scholarly journals Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Towards a Unified Perspective for Creation of Sustainable Business Models

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Evans ◽  
Doroteya Vladimirova ◽  
Maria Holgado ◽  
Kirsten Van Fossen ◽  
Miying Yang ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Job Taminiau ◽  
Joseph Nyangon ◽  
Ariella Shez Lewis ◽  
John Byrne

Establishing a sustainable energy future can justifiably be considered the next frontier in global sustainable development under the agenda laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The newly adopted Paris Agreement which seeks to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels inserts additional urgency into this agenda. To realize the commitments outlined in the agreement, implementation of innovative sustainable business models capable of producing strong mitigation and adaptation outcomes is required ‘on the ground' and needs to be available for subsequent diffusion across different countries, contexts and domains. This chapter explores the value of polycentric climate change governance through an investigation of sustainable business model innovation. An example of a sustainable business model, called the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), is evaluated and an assessment of United Nations-based programming to aid future diffusion of such business models is conducted.


Author(s):  
M. G. E. Velter ◽  
V. Bitzer ◽  
N. M. P. Bocken

AbstractSustainable business model innovation cannot reach its full sustainability potential if it neglects the importance of multi-stakeholder alignment. Several studies emphasize the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to enable sustainable business model innovation, but few studies offer guidance to companies for engaging in such a collaborative process. Based on the concept of boundary work, this study presents a tested process tool that helps companies engage with multiple stakeholders to innovate sustainable business models. The tool was developed in three iterative phases, including testing and evaluation with 74 participants in six sustainable business model innovation cases. The final process tool consists of five steps to facilitate multi-stakeholder alignment for sustainable business model innovation: (1) defining a collective ambition, (2) mapping and negotiating the changing organizational boundaries, (3) exploring opportunities and tensions for aligning stakeholders, (4) defining first interventions and (5) developing a collaboration pitch. We found that the tool enables discussions and negotiations on sensitive topics, such as power reconfigurations and mutual responsibilities to help stakeholders align. For companies, the boundary tool enriches sustainable business model innovation by offering guidance in the process of redesigning their multi-stakeholder system, assessing their own organizational boundaries, exploring, negotiating and prioritizing strategic actions based on organizational boundary changes and kick-starting new partnerships.


Author(s):  
Alberto Peralta ◽  
Jorge Castellote ◽  
Mohamed Salama

Business model innovation (BMI) has emerged as a key root cause of competitive advantage. This is vital for organizations seeking to achieve the set strategic objectives through projects, particularly New Product Development (NPD) projects. However, there is limited attention among scholars and practitioners about sustainable BMI and its methods. Eco-innovation efforts (including the environmental, social and economic dimensions of innovation) concentrate on triple bottom line goals, but to date there seems to be a deficit of academic and practitioner literature on the effect of this type of innovation on new business models. Scholars has been trying to address this gap, mostly focused on eco-innovation from a product-centric perspective where the product is the cornerstone of the new sustainable business models. And this is how conventional sustainable business model innovation is being developed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 2122-2141
Author(s):  
Job Taminiau ◽  
Joseph Nyangon ◽  
Ariella Shez Lewis ◽  
John Byrne

Establishing a sustainable energy future can justifiably be considered the next frontier in global sustainable development under the agenda laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The newly adopted Paris Agreement which seeks to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels inserts additional urgency into this agenda. To realize the commitments outlined in the agreement, implementation of innovative sustainable business models capable of producing strong mitigation and adaptation outcomes is required ‘on the ground' and needs to be available for subsequent diffusion across different countries, contexts and domains. This chapter explores the value of polycentric climate change governance through an investigation of sustainable business model innovation. An example of a sustainable business model, called the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), is evaluated and an assessment of United Nations-based programming to aid future diffusion of such business models is conducted.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1943-1962
Author(s):  
Job Taminiau ◽  
Joseph Nyangon ◽  
Ariella Shez Lewis ◽  
John Byrne

Establishing a sustainable energy future can justifiably be considered the next frontier in global sustainable development under the agenda laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The newly adopted Paris Agreement which seeks to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels inserts additional urgency into this agenda. To realize the commitments outlined in the agreement, implementation of innovative sustainable business models capable of producing strong mitigation and adaptation outcomes is required ‘on the ground' and needs to be available for subsequent diffusion across different countries, contexts and domains. This chapter explores the value of polycentric climate change governance through an investigation of sustainable business model innovation. An example of a sustainable business model, called the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), is evaluated and an assessment of United Nations-based programming to aid future diffusion of such business models is conducted.


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 01025
Author(s):  
Anna Pilarczyk

This article concerns the relatively new issue of business model present in science for 20 years. A systematic literature review was carried out for the years 2012-2018. In so-doing through additional defining criteria: type of document - article and topic - business model innovation, apart from the main slogan - sustainable business model, 84 articles were identified, out of which 24 documents were selected for the analysis. The study has been divided into two parts, the first discusses the theoretical aspects related to the tools used for designing sustainable business models, as well as the relationship between value creation and innovation. In the second part of the study, the issue of sustainable development was analyzed within selected sectors of the food and energy industry. The article aims to present current knowledge on sustainable business models in the context of innovation in relation to selected industries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1643-1662
Author(s):  
Roberto Biloslavo ◽  
Carlo Bagnoli ◽  
Maurizio Massaro ◽  
Antonietta Cosentino

PurposeThis study aims to identify the legitimacy issues raised during a sustainable business model innovation, deployed by an Italian company, which was analyzed through the lens of the legitimation theory and the business model innovation theory.Design/methodology/approachA single case study methodology is employed for empirical research. Semistructured interviews, with top and middle management, were conducted together with the analysis of several internal and external documents, to corroborate the case analysis.FindingsResults show how the potentiality of digital technologies allows the development of new sustainable business models, which, though, still need to gain legitimation to be accepted. The study findings allow drawing both on the business model innovation theory and on the legitimation theory, as they show how legitimation is a dynamic concept that involves internal as well as external stakeholders to support business model innovation.Originality/valueThe paper is novel, since it addresses the topic of sustainable business models development, showing how companies can get legitimation. The paper builds on existing theories and provides a practical example.


Author(s):  
E. J. Schwarz ◽  
P. Gregori ◽  
I. Krajger ◽  
M. A. Wdowiak

AbstractIn times of increasing concerns and extensive political debates about social and environmental problems, incumbent firms are obliged to reduce their negative environmental impact by implementing sustainable business model innovation. Yet, realizing more sustainable business model variants entails several complexities and associated challenges that need to be overcome. To support this task, this article takes an entrepreneurship perspective on sustainable business model innovation and combines literature of business models and entrepreneurial lean thinking (ELT). In doing so, it derives a workshop design grounded in contemporary theory with state-of-the-art tools and methods. The workshop is framed as a stage-gate process facilitating the notions of ELT with iterative cycles of ‘create, test, and improve’ and spans the phases of opportunity identification, opportunity evaluation, opportunity development through sustainable business model design, and decision of opportunity exploitation. The article shows that ELT is an appropriate yet underutilized approach for sustainable business modeling. Further, it discusses how the workshop supports opportunities and mitigate pitfalls of ELT for sustainable business modeling. As such, the findings have theoretical implications for the intersection of sustainability and lean approaches in innovation research as well as implications for practitioners by providing a comprehensive framework to support sustainable business model innovation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Battistella ◽  
Maria Cagnina ◽  
Lucia Cicero ◽  
Nadia Preghenella

Despite the high number of active small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in all sectors, current studies have barely developed investigations on the sustainability of their business models so far. The aim of this study was thus to bridge the gap between sustainable business models of SMEs in the service industry, to uncover the challenges that SMEs face when seeking business model reconfiguration toward sustainability. More specifically, the empirical investigation adopted a case study research design in the context of yacht tourism, as one business form among many within the tourism industry and thus within the broader category of the service industry. Interviews were conducted with seven European SMEs, whose business models were analyzed through the lens of the triple bottom line and sustainability challenges in their business models. The results display a varied typology of case studies, where business model components reveal diverse expressions of facing sustainability challenges. The work discusses reported findings with a cross-case comparison among detected business models and outlines a list of propositions for sustainable business models of SMEs. The paper contributes in continuing the discourse on sustainable business models, adopting the perspective of the challenges for SMEs and offers food for thought for managers of SMEs in comparing their own business with the identified business model types.


Author(s):  
Peter Lindgren

Advanced Green technologies integrated in Business Models and Green Multi Business Model Innovation processes introduce a new leadership and management agenda of Green Business Models. Fast innovation of sensing, persuasive and virtual Business Modelling that can operate autonomously and dynamically primarily lead by machines. Green Multi Business Model Innovation Brains will soon be the state of the art in Business that want to become Green – but also for businesses that want to do circular and/or sustainable business modelling. Businesses will build Green Multi Business Model Innovation competence and advanced Green Multi Business Models Innovation Brains capable to innovated and operate Green Business Models to all kinds of Business Model Ecosystems. This will open up to new Green Multi Business Model Innovation potential and create a new generation or archetypes of Business Models, new practice of Multi Business Model Innovation. The paper is a second articles and extension of a conceptual paper on Multi Business Model Brains. First paper was presented at the BIT Sindri IEEE Conference 2020 conceptualizing on how a Multi Business Model Brain could be constructed and would operate supported by advance sensor technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, deep learning, persuasive technologies, Multi Business Model Innovation pattern analysis and libraries of BM archetypes. In combination they will all be important supporting tools to the Multi Business Model Innovation Brain – but now also to the Green Multi Business Model Innovation Brain. 8 case examples shows how Green Multi Business Model Innovation Brains can work in different contexts – in physical, digital, virtual and combined Business Model ecosystems.


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