Recent Trends of Research and Education in ESG and Sustainability

Sustainability, a concept originating from the ecological and environmental systems, is a critical topic receiving significant interests and discussions among various stakeholders including researchers, managers, and practitioners. Literature findings have supported that sustainability is associated with the enhancement of competitive advantages of companies. Strategic approaches incorporating the environmental, economic, and social issues in business operations have been extensively investigated and developed for firms to achieve development goals for sustainability. Meanwhile, the principles of sustainability have been adopted with the aim of sustainable supply chains and business systems, leading to a surging number of research studies exploring the sustainability performances of firms with the use of ESG scores. Results from various investigations have also identified the important indicators or score systems for evaluating the ESG sustainability performance of firms. Furthermore, in the past years, the relationship among corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental sustainability, social responsibilities, and ethics in organisations has been frequently discussed by academics, businesses, and political leaders. With growing concerns on the deteriorating environmental quality, various studies have reported on the findings of researches regarding the incorporation of corporate sustainability in strategic management, as well as the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development in business programme curriculum. In this chapter, relevant studies in the mentioned domains will be reviewed for gaining further insights into the research and education in ESG and sustainability in the business and their application in healthcare.