https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/14753995/cfp/CFP-Sharing-Platforms-for-Sustainability-1710384879567.pdf
Special issue on
“Sharing platforms for sustainability: Exploring strategies, trade-offs, and applications”
Guest Editors
Pietro De Giovanni and Yiwen Bian
Nowadays, the sharing economy is profoundly transforming production and consumption patterns by addressing environmental concerns related to resource scarcity and social issues associated with resource accessibility. Within the sharing economy, sharing platforms are becoming very popular as they offer the chance to individuals and companies to retain ownership of certain products and share them with a network of other users (either other individuals or other companies). The sharing platforms promote a collaborative and sustainable approach to resource utilization, aiming to enhance efficiency by minimizing the idle capacity of resources and supporting social welfare through circular economy initiatives. Examples of these initiatives are the reusing of goods, leading to the reduction of waste through the better use and exploitation of the same asset during the whole lifecycle.
Indeed, the advent of emerging technologies has significantly accelerated the adoption of sharing platforms. In fact, information about sharing options and spare capacities becomes accessible only when user-friendly apps display such information and simplify the entire process of booking, using, and returning the assets, making it easy and intuitive for users. As a result, the development of sharing platforms is quickly expanding in numerous countries, offering options for sharing underutilized personal assets without the pressure of spending a huge amount of money to purchase them. By paying a small fee, users can have access to shared resources and assets while companies set ad hoc plans of investments in and maintenance for sharing platforms, whose management completely modifies the value propositions. Recently, many companies moved from selling ownership-based tangible products to selling intangible services associated with physical assets. This strategy, known as servitization, transforms traditional business models into more service-oriented, customer-focused offerings while simultaneously contributing to a more sustainable eco-system and resource-efficient market.
The sharing platforms cover a wide range of products and services like luxury goods, garments, public transportation (e.g., bikes, e-scooters, and car sharing), shared-workplaces, warehousing and logistics, pet-sitting, etc. However, transforming the traditional business models to sharing economy models requires significant changes in the business processes leading to revising the various strategies, from marketing to operations management, with the final objective of guaranteeing economic sustainability, beyond the environmental and social sustainability.
This special issue of the International Transactions in Operational Research (ITOR) is dedicated to exploring the multifaceted world of sharing platforms, with a special focus on their sustainability benefits, and trade-offs. As these platforms reshape how individuals and companies share, access, and utilize resources, unique and unexplored opportunities and challenges emerge including the sharing platform management and sustainability. This call for papers invites manuscripts exploring the intricate relationships and dynamics of sharing platforms and examining how optimization models and algorithms, contracting and mechanisms, rooted in Operational Research and Operations Management, can enhance their sustainability. Contributions are invited to explore a range of topics, including but not limited to:
• The contribution of sharing platforms to the triple bottom line (social, environmental, and economic).
• Optimizing the integration of circular economy practices like reusing, repairing, and recycling within sharing platforms, highlighting their roles in sustainable resource management.
• The intersection of sharing platforms with subscription-based business models and synergies with sustainability.
• Optimizing the logistics activities associated with sharing platforms without underperforming sustainability.
• Understanding the business value and role of emerging business models, e.g., live streaming selling and content e-commerce, in the sharing economy.
• Strategies of information disclosure, sharing, and acquisition associated with shared products/services for enhancing the performance of sharing platform supply chain.
• Strategies for efficient share capacity utilization in sharing platforms and optimization of resource utilization.
• How sharing platforms set optimal pricing strategies, and design incentive contracts, in line with economic, environmental, and social targets.
• Evaluating the impact of emerging technologies in implementing the sharing platforms and contributing to their overall sustainability.
• Investigating the trade-offs between resilience and sustainability induced by sharing platforms.
The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2024.
Each paper will be peer-reviewed according to the editorial policy of ITOR, published by the International Federation of Operational Research Societies. Manuscripts should be original, unpublished, and not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
They should be prepared according to the instructions to authors that can be found at the journal homepage https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14753995/homepage/forauthors.html.
Authors should upload their contributions using the submission site at http://mc. manuscriptcentral.com/itor, indicating in their cover letter that the paper is intended for this special issue.
Other inquiries should be sent directly to any of the Guest Editors in charge of this issue: Pietro De Giovanni ([email protected]) and Yiwen Bian ([email protected]).