Sustainable Business Model Innovation Strategies
Summary
Sustainable business model innovation strategies involve the deliberate redesign of an organisation’s core value proposition, value creation and delivery processes, and value capture mechanisms to achieve environmental, social and economic objectives. These strategies respond to mounting regulatory pressures, shifting consumer preferences and resource constraints by embedding circular economy principles, decarbonisation pathways and shared-value approaches into business models. Key enablers include stakeholder engagement, cross-sector collaboration, digital technologies and systems thinking, which together facilitate the transition from linear to regenerative value chains. Practical applications range from leasing and product-as-a-service schemes in manufacturing to distributed energy platforms and collaborative consumption models in service industries. By integrating sustainability into the heart of business logic, organisations can drive innovation performance, build resilience and secure competitive advantage in a rapidly changing global market.
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Sustainable Business Model Innovation Strategies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable business model innovation strategies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Sustainable business model innovation: The process of transforming the core elements of a business model—value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture—to align with environmental, social and economic sustainability goals.
Value proposition: The promise of benefits and value delivered to stakeholders through an organisation’s products or services.
Value capture mechanism: The methods by which an organisation retains economic, social or environmental value generated by its activities.
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance): A framework assessing organisational performance across environmental impact, social responsibility and governance practices.
Digital affordance: The capabilities and action possibilities provided by digital technologies that enable innovative value creation and delivery.
References
- The relationships between economic orientation, sustainable product design and innovation performance: Empirical evidence from the US manufacturing firms. Sustainable Manufacturing and Service Economics (2023).
- Designing sustainable innovations in manufacturing: A systems engineering approach. Sustainable Production and Consumption (2023).
- Digital‐sustainable business models: Definition, systematic literature review, integrative framework and research agenda from a strategic management perspective. International Journal of Management Reviews (2024).
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