Emerging Technologies and Organizational Accountability in Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This study systematically examines the intersection of emerging digital technologies and organizational accountability within the sustainability domain using the TCCM framework. Guided by the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, a final corpus of 67 high-impact peer-reviewed articles was analyzed to synthesize current knowledge and identify structural gaps in governance architectures. Findings indicate that traditional human-led narrative disclosures are increasingly supplemented or replaced by technology-embedded verification systems offering real-time data granularity. The analysis shows that while the field is largely grounded in Stakeholder Theory and the Resource-Based View, mid-range theorizing is needed to address algorithmic bias and the gap between technological capabilities and accountability practices. Empirical evidence is concentrated in Europe and East Asia, exposing a digital divide that limits the applicability of findings to resource-constrained enterprises. The study provides a conceptual synthesis of how AI, blockchain, and IoT reshape transparency, highlighting the need for governance approaches that prioritize ethical oversight, decentralized validation, and substantive rather than symbolic compliance.