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Introduction
We live in a rapidly changing global society, characterized by unpredictability and turbulence. Unprecedented changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have forced businesses, societies and governments to change, among other things, business practices, social structures and government policies. These changes highlight the need to gain competitive differentiation and a strong customer orientation (Vrontis and Christofi, 2019), focus on intangible assets, such as responsibility and commitment (Saeidi et al., 2015) and ensure that business strategies are focused on shared values (Porter and Kramer, 2006), such as ethics and sustainability. Competitive strategies that might have traditionally worked in the past, such as cost leadership and price differentiation, may no longer be effective and thus, businesses may require change, adaptability, creativity and innovation at an individual and aggregate level (Festa et al., 2017) to compete successfully locally and internationally (Rossi et al., 2014).
Undeniably, the world has changed significantly in recent times with the development of information technology, increased mobility and access to information (Fonseca and Lima, 2015), which, in turn, have contributed to heightened competitiveness (Kowal and Paliwoda-Pękosz, 2017). In today’s world, technology is evolving rapidly and competition is much more significant because it is not confined within national boundaries but instead it takes global dimensions. On the other hand, consumers’ needs and expectations are continually increasing and changing, as they become more informed, sophisticated and variety orientated. Businesses should respond and adapt to social and market changes, emphasizing innovative outputs that would ultimately provide them with a competitive advantage that is sustainable and helps them increase their market share (Ince et al., 2016; Lagumdžija et al., 2019).
The pressure of globalization has raised social concerns related to the protection of the environment and forced companies to use sustainability as a strategy to address their legal and social obligations in their quest for competitiveness. Over the past few years, a heightened concern has emerged regarding the physical environment and problems, such as environmental pollution have raised concerns regarding the planet and its ability to sustain humanity in the years to come (Evans et al., 2020).
Environmental, social and economic developments, such as population growth, resource deficiencies and a growing imbalance in income distribution are among the biggest challenges facing today’s...