Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, the focus of researchers is shifted from economic to socio-environmental problems. Blockchain is a disruptive technology that has the potential to restructure the entire supply chain for sustainable practices. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that provides a digital database for recording all the transactions of the supply chain. The main purpose of this research is to explore the literature relevant to blockchain for sustainable supply chain management. The focus of this review is on the sustainability of the blockchain-based supply chain concerning environmental conservation, social equality, and governance effectiveness. Using a systematic literature review, a total of 136 articles were evaluated and categorized according to the triple bottom-line aspects of sustainability. Challenges and barriers during blockchain adoption in different industrial sectors such as aviation, shipping, agriculture and food, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, and textile industries were critically examined. This study has not only explored the economic, environmental, and social impacts of blockchain but also highlighted the emerging trends in a circular supply chain with current developments of advanced technologies along with their critical success factors. Furthermore, research areas and gaps in the existing research are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. The findings of this study show that blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the entire supply chain from a sustainability perspective. Blockchain will not only improve the economic sustainability of the supply chain through effective traceability, enhanced visibility through information sharing, transparency in processes, and decentralization of the entire structure but also will help in achieving environmental and social sustainability through resource efficiency, accountability, smart contracts, trust development, and fraud prevention. The study will be helpful for managers and practitioners to understand the procedure of blockchain adoption and to increase the probability of its successful implementation to develop a sustainable supply chain network.

Data-driven supply chain analytics skills are seen as the next frontier of the supply chain transformation. The potential of data analytics-enabled dynamic capability for improving organizational performance and agility has been investigated in past research. However, there has not been sufficient research on the potential benefits of the data analytics capability and supply chain ambidexterity paradox to develop a sustainable and agile supply chain that can integrate and reorganize all of its resources in order to respond to rapidly changing business circumstances. This study aimed to empirically validate how an organization’s SC ambidexterity affects its sustainability and dynamic capability, and the mediating role of supply chain analytics capability (SCAC) in their relationship. The research’s theoretical framework is founded on dynamic capability theory. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect responses from 427 supply chain specialists who worked in diverse product-based industries across Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), a total of six hypotheses were evaluated, and the results show that supply chain ambidexterity has a positive effect on dynamic capability and sustainability, and SCAC plays a complementary, partially mediating role in their interaction. The findings of the research reveal the expected results of investing in the analytics capability of the supply chain and provide firms with some recommendations for improving their dynamic capabilities. This study will facilitate in creating an agile and sustainable supply chain, enabling it to adapt to both short- and long-term changes in the market while simultaneously considering the social, economic, and environmental vitality.

Buildings consume a significant 40% of global energy, where, reducing the building energy consumption to a minimum, virtually zero, has become a thriving research area. Accordingly, this research aimed to determine and portray the huge potential of energy conservation in existing structures by making a retrofit at relatively low costs in finance strained economies. A walk-through of the survey of energy consuming appliances determined the energy consumption based on the power rating; the appliances were then virtually replaced and the reduced energy consumption was determined in terms of the cooling loads. Modelling these intervention using the hourly analysis program (HAP) showed significantly positive results. The pre- and post-retrofit model analysis of an institutional building in Pakistan exhibited significant potential for reducing the cooling load of 767 kW (218 TON) to 408 kW (116 TON) with an investment payback period of 2.5 years. The additional benefit is the reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which reduce the overall energy requirements. The study continues with the design of a solar energy source using the system advisor model (SAM) for the reduced energy demand of a retrofitted building. It is then concluded that using the available area, a solar energy source with a capital payback period of 5.7 years would bring an institutional building within its own energy footprint making it a net-zero building, since it will not be consuming energy from any other source outside of its own covered area. The study has the limitation to exposure and climate related conditions. In addition, the decline in heating and cooling loads represents model values which may vary when calculated after an actual retrofit for the same structure due to any site related issues.