Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human
Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
Augustus E. Osseo-Asare
Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism, University of Sunderland, England, U.K.
Keywords: Applied Technological Innovations, Strategic Sustainable Development, Prosperous Human Existence.
Abstract: In today”s fast and dynamic 21st century global business environment, the practical application as opposed
to conceptualisation of engineering, scientific and decision-making technologies is a critical prerequisite for
achieving sustainability and a prosperous human existence through sustainable development initiatives.
While some countries continue to successfully apply practical competencies and dynamic capabilities to
develop their societies in a more sustainable way, the same cannot be said for some countries in Sub-Sahara
Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. This paper first critiques the applicability of technologies by arguing that
‘sustainable development’ is best understood as a multi-faceted concept rooted in ‘sustainability' as a
societal goal of achieving a future desired state of human-ecosystem equilibrium, environmental concerns,
economic and social development. Second, it proposes a holistic framework based on the experiences of
European Food Retailers in the Asia-Pacific countries - which identifies three key areas for sustainable
development: (1) Community regeneration in terms of ‘job creation’, (2) Responsible trading in terms of
‘labour standards’, and (3) Applied technological innovations in ‘waste recycling’. The findings make it
imperative for strategists to critically debate the impact of applied technologies, responsible trading and
community regeneration on corporate profitability, national wealth, and sustainability of a prosperous
human existence.
1 INTRODUCTION
The adage 'a good name is better than many riches'
partially explains why many developed and some
developing nations spend a lot of money enhancing
their country’s good name or reputation to attract
more foreign direct investments (FDIs). In the global
food retail industry food retailers attract shoppers by
using the tangible attributes like attractive logos,
appropriate infrastructure, and positive financial
results; and some intangible attributes including,
regenerating the community, trading responsibly,
and innovating using appropriate technologies
(Tesco, 2017; Carrefour, 2017). The challenge for
both countries and multinational corporations
(MNCs) is how to promote or advertise themselves
in a way that would positively attract FDIs and the
patronage intentions of tourists, customers and the
public. How well a country or MNC promotes itself
depends on the vision of the country and a firm’s
'raison d’étre' i.e. 'reason for existence', which for
most countries is a prosperous existence of their
citizens, and for private-sector retailers like Tesco,
Carrefour and Metro is more about profitability than
social responsibility, sustainable development and
sustainability.
A critical review of extant literature and prior
works since the 6th Asia-Pacific Retail Conference
in 2011 in Malaysia provides credible evidence that
suggests some MNCs sometimes act irresponsibly in
their legitimate pursuit of profitability in emerging
Asia- Pacific and Sub-Sahara Africa economies e.g.
Taiwan, China, Ghana, Nigeria, India, and Kenya
(APRC, 2011; Osseo-Asare and Lin, 2011). In most
developing economies working conditions do not
meet the minimum requirements set by the
International Labour Organization's (ILO) Standards
for people to work under conditions of freedom,
dignity and security (ILO, 2018). Some MNCs are
tacitly encouraged by the fact that there is variability
in interpretation of international labour standards
and similarly in enforcement of local business
regulations (ILO, 2018). This raises two critical and
related questions. First, to what extent should a
profit maximising MNC be allowed to engage in
socially responsible activities, without undermining
124
Osseo-Asare, A.
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations.
DOI: 10.5220/0009153600002500
In Proceedings of the 2nd Forum in Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST 2018), pages 124-134
ISBN: 978-989-758-574-6; ISSN: 2461-0739
Copyright
c
 2022 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

its obligations to investors and tax payers? Second,
to what extent should a country be allowed to adopt
protectionist measures against the wishes of the
international or regional communities? To answer
these questions, strategists in MNCs or policy-
makers in government, need a deeper understanding
of the industry pressures for profitability in the
context of growing demand for good corporate
governance, socially responsible investment and
sustainability (Cheah, Jamali, Johnson and Sung,
2011) – which are critical for sustaining a
prosperous human existence.
In today’s global business environment there is a
gradual shift from unitaristic outcomes measured in
terms of profitability or individual wealth to
pluralistic outcomes including societal or collectivist
goals, in part due to the growing power and
influence of stakeholders - evident in anti-capitalist
protests all around the world (De Wit, 2017; Carroll
and Shabana, 2010; Johnson, Whittington, Regnér,
Scholes, and Angwin, 2017). This trend suggests
that both academics and practitioners need to
conceptualise sustainability as having multiple
dimensions: politico-legal, socio-cultural, economic,
ecological, and technological. Sustaining a
prosperous human existence sits at the interface of
these dimensions in both individualist and
collectivist cultures, representing the strategic
challenge that nations and MNCs must face to
ensure growth in long-term corporate profitability,
societal wellbeing and national wealth (Cheah et al.,
2011; Galbreath, 2009). Indeed, there has been a
steady rise in research interest in 'sustainability and
innovation' since the 6th Asia-Pacific Retail
Conference (APRC, 2011). For example, in many
growing cities including Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Accra, Ghana, Cape Town, South Africa, retail
activities go on briskly, amid construction work to
regenerate deprived parts of the cities (The Retail
Digest, 2012). There is increasing pressure on
corporate decision-makers to develop business
models based on sustainability and sustainable
development, even though some CEOs and policy-
makers in government still have serious reservations
both about how sustainability goals can be achieved
(Guillen-Royo, 2018). Those with environmental
agenda continue to paint a doomsday scenario of
what the world will be like if organisations and
countries continue to use natural resources as if
'there is a lot more where these things came from'.
Classicists on the other hand are more concerned
about the capability of organisations and countries to
maintain profitability as the world population
continues to grow above 7.4 billion (Cheah et al.,
2011; Johnson et al., 2017). Central to understanding
these challenges is the constant need to efficiently
and effectively manage the paradox of profitability
and social responsibility, in the context of the
seemingly conflicting demands for globalisation and
localisation; by coming up with innovative products
and services through applied technologies which
will result in growth in corporate profits, societal
and national wealth at the same time.
In this paper the word ‘applied’ is used to
describe the practical purpose or use - as opposed to
theoretical or conceptualisation - of a subject area of
study e.g. engineering, mathematics, sciences,
technologies, and management. The unimaginable
levels of poverty and deprivation in most developing
countries suggests that, the practical application as
opposed to conceptualisation of engineering,
scientific and decision-making technologies is a
critical prerequisite for achieving sustainability and
a prosperous human existence through sustainable
development initiatives (Sachs, 2015; McWilliams
and Siegel, 2001). While some countries continue to
successfully apply practical competencies and
dynamic capabilities to develop their societies in a
more sustainable and prosperous way, the same
cannot be said for some countries in Sub-Sahara
Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.
This is partially attributable to two key
unresolved paradoxes prevailing in most societies
across the world: first, the pressures for theorization
and application of technologies; coupled with the
demands for progressive economic development and
preserving natural resources and ecosystems
(Guillen-Royo, 2018). The seemingly conflicting
nature of these demands, raises three fundamental
questions: How can a future state be achieved where
living conditions and resource usage continue to
meet human needs without undermining the integrity
and stability of the natural system? How can the
needs of the present be met without compromising
the ability of future generations? How can the
demand to fulfil climate change commitments and
other sustainability measures - vis-a-vis the demand
for socio- economic development - be turned and
leveraged into market opportunities?
To answer these questions, this paper first
critiques the applicability or practicality of
technologies by arguing that ‘sustainable
development’ is best understood as a multi- faceted
concept rooted in ‘sustainability' as a societal goal of
achieving a future desired state of human-ecosystem
equilibrium, environmental concerns, economic and
social development (Montiel, 2008; Waddock and
Graves, 1997).
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
125

In addition, the paper proposes a holistic
framework - based on empirical research at the
doctoral level on the operations of European Food
Retailers in the Asia-Pacific countries - which
identifies three key areas for sustainable
development: (1) Community regeneration in terms
of ‘job creation’, (2) Responsible trading in terms of
‘labour standards’, and (3) Applied technological
innovations. In ‘waste recycling’. The framework
makes it imperative for strategists to critically debate
the impact of applied technologies, responsible
trading and community regeneration on corporate
profitability, national wealth, and sustainability of a
prosperous human existence.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND
HYPOTHESES
DEVELOPMENT
The Today, many countries and some MNCs are
developing strategies for implementing the United
Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
which provides a global blueprint for prosperity for
nations, organisations and the planet, now and in the
future (UN, 2018). According to António Guterres,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN),
although some progress towards achieving the goals
of sustainable development:
“…in some areas, progress is insufficient to meet
the Agenda’s goals and targets by 2030…Youth are
three times more likely to be unemployed than
adults. Less than half of all children and adolescents
meet minimum standards in reading and
mathematics…2.3 billion people still lacked even a
basic level of sanitation service and 892 million
people continued to practise open defecation. Close
to 1 billion mostly rural people still lack electricity.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV incidence among
women of reproductive age is 10 times the global
average. Nine out of 10 people living in cities
breathe polluted air. And, while some forms of
discrimination against women and girls are
declining, gender inequality continues to hold
women back and deprives them of basic rights and
opportunities”. (Guterres, 2018, p. 5) In this context,
this section first critiques the applicability or
practicality of technologies for sustainable
development by arguing that ‘sustainable
development’ is best understood as a multi-faceted
concept rooted in ‘sustainability' as a societal goal of
achieving a prosperous human existence defined in
terms of a future desired state of human-ecosystem
equilibrium, environmental concerns, economic and
social development (Sachs, 2015; Guillen-Royo,
2018).
We begin by acknowledging that the simplest
form of applied technology is the development and
practical use of basic tools during prehistoric times
to make and control fire, the later Neolithic
Revolution methods for increasing the available
sources of food, the invention of the wheel to travel
in, and ways of controlling the environment (Arthur,
2009).
Today, with less physical barriers, humans
interact and communicate freely on a global scale
via the internet and the world-wide-web (De Wit,
2017). Societies across the world are moving away
from basic or exploratory technologies or know-how
specifically aimed at survival to adopting cutting-
edge applied technologies with the goal of solving
societal problems in a more significant way –
although the rate of adoption of new technologies
differ from country to country mainly because of
differences in socio-cultural settings (Arthur, 2009;
Guillen-Royo, 2018).
This means applied technology and applied
management, have practical uses, rather than being
concerned only with understanding the theoretical
underpinnings of technology or management. Whilst
the educational systems of some countries are driven
by interest or curiosity in the theoretical
relationships between multiple variables as akin to
conducting pure research, other countries focus more
on economic profitability, through breakthroughs in
applied technological innovations – as such the
theoretical underpinnings of technology overlaps
with the practical application of the technology in
question (Arthur, 2009). This suggests that
understanding the theory-practice interface is critical
to sustaining the benefits of applied technologies in
the fields of engineering, medicine, pharmaceutical
sciences and management. What most developing
and developed countries need now are people with
in depth understanding of the theories underpinning
applied technologies when solving specific, practical
problems of individuals or groups in a wide number
of fields, including medicine, education, agriculture
and engineering. For example, determining what
types of plastic contaminants are making their way
into the oceans, and understanding the attitudes of
MNCs toward achieving carbon emission targets to
determine the effectiveness of various government
interventions.
Applied Technology comprises a collection of
scientific, engineering and mathematical techniques,
methods or processes of doing things that benefit
FIRST 2018 - 2nd Forum in Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) – International Conference
126

societies. Despite its benefits, many technologies
produce unwanted by-products known e.g. pollution
and depletion of natural resources – thus raising
critical ethical questions about the extent to which
technology improves the human condition or
worsens it (Arthur, 2009; Sachs, 2015). Indeed,
some find modern communication and transportation
technologies pervasive, arguing that they harm the
environment, alienate people, and change culture, by
lessening the barriers to human interaction and
spawning new subcultures (Arthur, 2009).
The Industrial Revolution in the UK in the 18th
century witnessed the discovery of applied
technologies in the areas of agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, metallurgy, and
transportation, driven by steam power, followed
later by the harnessing of electricity to create the
electric motor, light bulb, etc. (Arthur, 2009).
The late 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries saw a
revolution in transportation, and information and
communication technologies, subsequently leading
to the creation of the Internet or Information Age
and exploration of space with communication
satellites (Angell and Heslop, 1994; De Wit, 2017).
Therefore, the moral justification for application of
technology is to overcome barriers to human
development. However, sceptics see technology as
inherently flawed in the sense that it will inevitably
make us more dependent on it at the cost of freedom
and may even harm our cultural practices, values,
and world-views (Leonhard, 2016; Arthur, 2009).
For example, because of recent technological
advances, an increasing number of workers are
losing their jobs. Indeed, automation threatens
repetitive jobs, but higher-end jobs are still
necessary because they complement technology and
manual jobs that requires flexibility judgment and
common sense remain hard to replace with
machines. Also, for people who use both the Internet
and mobile devices in excessive quantities it is likely
for them to experience fatigue and over exhaustion
because of disruptions in their sleeping patterns, and
the use of mobile phones whilst driving has
increased the occurrence of road accidents
(Leonhard, 2016).
In this context, mass media and technology have
a negative impact on people, on both their mental
and physical health. Some have predicted that the
future of applied technology would mainly consist of
an overlapping "GNR Revolution" of genetics,
nanotechnology and robotics, with robotics being the
most important of the three, but as with all
predictions of the future, however, technology's is
uncertain (Leonhard, 2016; Brynjolfsson and
Mcafee, 2016).
3 HYPOTHESES
DEVELOPMENT- KEY AREAS
FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AND
APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES IN
FOOD RETAIL
INTERNATIONALISATION
The Table 1 below provides a synthesis of the key
findings from extant literature and prior studies
highlighting a growing consensus that foreign
retailers in Asia Pacific and Sub-Sahara African
countries should be perceived both as 'profit makers'
and 'social responsibility-takers'.
However, this comes with the caveat there is
accountability and transparency - in the way profits
are made, whilst responsibilities should be taken
without any intention, deliberate or otherwise, to
avoid taxation, or to exploit the weak regulatory
environment for business in some of these countries
(Osseo-Asare, 2012; Sachs, 2015).
The expectation therefore is that at a strategic
level, companies such as Tesco, Carrefour and
Metro can agree to set aside a proportion of their
retained earnings, enabling them to go beyond mere
compliance with social responsibility or
sustainability requirements in developing countries.
This is an important source of competitive advantage
in emerging economies.
Prior studies have invested the role of applied
technologies in explaining the demand for
sustainable development (Sachs, 2015; Guillen-
Royo, 2018). In addition, clear links between
applied technologies and sustainability have been
established (Guillen-Royo, 2018). However, no
previous literature or studies explicitly links and
compares the attitudes of European Food Retailers in
the Asia-Pacific countries (The Retail Digest, 2012).
Osseo-Asare and Lin (2011) suggest that this is an
important gap in knowledge. The aim of this paper is
therefore to fill this gap. To achieve this, we begin
this section by examining the role of applied
technologies with respect three key themes in the
sustainable development debate, and specifically to
explore issues relating to application of food retail
technologies across- borders.
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
127

Table 1: Main themes and findings from recent studies on retailing in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Sub Sahara African
countries
Europe &
Asia-
Pacific
Main themes Key findings/ contributions
U
K
Foo
d
Securit
y
Foo
d
waste re
d
uction can contri
b
ute to sustaina
b
ilit
y
Thailand
Retail formats:
enclosed versus open-aired Malls
Information and patronage
intentions
Openraired malls have become very popular;
shoppers' motive is to socialize
There are no significant differences between heavy
an
d
li
g
ht s
p
ende
r
susin
g
inte
r
net sources
Malaysia
Environment Increase
d
awareness of environment /
g
reen issues
Forei
g
n an
d
Local Perce
p
tion
g
a
p
s exist in te
r
ms of value an
d
q
ualit
y
B
r
ands
Green Buying Value is a ke
y
dete
r
minant fo
r
Mala
y
sian consu
m
e
r
s
Behaviou
r
wishing to engage in Green Bu
y
ing
Traditional stores
Supermarkets affected small groceries more than Hans Peter
Holst and
h
y
p
e
r
markets in Mala
y
sia
Crossevergence
Islamic business practices e.g. halal and haram could Raja
Nerina Raja Yusof;
Andre' subsidiary culture become sources of competitive
a
d
vantage,
Sin
g
a
p
o
r
e Sho
p
p
in
g
Malls Increase in sho
p
p
in
g
ex
p
erience an
d
retu
r
ns
India
Ethical
Consumerism
Increased willingness to pay a premium
Ja
p
an Natu
r
al disaste
r
s Ro
b
ust su
p
p
l
y
chain st
r
ate
g
ies fo
r
d
is
r
u
p
tive recover
y
Iran Supplier selection
Attempts to find solution to supplier selection problems using
genetic
Al
g
orithms
China
Historical fo
r
ces Guanxi
pr
actices enhance social status an
d
b
enefits
Gende
r
an
d
Jo
b
T
r
aditional values an
d
family role ex
p
ectations
Satisfaction Im
p
act Chinese female em
p
loyees jo
b
satisfaction
South
Af
r
ica
Shopping Malls Consolidation or experience and returns
Ghana Sho
p
p
ing Malls Stea
d
y increase
–
market develo
p
ment
Nige
r
ia Sho
p
p
ing Malls Consoli
d
ation in u
r
b
an a
r
eas an
d
steady rise in su
b
-u
r
b
an
Malawi Shopping Malls
Steady increase – market development in urban areas less so in
r
u
r
al areas
K
enya Sho
p
p
ing Malls Consoli
d
ation in u
r
b
ans an
d
stea
d
yrise in su
b
-u
r
b
an areas
Source: Adapted from Osseo-Asare (2012); APRC, 14-15 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(1) Community regeneration in terms of ‘job
creation’.
Prior studies have shown that community
regeneration, applied technologies and job recreation
are linked (Erhardt, Werbel and Shrader, 2003;
Nielsen and Huse, 2010). Cheah et al. (2011) define,
corporate social responsibility (CSR) as: “the
philosophy and practice of voluntarily integrating
social and environmental concerns into companies’
operations…and mobilising companies’ resources to
benefit society beyond basic economic and legal
concerns…(suggesting) that companies’ objectives
should include the pursuit of financial well-being
and the satisfaction of stakeholders’ non-financial
aspirations, beyond mere compliance with legal
requirements” (Cheah et al., 2011, pp. 305-306).
This definition suggests that CSR includes
activities such as community regeneration.
According to the efficient market hypothesis CSR
activities may lead to improved corporate
profitability, if information regarding a change in a
food retailer’s attitude towards community
regeneration instantaneously alter share prices.
Consequently, efforts to increase the use of applied
technologies in community regeneration and to
create more jobs, is likely to improve the food
retailer’s CSR ratings, and potentially have a
positive impact on shareholders’ wealth (Erhardt et
al., 2003; Nielsen and Huse, 2010). Similarly, the
cost of not adopting applied technologies may have
a detrimental effect on shareholders’ value and
achievement of sustainability goals in the food retail
sector. Consequently, we expect that European food
retailers’ preference for adopting a appropriate food
retail technology in different socio-cultural setting to
affect their views concerning community
FIRST 2018 - 2nd Forum in Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) – International Conference
128

regeneration and job creation. To explore this view,
we test the following null hypothesis.
H1: The preference of European food retailers for
applied technologies does not affect their efforts at
community regeneration and job creation efforts in
Asia-Pacific region.
(2) Responsible trading in terms of ‘labour
standards’
Several prior studies have shown that some
multinational firms act responsibly in their home-
base where compliance to labour standards is
enforced, and less responsibly in host countries
where compliance is relaxed (ILO, 2018; De Wit,
2017). This clearly suggests a link between the
pressures to comply with home-base requirements for
responsible trading and the attitudes of European
food retailers to replicate their home-base responsible
trading practices in Asia-Pacific host countries
through application of appropriate technologies to
ensure sustainable development (The Retail Digest,
2012; Osseo-Asare, 2012). We suspect that well-
established food retailers may be more reluctant to
replicate their home-base responsible trading
practices in host countries where labour standards are
concerned. We therefore suspect that a link may exist
between the age or number of years of experience of
European food retailers in pursuit of low-cost
leadership and their willingness to replicate their
responsible trading practices in host countries in
Asia-Pacific region. To explore this view, we test the
following null hypothesis.
H2a: The level of experience of European food
retailers in pursuit of low-cost leadership does not
affect their willingness to replicate their responsible
trading practices in host countries in the Asia-Pacific
region in terms of compliance with labour standards.
(3) Applied technological innovations in ‘waste
recycling’
Many European food retailers have been found to
adopt applied technologies relating to waste
recycling in their home-base but less so in their host
countries (Tesco, 2017; Carrefour, 2017; Metro,
2017). Even though the objective of maximising
expected corporate profitability remains an essential
requirement for many European food retailers, these
firms are willing to trade off this objective with
goals of promoting the sustainable development
(Waddock and Graves, 1997). In other words, some
European food retailers, particularly the top-ranking
food retailers, may be more willing to tolerate an
‘ethical penalty’ (McLachlan and Garner, 2004;
Williams, 2007). We therefore suspect that the level
of corporate profitability may influence their waste
recycling efforts, as far as the adoption of applied
technologies for sustainable development is
concerned. To explore this view, we test the
following null hypothesis.
H2b: The expected level of corporate profitability of
European food retailers does not affect their
willingness to adopt applied technological
innovations in waste recycling in host countries in
the Asia-Pacific region.
4 DATA AND METHODS
4.1 Data Sample, Measures and
Variables
We employed an Exploratory questionnaire survey
which generated a quantitative data set based on the
responses concerning a wide range of individual
attitudes towards community regeneration,
responsible trading and waste recycling from a total
of 2,026 customers from European and Asia-Pacific
countries: a total of 631 customers in the UK, France
and Germany, and a total of 1,395 customers from
six Asia Pacific countries. The scales employed in
our study for measuring the strength of individual
attitudes involve the use of a five-point Likert scale,
where 1 is strongly agree, 2 is agree, 3 is neither
agree nor disagree, 4 is disagree, and 5 is strongly
disagree. These individual attitudes are employed as
the dependent variables. The perceptions of
respondents regarding ‘preference for applied
technologies’ (metric: low, medium, and high),
‘level of experience’ (metric: low, medium, and
high), and ‘expected level of corporate profitability’
(metric: low, medium low, medium, medium high,
and high), were assigned as independent variables.
The questionnaire responses were analysed using
IBM SPSS factor analysis and standard multiple
regression procedures. The survey was designed to
explore the factors that affect respondents’
perceptions about ‘applied technologies’ and ‘level
of corporate profitability’. It explores the impact of
respondents’ perceptions of ‘applied technologies’ on
their levels of ‘perceived corporate profitability
and/or corporate social responsibility’. The literature
in this area suggests that if people feel that the
application of appropriate technologies would
advance the cause of corporate social responsibility,
they are likely to agree that a firm’s expected levels
of corporate profitability will increase. In the
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
129

questionnaire, there are two different measures of
perceived preference for adoption of applied
technologies.
First, Total believe in applied technologies
(tatec), which measures the degree to which people
feel that application of technologies will help
achieve sustainable development goals. This relates
to the null hypothesis (H1) which proposes that, the
preference of European food retailers for applied
technologies does not affect their efforts or actions
taken in relation to community regeneration and job
creation efforts in Asia-Pacific region. Second, Total
believe that issues of sustainable development
cannot be controlled and should be left alone
(tsdunc) which measures the degree to which people
feel they should be proactive in response to issues
relating to sustainable development (waste
recycling, labour standards and responsible trading).
This is related to the null hypotheses (H2a and H2b).
Hypothesis H2a, proposes that, the level of
experience of European food retailers in pursuit of
low cost leadership does not affect their willingness
to replicate their responsible trading practices in host
countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of
compliance with labour standards; Hypothesis H2b,
proposes that the expected level of corporate
profitability of European food retailers does not
affect their willingness to adopt applied
technological innovations in waste recycling in host
countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In this paper we
explore how well the ‘preference for applied
technologies’ (H1) and ‘perceived nature of
sustainable development’ (H2a, H2b) are able to
predict scores on a measure of ‘total perceived
action on issues of sustainable development’ (tpact).
Three questions are addressed using IBM SPSS
standard multiple regression procedures which
requires all the independent variables to be entered
into the model at once: (1) How well do the two
perception measures (tatec, tsdunc) predict total
perceived action on sustainable development (tpact)?
(2) How much variance in tpact scores can be
explained by scores on the two scales (tatec and
tsdunc)? (3) Which is the best predictor of total
perceived action on sustainable development (tpact):
tatec or tsdunc?
Follow-up semi-structured focus group
interviews with customers and interviews with
academic experts and managers were carried out to
validate the results from the questionnaire survey.
4.2 Empirical Results
Selected output generated from the IBM SPSS
procedure is presented in Table 2. In other words
both of the two scales (tatec and tsdunc) correlate
substantially with the dependent variable (tpact) (-
.631 and -.590 respectively). Also, the correlation
between each of the independent variable is not too
high (i.e. .7 or more). The Tolerance value for each
independent variable is .735, which is not less than
.10; therefore, we have not violated the
multicollinearity assumption. This is also supported
by the VIF value, which is 1.562, which is well
below the cut-off of 10 (Tabachnick and Fidell,
2013). These results are not surprising, given that
the Pearson correlation coefficient between the two
independent variables was only .523.
The r square value of .483 tells us how much of
the variance in the dependent variable (tpact) is
explained by the model, comprising of two
independent variables: ‘tatec’ and ‘tsdunc’.
expressed in percentages, the results mean that the
model explains 48.3% of the variance in the
dependent variable.
In brief our model, which includes ‘tatec’ and
‘tsdunc’, explains 48.3% of the variance in ‘tatec’.
Of the two independent variables, ‘tatec’ makes the
largest unique contribution (Beta = -,498, Sig. .000),
although ‘tsdunc’ also made a statistically
significant contribution (Beta = -.430, Sig. .000).
Table 2: Correlations
Total perceived action on
sustainable development
(
t
p
act
)
Total believe in applied
technologies (tatec)
Total perceived nature of
sustainable development
(
tsdunc
)
t
p
act 1.000 -.631 -.590
tatec -.631 1.000 .523
ts
d
unc -.590 .523 1.000
Sig.
(1-tailed)
t
p
act .000 .000
tatec .000 .000
ts
d
unc .000 .000
N
t
p
act 2026 2026 2026
tatec 2026 2026 2026
ts
d
unc 2026 2026 2026
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To assess the statistical significance of the result,
the ANOVA table reveals that the model reaches
statistical significance (Sig. = .000, p < .005). To
identify which of the independent variable included
in the model contributed to the prediction of the
dependent variable, we look at the results in the
Coefficients Table 5.
To compare the contributions of the two different
independent variables we use the absolute
standardised Beta values, which show that ‘tatec’
has the largest Beta value of .498, which means it
makes the strongest unique contribution to
explaining the dependent variable, when the
variance explained by the second independent
variable is controlled for.
The Beta value for ‘tsdunc’ is only slightly lower
(.430), indicating that it made less of a unique
contribution. Since the Sig. values for the two
independent variables are less than .05, both
variables make significant unique contributions to
the prediction of the dependent variable (Tabachnick
and Fiddell, 2013).
Table 3: Model summary
b
Mo
d
el R R Squa
r
e Adjuste
d
R Squa
r
e Std. Erro
r
of the Estimate
1
.695
a
.483 .466 4.27
a. Predictors: (Constant), Total believe in applied technologies (tatec); Total perceived nature of sustainable development (tsdunc)
b. dependent variable: total perceived action on sustainable development (tpact);
Table 4: Anova
b
Model 1
Regression
Residual
Total
Sum of S
q
uares Df Mean S
q
ua
r
eF Si
g
.
6911.828
7833.556
14745.384
2
2024
2026
3403.364
19.674
189.789
.000
a
a.Predictors: (Constant), Total believe in applied technologies (tatec); Total perceived nature of sustainable development (tsdunc)
b. Dependent Variable: Total perceived action on sustainable development (tpact);
Table 5: Coefficients
a
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
T Sig.
95% Confidence
Interval for B
Correlations
B Std. Error Beta Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Zero
order
Partial Part
1
(Constant)
tatec
50.862
-.663
-.197
1.355
.061
.026
-.498
-.430
40.123
-10.012
-8.960
.000
.000
.000
48.422
-.711
-.210
53.674
-.595
-.162
-.610
-.576
-.465
-.391
-.376
-.351
a. Predictors: (Constant), Total believe in applied technologies (tatec); Total perceived nature of sustainable development (tsdunc)
b. Dependent Variable: Total perceived action on sustainable development (tpact);
Note: Collinearity Statistics: Tolerance = .735; VIF = 1.562, both values are greater than .10 and less than 10 respectively
suggesting there are no problems with multicollinearity
Using the unstandardized B-values, the
regression equation for the model is:
Ytatec = 50.862 -0.663Xtatec -0.195Xtsdunc + error
Where:
Ytatec = dependent variable, Total perceived action
on sustainable development (tpact); Xtatec =
independent variable, Total believe in applied
technologies (tatec); Xtsdunc = independent
variable, Total perceived nature of sustainable
development (tsdunc)
From the regression equation, we can see that the
coefficient of the independent variable ‘Total believe
in applied technologies (tatec)’ is ‘negative’,
suggesting that the degree to which European food
retailers feel that application of technologies will
help achieve sustainable development goals in both
the home and host countries, does not affect their
efforts or actions taken in relation to community
regeneration and job creation efforts in Asia-Pacific
region. We therefore accept the null hypothesis (H1).
Similarly, we can see that the coefficient of the
independent variable ‘Total believe that issues of
sustainable development cannot be controlled and
should be left alone (tsdunc)’ is ‘negative’, also
suggesting that the degree to which European food
retailers operating in Asia-Pacific countries feel they
should be proactive in response to issues relating to
sustainable development (waste recycling, labour
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
131

standards and responsible trading), does not affect
their willingness to replicate their responsible
trading practices in these countries in terms of
compliance with labour standards (Hypothesis H2a).
In addition, it does not affect their willingness to
adopt applied technological innovations in waste
recycling in host countries in the Asia-Pacific region
(Hypothesis H2b). In brief we accept the null
Hypotheses (H2a and H2b).
4.3 Empirical Findings
The follow-up semi-structured focus group
interviews with customers and interviews with
academic experts and managers validate the results
from the questionnaire survey. The key empirical
findings include the fact that a significant perception
gap exists between European and Asia Pacific
customers' perceptions of how Tesco, Carrefour and
Metro deal with three key thematic areas of
sustainability: community regeneration; responsible
trading; and technological innovation. For example,
the European customers in the study perceived there
is strong positive association between the efforts
being made by Tesco, Carrefour and Metro to assist
in regenerating communities and to trade
responsibly in Europe.
In contrast, Asia-Pacific customers thought these
three European retailers were making more effort to
regenerate communities in Asia-Pacific countries
through technological innovation. This perception
gap may be explained by cross-cultural differences
in the way European and Asia Pacific customers
perceive the relative importance of sustainable
development or corporate social responsibility issues
vis-à-vis the pursuit of corporate profitability goals.
Figure 1 below presents a holistic framework,
based on the empirical findings from the survey and
interviews. It identifies three key areas for
sustainable development for achieving the
sustainability goals in food retail internationalisation:
1. Communityregeneration in terms of ‘job
creation’,
2. Responsible trading in terms of ‘labour
standards’, and
3. Applied technological innovations in ‘waste
recycling’.
The framework suggests that National Wealth
and Corporate Image of European food retailers
operating in Asia Pacific countries can be based on
the central theme of pursuing the goals of
Sustainable development while simultaneously
pursuing corporate profitability across borders.
For example, some countries and some European
food retailers like Tesco, Carrefour and Metro are
seeking to create a mental picture that springs up in
the minds of tourists, customers, investors and the
public, whenever the country’s or retailer’s name is
mentioned in connection with its products, services
or corporate behaviour or national achievements in
science, engineering or sports (Tesco, 2017;
Carrefour, 2017; Metro, 2017). More specifically,
the sub-themes emanating from the interviews are
presented in Figure 2.
Figure 1: A holistic framework for sustainable
development in food retail internationalization
Figure 2: Sub-themes emanating from interviews –
evidence of applied food retail technologies
The thematic findings reveal that top European
food retailers operating in countries in the Asia
Pacific region continue to adopt a two-pronged
approach to building their corporate image: first, by
ensuring they remain profitable to attract potential
investors and retain existing ones; second, by been
seen to be at the forefront of the sustainable
FIRST 2018 - 2nd Forum in Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) – International Conference
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development agenda in both their home and host
countries.
This suggests that the strategic positioning of a
nation’s or retailer's corporate image in the minds of
customers and other stakeholders might regularly
shift along the corporate profitability and social
responsibility continuum, depending on their
corporate behaviour or national characteristics. For
specifically, Figure 3 reveals additional evidence of
use of applied technologies in job creation.
Figure 3: Evidence of use of applied technologies in Job
Creation
The framework in this paper makes it imperative
for strategists to critically debate the impact of
applied technologies, responsible trading and
community regeneration on corporate profitability,
national wealth, and sustainability for a prosperous
human existence. The findings however raise two
fundamental questions: Why should a country’
Sustainable development agenda by driven by the
efforts of foreign food retail giants like Tesco,
Carrefour and Metro? Why should the execution of
the Sustainability agenda be based on 'Community
Regeneration', ‘Responsible Trading’ and
'Technological Innovation'?
5 CONCLUSIONS
What this paper reinforces is the notion that applied
technologies remains central to achieving the key
goal of strategic sustainable development i.e. the
prosperity of human existence. There is therefore
increasing recognition by European food retailers
operating in the Asia-Pacific region the importance
of 'community regeneration', ‘responsible trading’
and ‘use of applied technologies’ to society.
These findings however, raise further questions
about the extent to which European food retailers
can replicate their preference and use of applied
technologies in food retailing in Europe in Asia-
Pacific countries, using sustainability issues as the
basis for competitive and cooperative behaviour.
Despite numerous prior studies exploring CSR
and Sustainable development, there has been
relatively few studies on food retail
internationalisation which directly links applied food
retail technologies to community regeneration and
responsible trading – focusing on the top European
food retailers like Tesco (UK), Metro (Germany)
and Carrefour (France).
As such, the findings attempt to fill this research
gap by demonstrating the increasing emphasis on
sustainability as a basis for competitive and
cooperative behaviour in the Asia-Pacific emerging
markets of China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Thailand. The expectation is that
increased investment in the use of applied
technologies to achieve the goals of sustainable
development would ensure that both corporate
profitability and corporate social responsibility
objectives/targets are achieved simultaneously.
There are three important implications of the
findings in this paper. First, the adoption of applied
food retail technologies is critical to successful
implementation of the goals of sustainable
development in both the home and host countries of
European food retailers, irrespective of the ethical
penalty (reduce profit) they may incur by engaging
proactively in sustainable development initiatives.
Second, there is a need to explore the
interdisciplinary factors impacting on the construct
of sustainability, and how they relate to corporate
image and profitability. Third, for practitioners, the
implications are mainly in the ways CSR and
sustainability issues are managed in their home and
host countries. Practitioners need to recognise that
the dual pursuit of corporate profitability and
corporate social responsibility objectives creates a
paradoxical situation that needs to be strategically
thought through and reconciled.
In brief, the findings presented in this paper
demonstrates the growing interest in sustainability as
a strategic tool for achieving responsible profits in
domestic and international markets. Although the
framework is based on customer perception in the
food retail market, retail strategists could also use it
to encourage critical debate about the impact of
community regeneration, responsible trading and
technological innovation on corporate profitability in
Strategic Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Human Existence through Applied Technological Innovations
133

the non-food retail and other sectors of the national
economy.
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