Search Results (13)

Few papers have dealt with the process of servitization at the firm level. There has been a particular lack of research in manufacturing. Business model innovation through convergence between products and services is an indispensable aspect of a firm’s sustainable strategy. The current paper analyzes servitization as a process innovation by performing a single case study of a manufacturing firm. Extending product value, or servitization, is an archetype of business model innovation. To investigate and identify the real problem through so-called service development in a product-service system, we utilized a single case of a headrest in a car seat. Based on study findings, this paper proposes that a product-service system could be classified into three steps: (1) understanding and discovering the service; (2) discovering service conceptualization and developing a scenario phase; and (3) service prototyping and marketization using an infusion of technological utilities. We argue that the process of servitization can be regarded as one of the processes of service design, which is a process of value creation that comes from the synchronization of customer empathy. Full article

Over the last decade, various governments and supranational bodies have promoted the development of a circular bioeconomy (CBE) as a response to sustainability challenges. The transition towards a CBE requires the collaboration of different actors in the innovation (eco)system. With this conceptual paper, we apply a circular business model lens to address the research question: “What are the archetypical roles of consumers in business model innovations for a sustainable CBE?” We use a combination of complementary theories from the circular economy and bioeconomy literature, evolutionary innovation economics, sustainability transitions research, the business model literature, and the work on active consumers. Considering consumers’ agency as a continuum between the manufacturer-active paradigm and the consumer-active paradigm, we propose: (i) consumers in the manufacturer-active paradigm can actively influence circular business models with their purchase decision; (ii) consumers can act as lobbyists and influencers for circular business model innovation; (iii) in their different roles as customer, user, repairer, and reseller, consumers can incentivize organizations to adapt their business models to their needs; (iv) consumers can become key partners in the process of defining the normative orientation of the innovation paradigm for a CBE; (v) consumers can actively co-create value by means of co-ownership (e.g., through platform cooperatives). Full article

This paper presents a framework for strategic innovation, the Comprehensive Strategic Analysis for Sustainability, aimed at identifying climate risks faced by organisations and developing appropriate responses to enhance their resilience. The framework integrates the analytical tools of comprehensive strategic analysis with a range of sustainability methodologies to offer a holistic approach to sustainable innovation. The framework was tested through a case study on a large multinational airport retailer, which helped identify the drivers and barriers to sustainably oriented innovation. The application of the framework informed criteria for assessing the suitability for different sustainable business model archetypes to be implemented but did not identify specific sustainable business model innovations that were appropriate for the case firm, highlighting the complexities of managing scope 3 emissions without taking systems-level and multi-stakeholder approaches. The Comprehensive Strategic Analysis for Sustainability framework presents a valuable contribution to approaches for strategic sustainable innovation by acting as a useful lens through which sustainable business model innovation in large industries can be viewed. This study suggests that such holistic frameworks have significant value for the business community in transitioning to low-carbon business models to mitigate the challenges of the climate emergency, whilst the CSAfS framework demonstrates potential as an effective tool for organisations seeking to enhance their sustainability and resilience. Full article

Circular business models operate differently from traditional linear models: by developing products designed for disassembly, reuse, and recycling; by using materials and products for as long as possible; and by replacing physical products with virtual ones, they aim to reduce the environmental impact of their operations and facilitate the creation of a more sustainable future. In this article, the framework for circular business models is discussed from two perspectives: first, a systematic literature review is conducted to explore the academic point of view; second, a comparative policy review is conducted to analyze the past, present, and future visions of Germany and Japan in relation to their circular transition, particularly with regard to each country’s vision of circular business models. A first outcome is a synthesis of current circular business model archetypes and the developed circular business model matrix, which adds value to the literature by providing information on circular goals, strategies, the actors involved, and the social and political implications of each circular business model typology. A second outcome is a comparative, in-depth analysis of the current policy frameworks and strategies for circular business models in Germany and Japan. This article outlines the main ways in which both countries are currently making the transition to a circular economy, providing an important knowledge base for further development. Full article

The fashion industry is at a stage of profound transformation of its operating paradigm. Because of their stakeholders’ pressure, companies have begun to pursue strategic solutions that include sustainability as a guiding principle. Such strategies push for effective organizational solutions and production models that take into consideration the conservation of the planet’s resources, respect for people, and the sustainability of their profits. In this context, the fashion industry is now recognizing the circular economy (CE) as the primary BM to address sustainability-related industry issues. The authors have adopted a specific technological-driven perspective that attempts to analyze today’s context and map digitally driven practices in European fashion companies. These practices are emerging to support fashion organizations so that they can focus their sustainability agendas and better implement circular BMs. This perspective is consistent with the current fashion context, where digital transformation is recognized as an asset that could transform the industry into a more sustainable business. This proposed objective is realized through an iterative process of modeling data. The BMIs identified here are grouped according to Bocken’s eight archetypes: maximize material and energy efficiency; create value from ‘waste’; substitute with renewables and natural processes; deliver functionality rather than ownership; adopt a stewardship role; encourage sufficiency; re-purpose the business for society/the environment and develop scale-up solutions. They guide the authors in modeling mechanisms and solutions that help build business innovations that work to ensure circularity. Analyzing the current best practices, this article introduces a taxonomy that highlights current approaches that lead to incremental changes toward CE through digital solutions. Full article

Human resources are very important in a business; however, the return on investment in human resources is longer than in fixed assets, so entrepreneurs frequently consider how much to actually invest. This article, based on primary research, examines the motivations for investment when a 20% profit is typically invested with a model return of around 14%. Those findings are supported by the results presented in Archetype models based on similarity clustering. The results are based on an empirical study (278 respondents, omnibus survey) in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the study concludes that the business experience positively influences human resource management and future development to increase the investment share. In essence, this article displays the paramount importance of human resources and human resource management in the international business environment, demonstrating that investments in human resources are crucial to the success of all businesses, positively and consistently supporting organizations’ performance, and entrepreneurship will continue to remain a vital component of the activities belonging to the post COVID-19 era. In addition, in an era governed by the influences specific to the knowledge-based society and the knowledge-based economy, in which intellectual capital will be considered one of the most relevant intangible assets of entities all over the world, the measurement of human resources investment will turn out to be essential for the success of all businesses, while taking the necessary steps in supporting sustainability, sustainability assessment and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Full article

The aim of the article is to examine technological innovations developed by engineers as part of Project-Based Learning at one of the Polish technical universities. We examined whether the innovations being developed meet the goals of sustainable development and whether they provide the basis for the introduction of sustainable business models. We analyzed reports from 49 projects implemented in the years 2018–2020 in which 146 scientists, 282 students of the Silesian University of Technology, and 126 experts from the university’s business environment were involved. We performed the analysis using content analysis and visualization techniques. The results show that the studied innovations implement the goals of sustainable development and most of them may become the basis of sustainable business models. The most frequently pursued goals are Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and Good Health and Well-Being. Most of the studied innovations can become the basis of the archetype of a sustainable business model called “maximize material and energy efficacy”. We also provide the characteristics of projects that implement the diagnosed goals of sustainable development. Full article

Sustainability and digitalization are essential duties for companies to perform in the current socio-economic landscape due to risks caused by traditional manufacturing practices, and rules imposed by stakeholders and governments. Tools that help exploring uncertain future scenarios to address such a complex challenge are of vital importance for both businesses, governments, and financial institutions. This paper presents the IN4.0-SD, a novel system dynamics model to capture the dynamic interplay of industrial innovation, inequality, and inflation. The IN4.0-SD is a closed-economy System Dynamics model composed of three agents: sustainable oriented innovation business (SOIB), digital asset supplier business (DASB), and household. DASB and SOIB are both assumed to supply one product to the economy and fundamentally differ among each other in their business models. While the sustainable oriented innovation business produces and sells capital goods making revenue out of sales, digital asset supplier detaches the concept of production from sales moving toward an intangible economy, charging for a fee licence of their tools that can be distributed via a network economy. Simulations show the level of flexibility of the model in addressing a variety of scenarios, playing at the threshold of technology development, inequality rise, massive unemployment and providing an archetype for sustainable oriented innovation and digital transformation models. The findings suggested by the model analysis are used to infer conclusions for the wider society, including implications for sustainable oriented businesses and digital transformation. These are confirmed by previous studies, around the overall trend in wealth creation for large technology firms’ owners, potential impact for employment in the digital economy, and transformation for the labour market. Full article

Oil and gas offshore exploration and production (E & P) will remain necessary to meet increasing global energy demands. However, appraising and exploring these resources has a major impact on sustainability and faces many challenges. Improving the supply chain operations that support E&P activities presents opportunities to contribute to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but relies on organizations being able to adopt new strategies and technology and, innovate their current business models. Business model innovation (BMI) has not been actively pursued in this industry, partially due to the traditional operation management and due to the complexity in changing established models or adopting full-fledged archetypes. Thus, the present study proposes a more flexible and granular approach to BMI by defining elements to be adopted rather than proposing business models archetypes. To define the elements, an application of systems engineering (SE) is adopted through a morphological analysis (MA). They are presented in morphological boxes in three dimensions—technology, organization, and the human element—inspired by sustainable business model (SBM) literature. The elements are proposed as “bricks” for BMI where they can be adopted and re-arranged as necessary, providing granularity and flexibility to facilitate BMI for organizations of varying sizes. Full article

The materiality matrix is a tool that helps companies understand how the stakeholders’ view of material issues in environmental, social, and economic/governance dimensions influences their value creation process, and creates triple bottom line impacts through shaping their strategic business model elements. Building on the multidimensional definition of materiality, we propose to use the materiality matrix as a tool to aid the transformation of a company’s existing traditional business model into a more sustainable one (inside-out approach), and to enable the identification of the most appropriate business model archetype to incorporate innovation into its sustainable business model (outside-in approach). This paper presents the materiality matrix as a new tool to enhance and transpose a company’s business model towards sustainability—as illustrated through the analysis of the Viña Concha y Toro business model case. This new tool contributes to sustainable business model literature and stakeholder theory by incorporating the materiality matrix as a gateway to business model innovation, and as a tool to explain the dynamics in the sustainable value creation process and concomitant impact on stakeholders. Full article

The circular economy is a widely accepted concept that various governments have started to adopt. Still, a major consumer of resources, the construction industry, struggles to implement business models that answer to the opportunity and generate value beyond economical. At the same time, the industry is at a threshold of intensifying their production by industrialized manufacture. This type of construction offers practical benefits and should be developed whilst prioritizing a sustainably built environment. A circular economy business model (CBM) offers all stakeholders long term value and revenue whilst moving towards a sustainable environment. The business model canvas (BMC) is a tool to shed light on the essential characteristics of a CBM, its value, and alignment in a multi-life cycle perspective. It can contribute to accelerating circular innovation in construction. This study aims to provide an overview of archetypical CBMs in construction based on a literature review and a systematic coding exercise using the BMC. The archetypes found are used to describe the characteristics of industrialized manufacture in the various circular economy construction scenarios. Full article

Societal, economic and ecological prosperity will be highly affected in the next decades due to socio-demographic developments and climate change. The design of more sustainable logistics business types can address such challenges to build more resilient supply chains. Therefore, the discussion with regard to transformational potentials of logistics businesses provides valuable information to shape business strategies according to future sustainability requirements. Within the framework of this paper, a mixed-methods approach has been applied to explore and analyze drivers and barriers for sustainability transformations of logistics service providers (LSPs) and to evaluate related business strategies with optimization and simulation methods in a concrete regional context. So far, LSPs’ main obstacles are competitive pressure, focal firm orientation, and dependence on other supply chain members, while supply chain collaboration and integration, as well as the integration of sharing economy solutions and new digital technologies, have been identified as promising for sustainability transitions. Accordingly, this paper suggests a roadmap for the logistics sector while defining retention strategies such as growth, replication, mimicry, and mergence to meet future societal and environmental requirements. By doing so, this study contributes to theory by constructing the Lead Sustainability Service Provider (6PL) business model (arche)type and its role in societal transitions. Full article

Ghana is predominantly an agricultural country with a clear majority of its population depending partly or fully on agriculture for their livelihoods. Pork consumption in Ghana is on the increase and the livestock industry is a key sector of alternative agri-business for farmers looking for profitable business ventures and household income. The growth of Ghana’s domestic piggery industry has been impeded by several constraints such as inadequate information, lack of improved breeding stock, land limitations, rising feed cost and water availability. In this research, systems models provide an understanding of the interconnectedness and relationships present within the piggery industry of Ghana. The Industry’s problems were pooled together and key factors identified, whose behavior over time causes problems by developing various individual two-loop system archetypes coupled with a list of sustainable management strategies. Also, the individual variables affecting the industry were consolidated to obtain a causal loop structure and behavior-over-time graph of the piggery industry. The system archetype developed here is generic enough to explain any productivity decline and business rivalry behavior of any agribusiness industry. The proposed archetype can also help farm managers and producers to make various decisions. The system archetypes contribute effectively to understanding the root cause of challenges rather than providing quick fixes ‘now’ which gives rise to a much bigger problem to fix ‘later’. Application of CLDs models and system archetypes can help farmers and policy makers understand the behaviour of the entire complex piggery systems that will aid in more clarity and consistency in decisions and policy objectives. This will close the gap of inadequate information both to farmers and policy makers and governance. Through the archetypes and the CLDs, it has been identified that using a systemic approach in addressing the problems could lead to the provision of adequate data and management strategies for effective decision making for improving the piggery/livestock industry. Full article