This research aimed to investigate the mediating function of Green Employee Empowerment (GEE) in the relationship between Green Human Resource Management practices (GHRM) and the environmental performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, drawing on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory. This study assessed the hypotheses in the established research model using structural equation modeling based on data collected from 320 participants from small and medium-sized firms in Ghana. The study’s results revealed that GHRM practices were significantly correlated with the firm’s environmental performance. The study found significant GHRM’s indirect consequences on environmental performance through GEE in all models examined. These findings suggest that GEE plays a crucial role in translating the impact of GHRM practices into improved environmental performance. The study overlooked other potential mediators or moderators in the relationship between GHRM practices and environmental performance, focusing on GEE. To better understand the complex dynamics behind GHRM techniques’ environmental performance, future research might examine business culture, leadership style, and employee sustainability attitudes.

This study investigates the impact of risk management practices on sustainable project performance, specifically focusing on the mediating role of stakeholder engagement in the construction industry within emerging economies. It examines how risk identification, assessment, and mitigation contribute to sustainability’s environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Utilizing data collected from construction project managers involved in sustainability-driven projects, the findings confirm that all three risk management practices significantly enhance sustainable project performance. Furthermore, stakeholder engagement through communication, collaboration, and decision-making involvement plays a crucial mediating role, strengthening the effectiveness of risk management strategies in achieving sustainability goals.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the adoption of circular economy practices (ACEP) within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa. It focuses on understanding how internal capabilities and external knowledge sources influence sustainability outcomes across economic, environmental and social dimensions. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a sample of 978 SMEs from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to explore the relationships between knowledge sharing, circular economy adoption and sustainability outcomes. Data were collected through surveys, and the analysis examines both the direct and mediating effects of internal knowledge sharing (IKS) and external knowledge sharing (EKS). Findings: The results show that both IKS and EKS significantly drive the adoption of circular economy practices, which in turn positively influence economic performance (EP), environmental sustainability (ES) and social sustainability (SS). IKS and EKS also act as mediators in these relationships. The study highlights the unique challenges SMEs face in Sub-Saharan Africa, including resource constraints and political stability, which impact the adoption process. Practical implications: Policymakers and SMEs can use these findings to create strategies that strengthen internal capabilities and foster external partnerships to overcome barriers and enhance sustainability practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. These insights can help improve the competitiveness and resilience of SMEs in the region. Originality/value: This study contributes to the circular economy literature by addressing the underexplored context of Sub-Saharan Africa. It revises existing theoretical models by incorporating internal and external knowledge networks, offering a more context-specific framework for circular economy adoption in emerging economies.

Several efforts have been undertaken by environmentalists, nations, and various international organizations towards the fight against carbon emissions. The continuity of the environment has been one of the main concerns of the international system and state and non-state actors and government institutions are encouraged to play their roles effectively. Therefore, the study assesses the effect of financial inclusion, globalization, and government institutions on carbon emissions. The study used data from 1996 to 2021 and employed FMOLS model for the analysis. The findings of the study confirm the pollution halo hypothesis implying globalization promotes environmental sustainability. However, financial inclusion and government institutions have no significant effect on global warming mitigation. Nevertheless, institutional governance encourages global warming while political stability promotes the fight against global warming, the effect of economic governance is not significant. Renewable energy and economic growth exhibit positive and negative effect, respectively, on environmental sustainability. The findings suggest the encouragement of the rule of law, political stability, and an effective low carbon trading system as part of the policy implications.

Corruption in public procurement remains a challenge to good governance, especially in developing nations. Blockchain technology has been espoused as a new paradigm for achieving sustainable public procurement practices for effective service delivery and, by extension, promoting sustainable development. Given the potential of blockchain technology, its implementation has been slow in developing countries. Additionally, there is an inadequate decision support framework to prioritize corruption-prone stages of the public procurement cycle for strategic blockchain integration at the most critical corruption-prone stages of the public procurement cycle given the scarce resources available in developing countries. Therefore, we employed a matured theory that is the principal-agent theory to identify key agency problems related to public procurement in developing countries. An interview with 25 experts and a thorough review of Ghana’s Auditor General produced seven public procurement cycle stages. Further, a survey was designed for experts and stakeholders to prioritize the identified procurement stages under the agency problems through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Our results revealed that tender evaluation was the most critical stage susceptible to corruption, followed by contract management and procurement planning in the public procurement stages. Additionally, for the relative importance of the criteria, information asymmetry was ranked first, followed by moral hazard, and then adverse selection. This study offers a targeted framework for blockchain deployment in public procurement from an African country perspective. The outcome of this study provides insights for policymakers and procurement practitioners to know the most critical stages of public procurement stages and leverage blockchain technology given the scarcity of resources in developing countries to aid sustainable public procurement. The proposed blockchain framework can enhance service delivery, citizens’ trust, and international donor confidence in partnership and funding for public procurement projects in developing countries.