Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are intended to be attained as a balanced whole. However, significant interactions (the synergies and trade-offs) between the SDGs have caused the need, especially in developing economies, to identify and pursue them in line with their particular developmental needs. The research intends to empirically investigate the relationship between selected UN SDGs and GDP growth rate as a proxy for economic well-being in Saudi Arabia. We also investigate the role of education and training in achieving SDGs in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030, which places emphasis on the knowledge economy. This research employs multiple regression analysis to explore the relationship between the SDG variables and the GDP. The results show that education and training, gender equity/women’s empowerment, greenhouse gas emissions, and decent employment are positively and significantly related to the GDP growth, whereas poverty, hunger, and health appear to be negatively related. The research indicates that education and training can promote economic, socioeconomic, and health goals without compromising environmental goals. Consequently, the Saudi government should invest more in education and training to maximize synergies and minimize tradeoffs between the SDGs. This will help to promote sustainable employment generation, build human capital, improve socioeconomic empowerment through technology, and boost economic growth.

This study analyzes the role of education, training, and e-learning (ETL) in empowering Saudi society, leading to sustainable employment generation in Saudi Arabia. It applies the theory of constructivism, scoping to human aspects of teaching and learning in sustainable employment generation and social empowerment. The study primarily collects the existing variable pools from the available literature on education (EDU), training (TRA), e-learning (ELRN), government policies (GPOL), national culture (NCUL), sustainable employment generation (SUEG), and social empowerment (SEMP). The study performs second-order partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with moderation analysis. The study aims to obtain the combined effect of ETL on SUEG and SEMP in the presence of GPOL and NCUL in Saudi Arabia. Primarily, the results of the path diagram show that ETL has a significant direct impact on SEMP and SUEG. Secondly, the moderation analysis results show that GPOL has been a significant moderator between ETL and SUEG and ETL and SEMP. In contrast, the analysis results show that the NCUL is not a significant moderator between ETL and SUEG, or between ETL and SEMP. Additionally, the moderation analysis results show that NCUL directly impacts SEMP. In contrast, it does not show a significant direct relationship with SUEG. In the article, the theory of constructivism emphasizes the learners’ active role in constructing knowledge, which is significant for both individuals and society, and the validity of constructed knowledge and its realistic representation in the real world. The practical implementation of the education and e-learning approach of constructivism will help to bridge the gap between the skilled workforce in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world. Moreover, the students, as learners, will be able to assert their experiences by connecting with the outside world, constructing a sustainable society, leading to sustainable employment generation and social empowerment in Saudi Arabia. The study also has a broad scope for higher educational institutions, training centers, and organizations in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world.

This study investigates the critical factors influencing Saudi Arabia's sustainable human capital development. It primarily aims to explore the correlations among the postulated variables and how each variable influences the development of a skilled, adaptable, and socially conscious workforce, in alignment with the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030. This study utilizes a quantitative approach, employing partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze the data collected from 203 public personnel in Saudi Arabia through an online questionnaire. The findings reveal that training, community engagement, institutional support, and technology integration are essential in sustainable human capital development. However, learning, education, and access to resources were not statistically significant and did not improve sustainable human capital development in Saudi Arabia. The findings underscore the significance of an educational framework that transcends traditional perspectives, focusing on not only academic preparation but also the holistic development of individuals. This study contributes to understanding how training, community engagement, institutional support, and technology integration are transformative in shaping the future of Saudi Arabia by nurturing a skilled, adaptable, and socially responsible citizenry.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of environmental disclosure and corporate governance on the financial performance of Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia. This study highlights that sustainable practices are transparent with financial objectives using the religious framework of Islamic finance. This research is based on Worldwide Vision 2030, which covers sustainable development and promotes environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, as well as corporate governance factors, such as board composition and Shariah Supervisory Boards (SSBs). We use a hybrid approach for our findings, with a dataset spanning 2011–2023 for the quantitative analysis and 20 semi-structured analyses conducted for a qualitative approach that aligns with objectives. We found that environmental disclosure boosts profits and stakeholder trust. Corporate governance structures, such as environmental boards and sustainability committees, improve the environmental disclosure of financial performance in Islamic banks. In this positive interaction, specialized governance drives Sharia-compliant sustainability initiatives. SSBs help Islamic banks integrate sustainability and meet religious and ESG environmental standards. Board diversity and dedication in the sustainability committee both play important roles in enhancing environmental disclosure practices; in return, these improved financial performances. The interaction of environmental disclosure and board environmental expertise has a positive impact on the overall performance, which indicates that governance structure supports sustainability-related decision-making, aligning with transparency. This study suggests that Islamic banks standardize ESG frameworks, improve board environmental expertise, and invest in real-time sustainability reporting digital solutions. Saudi Islamic banks can lead regional and global sustainable banking by adopting these strategies to align with global sustainability trends, improve financial performance, and meet ethical finance expectations.

This study investigates how Saudi SMEs’ awareness and preparation for digital transformation impact their business performance (BP). First and foremost, in this study, we examine the impact of awareness and preparation on business performance using the intention to use (ITU) as an initial mediator. In addition, the researchers also examined the impact of awareness and preparation on business performance through intention to use and Government Support (GS), and later, intention to use and skills as serial mediators. Using a structured questionnaire based on a seven-point Likert scale, data were collected from 68 SMEs in the Ha’il region of Saudi Arabia, one of the Kingdom’s leading economic provinces. The data were analyzed through simple and serial mediation techniques through AMOS-24. The study found that SMEs’ awareness and preparation for digital transformation significantly and positively influenced their intentions to use the technology. The researchers found that intention to use, skills, and government support are significant variables that improve business performance. The research also revealed full-serial mediation between awareness and business performance and preparation and business performance, showing that intention to use and skills and intention to use and government support significantly mediate improving SMEs’ business performance. The study implications provide for SMEs’ successful digital transformation, considering the role of skills and government support, which will help SMEs improve their performance and embrace sustainability in human and economic development in Saudi Arabia. Together with policymakers, SMEs, and researchers, it will also look at the entrepreneurial potential for Saudi nationals in the run-up to Vision 2030.

With the use of digital technologies in today’s innovation era, the financial sector has transformed how they facilitate customer business and generate a high level of revenue. This study aims to explore the relationship between innovative work behavior (IWB), digital transformation (DT), and organizational financial performance (OFP) to analyze the mediating role of workers’ psychological empowerment (PE) between independent and dependent variables. Further, we examined the moderating role of smart technologies (ST) between PE and OFP. This study collected data from Saudi banking sector employees using a well-structured questionnaire adopted from previous literature. Next, Smart-PLS was used to analyze the data using the structural equation modeling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS) approach. The results reveal that IW positively relates to OFP, with PE mediating this relationship. Furthermore, DT positively affects OFP. ST acts as a positive moderator that enhances workers’ PE and OFP. Meanwhile, PE, as a mediator, positively relates DT and IWB to OFP. Overall, this study makes valuable theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions, which can benefit bank management, policymakers, and future academic research.