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Sustainable Business and Organizational Behavior: Where Everything Begins

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2023) | Viewed by 26885

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Management, ISEG—Advance/CSG—Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: HRM; OB; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, ISEG—Advance/CSG—Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon, 1200-725 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: HRM; OB; green HRM; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics & Management, University of Lisbon, 1200-725 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: knowledge management; human resources management; organizational behavior
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Organizational behavior, as a solid and well-established scientific area, can bring important insights into thinking about sustainability issues in organizations. We draw from two assumptions: on the one hand, organizations as open systems are simultaneously susceptible to the external environment, and are also proactive drivers of change in this same environment. On the other hand, a commitment to sustainability is primarily a behavioral decision, as organizations that invest in sustainability and enshrine it in their mission, values and strategy depend on their employees to actually join in and be actively involved in this goal. It is the synergy regarding the behavior of all those who belong to an organization that contributes to achieving the sustainable objectives of the organization. The creation of sustainable businesses implies that an organization’s overall behavior is sustainability-oriented. We consider that “sustainability dimensions are not understood to be restrictions for the business or the politics or legal regulations, but rather they are highly recommended as they generate value to the business” (Henriques, Matos and Jerónimo, 2022: 5). Accordingly, combining business sustainability with organizational behavior is a natural alliance. Such an alliance has the potential to contribute to the development of sustainable organizations based on their human capital.

This Special Issue calls for original research on the crossroad of sustainability and organizational behavior. It intends to provide new avenues to reflect and reimagine the challenges, opportunities and long-term outcomes of sustainability in the organizational arena. Theoretical and empirical contributions, either qualitative or quantitative, are therefore welcome.

Reference:

Henriques, P.L.; Matos, P.V.; & Jerónimo, H.M. BP4S: Proposal for a Business Plan for Sustainability. Sustainability 2022, 14, 1030. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su14021030

Prof. Dr. Paulo Lopes Henriques
Prof. Dr. Helena Mateus Jerónimo
Prof. Dr. Carla Maria Marques Curado
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable business
  • organizational behavior
  • sustainable behaviors

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 614 KiB  
Article
Thriving at Work as a Mediator of the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior
by Nada Alwahhabi, Suad Dukhaykh and Wadi B. Alonazi
Sustainability 2023, 15(15), 11540; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511540 - 26 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2289
Abstract
Thriving at work is a positive psychological state in which individuals experience a sense of vitality and learning. The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine the effect of transformational leadership on innovative work behavior and the mediating effect of thriving at [...] Read more.
Thriving at work is a positive psychological state in which individuals experience a sense of vitality and learning. The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine the effect of transformational leadership on innovative work behavior and the mediating effect of thriving at work on the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative work behavior among private sector employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from 224 private sector employees. The results of the study reveal that transformational leadership is positively related to thriving at work and thriving at work is positively related to innovative work behavior. Furthermore, thriving at work fully mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative work behavior. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Full article
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14 pages, 711 KiB  
Article
Employer Branding and Employee Retention in the Banking Sector in Saudi Arabia: Mediating Effect of Relational Psychological Contracts
by Deemah Alzaid and Suad Dukhaykh
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6115; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076115 - 1 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4948
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of employer branding on employee retention and the mediating effect of the relational psychological contract between employer branding and employee retention among employees of the banking sector in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional [...] Read more.
The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of employer branding on employee retention and the mediating effect of the relational psychological contract between employer branding and employee retention among employees of the banking sector in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey is used to gather data from 459 employees working in the banking sector. The study findings reveal that employer branding is positively and significantly related to relational psychological contracts and employee retention. Furthermore, a relational psychological contract significantly mediates the relationship between employer branding and employee retention. The current study is considered the first to provide empirical evidence of the role of the relational psychological contract as a mediator between employer branding and employee retention. As a result, the current study will extend the employer branding literature by recognizing a new way through which employer branding impacts employee retention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Full article
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13 pages, 1132 KiB  
Article
Happy but Deviant: How Does Positive Affect Disrupt Social Sustainability?
by Moon Joung Kim and Jin Nam Choi
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4567; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054567 - 3 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1841
Abstract
Despite extensive research on the role of negative affect (NA) in causing interpersonal deviance, the role of positive affect (PA) remains unclear. Responding to the call for more nuanced research on the interpersonal effects of PA, this study explores the neglected facet of [...] Read more.
Despite extensive research on the role of negative affect (NA) in causing interpersonal deviance, the role of positive affect (PA) remains unclear. Responding to the call for more nuanced research on the interpersonal effects of PA, this study explores the neglected facet of PA, the agentic rather than communal aspect, in predicting interpersonal deviance. Drawing upon regulatory focus theory and social labeling theory, we explore how PA predicts interpersonal deviance. We further propose that this relationship will be mediated by social risk-taking and moderated by task interdependence. Multi-source field data provide support for the hypothesis that PA is positively related to interpersonal deviance, which is mediated by social risk-taking. In addition, the relationship is significant only in the condition of high task interdependence that activates the agentic aspect of PA. This study concludes that the beneficial effects of PA are not universal, and that PA at work may have unintended negative consequences, such as interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory and research are discussed. Full article
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15 pages, 655 KiB  
Article
How Personality Traits and Professional Skepticism Affect Auditor Quality? A Quantitative Model
by Ya-Hui Chen, Kung-Jeng Wang and Shih-Hsun Liu
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1547; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021547 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5785
Abstract
A qualified auditor is responsible for auditing the financial information of the corporation and providing recommendations for the managerial level to improve operations management, risk management, inside control, and other related operations. The study of the effects of personality traits and professional skepticism [...] Read more.
A qualified auditor is responsible for auditing the financial information of the corporation and providing recommendations for the managerial level to improve operations management, risk management, inside control, and other related operations. The study of the effects of personality traits and professional skepticism on audit quality has become critical but has not been fully clarified for the success of the audit system. This study investigates the hypothesis regarding how audit quality is affected by personality traits and professional skepticism using a quantitative model. The Big Five Model and Hurtt Model are adopted in the proposed research framework. A questionnaire with a total of 254 samples is collected. The data are analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The results of this study indicate that the moderation effect between personality traits of “extroversion” and “professional skepticism” is significantly associated with audit quality. Additionally, this finding contributes to human resource management decisions in that one should be mindful of the increase in perceived audit risk that arises from the professional and personal attributes of the auditor when recruiting individuals to serve on their audit procedures. This research provides empirical evidence of the important relationship between personality traits and professional skepticism regarding auditor quality. The outcomes from the study will reduce the operations risk faced by auditors and improve auditing performances. Full article
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21 pages, 506 KiB  
Article
Fuzzy Front-End Vertical External Involvement, Corporate Social Responsibility and Firms’ New Product Development Performance in the VUCA Age: From an Organizational Learning Perspective
by Jiaxu Huang, Haiqing Hu and Yong Wang
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010280 - 24 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2281
Abstract
Fuzzy front-end (FFE) innovation is the important initial phase of manufacturing companies’ new product development (NPD) process, which can be a factor that determines manufacturers’ NPD performance and sustainable growth. This study seeks to investigate the role of FFE vertical external involvement (FFE [...] Read more.
Fuzzy front-end (FFE) innovation is the important initial phase of manufacturing companies’ new product development (NPD) process, which can be a factor that determines manufacturers’ NPD performance and sustainable growth. This study seeks to investigate the role of FFE vertical external involvement (FFE customer involvement and FFE supplier involvement) in advancing firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) and NPD performance in the COVID-19-influenced age of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). This study adopts an organizational learning (OL) perspective as its theoretical foundation in constructing a comprehensive framework by developing a series of hypotheses. In addition, we test the mediating effect of CSR on the relationship between FFE vertical external involvement and firm NPD performance. We use the structural equation modeling method to examine our hypotheses empirically based on data collected from 548 Chinese manufacturing companies. The findings illustrate that FFE customer involvement and FFE supplier involvement are vital drivers of a firm’s CSR engagement. Furthermore, we find that FFE supplier involvement plays a more significant role than FFE customer involvement in contributing to NPD performance. Finally, we find that a firm’s CSR engagement positively mediates the relationship between FFE vertical external involvement and NPD performance. Full article
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13 pages, 260 KiB  
Article
Can Family Involvement Improve Business Performance? Based on the Dual Moderating Effects of Overseas Experience and Charitable Donations
by Shuqin Song, Mengyun Wu, Yuqing Zhu and Yihan Lv
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16141; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316141 - 2 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1497
Abstract
In the post-pandemic era, it will become normal for family enterprises to seek innovative development. They have become more committed to building socially responsible companies and are more willing to actively promote corporate values in order to create long-term benefits. Therefore, this paper [...] Read more.
In the post-pandemic era, it will become normal for family enterprises to seek innovative development. They have become more committed to building socially responsible companies and are more willing to actively promote corporate values in order to create long-term benefits. Therefore, this paper uses listed family companies entering the intergenerational succession period from 2018 to 2020 as the research object and empirically tests the influence of family involvement on firm performance, as well as the moderating effects of family members’ overseas experiences and family firm’s charitable donation behaviors. The results show that the ownership and management involvement of family members can significantly improve the performance of family enterprises. The overseas experience of family members has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between the two, while the charitable giving behavior of family enterprises has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the two. The above research provides countermeasures and reference for family enterprises to realize the family business and the lasting development in the process of intergenerational inheritance, upgrading, and transformation. Full article
14 pages, 2000 KiB  
Article
The Curvilinear Relationship between Employee Voice and Managers’ Performance Evaluations: The Moderating Role of Voice Consensus
by Zhenzhen Zhang, Qiaozhuan Liang and Jie Li
Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 9970; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169970 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2881
Abstract
In the rapidly changing business environment, employee voice can be a key driver of organizations’ sustainable development. However, how can employees ensure that they receive a positive response from their managers? To what extent do the voice patterns within the team influence managers’ [...] Read more.
In the rapidly changing business environment, employee voice can be a key driver of organizations’ sustainable development. However, how can employees ensure that they receive a positive response from their managers? To what extent do the voice patterns within the team influence managers’ reactions to one employee’s voice behaviors? To address these questions, we draw on the antecedent–benefit–cost framework (ABC framework) and knowledge management literature to investigate the inverted U-shaped relationship between employee voice and managers’ performance evaluations and the role of voice consensus (i.e., the extent to which the frequency of an employee’s voice is dissimilar to that of his/her coworkers) in shaping this relationship. The results of a field study of 173 employees in 37 groups show that employees who engage in moderate levels of voice are rated as better performers than those who rarely voice or voice very frequently, especially when the frequency of employees’ voice deviates from the voice frequency of their coworkers (i.e., low consensus). These findings highlight that it is not only important to explore the frequency of voice when studying managerial responses to employee voice but to also examine other dimensions of the voice behavior (such as voice consensus). Full article
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Review

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19 pages, 887 KiB  
Review
So Close, Yet So Far Away: Exploring the Role of Psychological Distance from Climate Change on Corporate Sustainability
by David V. Boivin and Olivier Boiral
Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11576; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811576 - 15 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3280
Abstract
Despite some improvements and increasing social pressures, most organizations seem to be stagnating in a superficial implementation of sustainability practices despite the accumulation of climate change consequences. Research on corporate sustainability has shown that external pressures and psychological factors influence managers’ environmental decisions. [...] Read more.
Despite some improvements and increasing social pressures, most organizations seem to be stagnating in a superficial implementation of sustainability practices despite the accumulation of climate change consequences. Research on corporate sustainability has shown that external pressures and psychological factors influence managers’ environmental decisions. However, these psychological factors have been undertheorized in the management research field. The concept of psychological distance has shown promising results in studying environmental behaviors. This concept is rooted in the construal level theory and is defined as the subjective experience of feeling that something is close or far away from the self, the here and the now. Therefore, it represents a relevant path for exploration in research on corporate sustainability. The main goals of this integrative review are to explore how the concept of psychological distance has been employed in research on corporate sustainability and to explore related concepts from this research field. Additionally, concepts that are related to the four dimensions of psychological distance (i.e., temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical) are critically discussed. The links between these concepts and their impacts on sustainability endeavors within organizations are then visually presented through a conceptual map, which forms the main contribution of this review. Further theoretical contributions are presented, the implications for managers are discussed, and future research avenues are proposed. Full article
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