Dear Colleagues,

Against the background of transformative societal and economic change towards sustainability, companies have to find a way to react or respond to various regulatory, technological and market push and pull stimuli (Demirel & Kesidou, 2019; Fagerberg, 2018). Innovations are considered as one of the most effective strategies of businesses to contribute to reaching sustainability goals (OECD, 2010; Pedersen et al., 2018). Research on this synergy has grown in the recent years (e.g. Boons & Lüdeke-Freund 2013; Inigo & Albareda 2019a). According to Alfetra et al. (2021) “more emphasis has been placed on those innovations that can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals in order to achieve a “win-win-win” situation”. A variety of concepts and terminologies is used in the connection with sustainability and innovation. Often they are used interchangeably, such as e.g., “green innovation” (e.g., Stephen Oduro et al, 2021), “eco-innovation” (Pichlak & Szromek, 2021), “environmental innovation” (e.g., Leyva-de la Hiz et al., 2019), “responsible innovation” (e.g., Lubberink et al., 2017) or “inclusive innovation for sustainability” (e.g., Kalkanci et al., 2019). But,often the social sphere of sustainability is dismissed. To include innovations that focus on balancing the triple-bottom-line approach, the idea of sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) is used. It describes “innovations in which the renewal or improvement of products, services, technological or organisational processes delivers not only improved economic performance, but also an enhanced environmental and social performance” (Bos-Brouwers, 2010, p. 422)The development of specific (new) sustainability-oriented capabilities is discussed initially in the scientific community, but is valued as key prerequisite for corporate competitiveness, systemic transformation and adaptation of corporate strategic sustainability (Dangelico et al., 2017; Demirel & Kesidou, 2019; Inigo & Albareda, 2019b). The aim of this Special Issue is to generate new ideas regarding capabilities that might stimulate sustainability-oriented innovations. Topics for the Special Issue should combine aspects of sustainability, innovation and (dynamic) capabilities and might include, but are not limited to:

• Internal/external capabilities, dynamic capabilities, organizational capabilities, collaborative capabilities etc. related to SOIs
• Influence of ownership and capital structure on SOI related capabilities
• Influence of company size, sector affiliation on SOI related capabilities
• Different forms of innovations (process, organisational, services, open etc.)
• Eco-innovations and related capabilities
• Social innovations and related capabilities
• SOI innovation ecosystems and related capabilities
• Concepts related to SOIs such as e.g. responsible innovations (e.g. Lubberink et al., 2019; Owen et al., 2013), frugal innovations (e.g. Albert, 2019; Hossain, 2018), convivial innovations (e.g. Kerschner et al., 2018; Pansera & Fressoli, 2021) that might broaden the discussion.

Besides that, the editors welcome contributions that deal with findings from case studies, longitudinal research, critical theory analysis, concept development, comparative observation, empirical evidence or qualitative methodology.

References:

Afeltra, G., Alerasoul, S. A., & Strozzi, F. (2021). The evolution of sustainable innovation: from the past to the future. European Journal of Innovation Management.

Albert, M. (2019). Sustainable frugal innovation-The connection between frugal innovation and sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 237, 117747.

Arranz, N., Arroyabe, M., Li, J., & Fernandez de Arroyabe, J. C. (2020). Innovation as a driver of eco‐innovation in the firm: An approach from the dynamic capabilities theory. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(3), 1494-1503.

Boons, F., Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2013). “Business models for sustainable innovation: State-of-the-art and steps towards a research agenda.” Journal of Cleaner Production 45: 9–19. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.07.007

Bos-Brouwers, H.J.B. (2010). “Corporate sustainability and innovation in SMEs: evidence of themes and activities in practice”, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 19, pp. 417-435.

Dangelico, R. M., Pujari, D., & Pontrandolfo, P. (2017). Green Product Innovation in Manufacturing Firms: A Sustainability-Oriented Dynamic Capability Perspective. Business Strategy & the Environment, 26(4), 490–506. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1932.

Hossain, M. (2018). Frugal innovation: A review and research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 926-936.

Demirel, P., & Kesidou, E. (2019). Sustainability‐oriented capabilities for eco‐innovation: Meeting the regulatory, technology, and market demands. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(5), 847-857.

Fagerberg, J. (2018). Mobilizing innovation for sustainability transitions: A comment on transformative innovation policy. Research Policy, 47(9), 1568–1576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.08.012.

Inigo, E.A. (2019a). Environmental Factors in Business Engagement in Innovation for Sustainability. In: Bocken N., Ritala P., Albareda L., Verburg R. (eds.) Innovation for Sustainability. Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business in Association with Future Earth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97385-2_4.

Inigo, E. A., & Albareda, L. (2019b). Sustainability oriented innovation dynamics: Levels of dynamic capabilities and their path-dependent and self-reinforcing logics. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 139, 334–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.11.023.

Kalkanci, B., Rahmani, M., & Toktay, L. B. (2019). The Role of “Inclusive Innovation” in Promoting Social Sustainability. Production and Operations Management, 28(12), 2960-2982. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13112.

Kerschner, C., Wächter, P., Nierling, L., & Ehlers, M. H. (2018). Degrowth and Technology: Towards feasible, viable, appropriate and convivial imaginaries. Journal of cleaner production, 197, 1619-1636.

Leyva-de la Hiz, D. I., Ferron-Vilchez, V., & Aragon-Correa, J. A. (2019). Do Firms’ Slack Resources Influence the Relationship Between Focused Environmental Innovations and Financial Performance? More is Not Always Better. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(4), 1215–1227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3772-3.

Lubberink, R., Blok, V., van Ophem, J., & Omta, O. (2019). Responsible innovation by social entrepreneurs: an exploratory study of values integration in innovations. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 6(2), 179-210.

Owen, R., Stilgoe, J., Macnaghten, P., Gorman, M., Fisher, E., & Guston, D. (2013). A framework for responsible innovation. Responsible innovation: managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society, 31, 27-50.

Pansera, M., & Fressoli, M. (2021). Innovation without growth: Frameworks for understanding technological change in a post-growth era. Organization, 28(3), 380-404.

Pichlak, M., & Szromek, A. R. (2021). Eco-innovation, sustainability and business model innovation by open innovation dynamics. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(2), 149.

Prof. Dr. Javier Villalba-Diez
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gerstlberger
Prof. Dr. Wanja Wellbrock
Guest Editors

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