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This chapter examines the integration of Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0) technologies and sustainability, proposing a people-centric strategy to align industrial progress with environmental responsibility. Through a synthesis of scholarly insights and practical applications, we delve into the potential of Industry 4.0 to drive economic, social, legal, and environmental sustainability while addressing key challenges and limitations. Acknowledging these obstacles associated with IR 4.0 implementation, including employment displacement and data security risks, we advocate for collaborative efforts among governments, businesses, and society, highlighting the imperative of optimizing the advantages conferred by IR 4.0 while mitigating its adverse effects on sustainability. It calls for strategic investments in education, innovation, and social protection mechanisms to navigate this transition while ensuring equitable and sustainable development for all stakeholders. As these technologies intertwine, it becomes increasingly crucial to establish regulatory frameworks that can endorse the “rule of law” in this ever-evolving legal landscape. Ensuring fairness and effectiveness in regulation is key to navigating this emergent reality. Through fostering synergistic partnerships, embracing sustainable methodologies, and ensuring that the promise of IR 4.0 is realized without sacrificing the fundamental principles of fairness, justice, and human rights, we can envision a future where innovation thrives in harmony with sustainability principles, paving the way for inclusive prosperity.

The purpose of the present study is to synthesize and organize the existing literature on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) challenges and potential solutions to overcome these challenges. The four-step research method has been used to collect and analyze pertinent literature, define the unit of analysis, select the classification context, collect publications, and evaluate the material. The study found 10 prevalent SSCM challenges and 18 potential solutions to overcome these challenges. By implementing these solutions, organizations can implement SSCM practices and contribute to achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study significantly contributes to stakeholder theory, triple bottom-line theory, and resource-based view theory. The current study provides insights to managers working in supply chain management on SSCM implementation. Furthermore, the study also has practical implications for academicians and policymakers. This study is the first of its kind to amalgamate the SSCM challenges and solutions to overcome these challenges in a single framework by reviewing the literature.

Introduction: Globalization and customer expectations have made managing the supply chain challenging. Blockchain technology has enhanced visibility, accountability, and safety in supply Chain management (SCM), which helps overcome various issues. The research aims to provide insight into Blockchain technology for improving supply chains toward sustainability in the retail sector. This study describes how clients and merchants in various retail business activities may significantly utilize Blockchain technology. From manufacturer to consumer, blockchain can track materials. It ensures product authenticity, transparency, and retail supply chain trust. Retail items are tracked before they reach customers to assess quality and discard expired items, building client confidence. Retail personnel’ SC (Supply Chain) blockchain adoption aspirations are examined in this study.

Methodology: This study validates SCM blockchain adoption using an adjusted UTUAT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) model. This study examines how blockchain adoption improves employee performance using the UTUAT Model. Data was evaluated using exploratory factor and structural equation modeling.

Result: Behavioural intention was significantly associated with BCT (Block Chain Technology) in retail SCM.

Practical Implications: The following factors influence the behavioral intent to utilize the technology: performance expectations, affect expectations, subjective standards, and favorable conditions, which have a significant impact on adoption.

Conclusion: Performance and effort assumptions affect SCM blockchain adoption behavior.

Green supply chain (GSC) modelling is still evolving, yet according to the literature, there is no standard and comprehensive approach for modelling GSCs. This chapter attempts to examine this remarkable gap in research by proposing a standard approach for industrial supply chain (SC) modelling, which allows integrating all relevant environmental constraints. This new approach is inspired from other methodologies proposed earlier regardless of their area of study and implemented via a case study in fish canning industry. The steps of the proposed approach are based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has become a mainstream trend nowadays. The proposed approach may help managers and researchers and could provide a guideline for GSC modelling.

Supply chain management (SCM) has evolved to fulfill the demands of the dynamic global business environment. The development of the Internet of Things (IoT), which offers unmatched connectivity and real-time data insights, has further transformed SCM. This chapter provides an overview of SCM development and its integration with IoTs. This integration led to improved inventory control, supply chain optimization (SCO), and visibility which further enhances the conventional SCM and provides benefits, such as more accurate real-time tracking and monitoring, improved data analytics, more efficient logistics and transportation management, and reduced costs and wastages. However, despite these benefits, there are various associated challenges and concerns, like privacy and data security, compatibility and interoperability, implementation costs, returns on investment, trained workforce, and training requirements, which are required to be addressed. Additionally, the outcomes of this study and managerial implications are provided along with the future research scope. Overall, this chapter provides valuable insight into the transformative potential of IoT in SCM and practical suggestions on how managers can successfully navigate difficulties and get benefits from the IoT-SCM integration. Organizations can enhance their supply chain operations, efficiency, and innovation by actively confronting challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities provided by IoT technologies. This will ultimately result in the delivery of greater value to both stakeholders and customers.

Aligning industrial operations with sustainable development has become a pressing need for organizations, as they recognize the mounting environmental challenges, social inequalities and resources scarcity. The transformations brought by the industry 4.0 have revolutionized supply chain operations to achieve sustainability and circularity. The aim of this chapter is to explore and map the supply chain 4.0 opportunities for sustainability. An extensive literature review of theoretical and empirical studies linking the supply chain 4.0 technologies and sustainability is conducted. Descriptive and content analysis are employed to scrutinize and categorize the knowledge extracted from the literature. Then, a conceptual framework is developed to highlight the role that each technology plays in promoting sustainability and circularity in the context of supply chain. This study provides new perspectives for theoretical researches and guide decision-makers to implement sustainability-based technologies in the supply chain 4.0. Future research can investigate the opportunities of supply chain 5.0 for social sustainability and circular business model.

This chapter explores the strategic integration of Industry 4.0 technologies within the SA8000 audit framework, which marks a transformative shift in ethical and socially responsible practices. Released by Social Accountability International (SAI), SA8000 is a social accountability standard highly relevant in addressing labor-related issues, exerting a pivotal influence on the management of companies and supply chain sustainability. By illustrating how technology can significantly enhance efficiency, transparency, and efficacy in conducting SA8000 audits, data analytics, IoT devices, AI, and blockchain will be used in this chapter. The chapter's recommendations for managers, auditors, and employees point toward strategic management of resources, collaborative activities across different departments, and improving digital competencies. The discussion makes out a clear pathway for the effective application of Industry 4.0 in the SA8000 auditing practices, enhancing sustainability, ethics, and streamlined auditing practices that would significantly contribute to the comprehensive goals of corporate sustainability and social responsibility in today's digital era.

Historically, global events have always provided a setback to the existing mechanism of any business operation. The magnitude of such variation may be different from industry to industry but sustainable outlook afterwards any global crisis calls for a re-look into strategies. Similar experience persisted when sudden drop of brick-and-mortar stores during corona crisis came into picture. Post corona, the entire working style of supply chain companies revisited a virtual set-up. The delivery partners like Dunzo, Blinkit, Zypp, Delhivery, Ecomexpress have transformed the way logistics used to work before COVID-19. On the other hand, recent Russia–Ukraine war has posed further global challenges like that of food shortage, supply challenges, global inflation, recessionary trends worldwide. An investor earlier confident of exponential wealth creation in supply chain companies may have to rethink about resilient strategies while creating a portfolio with companies from supply chain industry. In the present study, a comparative analysis has been made by use of exponential Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model to explore the impact of both these crisis on returns from supply chain companies. The output of this chapter shall be beneficial for investors, asset management companies, investment brokers and other portfolio managers.

In this age of unprecedented technological advancements and rapid digitalization, organizations across the globe are faced with the imperative to evolve or risk obsolescence. It has been witnessed that digital transformation has played a pivotal role in driving organizational change, reshaping the way businesses operate and redefining the relationships they foster with their stakeholders. Supply chain management is no exception as digital transformation can pave the way for sustainable supply chains. This chapter investigates the impact which various digital transformation enablers have in the Indian SMEs and further evaluates the effect of digital transformation on the three dimensions of sustainability envisaged by the triple bottom line approach. Results from the PLS-SEM analysis show that technological, organizational and environmental factors play a significant role in successful digital transformation in SMEs. Digital transformation influences the three sustainability dimensions positively. Findings have important theoretical as well as practical implications for achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability in supply chain.