Ghana. It was also limited to the natural resource-based view, quantitative approach and cross-sectional design.

The study found green sustainability and eco-regulatory compliance to influence manufacturers’ sustainable performance positively. Also, eco-regulatory compliance partially mediated the green sustainability-sustainable performance nexus in a developing economy, particularly Ghana.

The study raises awareness among industry players, consumers and the public about the significance of green sustainability practices in manufacturing. This will foster support and heavy investments in eco-friendly manufacturing businesses. Also, the study promotes local initiatives that advocate for sustainability, contributing to higher community involvement in environmentally conscious efforts. It contributes to waste and pollution (emission and water) minimisation while improving water, land and air quality by emphasising green sustainability and eco-regulatory compliance throughout manufacturing operations.

The study contributes significantly to the growing debate on sustainability in manufacturing by unearthing how green sustainability and eco-regulatory compliance enhance firms’ sustainable performance. It also demonstrates the intervening role of eco-regulatory compliance in the green sustainability–sustainable performance interplay.

In industrialised economies, frugal innovation is increasingly becoming a strategic business requirement due to consumer demand for high-quality, reasonably priced and sustainable products. The present-day corporate leaders cannot afford to overlook this paradigm change. Frugal innovation enterprises are better positioned to overcome technological, financial, social and infrastructure constraints in emerging economies. However, little is known about how different actors and decision-makers perceive the challenges faced by family entrepreneurs in digitalising their entrepreneurial activities. Thus, this chapter aims to articulate the opportunities that can be potentially created for African family entrepreneurs and some challenges that can be anticipated when adopting disruptive digital technologies in their business enterprises. Using the social cognitive theory (SCT), interpretivism philosophy was adopted in this study. The authors utilised the interview guide to explore, probe and ask questions that addressed the objectives of the study. Snowball sampling was chosen for qualitative data collection, and the data were thematically presented. The population of the study was made up of family entrepreneurs in Harare Metropolitan Province in Zimbabwe; the saturation level determined the sample size. Twenty (20) participants were interviewed, as guided by the saturation point. A thematic approach was used to analyse participant's feedback. This study filled a critical gap considering that few studies have so far been conducted in this emerging area of family entrepreneurship. The chapter also highlights the opportunities that adoption of digital technologies can potentially unlock for African family entrepreneurs, once the identified obstructions have been successfully addressed.

Supply chains need to be made viable in this volatile and competitive market, which could be possible through digitalization. This study is an attempt to explore the role of Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business performance from the lens of natural resource-based view.

The study tests the proposed model using a covariance-based structural equation modelling and further investigates the ranking of each construct using the artificial neural networks approach in AMOS and SPSS respectively. A total of 234 respondents selected using purposive sampling aided in capturing the industry practices across supply chains in the UK. The full collinearity test was carried out to study the common method bias and the content validity was carried out using the item content validity index and scale content validity index. The convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs and mediation study was carried out in SPSS and AMOS V.23.

The results are overtly inferring the significant impact of Industry 4.0 practices on creating smart and ultimately sustainable supply chains. A partial relationship is established between Industry 4.0 and supply chain agility through a smart supply chain. This work empirically reinstates the combined significance of green practices, Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business value. The study also uses the ANN approach to determine the relative importance of each significant variable found in SEM analysis. ANN determines the ranking among the significant variables, i.e. supply chain resilience > green practices > Industry 4.0> smart supply chain > supply chain agility presented in descending order.

This study is a novel attempt to establish the role of digitalization in SCs for attaining sustainable business value, providing empirical support to the mediating role of supply chain agility, supply chain resilience and smart supply chain and manifests a significant integrated framework. This work reinforces the integrated model that combines all the constructs dealt with in silos so far in prior literature.

Achieving sustainability goals for manufacturing firms depends on green human resource management practices and green intellectual capital. This study explores how sustainable approaches, such as green human resource management practices, green intellectual capital, sustainable leadership and green innovation, enhance sustainable performance. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether green intellectual capital and innovation mediate between green human resources management practices and sustainable performance in Pakistan’s manufacturing industry.

The data were collected from 458 executives representing 155 (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector in Pakistan using a self-administered questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for the data analysis.

The results indicated that green human resource management practices positively impact green intellectual capital, green innovation and sustainable performance. Additionally, green intellectual capital significantly affects both green innovation and sustainable performance. Furthermore, green intellectual capital and innovation mediate the relationship between green human resource management practices and sustainable performance. Results also reveal that sustainable leadership significantly moderates the relationships between green human resource management practices, green intellectual capital and green innovation.

The results of this study assist practitioners in appreciating and assessing the significance of green intellectual capital and green human resource management techniques. It also emphasizes the importance of green innovation and sustainable leadership in fostering sustainable performance.

This study guides managers and policymakers on how green human resource management practices, intellectual capital, innovation and sustainable leadership enable firms to achieve sustainable performance goals.

Environmental protection and conservation of resources is a challenge for policymakers to attain sustainable growth and development. The current study uses the variable of inclusive growth instead of the traditional measure of growth.

The link between inclusive growth, renewable energy, industrial production, trade openness and the environment is explored by using panel data from 1995 to 2019 in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries. Before applying formal techniques, unit root tests were applied to check the stationarity of each variable. The long-run relationship among factors was found by the Kao cointegration test. The panel dynamic ordinary least squares (DLOS) was employed for regression estimation.

The results verified a decrease in ecological footprint (EF) in response to a potential rise in renewable energy consumption. An upsurge in EFs was explored due to a rise in gross domestic product (GDP) per person employed and trade openness. The EF significantly decreased by 0.671% in response to a 1% rise in renewable energy consumption.

It is highly suggested to enhance renewable energy usage. To achieve this, policymakers should implement and emphasize efficient energy technologies to ensure improving the environment. Efficient use of renewable energy resources will decrease global warming effects and ensure the sustainable use of scarce resources.

It first took into account the variable of inclusive growth instead of traditional growth measures. It explored the impact of GDP per person employed as an indicator of inclusive growth.

The purpose of this study is to understand how leaders of entrepreneurial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia and Pakistan strategise and design their organisational environments to enable innovation and enhanced organisational performance.

Drawing from the resource-based view (RBV) theory, this study investigates the mediating role of workplace innovation between design leadership and organisational performance across entrepreneurial SMEs in Australia and Pakistan. Data were obtained from 367 top-level executives in Australia and 367 from Pakistan using paper-based and online surveys.

The results highlight significant cross-country differences, indicating that entrepreneurial SMEs in Pakistan tend to overlook the creation of an enabling work environment favourable for innovation, which reduces the positive impact on organisational performance. In contrast, Australian SMEs exhibit a stronger alignment between innovation and performance outcomes.

The study makes a theoretical contribution by extending RBV theory within the contexts of design leadership, workplace innovation and SME performance, particularly in comparative international settings.

The findings offer actionable strategies for SME leaders, particularly in developing economies, highlighting the significance of encouraging internal abilities such as a conducive innovation culture. This could model strategic development and training schemes designed to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through improved organisational performance.

This study uniquely reveals the differential mediating effect of workplace innovation on the design leadership–performance nexus in developed versus developing countries. The absence of significant mediation in Pakistan stresses the distinct entrepreneurial underlying forces and challenges faced by SMEs in developing economies.

The digital economy has become a new engine for economic development, promoting the upgrading and transformation of traditional industries as well as fostering emerging industries and forms of business. Nonetheless, how does the digital economy affect innovation? The research objective is to explore the specific impact of the digital economy on innovation output.

This paper innovatively adopts the dynamic panel data model (DPDM) to carry out an empirical study on the impact of the digital economy on innovation output, through the observation of 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China. Furthermore, the paper innovatively analyzes the impact of different dimensions of the digital economy on innovation output and the impact of the digital economy on different dimensions of innovation output.

It is found that the digital economy is conducive to boosting innovation output considering innovation continuity. Specifically, the driving impact of core industries and enterprise application of digital economy on innovation output is more prominent, but the driving impact of infrastructure and personal application on innovation output is not fully played. Meanwhile, the driving impact of the digital economy on the innovation output quality is more significant than that digital economy on the innovation output quantity.

This study employs a DPDM for the first time to investigate the specific impact of the digital economy on innovation output, and contributes to the existing literature on the digital economy and digital economy-driven innovation. The findings offer a comprehensive explanation for the impact of the digital economy on innovation output, which has reference value for the formulation of innovation policies driven by digital economy, thereby providing impetus for the sustained and stable development of China's economy.

Due to their limited capacity for adaptation and dependence on natural resources for economic growth, developing countries (DCs) tend to be more prone to climate change. It is argued that climate finance (CF) is a significant financial innovation to mitigate the negative effects of climate variation. However, the heterogeneous impacts of CF on environmental sustainability (ES) and social welfare (SW) have been masked. Thus, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneous effects of CF on ES and SW in 80 CF receipt DCs from 2002 to 2018. This study also aims to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW based on population size, income heterogeneity and the type of CF.

The method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) with fixed effects is utilized. Alternatively, the fully modified least square (FMOLS) and dynamic least square (DOLS) estimators are used for the robustness test.

The findings revealed that DCs with the lowest and middle quantiles of EF, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and human development exhibit large beneficial impacts of CF on ES and SW. In contrast, the positive effects of CF on ES breakdown for countries with the largest distributions of EF and CO₂ emissions. Besides, the impacts of CF on ES and SW depend on income heterogeneity, population size and the type of CF.

This study calls for a framework to integrate CF into all economic development decisions to strengthen climate-resilient SW and ES in DCs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW in a wide range of DCs. Thus, it complements existing related literature focusing on the effects of CF on ES and SW.

Supply chain practices play a major role in improving operational efficiency, enhancing resilience in industries and framing strategies for modern businesses. These practices are particularly crucial for the battery industry due to its complex supply chain network, stringent environmental compliance requirements and robust logistical operations required for effective distribution.

This study proposed 23 supply chain practices and investigated their relationship with the supply chain performance (SCP) of a selected battery industry. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach is used to develop a structural measurement framework. Seven constructs and 23 latent variables are considered in this study. Hypotheses are formulated based on the conceptual framework, and the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to validate these hypotheses.

The results highlight significant interactions among supply chain integration (SCI), customer relationship management (CRM) and trust (TR), as well as their central roles in enhancing operational performance and other vital outcomes. CRM serves as the foundation for strong customer relationships and supports other operations. SCI acts as a central pillar; it ensures cohesive and efficient supply chain processes. TR functions as a catalyst, facilitating smoother interactions and cooperation among supply chain partners.

The study equips battery consultants and managers with insights to refine processes efficiently, allocate resources effectively and establish strategic partnerships. Furthermore, it proposes a systematic framework to enhance the battery industry’s performance.

This study comprehensively evaluates the battery industry’s SCP through novel supply chain practices. It uniquely integrates supply chain metrics into the performance evaluation framework. Furthermore, this research proposes 23 novel supply chain practices tailored to the battery industry.

The purpose of the present study is to reveal the antecedents of the new green product success (NGPS) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture in Türkiye with a middle-income economy. To this end, a research model for the serial mediating role of green human capital (GHC) and green adaptive ability (GAA) in the relationship between green mindfulness (GM) and NGPS was developed and tested. Determining the driving forces of NGPS is essential due to the contributions of SMEs manufacturing, especially in middle-income economies, such as Türkiye, to the national economy.

The present study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships. The study hypotheses were tested in a sample of 396 manufacturing enterprises, qualified as SMEs in Türkiye with ISO 14001 certificates.

Empirical evidence indicates that GM, GHC and GAA act as significant antecedents of NGPS. Furthermore, empirical evidence demonstrates that GHC and GAA, in turn, mediate the relationship between GM and NGPS.

Managers, especially in manufacturing SMEs, should be aware that they need to develop intangible resources to improve NGPS. Increased investment in GM results in higher levels of GHC and GAA, which collectively leads to improved NGPS.

The current literature has not previously explained the mechanism of the relationship between GM and NGPS. The originality of the present study, which discusses the relevant research gap, is to develop an integrated framework to investigate how GM impacts NGPS, specifically for SMEs, and to test it empirically.