Sustainable Innovation Trends and Global Value Chains in Emerging Markets

Dear Colleagues,

In December 2019, infections with the new coronavirus (COVID-19) started in the Chinese province of Hubei, and soon spread all over the world. As of 2 June 2020, there have been over 6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 (along with 380,000 deaths) worldwide. In the US alone, there are over 1.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 106,000 deaths (according to the COVID-19 dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University). The COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has majorly disrupted and is continuing to disrupt manufacturing and global value chains, with consequences for businesses, consumers, and the global economy. Companies today are scrambling to respond to these disruptions caused by COVID-19 in both developed and emerging markets. The impact on global economies through this crisis is yet unknown, but it is believed to be more damaging than anything we have experienced in the past. From a value-chain perspective, the disruptions associated with past crises (e.g., the 2003 outbreak of SARS or the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster) may not provide enough information or lessons learned for the present times. This COVID-19 crisis could cost the global economy $1.1 trillion in lost income and, at the same time, may result in innovations across the world, especially emerging markets, with a focus on sustainability and global value chains.

Global supply chains are continually evolving and transforming the way emerging world economies do business with their developed counterparts. Developing nations are joining forces with developed nations through these rapidly transforming global value chains (GVCs) without investing in building their own, thus saving time, money, and gaining access to technological innovations. Today, developing countries exert greater influence globally, economically, and politically, given the power of GVCs. Through international organizations, such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), GVCs lead the way for shaping international trade, governance, production, employment, growth, development, and competitiveness. The global economy is at a major inflection point due to the current COVID-19 situation and worldwide supply chain disruptions, and ‘resilience’ is needed for global organizations and emerging markets to survive through structural redesign and performance re-planning with a view on long-term impacts.

In this Special Issue of Sustainability, we invite submissions focused on sustainable innovation trends and global supply chains as value chains in emerging (versus developed) economies, international trade, and interrelationships amongst logistics, supply chain management, and global trade. We welcome submissions that offer important conceptual and empirical insights into the nature and processes of sustainable development, sustainable innovation, GVCs, GVC approaches and frameworks in different world economies, and global supply (value) chains. Of interest are papers that examine the impact of cross-cultural issues, characteristics, and challenges with regard to sustainable innovation trends and GVCs with regard to emerging world economies.

Dr. Anshu Arora
Dr. John R. McIntyre
Dr. Amit Arora
Dr. Julius Ndumbe Anyu
Guest Editors

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.

• Sustainable innovation trends in emerging vs. developed markets
• Global supply (value) chains in emerging vs. developed markets
• Factors impacting the geographic clustering of internationalization efforts for GVCs worldwide (developed as well as emerging economies)
• The impact of technology, innovation, institutions, industrialization, internationalization, and governance on GVCs with regard to developing and developed economies
• The effect of internationalization on GVCs within a company, country or geographic region
• Cross-cultural collaboration and managerial mindset needed in GVC efforts
• Theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of sustainability, sustainable innovation, GVCs, and emerging markets