Business models for the Anthropocene: accelerating sustainability transformations in the private sector

Development Goals ◽

Environmental Integrity ◽

Development Paths

AbstractThe rapid pace and escalating severity of climate change impacts have made clear that current incremental approaches to pressing global socio-ecological challenges are insufficient to address the root causes of unsustainable development. This has spurred increasing interest in the dynamics of transformation: the actors, capacities and resources needed to fundamentally shift development paths. The private sector is at the core of essential transformative processes necessary to build a future premised on environmental integrity, social inclusivity, and resilience. The activities of the private sector are structured and driven by their underlying business model, which is at its core a set of assumptions about how a business creates, extracts and delivers value. Dominant conceptualizations of the business model remain a narrow imagining of how business interacts with societal processes and shape development patterns. In this article we call for the conceptualization and design of business models anchored in societal purpose and operating within planetary boundaries, apt for the Anthropocene. We identify five building blocks for business models where transdisciplinary sustainability research can accelerate entrepreneurial activity that fosters desirable sustainable pathways by enabling the creation of new capabilities in support of broader transformational processes. This article seeks to inform (and potentially re-orient the efforts of) transdisciplinary scholars engaging the private sector in the co-production of community-based sustainability and resilience-building initiatives. Likewise, the building blocks provide a guide for businesses who aim to deepen their capacity to build new partnerships, identify, and incorporate new information on climate risk into their operations and develop practices, sequences and procedures oriented toward the sustainable development goals and disaster resilience.

Collective Creativity for Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice - Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage ◽

Sustainable Business Model Innovation

10.4018/978-1-5225-1823-5.ch008 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 140-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Job Taminiau ◽

Joseph Nyangon ◽

Ariella Shez Lewis ◽

John Byrne

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Business Model ◽

Business Models ◽

Sustainable Energy ◽

Business Model Innovation ◽

Sustainable Business ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Sustainable Business Models ◽

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.

Sustainable Business Model Innovation

Disruptive Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9273-0.ch099 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 2122-2141

Author(s):

Job Taminiau ◽

Joseph Nyangon ◽

Ariella Shez Lewis ◽

John Byrne

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Business Model ◽

Business Models ◽

Sustainable Energy ◽

Business Model Innovation ◽

Sustainable Business ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Sustainable Business Models ◽

Sustainable Business Model Innovation

Sustainable Business ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9615-8.ch087 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1943-1962

Author(s):

Job Taminiau ◽

Joseph Nyangon ◽

Ariella Shez Lewis ◽

John Byrne

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Business Model ◽

Business Models ◽

Sustainable Energy ◽

Business Model Innovation ◽

Sustainable Business ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Sustainable Business Models ◽

An IoT business model for public sector retail oil outlets

Information Technology and People ◽

10.1108/itp-08-2020-0570 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Sudip Das

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Private Sector ◽

Business Model ◽

Data Security ◽

Business Models ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Foreign Firms ◽

Indian Market ◽

Content Type ◽

Practical Implications

PurposeThe fuel retailing landscape in India is undergoing a structural shift with the reforms undertaken by the government that would help the private and foreign firms to enter this market. India is poised to become the world's largest growth market for energy by the mid-2020s. IoT has become an integral digital technology for the fuel retailers in the retail oil outlet (ROO) ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is to develop an Internet of Things (IoT) business model for the Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs') ROOs.Design/methodology/approachUsing literature review along with a survey among 660 respondents led to 402 valid observations, and the variables that contributed to IoT adoption at the OMCs' ROOs were identified. Using the BMC tool (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2009), the relative importance of the variables within each building block was established. The means of all the variables were measured against the average of all the variables, and significant differences were searched for in each block. The notable differences of the means along with significant high and low means were highlighted.FindingsThis paper depicts empirical research that led to a framework of an IoT business model for Indian public sector ROOs. It also represents the usefulness of the Technology-Organization-Environment framework at the OMCs ROOs and extends the literature by incorporating “data security” to the existent framework of technology, organization and environment within the IoT ecosystem.Research limitations/implicationsThe outcome of the research should be analysed in the Indian context as all the respondents were from India. The study was conducted for the ROOs of Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and excluded their downstream operations. The dispensers in the OMCs vary along with their marketing strategies in the retail segments. The IoT business model can be customized for a particular OMC, which is scope of further research.Practical implicationsThe study has practical implications for those global fuel retailers embarking on the IoT adoption drive at their ROOs about the need to install “data security” measures in the connected IoT environment. The study provides insights on how the OMCs can stay ahead of competition in the Indian market vis-à-vis the private sector fuel retailers by embracing the IoT business model.Social implicationsThe new emerging technological business models provide competitive edge to those organizations adopting them (Barney, 1991; Clemons and Row, 1991; Feeny and Ives, 1990). The study will enable the OMCs to implement the IoT business model at their ROOs for enhancing their revenue streams and profitability and lowering of operating costs. The study provides insights on how the OMCs can stay ahead of competition in the Indian market vis-à-vis the private sector fuel retailers by embracing the IoT business model.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper is that it is among the first to map the variables that contribute to IoT adoption at the OMCs' ROOs, within the building blocks of the BMC tool (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2009), according to their importance. To retain their dominance and have a first-mover competitive advantage, this study enables the OMCs to adopt the IoT business model and transform their ROOs into Internet-connected intelligent fuel outlets.

Multi-Sided Platforms (MSPs) and Sharing Strategies in the Digital Economy - Advances in E-Business Research ◽

Digital Platforms

10.4018/978-1-5225-5457-8.ch001 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Business Model ◽

Dynamic Capabilities ◽

Business Models ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Management Tool ◽

Digital Platforms ◽

Research Platform ◽

Key Aspects

This chapter reviews the following key aspects of platform research: platform strategy, dynamic capabilities, and business models. The main platform typologies and basic definitions are described first. It provides a brief summary of the literature relating to arguing platform strategy, platform life cycle, platform building blocks, and business models. A platform strategy categorization taxonomy and platform practical strategies of preventing platform disintermediation are developed. The main types of platform business models are introduced. The multi-sided platform business model pattern (MSP BMP) is designed. MSP BMP is used as a basic conceptual framework and knowledge management tool for describing, analyzing, and interpreting non-price instruments used by digital platforms, especially platform intermediaries.

A Review of Alternative Economic Approaches to Achieve Sustainable Development

10.4018/978-1-7998-8482-8.ch018 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 288-307

Author(s):

Seda Yildirim ◽

Isil Demirtas ◽

Durmus Cagri Yildirim

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Global Warming ◽

Business Model ◽

Carbon Emission ◽

Business Models ◽

Social Issues ◽

Digital Economy ◽

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the progress in 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and policymakers have been challenged with the implications of conventional economic system in the market. At this point, it can be said that the adoption of the best alternative economic and business model for the marketplace is the new phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, alternative economic and business models can reduce the carbon emission, environmental pollution, and global warming, but there is a still dark point in solving social issues globally. This study aims to give a brief framework for alternative economic and business models in the context of sustainability. This study presents the links between 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, digital economy, and de-growth. In other words, this chapter focuses on digital economy (digitalization) and degrowth model (degrowing). Accordingly, it is thought to give an up-to-date work for achieving sustainable development after the COVID-19 pandemic in the long term.

Electronic Business Models Design for Public-Private Partnerships

Encyclopedia of Digital Government ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-789-8.ch094 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 615-623

Author(s):

E. Loukis

Keyword(s):

Private Sector ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Business Model ◽

Public Services ◽

Business Models ◽

Public Information ◽

Value Added ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

The Internet ◽

The Public

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) provide an alternative model for producing and delivering public services, both the traditional public services and the electronic ones (i.e., the ones delivered through electronic channels, such as the Internet or other fixed or mobile network infrastructures; Aichholzer, 2004; Andersen, 2003; Broadbend & Laughlin, 2003; Jamali, 2004; Lutz & Moukabary, 2004; McHenry & Borisov, 2005; Nijkamp, Van der Burch, & Vidigni, 2002; Spackman, 2002; Wettenhall, 2003). The basic concept of the PPP model is that the public and the private sectors have different resources and strengths, so in many cases, by combining them, public services can be produced and delivered more economically and at higher quality. In this direction, a PPP is a medium to a long-term relationship between public organizations and private-sector companies, involving the utilization of resources, skills, expertise, and finance from both the public and the private sectors, and also the sharing of risks and rewards in order to produce some services, infrastructure, or other desired useful outcomes for the citizens and/or the businesses. Information and communication technologies, and in particular the Internet and WWW (World Wide Web) technologies, have opened a new window of opportunity for a new generation of PPPs for offering new electronic public services in various domains, for example, for developing and operating public information portals (Andersen, 2003), electronic transactions services (Lutz & Moukabary, 2004), electronic payment services (McHenry & Borisov, 2005), value-added services based on public-sector information assets (Aichholzer, 2004), and so forth. However, before such a new service is developed, it is of critical importance to design systematically and rationally its business model, which, according to Magretta (2002), incorporates the underlying economic logic that explains how value is delivered to customers at an appropriate cost and how revenues are generated. Vickers (2000) argues that most of the failures of e-ventures (also referred to as dot-coms) are due to the lack of a sound business model or due to a flawed business model. However, most of the research that has been conducted in the area of e-business models is dealing mainly with the description and abstraction of new emerging e-business models, the development of e-business-models classification schemes, and the clarification of the definition and the components of the business model concept, as described in more detail in the next section. On the contrary, quite limited is the research on e-business-models design methods despite its apparent usefulness and significance; moreover, this limited research is focused on private-sector e-business models. No research has been conducted on the design of PPP business models for offering electronic services. In the next section of this article, the background concerning PPPs and e-business-models research is briefly reviewed. Then a new framework for the design of e-business models is presented, which has been customized for the design of PPP business models for offering electronic services. Next, the above framework is applied for the design of a PPP business model for the electronic provision of cultural-heritage education for the project E-Learning Resource Management Service for the Interoperability Network in the European Cultural Heritage Domain (ERMIONE) of the eTEN Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement C517357/2005). Finally, the future trends and the conclusions are outlined.

From gross domestic product to wellbeing: How alternative indicators can help connect the new economy with the Sustainable Development Goals

The Anthropocene Review ◽

10.1177/2053019619869947 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 207-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lorenzo Fioramonti ◽

Luca Coscieme ◽

Lars F Mortensen

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Gross Domestic Product ◽

Business Models ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Economic Transformation ◽

Domestic Product ◽

National Accounts ◽

In a 2014 issue of Nature, members of our research group called for abandoning the gross domestic product as the key indicator in economic policymaking. In this new article, we argue that a new post–gross domestic product economy focusing on wellbeing rather than material output is already emerging in the Anthropocene, thanks to the convergence of policy reforms and economic shifts. At the policy level, the Sustainable Development Goals require policymakers to protect ecosystems, promote greater equality, and focus on long-term equitable development. At the economy level, the provision of services has outpaced industrial production as the key driver of prosperity, with innovative business models optimizing the match between supply and demand and giving rise to a burgeoning “sharing economy”, which produces value to people while reducing output and costs. The economic transformation already underway is, however, delayed by an obsolete system of measurement of economic performance still dominated by the gross domestic product–based national accounts, which rewards the incumbent and disincentives the new. We show that a different approach to measuring wellbeing and prosperity is the “missing link” we need to connect recent evolutions in policy and the economy with a view to activating a sustainable development paradigm for a good Anthropocene.

Impact of Entrepreneurship Activity Sustainable Development

Problemy Ekorozwoju ◽

10.35784/pe.2020.2.17 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 175-183

Author(s):

Ivona Huđek ◽

◽

Barbara Bradač Hojnik

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Entrepreneurial Activity ◽

Policies And Measures ◽

National Priority ◽

Development Goals ◽

New Policies ◽

Entrepreneurial Activities

Sustainable development considers the development that achieves the present economic goals, without obstructing the future development in a sense of satisfying the needs of society and endangering the environment. Recently, the entrepreneurship phenomenon has been widely recognized as an important path towards sustainable development, positively contributing to the development of society. Thus, in the paper, the empirical evidence on linkages between entrepreneurial activity indicators and social development goals is provided. To examine the linkages, the data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and Sustainable Development Goals Index were used. The empirical results suggest that entrepreneurship represents an important factor for fostering sustainability, particularly in opportunity-driven and innovative entrepreneurial activities. The results show, that both of them have a positive impact on sustainable development, while the necessity-driven entrepreneurial activity negatively affects sustainable development. This could be explained by the fact that necessity entrepreneurs are not likely to become the entrepreneurs to implement a promising business opportunity, but rather to earn an income. To achieve the sustainable development goals as well as entrepreneurship should become the national priority by introducing new policies and measures, that is, making the conditions, through which entrepreneurship could achieve positive contributions to the development of the society.

University collaboration for co-designing sustainable urban areas

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202130103002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 301 ◽

pp. 03002

Author(s):

Peter Čajka ◽

Veronica Grebennikova ◽

Hoang Manh Trung Vu ◽

Van Tran Ngo

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Labour Force ◽

Entrepreneurial Activity ◽

Development Goals ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

Our article tackles the timely and important issue of the university collaboration aimed at shaping up the sustainable urban areas and contributing to their development through the teaching and research. Universities provided qualified labour force, yield novel research solutions and act as hubs for entrepreneurial activity in urban areas. In this article, we show that even though most of the universities are concentrated in large urban centres and capital regions, many of them are located in small rural areas and have a profound effect on them. We also demonstrate the impact of universities on the sustainable development which is done through the sustainable education as well as the R&D approaches. These effects are very relevant for the co-designing of sustainable rural areas that can follow the principles of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the green policies imposed by the majority of the local and central governments around the world.