Sustainable Business Management in Higher Education Institutions: A Strategic Roadmap for Addressing Research Gaps and Shaping the Forthcoming Agenda

Abdellah Saoualih; Larbi Safaa; Dalia Perkumienė; Walter Leal Filho

doi:10.1002/sd.70413

journal article Nov 23, 2025

Sustainable Business Management in Higher Education Institutions: A Strategic Roadmap for Addressing Research Gaps and Shaping the Forthcoming Agenda

Abdellah Saoualih

Larbi Safaa

Dalia Perkumienė

Walter Leal Filho

Sustainable Development Vol. 34 No. 2 pp. 2558-2591 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/sd.70413

Abstract

ABSTRACT
This thematic review examines how the empirical literature has addressed sustainable business management (SBM) in higher education institutions (HEIs), identifies the thematic trajectories that have emerged, and diagnoses the existing gaps in order to inform the future research agenda. The analysis draws on a corpus of 107 studies published between 2020 and 2024, retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. Using abstract‐based semantic text mining with the BERTopic model, combined with a thematic mapping approach, the analysis uncovers 13 topics ranging across categories of scholarly impact namely influential, cross‐cutting, deeply developed and emerging. The findings reflect both the potential of HEIs to act as catalysts for systemic sustainability and the ongoing existence of conceptual silos, methodological preferences and geographical imbalances. They also provide these institutions with evidence‐based opportunities to refine curriculum, enhance multi‐stakeholder engagement and strengthen institutional strategies for SBM, as a novel dynamic absent from existing review papers. At the same time, they equip policymakers and funding bodies with guidance about the inherent structural role of the higher education sector in driving transformative change.

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Details

Published: Nov 23, 2025
Vol/Issue: 34(2)
Pages: 2558-2591
License: View

Authors

A

Abdellah Saoualih

ICHEC Brussels Management School Brussels Belgium; Faculty of Letters, Arts, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3 Montpellier France; Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Laboratory for Studies on Resources, Mobility, and Attractiveness (LERMA) Cadi Ayyad University, UCA Marrakech Morocco

L

Larbi Safaa

Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Laboratory for Studies on Resources, Mobility, and Attractiveness (LERMA) Cadi Ayyad University, UCA Marrakech Morocco

D

Dalia Perkumienė

Department of Business and Rural Development Management, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Agriculture Academy Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Lithuania

W

Walter Leal Filho

Department of Natural Sciences Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK; WSB Merito University Wroclaw Poland; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management” Hamburg Germany

Cite This Article

Abdellah Saoualih, Larbi Safaa, Dalia Perkumienė, et al. (2025). Sustainable Business Management in Higher Education Institutions: A Strategic Roadmap for Addressing Research Gaps and Shaping the Forthcoming Agenda. Sustainable Development, 34(2), 2558-2591. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70413

Sustainable Business Management in Higher Education Institutions: A Strategic Roadmap for Addressing Research Gaps and Shaping the Forthcoming Agenda

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