Advancing sustainability-oriented innovations in industrial markets
Patala, Samuli (2016-09-09)
Väitöskirja
Patala, Samuli
09.09.2016
Lappeenranta University of Technology
Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-265-990-3
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-265-990-3
Tiivistelmä
Sustainability has become a new imperative for industrial firms as the global limits of
environmental impacts are becoming more evident. Scarcity of natural resources,
tightening environmental regulations and consumer preferences are among the
mechanisms which drive firms to improve their sustainability. Although there isn’t a clear
correlation on how corporate sustainability performance effects financial performance,
there are many examples of firms incurring large losses when sustainability is neglected
and firms lose legitimacy. However, for some firms, sustainability can also be a source
of competitive advantage.
This study focuses on advancing sustainability-oriented innovations. If firms are to make
sustainability a competitive advantage, it requires a shift from insular innovations focused
on the operational footprint of the firm towards systemic innovations focused on the
strategic handprint of the firm. This study examines how to accomplish this shift through
two key activities: demonstrating the value of sustainability-oriented innovations and
building collaborative networks to develop the innovations. This study was conducted
through a mixed methods study comprised of two multiple case studies covering 35
organizations, an analysis of 32 firms’ corporate press releases, and a qualitative Delphi
study with 40 informants.
The findings of the study characterize advancing sustainable innovation as a multi-stage
process. Firms should build effective value propositions which demonstrate the customer
and societal value of their offerings in order to gain customer acceptance and build
legitimacy with their wider stakeholder networks. They should also create collaborative
networks with business partners, public sector and societal actors to develop new
innovations. The findings introduce a framework to build sustainable value propositions
for industrial offerings. They also elaborate four forms of networks for sustainability
collaboration and identify polycentric governance forms for managing these networks.
Lastly, they identify the barriers to sustainability-oriented innovations and explore how
these can be overcome. The findings help managers and policy-makers create and
promote sustainability-oriented innovations with a higher potential for impact.
environmental impacts are becoming more evident. Scarcity of natural resources,
tightening environmental regulations and consumer preferences are among the
mechanisms which drive firms to improve their sustainability. Although there isn’t a clear
correlation on how corporate sustainability performance effects financial performance,
there are many examples of firms incurring large losses when sustainability is neglected
and firms lose legitimacy. However, for some firms, sustainability can also be a source
of competitive advantage.
This study focuses on advancing sustainability-oriented innovations. If firms are to make
sustainability a competitive advantage, it requires a shift from insular innovations focused
on the operational footprint of the firm towards systemic innovations focused on the
strategic handprint of the firm. This study examines how to accomplish this shift through
two key activities: demonstrating the value of sustainability-oriented innovations and
building collaborative networks to develop the innovations. This study was conducted
through a mixed methods study comprised of two multiple case studies covering 35
organizations, an analysis of 32 firms’ corporate press releases, and a qualitative Delphi
study with 40 informants.
The findings of the study characterize advancing sustainable innovation as a multi-stage
process. Firms should build effective value propositions which demonstrate the customer
and societal value of their offerings in order to gain customer acceptance and build
legitimacy with their wider stakeholder networks. They should also create collaborative
networks with business partners, public sector and societal actors to develop new
innovations. The findings introduce a framework to build sustainable value propositions
for industrial offerings. They also elaborate four forms of networks for sustainability
collaboration and identify polycentric governance forms for managing these networks.
Lastly, they identify the barriers to sustainability-oriented innovations and explore how
these can be overcome. The findings help managers and policy-makers create and
promote sustainability-oriented innovations with a higher potential for impact.
Kokoelmat
- Väitöskirjat [1027]