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Sustainability in Working Environments
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Sustainability in Working Environments

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 31327

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Borut Milfelner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Interests: employee behavior; internal marketing; consumer behavior; marketing research; tourism marketing; resource-based theory

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For organizations introducing sustainable practices, one of the vital spheres is the one that concerns employees and their management. The concept of sustainability is closely intertwined with an organization’s economic, social, and environmental processes. Different aspects of sustainability can be interlinked and essential for organizations (e.g., the aspect of the business as a whole and the aspect of various stakeholders of the company). However, the main focus of this Special Issue will be on sustainability in working environments.

In the last twenty years, there have been significant changes in the field. The main changes relate to organizations introducing many practices, such as corporate social responsibility, environmental management, and employee leadership practices. With such activities, organizations increase their sustainable resources in various business areas and create sustainable competitive advantages to achieve better performance or other alternative goals. Authors in the scientific literature have identified and addressed several topics relating to sustainability and working environments, such as sustainable leadership, managing sustainable employees, promoting well-being in the workplace, and introducing other practices related to human resource management (e.g., Daily and Huang, 2001; Choi and Yu, 2014; Guerci et al., 2015; Baumgartner, 2009; Temminck et al., 2015).

The Special Issue aims to provide new insights into sustainability-related practices in light of human resource management, leadership, internal communication, corporate culture, ethical climate, corporate social responsibility practices, employee well-being, corporate culture, employee stress and recovery issues, and other sustainable employee-related practices that can impact on economic, social, and environmental dimensions of organizations. We also welcome contributions addressing sustainability in working environments in light of organizational performance and research concerning internal marketing practices that can strengthen organizations’ sustainability processes. Additionally, research focused on specific employee groups or sectors, research methodologies, and topics addressing the problems related to sustainability in working environments in the light of the current COVID-19 epidemic situation are welcome.

We are looking forward to both original empirical research manuscripts and the papers that will synthesize recent research and highlight important directions of future research.

References:

Daily, B. F., & Huang, S. C. (2001). Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of operations & production management, 21 (12), 1539-1552.

Baumgartner, R. J. (2009). Organizational culture and leadership: Preconditions for the development of a sustainable corporation. Sustainable development, 17(2), 102-113.

Choi, Y., & Yu, Y. (2014). The influence of perceived corporate sustainability practices on employees and organizational performance. Sustainability, 6(1), 348-364.

Guerci, M., Radaelli, G., Siletti, E., Cirella, S., & Shani, A. R. (2015). The impact of human resource management practices and corporate sustainability on organizational ethical climates: An employee perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(2), 325-342.

Temminck, E., Mearns, K., & Fruhen, L. (2015). Motivating employees towards sustainable behaviour. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(6), 402-412.

Prof. Dr. Borut Milfelner
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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 human resource management practices
  • sustainable working environments
  • sustainable employees
  • sustainable employee leadership
  • sustainable internal communication
  • sustainable employee corporate social responsibility practices
  • employee well-being
  • employee stress and recovery

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 914 KiB  
Article
Green Innovation as a Mediator between Green Human Resource Management Practices and Sustainable Performance in Palestinian Manufacturing Industries
by Mohammad Kanan, Baha Taha, Yahya Saleh, Mohammed Alsayed, Ramiz Assaf, Mohamed Ben Hassen, Elham Alshaibani, Ali Bakir and Weam Tunsi
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021077 - 6 Jan 2023
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 5570
Abstract
Green human resources management (GHRM) is a critical research issue that has emerged in recent decades. This study aims to investigate the effect of GHRM practices on sustainable performance, with green innovation as a mediating variable, in manufacturing firms in Palestine. To this [...] Read more.
Green human resources management (GHRM) is a critical research issue that has emerged in recent decades. This study aims to investigate the effect of GHRM practices on sustainable performance, with green innovation as a mediating variable, in manufacturing firms in Palestine. To this end, a research model was developed, and a self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of top management personnel in manufacturing firms in Palestine. The research model was assessed via the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using the Smart-PLS software, based on a sample of 58 responses. The model revealed that GHRM practices, green innovation, and sustainable performance are implemented at a moderate level. Moreover, the results confirmed that GHRM practices and green innovation have significant positive effects on sustainable performance. GHRM practices also positively and significantly affect green innovation. Green innovation partially mediates the relation between GHRM practices and sustainable performance. The results of this research present a conceptual framework and a guideline for policymakers in manufacturing firms on how to use GHRM practices to strengthen employees’ commitment to the environment in order to maximize sustainable performance. Furthermore, the study provides a holistic view of GHRM practices, green innovation, and sustainable performance; such a perspective is considered a foundation for future research directions and provides empirical evidence about the relationships between these variables. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Working Environments)
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28 pages, 1060 KiB  
Article
Sustainable CSR: Legal and Managerial Demands of the New EU Legislation (CSRD) for the Future Corporate Governance Practices
by Andreja Primec and Jernej Belak
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16648; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416648 - 12 Dec 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 8617
Abstract
Despite its short-term use, non-financial reporting is an important measure, as demonstrated by numerous theoretical studies and empirical research. However, the mandatory nature of non-financial reporting and public pressure have persuaded company management to address non-financial issues alongside financial ones. Companies from countries [...] Read more.
Despite its short-term use, non-financial reporting is an important measure, as demonstrated by numerous theoretical studies and empirical research. However, the mandatory nature of non-financial reporting and public pressure have persuaded company management to address non-financial issues alongside financial ones. Companies from countries with a more prolonged culture and tradition have been more successful in this respect than the companies from “younger” transition countries. Overall, non-financial reporting has raised the level of social responsibility in companies. However, things are far from ideal. Many uncertain situations, e.g., environmental, health, energy, etc., bring new challenges. They require not only non-financial, but also sustainable solutions. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the disclosure of non-financial information has also been renamed sustainability reporting (regarding designation in legal acts). In the presented research, we analyze how Slovenian companies comply with the current legislation (NFRD) requirements and whether their non-financial reports are qualitatively and quantitatively adequate. We are interested in what changes the new legislative proposal (CSRD) requires from them. Are the efforts of the legislator going in the right direction? Will companies be better prepared for environmental and social risks, and therefore better manage for sustainability once the CSRD is in place? The results suggest that the qualitative part of the non-financial reporting is the weakest. This gap in the quality of (required) non-financial reporting is also the subject of the presented research, which shows the (non)quality of the present non-financial reporting and therefore justifies the development of further requirements. Thus, CSRD introduces mandatory and uniform reporting standards based on double materiality, unification of the system of sanctions, external audit, etc. Therefore, our expectations that the new directive will contribute to more sustainability-oriented corporate governance are legitimate and justified. Since the CSRD harmonized sustainability reporting in the EU, this applies to Slovenia and all member states. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Working Environments)
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17 pages, 3082 KiB  
Article
AR-AI Tools as a Response to High Employee Turnover and Shortages in Manufacturing during Regular, Pandemic, and War Times
by Andrzej Szajna and Mariusz Kostrzewski
Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6729; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116729 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 12320
Abstract
The world faces the continuously increasing issue of a lack of skilled employees, staff migration, and turnover. It is strengthened by unexpected situations such as wars, pandemics, and other civilization crises. Solutions are sought and researched in various branches of industry and academia, [...] Read more.
The world faces the continuously increasing issue of a lack of skilled employees, staff migration, and turnover. It is strengthened by unexpected situations such as wars, pandemics, and other civilization crises. Solutions are sought and researched in various branches of industry and academia, including engineering, social sciences, management, and political and computer sciences. From the viewpoint of this paper, this is a side topic of Industry 4.0 and, more specifically, sustainability in working environments, and the issue is related to production employees who perform manual operations. Some of the tasks cannot be carried out under robotization or automation; therefore, novel human-work support tools are expected. This paper presents such highly demanded support tools related to augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI). First, a panoramic literature review is given. Secondly, the authors explain the main objective of the presented contribution. Then the authors’ achievements are described—the R&D focus on such solutions and the introduction of the developed tools that are based on AR and AI. Benefits connected to the AR-AI technology applications are presented in terms of both time savings with the tool usage and job simplification, enabling inexperienced, unskilled, or less skilled employees to perform the work in the selected manual production processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Working Environments)
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18 pages, 741 KiB  
Article
Proposing Employee Level CSR as an Enabler for Economic Performance: The Role of Work Engagement and Quality of Work-Life
by Xuelin Bu, Jacob Cherian, Heesup Han, Ubaldo Comite, Felipe Hernández-Perlines and Antonio Ariza-Montes
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1354; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031354 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3691
Abstract
The aim of the current research is to foster the economic performance of a hotel enterprise through employee-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities with the mediating effect of work engagement (W.E) and quality of work-life (QWL). A hypothesized model was developed for this [...] Read more.
The aim of the current research is to foster the economic performance of a hotel enterprise through employee-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities with the mediating effect of work engagement (W.E) and quality of work-life (QWL). A hypothesized model was developed for this purpose. The data were collected from the hotel employees of a developing economy (n = 396). The hypothesized relations were tested by employing the structural equation modeling technique. The current work’s statistical outcomes validated CSR’s seminal role to influence W.E and QWL perceptions of hotel employees, which eventually contribute to the economic performance of a hotel enterprise. The findings of the current analysis have different theoretical and practical implications. To the extent of theory, the current work advances the fields of enterprise management and employee wellbeing from an individual-level perspective of CSR. Practically, the current study helps the hotel management to realize that a carefully planned CSR strategy not only improves the economic performance of a hotel enterprise through employees but also helps to fulfill its social responsibility, hence leading a hotel enterprise towards a win-win situation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Working Environments)
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