Luc Brès, Université Laval

Raymond Paquin, Université Concordia

Thomas Bauwens, Université Erasmus

Emmanuel Raufflet, HEC Montréal

Adriane MacDonald, Université Concordia

Bart van Hoof, Université des Andes de Bogota

Timeline

• March 6, 2025: |Call for papers announcement date

Günter Prockl, Copenhagen Business School

Alexander Pflaum, University of Bamberg

Haozhe Chen, Iowa State University

Marcel Papert, University of Bamberg

The economic environment in which companies create value today is characterized by greater vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity than ever before. Natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts and other disruptions are affecting global supply chains and presenting great changes to established supply chain management models, processes and tools. In the meantime, Planet Earth has reached its limits; climate change and shortages of raw materials are forcing companies and supply chains to transition to more sustainable operations. The commoditization of high-tech products, which is evident in many sectors, is driving the servitization of the manufacturing industry. This presents a golden opportunity for companies to cope with the above-mentioned challenges with greater responsiveness and sustainability.

Tomorrow's supply chains must be able to react quickly to disruptions and changes. The concepts of resilience and responsiveness are key, as are flexibility, agility, adaptability and improvisation. The renewed battle for natural resources requires economic growth to be decoupled from the extraction of raw materials, ultimately forcing a transformation of established 'take, make, waste' supply chains into circular systems. R-strategies such as reduce, reuse, remanufacture and recycle play a special role in doing so. The ultimate aim is to increase resource efficiency in existing value chains, extend the service life of products, and close the loop.

Scientific literature agrees that digital technologies are key to realizing the responsive, servitized and circular supply chains of tomorrow. Important building blocks include the internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, digital twins for products and supply chains, blockchains and digital platforms. However, insufficient research has been conducted into how these building blocks support responsiveness, servitization and the transition to sustainability and circularity as a triple transformation.

This Special Issue seeks contributions that exemplify technology- or data-driven solutions for implementing resilient and circular supply chains, as well as the associated business models. Contributions employing a broad range of methodological approaches are encouraged, including but not limited to conceptual, qualitative, and quantitative research. It is essential that these contributions also derive and discuss managerial implications. We also welcome contributions addressing related topics not listed above.

Contributions should explore digital technologies in supply chain management within today's challenging business environment or specific industry contexts, such as automotive, chemicals, food, life sciences and healthcare, logistics service providers, manufacturing, or mining. Particularly interested are contributions that address the challenges and opportunities associated with digitalization, servitization and transition to sustainability and circularity across multiple supply chain tiers or at least in dyadic relationships.

All papers will be peer reviewed and should conform to Electronic Markets publication standards. Electronic Markets is a SSCI-listed journal with a 2024 Impact Factor of 6.8 and a 5-year Impact Factor of 10.0. Electronic Markets welcomes research from a technological, organizational, societal, and/or political perspective. Since Electronic Markets is a methodologically pluralistic journal, quantitative and qualitative research methods are both welcome as long as the studies are methodologically sound. Conceptual and theory-development papers, empirical hypothesis testing, and case-based studies are all welcome.

Potential topics

• Contribution of digital technologies to responsiveness, agility, flexibility, adaptability, improvisation, and resilience, sustainability, circularity, and regeneration
• Increasing supply chain visibility based on digital technologies
• AI methods supporting forecasting, planning, decision making and optimization
• Division of labour and interactions between humans and machines in AI-supported supply chains
• Virtualization and simulation of supply chains based on digital twins
• Blockchain and smart contracts in logistics and supply chain management
• The role of digital platforms in supply chain management
• Effects of smart product-service-systems on supply chains and supply chain management
• Ecosystems and federated data ecosystems enabling new data-driven R strategies
• Models, methods and tools enabling the triple transformation of supply chains
• Barriers and challenges hindering digitalization, servitization and transition to sustainability and circularity
• Data security and cyber security challenges in digital supply chain structures
• Legal aspects within the digital, servitized, circular supply chain
• Potential of digital technologies for ensuring compliance with legal requirements in the context of sustainability and circularity
• Relationship management mechanisms and governance structures in the era of digitalized supply chains

Timeline

• October 15, 2026: Submission deadline

Timeline

• October 30, 2026: Submission deadline

Elizabeth Couzineau-Zegwaard, PPA Business School

Nathalie Fabbe-Costes, Aix-Marseille Université

Olivier Meier, Université Paris-Est Créteil

Globalization of trade, intensification of environmental pressures, and construction of a binding European regulatory framework in a context of successive crises are profoundly redefining expectations for supply chains. With fewer than 10% of consumer goods currently being recycled globally, resource scarcity and climate urgency are forcing companies to articulate economic competitiveness with sustainability requirements. In this context of polycrisis and permacrisis, non-financial performance, measured through environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, is emerging as a strategic lever influencing access to financing, organizational reputation and resilience to systemic risks. Continuous measurement of non-financial performance also helps develop dynamic management of supply chains subject to contradictory and evolving injunctions.

The integration of these non-financial criteria into supply chain management, however, raises considerable methodological and operational challenges, particularly in terms of impact measurement, traceability and inter-organizational coordination. This special issue aims to explore the tensions and synergies between non-financial performance and supply chain management, by crossing academic, regulatory and managerial perspectives.

Non-financial performance has become an essential complement to traditional economic evaluation, under the effect of three converging dynamics: the evolution of stakeholder expectations in favor of increased transparency, the financialization of sustainability through the growth of ESG funds and green bonds, and the rise of systemic risks revealed by recent health and geopolitical crises. Supply chain management is therefore no longer solely a tool for logistics optimization, but a vector for creating sustainable value and a factor of competitive differentiation.

In Europe, several legislative texts now structure the field of action for companies. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD, 2023) extends the obligation for non-financial reporting to nearly 50,000 companies according to harmonized standards (ESRS), including Scope 3 emissions, biodiversity and social risks. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD, 2024) establishes a duty of care across the entire value chain, with sanctions. The European taxonomy (2020, revised in 2023) imposes strengthened traceability of financial and logistics flows, while the deforestation regulation (EUDR, 2023) conditions the importation of certain raw materials on evidence of compliance. Added to these measures is the regulation on ecodesign of sustainable products (ESPR, 2024), which progressively generalizes the digital product passport and strengthens traceability requirements throughout the life cycle.

These measures create an unprecedented normative framework, where compliance becomes a strategic imperative but also a source of complexity, particularly for data collection and verification. They also pave the way for international benchmarking of companies, which explains the stakes surrounding the definition and adoption of European standards versus standards from other economic blocs.

However, this regulatory expansion movement is experiencing a major inflection. The 'Omnibus' simplification package, proposed by the European Commission in early 2025, provides for raising thresholds for applicability, postponing certain deadlines and easing obligations related to Scope 3 and duty of care. This simplification dynamic (or even partial retreat) introduces unprecedented normative instability: companies engaged in costly compliance trajectories face a shifting framework, raising questions of path dependency, sunk costs and trade-offs between regulatory anticipation and wait-and-see approaches, even greenwashing versus greenhushing. The tension between stated ambitions, operational feasibility and revealed results thus constitutes a research object in its own right.

The adoption of sustainable practices generates tangible benefits. The circular economy (reuse, recycling, eco-design) reduces costs related to raw materials and waste management. Companies with strong ESG performance benefit from favorable financing conditions (green loans) and increased resilience to external shocks. However, several obstacles persist: the complexity of impact measurement, particularly for Scope 3 emissions, the risk of greenwashing when stated commitments do not translate into operational transformation, and trade-offs between sustainability and resilience, particularly regarding relocation.

Digital technologies (also called 4.0) appear to constitute a central transformation vector. Blockchain allows certification of raw material origin and data security, artificial intelligence and Big Data help optimize flows and anticipate risks, the Internet of Things (IoT) facilitates real-time monitoring of flows and activities to calculate ESG indicators. These innovations, however, raise questions about data protection, accessibility for SMEs and interoperability between actors. While they facilitate automation of reporting, they leave entirely open the strategic choice of whether or not to reveal the actual level of non-financial performance of supply chains.

Potential topics

• Sustainable regulations and supply chain management strategies: effects of CSRD, CSDDD and European taxonomy on supply chain structuring and associated logistics choices (relocation, supplier diversification), methods for integrating ESRS into non-financial reports, tools and methodologies for compliance
• Circular economy and innovation: circular business models (reuse, repair, recycling), eco-design levers, contribution of digital technologies (blockchain, AI, IoT) to the transition towards more sustainable or even regenerative supply chains
• Measurement, transparency and risks: indicators and methodologies for assessing impact (Scope 3, biodiversity, human rights), comparative uses of GRI, SASB and ESRS frameworks, identification of greenwashing signals and best practices for credibilizing ESG commitments, strategy for disclosing objectives vs results regarding non-financial performance of supply chains
• Non-financial performance measurement and supply chain management: impact of non-financial performance measurement on supply chain design, decisions and trade-offs between cost control, profitability and value creation other than financial. Does work around measuring and improving non-financial performance stimulate logistics innovations?

Timeline

• November 15, 2026: Full paper submission deadline

Yasser Dessouky, San Jose State University

Masood Fathi, University of Skövde

Taha Arbaoui, INSA Lyon

Khaled Hadj-Hamou, INSA Lyon

Ming-Lang Tseng, Asia University

The global transition to net zero manufacturing is becoming increasingly urgent as industries face growing pressure from regulatory requirements, sustainability goals, and economic challenges. The European Union's Net Zero Industry Act has set ambitious targets to accelerate the adoption of clean technologies, aiming to ensure that at least 40 percent of the EU's annual deployment needs for strategic net zero technologies are met domestically by 2030. These efforts align with broader global sustainability initiatives, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), both of which emphasize sustainable industrialization and efficient use of resources.

Turning these commitments into effective industrial strategies requires an integrated approach that combines circular economy principles with intelligent production systems. Net zero manufacturing builds on related concepts such as emission reduction and decarbonization but also extends beyond them. While emission reduction focuses on limiting greenhouse gas emissions through specific actions, and decarbonization involves shifting to low or zero-carbon technologies and energy sources, the net zero approach brings these elements together and also addresses remaining emissions through removal or offset strategies. It represents a more holistic and goal-driven framework that demands not only technological advancement but also a fundamental redesign of value chains, production systems, and lifecycle strategies to create a balanced and sustainable industrial future.

Smart production and operations play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between strategic ambition and practical implementation of net-zero manufacturing. It encompasses a broad set of interconnected technologies and practices that enhance the responsiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of manufacturing systems. Drawing on the foundations of Industry 4.0, smart production integrates digitalization, automation, advanced analytics, and intelligent control to enable real-time monitoring, adaptive operations, and informed decision-making across the value chain. Rather than relying on a single solution, it leverages a synergistic mix of technological tools to improve transparency, traceability, and resource efficiency.

Another significant enabling mechanism in achieving net-zero manufacturing is the decarbonization of industrial supply chains. Supply chains contribute substantially to total emissions, making it critical to implement strategies that reduce carbon footprints while maintaining operational efficiency and competitiveness. Integrating circular economy principles with Industry 4.0 technologies is another critical step toward sustainable manufacturing. Closed-loop systems have been shown to reduce material waste and improve resource utilization, offering a pathway to greater sustainability. Moreover, AI-driven predictive analytics plays a vital role in optimizing energy use, minimizing material waste, and dynamically adjusting production in response to environmental and operational constraints. Several studies also highlight the role of decision-making frameworks that account for carbon pricing policies and regulatory instruments in shaping carbon-efficient production strategies.

This special issue seeks to present cutting-edge research and real-world applications that demonstrate how circular economy strategies and smart production technologies contribute to achieving net-zero manufacturing. We welcome contributions that explore emerging technologies, interdisciplinary approaches, and system-wide transformation frameworks that facilitate the transition to climate-neutral industrial operations. By fostering deeper insights into these enabling factors, this issue aims to provide actionable strategies for building a more sustainable and resilient manufacturing sector.

Potential topics

• Closed-loop supply chains and waste reduction initiatives for low-carbon and climate-resilient manufacturing
• Industry 4.0-enabled smart operations for net-zero manufacturing transformation
• Life-cycle assessment of sustainable manufacturing processes
• AI-driven optimization for energy-efficient production
• Big data analytics and decision support for carbon footprint reduction
• Renewable energy integration into industrial production systems
• Electrification of industrial processes for carbon neutrality
• AI-powered energy forecasting and optimization in manufacturing
• The impact of carbon pricing and regulatory policies on production systems
• Economic incentives and financial mechanisms for green manufacturing
• Cross-sectoral collaboration for achieving net-zero industry goals
• Policy-driven roadmaps for industrial decarbonization
• Multi-criteria decision-making for net-zero manufacturing strategy development

Timeline

• September 30, 2026: Manuscript submission deadline

Achieving net-zero targets poses significant challenges for economies, governments, and societies worldwide. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are central actors in this transition, both as developers and adopters of renewable energy and low-carbon technologies. As primary boundary spanners, they manage global value chains and partnerships across diverse institutional contexts and consumer markets. MNEs increasingly navigate a complex landscape of incentives, sanctions, and regulatory barriers that vary by sector, technology platform, country, and region. Politically motivated disruptions—including shifting tariff and non-tariff barriers and uneven low-carbon policies—compound these challenges, placing premium value on managerial capabilities.

Two emerging developments motivate this Special Issue. First, digital technologies offer new potential to enhance firm-level capabilities for coordinating and adapting cross-border networks, while reshaping competitive dynamics between incumbents, startups, and scale-ups. Second, China's ascendancy as both innovator and regulator—particularly in new energy technologies—and its growing geopolitical influence demand renewed scholarly attention.

While MNEs' contributions to sustainable development goals have received growing research attention, significant gaps remain. Circular economy models require reverse logistics and integrated, cross-border collaboration, making their configuration highly dependent on regional policies, resource availability, and digital applications. Limited research examines how circular supply chains are configured globally or regionally, or what drives their development.

We are particularly interested in the microfoundations, routines, and recombinative capabilities underlying sustainability practices. We encourage international comparative studies examining how MNEs bridge institutional differences to establish circular business models and progress toward net-zero. Methodological innovation—including causal inference, longitudinal designs, and empirical approaches capturing complexity and measuring environmental outcomes—is also welcome.

Potential topics

• Multinational enterprises
• Sustainability
• Circular economy
• Global value chains
• Digitalization
• Geopolitics
• Institutions
• China
• Emerging industries
• How do MNEs navigate and shape the complex policy and stakeholder landscape accelerating net-zero goals?
• What roles do digital technologies play in advancing sustainability and circularity, and what new complexities do they introduce?
• How do governance differences and regulatory regimes affect firms, sectors, and stakeholders differently?
• Are international innovation races helpful or harmful, and to what extent are they regionally demarcated?
• Do MNEs customize practices locally or transfer superior practices across regions, and with what strategic implications?

Timeline

• January 7, 2026: Opening date for manuscripts submissions
• October 20, 2026: Closing date for manuscripts submission

Samanthi Senaratne, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Nuwan Gunarathne, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Miguel Marco-Fondevila, University of Zaragoza

Sabina Scarpellini, University of Zaragoza

The transition toward a circular economy has become a strategic priority for advancing sustainable development and addressing pressing environmental and social challenges. Unlike traditional linear economic models, characterized by the 'take-make-use-dispose' approach, circular economy principles emphasize resource efficiency, closed-loop systems, waste elimination, and the regeneration of natural systems. These principles strongly support many United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including responsible consumption and production, climate action, and sustainable industry, innovation, and infrastructure.

Despite its growing global significance, the shift toward circularity poses substantial challenges for accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance practices in business. Conventional accounting systems, designed around linear economic flows, often struggle to capture the value generated through circular business models. Practices such as resource recovery, remanufacturing, product-as-a-service models, circular supply chains, and sharing platforms introduce complexities that traditional financial and management accounting frameworks are not fully equipped to measure or report. As a result, organizations face critical gaps in monitoring performance, verifying value creation, and ensuring accountability and transparency within a circular economy context. This highlights an urgent need for scholarly inquiry into how accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance systems can be reimagined to better support circular economy practices and policies.

This Special Issue seeks to stimulate and advance interdisciplinary research at the intersection of accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance in the context of the circular economy. It aligns closely with the mission of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal (SAMPJ) to foster research that addresses urgent social and environmental challenges while generating actionable insights into policy and practice. By encouraging critical reflections, empirical investigations, and innovative frameworks, this Special Issue aspires to shape both academic discourse and practical approaches in the evolving fields of accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance for the circular economy.

Potential topics

• Accounting and measurement innovations for advancing the circular economy
• Corporate governance models supporting the transition toward a circular economy and sustainable development
• Risk management and resilience strategies within circular economy business models
• Management control systems and performance measurement frameworks for circular economy practices
• Multiple capitals and value creation in the context of circular business models
• Circular economy accounting and reporting as enablers of sustainable development
• Assurance and credibility mechanisms for circular economy disclosures and reporting
• Regulatory frameworks and standards for accounting, reporting, and assurance in circular economy contexts
• Accountability, governance, and transparency practices for organizations adopting circular economy principles
• Digital technologies, data analytics, and traceability solutions supporting circular economy measurement and reporting
• Circular economy accounting and reporting within public sector and not-for-profit organizations
• Sector-specific approaches to circular economy accounting, reporting, and governance

Timeline

• February 15, 2026: Opening date for manuscripts submissions
• August 15, 2026: Closing date for manuscripts submission