THE PROCESSES, CHALLENGES AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE 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.

The article is dedicated to exploring various strategies and approaches to business model development, emphasizing its role in enhancing organizational adaptability, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability. The study highlights the importance of business model development, innovation, and improvement in achieving sustainable success for organizations in dynamic market conditions. It identifies key factors that drive the need for continuous innovation of business models, including the impact of the external environment, influenced by rapid technological innovations, changing consumer preferences, economic volatility, and increasing competition. The article characterizes the main approaches to business model innovation depending on the enterprise's strategic focus (counteracting downturns or negative industry changes or striving for breakthrough growth) and the direction of transformation (transforming the core business activity or extending beyond it). Based on these approaches, enterprises are divided into reinventors, mavericks, adapters, and adventurers. We examine the forms of business model innovation: startups, transformation, diversification, and acquisitions, each involving different degrees of change to the business model. Criteria for classifying a business model innovation as sustainable or contributing to sustainable development are outlined. Popular strategies for business model innovation are summarized: integration, replacement, expansion, separation, exclusion, optimization, and relocation. For each strategy, opportunities and challenges are identified. Typical directions for business model development through these strategies are outlined. Internal and external factors to be considered in the analysis preceding business model innovation are defined. The article emphasizes that sustainable business models integrate technological, social, and environmental factors to ensure long-term success. Innovations toward sustainable development are key to achieving economic success and a positive societal impact.

The Cambridge Business Model Innovation Process

The term business model innovation refers to the introduction of innovations that differ from state-of-the-art business models in the same field. Current research indicates that business model innovations are more resilient (e.g. to imitation) overall and more successful in the long term compared to traditional types of innovation (e.g. product innovations). Working on business model innovation, therefore, can provide valuable insights, particularly for start-ups looking to grow and scale up under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Business model innovation involves the innovation of two of four core elements of a business model: customer, value proposition, value chain and revenue mechanism. A business model can be described using these four elements in a sophisticated and comprehensive manner. Moreover, these elements help us to determine whether a business model innovation exists. However, do start-ups really use the advantages of business model innovation and to what extent? This research paper addresses this issue and examines the role business model innovation plays for start-ups as well as how it has been implemented. To gain these insights, we examine the business plans of 24 finalists of a Swiss innovation competition in 2021 in a multi-stage process. We systematically reviewed and analysed business plans individually using pre-defined innovation criteria for each of these four elements of a business model. The individual analysis allows a robust assessment to be able to make a comprehensible classification. On reviewing the results, we were surprised by how many of the analysed start-ups are pursuing business model innovations, and that they often innovate more than two elements of their business models. According to our findings, start-ups nowadays deal with business model innovation more often than they did in previous research studies. We can also show that business model innovations are often more complex than they were in the past.

Aim: In the era of mobile internet, live marketing has become a new business model for network marketing, and is a product of the interactive integration of new technology and marketing activities in the new era.Method: Based on the business model theory, combining the value creation process, using live streaming platforms such as Taobao, Tiktok, Jingdong and Amazon as examples, and adopting a qualitative analysis method, the business model elements and innovation paths of live marketing are analyzed.Findings: The research found that: (1) The live marketing model has new integrated features and new values. The combination of technical system integration and marketing activities is a hotbed for live marketing;(2) Based on the anchors influence and audiences attractiveness as the classification criteria, live broadcast sellers can be divided into super sellers, famous sellers, ordinary sellers and low-level sellers. It is a new classification proposed for the first time, which provides important evaluation contributions for understanding and distinguishing the different categories of live broadcast sellers; (3) Based on the business model canvas, this article finds that the business model innovation of live marketing illustrates the nine elements logical relationship of the business model, value proposition is the key-hub linking other elements. The business model innovation of live marketing also follows the basic laws of value creation, that is, from value proposition to value creation to value transmission, and finally to value acquisition;(4) The business model innovation path of live marketing is also the path of value rebuilding, which increasing value is the essence of the sustainable development of business model innovation.Implications/Novel Contribution: Therefore, these new findings can help non-live broadcast marketers transform their marketing concepts and methods, and improve their sales capabilities. The analysis of the business model innovation and value creation of live marketing reveals the essence of live marketing, and the mechanism of value co-creation between sellers and customers, which this research also creatively proposes its innovation model and value creation process from the perspective of the relationship between business model and value creation. Finally, the article is not in-depth study of its relationship business model innovation and value creation from the perspective of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge.

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.

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.

Purpose The aim of this paper is to review and synthesise the recent advancements in the business model literature and explore how firms approach business model innovation. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of business model innovation literature was carried out by analysing 219 papers published between 2010 and 2016. Findings Evidence reviewed suggests that rather than taking either an evolutionary process of continuous revision, adaptation and fine-tuning of the existing business model or a revolutionary process of replacing the existing business model, firms can explore alternative business models through experimentation, open and disruptive innovations. It was also found that changing business models encompasses modifying a single element, altering multiple elements simultaneously and/or changing the interactions between elements in four areas of innovation: value proposition, operational value, human capital and financial value. Research limitations/implications Although this review highlights the different avenues to business model innovation, the mechanisms by which firms can change their business models and the external factors associated with such change remain unexplored. Practical implications The business model innovation framework can be used by practitioners as a “navigation map” to determine where and how to change their existing business models. Originality/value Because conflicting approaches exist in the literature on how firms change their business models, the review synthesises these approaches and provides a clear guidance as to the ways through which business model innovation can be undertaken.

Business model innovation（BMI）is becoming the important carrier of corporate transformation and upgrading, and its theme design as the value source of corporate sustainable competitive advantage has attracted much attention in recent years. Being embedded in a particular social situation and institution environment, BMI theme design is a product of contextualization. However, most researchers don’t have sufficient understanding for start-ups’ BMI institutional context. BMI under China’s transitional economy is much different from that one under western situation, China has become ‘a legitimate and viable context for management and organization reasearch’. Widespread ‘institution vacuum’ and ‘institution defect’ in transitional context have sharpened antecedents of business model design, have triggered a responsive motivation and creative challenge, and have provided theme design space with pioneering BMI and perfecting BMI. Therefore, it is very necessary to design the theme of BMI in China’s context and incorporate its operation to make measurement more meaningful and effective. In conformity with the research logic of theme business model design, based on China’s unique context, and focusing on how China’s start-ups change trading institution through BMI, this paper firstly excavates the trading and the institution attributes of business model, analyzes the influence of China’s transitional context on start-ups’ BMI, and refines out the theme design connotation of pioneering and perfecting BMI. Then, according to the development logic of measurement scale, by the use of combined approach, this paper initializes the scale of pioneering and perfecting BMI. Finally, by virtue of two sets of independent sample data respectively, we conduct EFA and CFA quantitative research to purify and validate the scale. Empirical analysis results show that BMI in transitional context is composed of 2 theme dimensions and 16 items, thus confirming our pioneering and perfecting BMI theoretic framework and developing a corresponding scale with a favorable reliability and validity, which is better to explain start-ups’ BMI behavior in the context of China’s transitional economy. The pioneering and perfecting BMI theme design which respectively acts on ‘institution vacuum’ and ‘institution defects’, frames not only the design elements of business model, but also conveys organization meaning, beliefs and values. This paper makes up for the lack of BMI contextualization in the answer of how China’s start-ups actively change incumbent institution, brings out the operative definition of pioneering and perfecting theme design, and makes theoretical contribution to the literature of BMI and corporate strategy. Moreover, the flexible use of pioneering and perfecting BMI, the equal attention to transaction innovation and organizational legitimacy, and the diagnostic tool function of theme scale all provide practical implications for start-ups’ business model innovative catching-up.

A creativity-driven Case-Based Reasoning Approach for the systematic Engineering of Sustainable Business Models

Establishing a sustainable energy future can justifiably be considered the next frontier in global sustainable development under the agenda laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The newly adopted Paris Agreement which seeks to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels inserts additional urgency into this agenda. To realize the commitments outlined in the agreement, implementation of innovative sustainable business models capable of producing strong mitigation and adaptation outcomes is required ‘on the ground' and needs to be available for subsequent diffusion across different countries, contexts and domains. This chapter explores the value of polycentric climate change governance through an investigation of sustainable business model innovation. An example of a sustainable business model, called the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), is evaluated and an assessment of United Nations-based programming to aid future diffusion of such business models is conducted.

Business model (BM) innovation is vital for today’s businesses. However, BM innovations can be irreversible, and therefore, in comparison to product, service or process innovation, entail bigger risk and ambiguity. Understanding the way in which BM innovation exerts influences over firm’s performance would help business-owners to be more effective. Based on a systematic literature review, a model to examine how BMI impacts firm performance through mediating and moderating factors was developed. Based on in-depth analysis of 37 articles, we identified twenty moderating factors classified in four groups, i.e., Firm-Characteristics, Industry-Characteristics, BM Implementation, and BM Practices, and ten mediating factors, categorized in three sub-groups, i.e., Revenue Growth, Efficiency Growth, and Enhancing the Organizational Capabilities. This paper offers the grounding for empirical research as well contribute to the development of tools to assess the effectiveness of the BMI.

In India, despite increased government investment and private- and civil-sector engagement, ample room for improvement in community and public toilet (CPT) quality and service delivery still exists. Sparse evidence of sustainable CPT business models limits the sector’s knowledge of how business model innovation could transform the future of CPTs in India. Multiple organizations — five of which are featured in this report — are actively innovating their business models to address persistent challenges. Case studies from other sectors – including water, renewable energy, and agriculture – show how similar challenges are being tackled with business model innovations for other base-of-pyramid markets. These organizational examples offer important lessons and inspiration for the sanitation sector in India and other contexts that rely heavily on shared sanitation infrastructure. Key topics: - Base-of-pyramid markets - Community and public toilet (CPT) market - CPT business model innovations - Business model innovations from other sectors

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.