ABSTRACT Adopting a signaling perspective, this study examines whether corporate green patenting reduces the cost of equity by mitigating information asymmetry in capital markets. Using longitudinal panel data from South Korea, we find that green patenting—encapsulating technological innovation related to energy, environmental protection, and climate change—is associated with a significantly lower cost of equity. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced for firms with higher energy consumption and carbon intensity. Channel analyses further indicate that reductions in information asymmetry constitute an important mechanism linking green patenting to lower equity financing costs. The results collectively suggest that green patenting plays a meaningful role in alleviating capital market uncertainty, particularly for firms facing elevated transition risks due to carbon‐ and energy‐intensive operations. Our findings offer managerial and policy implications by highlighting the importance of green innovation in improving financing conditions and strengthening corporate competitiveness during the transition toward a low‐carbon economy.

ABSTRACT This study examines the strategic efficacy of corporate low‐carbon energy transition, such as through nuclear energy adoption, as a response to decarbonization pressures. Analyzing an international sample of energy firms, we demonstrate that the relationship between this form of transition and emission reductions is not technologically determined but institutionally channeled. Our analysis reveals that the contribution of a low‐carbon transition strategy to corporate decarbonization is significant only when embedded within a robust institutional framework characterized by stringent climate policies and a strong rule of law. The empirical evidence further highlights a fundamental divergence in outcomes between pronuclear and antinuclear regulatory environments, particularly within the context of the EU's sustainable finance taxonomy. These findings compel a strategic reappraisal. For corporate leaders, pursuing a low‐carbon transition via contested technologies represents not merely an engineering choice but a sophisticated legitimacy‐management instrument whose success is contingent on institutional context. For policymakers, our results underscore that realizing the decarbonization potential of such transitions requires deliberate institutional architecture rather than mere technological adoption.

ABSTRACT Reaching global net‐zero targets has become an urgent priority as businesses and nations face increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving carbon neutrality in manufacturing supply chains requires comprehensive systemic changes across business processes. It demands forward‐looking strategies that guide companies toward long‐term sustainability and net‐zero objectives. While earlier research has identified several drivers and barriers, there remains a lack of clear, actionable roadmaps that companies can follow. This paper fills this research gap by determining 11 interdependent strategies and grouping them into six levels of hierarchy and discovering that they play the roles of driving and dependent. Results showed that important strategies consist of policy development and incentives, carbon accounting, collaborative learning, renewable energy adoption, low‐emission transportation, digitalization, and circular practices. Using expert insights and a multi‐round Delphi technique, the study identifies key strategies, which are then organized through total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) and cross‐impact matrix‐multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis. Results identify a pathway roadmap where strategies connect, allowing businesses to focus on initiatives including circular practices, digitalization, and waste reduction. Policy and incentives serve as essential tools, with companies responsible for turning concepts into key performance indicators. Our research offers a blueprint for global organizations to better align efforts, lower emissions, and work toward net‐zero. It outlines the relationship among the strategies and priorities needed by global companies and governments to develop effective cross‐border collaboration and coordinate sustainability efforts, thus supporting climate change commitments.

ABSTRACT Achieving higher environmental performance for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises is critical to staying competitive in the tourism sector. This study examines how green human resource practices influence environmental performance through the direct and indirect serial mediation of pro‐environmental attitudes, environmental awareness, and employee engagement. The data were collected from 507 employees in the tourism sector of China. Smart PLS (4.0) was used to test the proposed relationships statistically. The findings indicate that green HRM practices have a significant influence on environmental performance, both directly and indirectly, through pro‐environmental attitudes, environmental awareness, and employee engagement. Pro‐environmental attitudes and environmental awareness have a positive impact on employee engagement, and all three mediators demonstrate significant individual and serial mediation effects. Theoretically, the study extends Social Exchange Theory by conceptualizing environmental reciprocity as a moral and cognitive exchange, and by unpacking the sequential psychological mechanisms that link HR practices to firm‐level sustainability outcomes. It adds empirically to existing models by emphasizing multilayered mediation rather than linear causality. Practically, the findings offer a roadmap for SME managers and policymakers to enhance environmental performance by strategically implementing green HRM, cultivating environmental values and awareness, and fostering employee engagement. The study highlights the crucial role of internal HR‐driven mechanisms in driving sustainable transformation within the tourism SME sector.

ABSTRACT Firms increasingly commit to climate targets yet doubts remain about whether such pledges translate into substantive corporate governance or remain symbolic. The study examines how emission reduction targets (ERTs) in sustainability strategies are reflected in compensation among German listed firms. Drawing on agency, legitimacy, and institutional theory, we examine how ERT characteristics distinguish between symbolic and substantive adoption. Findings show both progress and gaps. The share of firms disclosing ERTs in strategies rose from 68% to 89%, while integration into pay increased from 16% to 51%. Strategies often feature quantitative and absolute targets, whereas compensation schemes rely on qualitative, relative, and activity‐based targets with limited emission scope coverage. Since 2023, long‐term incentives (LTIs) increasingly include quantitative targets, signaling substantive integration, whereas short‐term incentives (STIs) remain rather symbolic. The study demonstrates that substantive and symbolic adoption co‐occur, underscoring the need to close disclosure–implementation gaps to prevent greenwashing.

ABSTRACT Despite the critical role that state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) can play in the green transition, relatively little is known about governments' environmental behavior as foreign shareholders. This study examines the effect of state ownership on domestic and foreign environmental performance. We argue that the incentives associated with state ownership differ depending on whether SOEs operate domestically or abroad. To test this argument, we use random‐effects and logit models on a panel dataset containing information on 96 multinational oil and gas companies from 26 countries, along with their annual domestic and foreign CO 2 emissions for 2013 and 2020. The results indicate that, in domestic operations, SOEs pollute less than private firms in countries with lower levels of economic development, whereas the opposite pattern emerges in more developed economies. Second, SOEs with majority state ownership are more likely to reduce domestic emissions than private firms, regardless of the home country's level of development. Finally, we found that emissions under state and private ownership do not differ when operating abroad.

ABSTRACT Greenwashing undermines the credibility of ESG practices, decreases stakeholder trust, and distorts market perceptions of corporate responsibility. This study examines how governance strength, financial pressure, and family control influence ESG reporting biases. The results show that strong governance—both in performance and commitment—strongly reduces greenwashing. High short‐term financing risk increases greenwashing, while family‐controlled firms are less likely to engage in such practices. Additional analyses distinguish between overstatement and understatement and explore differences across environmentally sensitive industries (ESI) and non‐ESI firms. Governance quality mitigates overstatement‐driven greenwashing in ESI firms, whereas financial pressure amplifies it in non‐ESI firms. In contrast, ESG understatement displays distinct dynamics, indicating different strategic motivations. The findings are robust across model specifications and offer practical implications for regulators to enhance ESG disclosure standards, develop benchmarking practices and design targeted oversight mechanisms, particularly in markets dominated by family‐owned firms.

ABSTRACT Waste generation in the textile industry supply chain process has become a crucial challenge. This study seeks to address this by implementing lean green and circular manufacturing practices in Peruvian textile industries to improve its operational performance, ensuring timely delivery and reducing waste. A case study methodology was adopted comprising three analytically distinct and interrelated phases: systemic process modelling, rigorous identification of waste across operational and environmental dimensions, and the strategic integration of lean methods, environmental management practices and circular manufacturing principles to enable reconfiguration of existing production systems. Integrating the synergistic relationship between lean and green practices with circular manufacturing principles, we propose a lean green practices and circular manufacturing (LGCM) framework that enables the reconfiguration of existing manufacturing processes to achieve efficient, environmentally friendly production, enhancing the competitive edge in an eco‐conscious market. The findings demonstrate improvements in operational performance, notably reductions in order delays and defect rates, while also strengthening production dynamics and sustainability‐oriented operations in textile manufacturing. The study advances the sustainability and strategic management literature by providing a contextually grounded strategic framework for integrating and optimizing sustainability transitions in a real‐world emerging‐market context. The study framework has the potential to inform production industry practices, offering a replicable, scalable approach for sustainable manufacturing to maintain competitiveness in increasingly eco‐conscious markets.

ABSTRACT Industry 5.0 has emerged to address the limitations of Industry 4.0 by emphasizing inclusive sustainability through environmentalism, human‐centricity, and resilience. However, its development faces barriers across technological, organizational, and social dimensions. This study proposes a structured decision‐making framework to identify critical barriers, design targeted strategies, and prioritize them for implementation. Strategies are evaluated using seven criteria: impact, cost, timeframe, feasibility, risk, complexity, and acceptance. A hybrid fuzzy multi‐criteria decision‐making method, informed by systematic literature review and expert consultation, ensures reliable and balanced prioritization. The analysis identified 54 barriers and 35 strategies, highlighting the highest importance of “public–private partnership programs in driving digital transformation,” “resilience‐focused business continuity,” and “localized and regional digital infrastructure development,” respectively. Considering all criteria, the strategies “clarity on long‐term return on investment,” “resilience‐focused business continuity programs,” and “ethical AI adoption programs for smaller enterprises” received the highest implementation priority, respectively. This study makes three key contributions to the literature on Industry 5.0. First, it provides a comprehensive and structured summary of Industry 5.0 barriers, identifying 54 barriers across seven distinct dimensions. Second, it develops a systematic QFD‐based framework that directly links these barriers to strategies for overcoming them and facilitating the development of Industry 5.0. Third, it introduces a novel MCDM method called F‐WASKOR. The study provides a phased roadmap for advancing Industry 5.0 transformation and realizing inclusive sustainability goals.

ABSTRACT As the circular economy transition gains traction in the healthcare sector, extending the lifespan of complex medical devices has become a key priority, given their high cost and the challenges associated with their technological sophistication. To effectively advance this transition, there is a growing need for a robust tool capable of assessing and enhancing the circularity of complex medical devices. In response, this study introduces the Medical Device Circularity Assessment Tool (MDCATool), a novel tool for identifying circular redesign strategies to improve the circularity performance of complex medical devices. The MDCATool draws on the hybrid “Closing‐Slowing Future‐Past” quadrant model, enriched with a hierarchy of product life extension strategies and associated environmental performance attributes. To demonstrate its applicability, the developed tool is employed to identify redesign strategies for an X‐ray tube, an integral component of a mammography system from a medical technology original equipment manufacturer. In addition, this study presents a circularity data checklist to support automated diagnostics and redesign decisions, forming the basis of a digital application for medical device assessment. The tool, designed for industry practitioners, supports evidence‐based decisions and innovation in circular medical device design, helping to improve the circularity performance of complex medical devices, including magnetic resonance imaging scanners, computed tomography systems, and X‐ray and ultrasound devices.