Organizations moving towards adopting sustainable business development has become a necessity. As more and more stakeholders increasingly show interest in pollution and environmental degradation and the major impacts on the economic activities of organizations, it has become a necessity for organizations to move towards adopting sustainable business development. To achieve this goal, organizations need to invest in green innovations (GIs). Therefore, this paper examines the important influence of internal and external stakeholders on organizations that choose to pursue sustainable development with the help of implementing green innovations. It has certain theoretical and practical implications, but the following problems exist: (a) the usage of energy has increased in recent years and further creates a warning sign that precautionary measures need to be taken soon, and if not, the situation will impact the environment and organizations’ sustainable performance; (b) stakeholders’ raise concerns about pollution and environmental deterioration and urge industrialists to incorporate green innovation into all aspects of production and processes. A positivist research paradigm is applied, and the hypotheses will be tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). This study analyzes how green innovation interacts with the linkage between stakeholders and organizational sustainable performance. The contribution hopes to benefit the growth of the economy, promote a cleaner environment, and enhance the wellbeing of the country. This study will further help to enlighten the importance of embracing green innovation in industries to policy makers and manufacturers, which is currently lacking. This initiative is in line with Malaysia’s 12th plan, which aims to promote green innovation to boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and push the country above the high-income barrier.

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the pillars on which most of the economies worldwide rest. Without the support of qualified technological innovation, it will be very difficult for SMEs’ performance to improve and impossible for them to reach their sustainability goals. Small businesses should therefore be encouraged to embrace the next technological frontier, Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The main purpose of this research is to understand the relationship between the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies and sustainability goals, along with an analysis of how innovation characteristics make implementing I4.0 easier for small businesses. To answer the research questions and analyse the high complex data, this research performed a structural equation model by using AMOS software. The results indicated that technology innovation characteristics have a positive significant effect on I4.0 implementation and sustainability goals. However, effective implementation of I4.0 mediates between the relationship of innovation characteristics and sustainability goals, except observability. The implications of this research are that SMEs should develop effective I4.0, implement it, and build innovation characteristics to reach sustainability goals.

Background: COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions in supply chains. It has increased the demand for products and decreased the supply of raw materials. This has interrupted many production processes. The emerging technologies of Industry 4.0 have the potential to streamline supply chains by improving time-sensitive customized solutions during this emergency. Purpose: The study identifies the core technologies of Industry 4.0 and the role and impact of these technologies in managing the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in strengthening the supply chain resilience. Design/methodology/approach: An extensive literature review using the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” method was carried out on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains and Industry 4.0 technologies. The study was undertaken by selecting keywords validated by experts, and a search was conducted in the Scopus, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases. Publications from the leading journals on these topics were selected. The bibliographical search resulted in 1484 articles, followed by multiple layers of filtering. Finally, the most pertinent articles were selected for review, and a total of 42 articles were analyzed. Findings: The findings of the study showed that the majority of the articles emphasized the digitalization of supply chain management, acknowledging the fundamentals, applications, and prospects, revealing the drivers and challenges of Industry 4.0 technologies to manage disruptions. Most of the authors identified IoT, big data, cloud computing, additive manufacturing, and blockchain to maintain the supply chain resilience. Originality/value: Existing literature on epidemics lacks the basics and practices of utilizing Industry 4.0 technologies in the supply chain recovery process. To fill this research gap, the study summarizes the potential of Industry 4.0 technologies to lessen supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19. The study findings are valuable for policymakers and practitioners and contribute to supply chain management studies.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, most encouraging industrial wave puts remarkable challenges and opportunities for organizations from the industrial, managerial and operational viewpoint. The achievement of the most recent innovations of Industry 4.0 and the change of creation methodology includes surprising challenges and opportunities in the ground of work and future manufacturing procedures require novel capabilities (Horváth, and Szabó, 2019). Sometimes the organizations face tremendous difficulties to identify the challenges as well as the opportunities of Industry 4.0. Hence, the challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0 should be recognized appropriately, assessed precisely and afterward should be executed consequently. With the expectation of understanding the aspects of challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0 as a disruptive industrial issue and to contribute the existing literature an arranged review strategy was executed to assemble the literature.