Sustainable Business Model Innovation

As an approach to sustainable development, circular business models are increasingly being developed. However, many circular business models focus on environmental or technological contributions to sustainability rather than considering all dimensions of sustainability simultaneously. Based on existing sustainable business model archetypes, a hierarchical business model typology is developed that allows a stepwise exploration of sustainable business model innovation opportunities incorporating an environmental, social and economic dimension. An analysis of business model components generates a closer look on the six newly defined Sustainable Circular Business Models. Finally, a conceptual application for organic waste valorization technologies, supported by examples from literature, allows a practical view on the implementation of the business models in the bio-economy. The typology offers a guide toward sustainable business model design or innovation opportunities centered around technologies creating value from waste.

Contemporary research on sustainable business practices and business model innovation increasingly emphasises the need to identify new, inclusive pathways for circular enterprise development and sustainable business practices. There is growing interest in alternative knowledge systems for their potential to support innovative and inclusive business model development. Although widely acknowledged for their cultural significance, indigenous clothing traditions have not been sufficiently examined for their potential to contribute to contemporary business model innovation, particularly through adaptive reuse strategies. Most existing literature addresses cultural or aesthetic aspects, with limited empirical research investigating how traditional clothing systems can be transformed into viable, scalable, and sustainable enterprises, supported by both qualitative and quantitative evidence. A mixed-method research design was employed, integrating qualitative approaches with quantitative and descriptive analysis. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatanis’ homeland, where most community members have ancestral roots. Additionally, Itanagar, the capital city, was selected for its significant Apatani population, enabling comparative insights from both traditional and urban contexts. Consumer perspectives are incorporated to assess market relevance and adoption potential, particularly among younger demographics. A structured survey was administered to the target age group (18–55 years) using snowball sampling. The survey collected quantitative data on usage frequency, perceived barriers, sustainability awareness, and openness to contemporary adaptations. Data were analysed using thematic analysis supported by basic statistical techniques. This study demonstrates how indigenous clothing practices of the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh can contribute to the evolution of sustainable and circular business models within the fashion and creative industries and facilitate sustainable business model innovation through adaptive reuse, circular design strategies, and community-based value creation. The study conceptualises these practices as embedded knowledge systems that demonstrate resource efficiency, adaptive reuse of materials, and community-based production logic. The research presents an empirically grounded framework connecting cultural heritage to scalable and resource-efficient enterprise models. The resulting business model provides practical guidance for designers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers seeking to create heritage-driven circular enterprises while maintaining cultural integrity. These findings apply to other indigenous and craft-based contexts, supporting sustainable growth, innovation, and broader societal impact within the creative economy.

In times of increasing concerns and extensive political debates about social and environmental problems, incumbent firms are obliged to reduce their negative environmental impact by implementing sustainable business model innovation. Yet, realizing more sustainable business model variants entails several complexities and associated challenges that need to be overcome. To support this task, this article takes an entrepreneurship perspective on sustainable business model innovation and combines literature of business models and entrepreneurial lean thinking (ELT). In doing so, it derives a workshop design grounded in contemporary theory with state-of-the-art tools and methods. The workshop is framed as a stage-gate process facilitating the notions of ELT with iterative cycles of ‘create, test, and improve’ and spans the phases of opportunity identification, opportunity evaluation, opportunity development through sustainable business model design, and decision of opportunity exploitation. The article shows that ELT is an appropriate yet underutilized approach for sustainable business modeling. Further, it discusses how the workshop supports opportunities and mitigate pitfalls of ELT for sustainable business modeling. As such, the findings have theoretical implications for the intersection of sustainability and lean approaches in innovation research as well as implications for practitioners by providing a comprehensive framework to support sustainable business model innovation.

This chapter addresses the sustainability and sustainable innovation means for the business model of nonprofit organizations. A definition of sustainable nonprofit organizations (NPO) business models is given and related to methods for analyzing the NPO's sustainable business models and investigate sustainable innovation. The literature review provided the description of how sustainable NPO business model and how sustainable innovation can be described for NPOs. The literature review provided the theoretical answers to the research questions as well as a framework that can be used to analyze a NPO's sustainable business model. Research in sustainable business model is growing and is expected to supersede the business model research. A sustainable NPO is defined as an organization that is able to fulfill its commitments to its clients, its donors, and the community in which it operates. The Doughnut Economy developed by Raworth is a tool which can be used to analyze the state of sustainability on a regional, national and international level.

Sustainable business model innovation of an emerging country startup: An imprinting theory perspective

This research paper investigates the role of blockchain technology in sustainable business model innovation by proposing a comprehensive framework. The study addresses the following research questions: How can blockchain technology enhance business model components? What are the specific innovations enabled by blockchain technology? To answer these questions, a hybrid approach was employed. Initially, a thorough review of existing literature identified key components of business model innovation. Subsequently, a survey was conducted among technology experts to evaluate the applications of blockchain technology in these components. The analysis revealed five categories of innovation: macro-activities of the value network, micro-activities within the organization, governance, financial aspects, as well as sustainable innovation. Next, a novel conceptual model was developed to assess the impact of digital technologies on business model performance, and then it was evaluated using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Key findings indicate that blockchain technology significantly enhances data transparency, security, and efficiency capabilities, leading to improved innovation and increased sales volume. Practical implications include recommendations for organizations to prioritize investments in platform technologies, insight analysis, and sensor-based data collection to achieve sustainable business model innovation. The study underscores the importance of a holistic approach to integrating blockchain technology across all business model components to maximize its potential.

The Cambridge Business Model Innovation Process

Sustainable business model innovation: The role of boundary work for multi-stakeholder alignment

Business models for sustainability is an emerging research field that has been gaining attention among scholars and practitioners in recent years. Business models for sustainability are fruitful tools that organisations can use to create and deliver value for a wide range of stakeholders including society (e.g., health and well-being) and the environment (e.g., reduction of GHG emissions and afforestation). This chapter reflects on the current state of the literature by focusing on business models for sustainability across three carbon-intensive industries: construction and building, energy, and automotive. It critically analyses business models for sustainability across these industries and delineates future research directions. Our comparative analysis showed that technological changes and developments are main drivers of business model innovation for sustainability across the three industries. While there are different types of business models for sustainability, their uptake by companies is slow. We suggest that future research uses multiple case studies including stakeholders’ workshops, in-depth interviews and longitudinal studies to track changes and impacts of business model innovations over time.

High‐performing enterprises committing to Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) is a prevalent phenomenon in emerging markets. However, the theoretical underpinnings of this phenomenon remain underdeveloped. Drawing on the behavior theory of the firm and a panel data of Chinese listed companies covering the period 2010–2020, we build a moderated mediation framework to explain the CER commitment of high‐performing enterprises, and we further examine the mediating role of sustainable business model innovation and the moderating role of digital capability. We find that (1) enterprises' performance aspiration surplus leads to an increasing commitment to CER, (2) high‐performing enterprises can foster CER through executing sustainable business model innovation, and (3) the direct and indirect (via sustainable business model innovation) effects of performance aspiration surplus on CER are favorably moderated by digital capability. This paper contributes to the literature of CER and provides strategic insights for high‐performing enterprises to undertake sustainable business model innovation.

Sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) has attracted considerable interest from scholars and business practitioners for its potential to advance sustainable development. Following numerous conceptual and qualitative case-based research on SBMI, scholars increasingly call for large-sample empirical quantitative studies to produce generalizable results. However, the lack of a comprehensively conceptualized, rigorously developed, and validated measurement scale of SBMI has impeded empirical quantitative studies in this domain. To address this gap, we conceptualize, develop, and validate a new SBMI scale through research conducted across five sub-studies. Drawing on two samples of 180 and 237 firms from the United States, we specified and assessed the scale, ultimately providing a hierarchical, three-level reflective-formative-formative model for measuring SBMI. We use thirty-four reflective indicators to measure nine first-order subdimensions of SBMI. These nine subdimensions combine into three second-order dimensions, which collectively form the overall SBMI construct. This study provides a foundation for advancing theory development and empirical research on SBMI by clarifying the SBMI construct clarity and establishing a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument for measuring SBMI.

Increased manufacturing activity has an impact on environmental quality degradation. Waste generated from manufacturing activities is one of the causes. Previous studies have referred to this waste as value uncaptured. Minimizing value uncaptured is a solution to improve environmental quality. This study aims to reduce value uncaptured by converting it into value captured. This process requires a value proposition design approach because of its advantages. One of the advantages of this approach is that it can improve existing or future products/services. To do so, this research uses a case study of a furniture company. To implement a converting process, a sustainable business model is proposed to solve this problem. This business model combines several methods: value proposition design, house of value and the product sustainability index matrix. Recently, the existing value proposition problem-solving has been using the value proposition design method. This research proposed implementing a house of value to replace the fitting process. The questionnaire is developed to obtain various value uncaptured in the company. To the weight of the value uncaptured, this research utilized the pairwise comparison method. Then, the weights could represent the importance of jobs. Based on the highest weight of these jobs, the alternative gains would be selected. To provide the weight of the gain creators and value captured, the house of value method is developed. Referring to three pillars of sustainability, the value captured should be considered. This research proposed implementing a product sustainability index which in turn produces eco-friendly products. This study produces “eco-friendly products” as sustainability value captured. The sustainability business model could be an alternative policy to minimize the existence of value uncaptured.

Artificial intelligence and business models in the sustainable development goals perspective: A systematic literature review

The global imperative has increased in recent years for international firms to respond to major threats such as unintended environmental, social, and economic problems arising from ecological destruction, population growth, and economic activity. To respond to this confluence that has created an emerging existential crisis, we identify that a globalizing circular economy (CE) is required and subsequently define a new construct: sustainable international business model innovations. In doing so, we introduce circular inputs, sharing platforms, product as a service, product use extension, and resource recovery as business models that contain the potential to reply to these grand challenges. Based on CE principles, the innovations and designs introduced are contrasted with the traditional linear economic model and are presented as actionable standardization/adaptation alternatives for companies responding to differing informal and formal international institutions. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of the resource-based, dynamic capabilities, and international business model innovation perspectives, we introduce an integrative framework that is accompanied by a series of detailed research questions to provide future research opportunities for the domain. This conceptual approach holds that international resource design influences marketing capabilities adaptation which, in turn, impacts international performance and offers a foundation from which to build the literature.

The growing unsustainable economic and consumption systems put an enormous strain on the planet’s resources. This has led to environmental concerns on a global level and a realization of the need to develop new sustainable business models. The Circular Business Model (CBM) is a response to that need to achieve a more sustainable future. The aim of this study is to investigate consumers’ willingness to adopt one promising form of CBM called the Product-Service System (PSS). A PSS is a sustainable business model that aims at lessening the harmful unsustainable effects of consumption. Based on the literature, this study developed a conceptual model consisting of five independent variables; Economic Value, Flexibility, Trust, Desire to Own, Peer Influence, and Consumers’ Environmental Awareness as a moderating variable to evaluate the determinants of consumers’ willingness to adopt PSS. The primary data was collected through an online survey with 463 usable responses, and the hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis in SPSS. The results showed that five of the six hypothesized factors were significant determinants of consumers’ willingness to adopt PSS.