Technology, Business and Sustainable Development : Advances for People, Planet and Profit

Triple bottom line (TBL or 3BL) was coined as a wide and inspiring approach for businesses aimed at understanding how to create, track, and manage economic, social, and environmental values added. The sustainability sector is strongly increasing its relevance among academics and practitioners, and the market opportunities associated with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are estimated at over $12 trillion per year by 2030. Although this is a promising context, a recent article suggested a rethinking of the TBL, arguing that sustainability goals’ value should not be assessed in terms of profit and loss but of people well-being and planet health, looking for a societal profit.

Technology plays a crucial role in our society. Respectively, the Agenda 21 and the Paris Agreement consider technology to be essential in the pursuit of sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs. Adding to this, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital solutions in several fields, from the way of working to the way of buying and consuming. Companies are becoming more aware of the responsibility they have within environmental and human contexts, and people are looking for work reflecting their values and purposes to motivate them.

This book aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of technology and its emerging and innovative solutions in the achievement of sustainable development while making a profit. It will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of strategic management, entrepreneurship, management of technology and innovation, and sustainable development.

S. M. Riad Shams is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK.

Demetris Vrontis is the Vice Rector for Faculty and Research and a Professor of Strategic Marketing Management at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

Yaakov Weber teaches courses on Strategic Management, Mergers and Acquisitions Management, Strategic Alliances, Corporate Strategy, Cross Cultural Management, and Global Strategic Management.

Evangelos Tsoukatos is Faculty at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, and the Hellenic Open University. He teaches courses on Management and Research Methods.

Lea Iaia, Ph.D., is Senior Researcher at the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Turin (Italy). Her research interests include marketing and communication processes, with reference to the use of information technology, innovation and technology management, and sustainability.