Special Issue of International Business Review:
Digital Technologies for Sustainable International Business
Guest Editors
Omar Al-Tabbaa, University of Leeds (busofoa@leeds.ac.uk)
Rudolf R. Sinkovics, University of Glasgow, UK (Rudolf.Sinkovics@glasgow.ac.uk)
Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, Durham University (joseph.amankwah-amoah@durham.ac.uk
Rob van Tulder, Erasmus University, Netherland (rtulder@rsm.nl)
Submission Deadline: 31st January 2025
The call: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-business-review/about/call-for-papers#digital-technologies-for-sustainable-international-business
The scholarly investigation into the impact of digitalization on firms' activities has sparked a new frontier in international business (IB) research. Within this scholarly discourse, researchers are exploring the multifaceted implications of digital technologies (DTs) and their transformational influence on global business operations. Essentially, these emerging technologies act as catalysts for digital globalization, where firms leverage their digital assets to internationalize, unveiling myriad new opportunities for firms. In parallel to these advancements, there remains a continuous interest in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for sustainable future. The SDGs, comprises 17 distinct challenges that we must successfully addressed to realize this ambitious aim. The SDGs, which garnered significant attention since their publication, are designed to eliminate poverty, preserve the planet, ensure prosperity, justice and equality, and emphasize the interdependence of the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. Due to their importance, researchers from different disciplines are actively seeking to examine the contingencies and processes that underlie the achievement of these goals.
Nonetheless, the pursuit of SDGs presents considerable challenges for firms with cross-borders operations. That is, while the achievement of SDGs encourages these firms (e.g., MNEs, extended GVC entities, and born globally), to leverage their distinct capabilities (e.g., innovation, market intelligence, transformation), the challenge of identifying how these companies can effectively incorporate the aspirational SDGs into their globalization thinking remains unresolved. Moreover, these firms face increasing public pressure to integrate the SDGs into their international strategic agenda. This integration, however, adds complexity to the challenge of simultaneously balancing various legal obligations, ethical responsibilities, and economic targets for these companies across their value chains. Hence, a prevalent notion exists that not only is there a lack of a "shared understanding of how the 17 SDGs can be [effectively] operationalized", but there is also a limited understanding of corporate perspective, or how companies can ensure that their internationalization strategies can contribute to sustainable development; "The question is no longer 'why' MNEs should develop sustainability strategies, but rather 'how'". Therefore, combining the digitalization, internationalization, and the SDGs components represents a vital frontier for research and innovation, promising the creation of a new wave of IB theory and practices that can accelerate sustainable development trajectory.
Indeed, the swift progression of DTs has precipitated a paradigm shift within the globalization environment. This shift towards digitalization has engendered a multifaceted impact, affording businesses novel prospects that extend beyond typical creating and capturing value, manifesting a significant potential to address pressing societal concerns. That is, DTs can help MNEs and other internationalizing firms to address SDGs-related issues within their global chains and operations by providing novel access to information, resources, and solutions. Yet, and despite these promises, when considering the connection between the three aspects (digitalization, internationalization, and SDGs) three key issues emerge: Strategic Integration; Tensions and trade-offs; and Contextualizing the Digitalization-SDGs-Internationalization Nexus. Read more here.
Below are exemplary questions and areas for consideration, though submissions should not be limited to these:
Strategic Integration
· How do MNEs develop and leverage digital capabilities to create value across multiple dimensions of the SDGs?
· What are the theoretical underpinnings that can elucidate the ways in which DTs influence the strategic decisions and actions of MNEs, enabling them to create and capture value that contributes to the broader objectives of sustainable development?
· What are the strategic choices and actions that enable MNEs to integrate digitalization into their business models, structures, and culture for advancing the SDGs?
· What organizational adaptations, including changes in business models, structures, and corporate culture, are required for MNEs to align with a SDGs-oriented mindset and fully leverage digitalization to develop an economically-viable sustainable vision?
· How can DTs be deployed by MNEs to address individual SDGs while recognizing and benefiting from the complex interconnections between these goals, and what are the key mechanisms underlying such deployment?
Tensions and trade-offs
· How do DTs influence the interconnections and trade-offs among different SDGs, and how can MNEs manage them effectively?
· How can MNEs effectively balance their pursuit of value capture through digitalization with the imperative of sustainable value co-creation in the context of the SDGs, and what strategies can be employed to optimize this equilibrium?
· What are the ethical, legal, and regulatory challenges and opportunities that arise from the global integration of digitalization for the SDGs?
· How do MNEs foster innovation and experimentation while maintaining coherence and consistency among digital transformation components and SDG objectives?
· How do MNEs identify and strategically manage the unintended consequences of digital technology adoption for the SDGs?
· How do MNEs leverage digital technologies to exploit natural resources and labor in developing countries, and what challenges does this pose to sustainable development efforts?
· What strategies can MNEs and other internationalizing firms adopt to mitigate the dark side of DTs and ensure alignment with the various SDGs?
· How can cross-sector collaboration be utilized to ensure that the benefits of digitalization are equitably distributed and aligned with the principles of sustainability and social responsibility outlined in the SDGs framework?
· How can the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, emphasizing sustainability, human-centric values, and resilience, impact the tensions and trade-offs associated with digitalization in relation to the SDGs, and what strategies can organizations employ to align with this more holistic vision of industry and society?
· How do lead MNEs orchestrate tasks in a digital environment where cooperative relationships extend beyond traditional industry boundaries, and what role does sustainability play in the coordination of resources with loosely connected actors in GVCs?
Contextualizing the Digitalization-SDGs-Internationalization Nexus
· What are the theoretical frameworks and empirical methods that can capture and measure the impact of digitalization on the SDGs at different levels of analysis (e.g., individual, organizational, societal)?
· How does the level of digitalization affect the alignment of global and local SDG strategies in multinational corporations? How do different institutional contexts (e.g., developed, emerging, and developing countries) influence this relationship?
· How does digitalization affect the market power of firms in different sectors and regions? What are the implications of this for achieving the SDGs, especially in terms of reducing inequalities, promoting innovation, and ensuring fair competition in the international domain?
· What are the main challenges and opportunities for internationalizing SMEs in implementing digitalization-SDG strategies across different regions? How do they cope with the institutional diversity and complexity in different legal and socio-economic environments? Will these questions be different to globally born firms?
· How can MNEs leverage DTs to enhance their strategic partnerships with NGOs, governmental bodies, and local communities?
· How does digitalization affect the measurement and reporting of SDG performance in MNEs? What are the benefits and challenges of using digital tools and platforms for SDG reporting? How can firms ensure the quality, reliability, and comparability of their SDG data?
· How can platform-based GVCs be designed to promote environmental sustainability and ethical labor practices throughout the value chain?
For additional information, please contact: Omar Al-Tabbaa, busofoa@leeds.ac.uk
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Professor Omar Al-Tabbaa
Chair in International Business & Strategy
Director of Research & Innovation
International Business Department
Leeds University Business School - University of Leeds
Office: 1.21, 10-12 Cromer Terrace, Leeds LS2 9JR
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webpage ; Google Scholar ; Research gate
Guest editor: IBR (Digitization & sustainable IB – deadline 31/1/2025)
Guest editor: MIR (MNEs & Climate Change – deadline 12/2024)
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Omar Altabbaa
Professor
University of Leeds
LEEDS
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