Eco-Innovation and Sustainability Management


Book Description

Sustainability is a phenomenon that must be pursued in a complex system of interrelated elements of business, society, and ecology. It is important to gain an understanding of these elements, the interplay between them, and the behavior of the system. This book explores the business-societal-and-ecological system in which sustainable innovation has to be envisioned, conceptualized, realized, and improved. Author Bart Bossink offers insight into the systematic coherence of drivers of eco-innovation and sustainability utilizing a three-part approach: (1) eco- and sustainable innovation in business is based on ideas and people who cooperatively develop these ideas; (2) groups of people, organized in commercial firms, must realize these ideas cooperatively and create the innovations that can conquer the market; and (3) that people from governmental, non-governmental, not-for-profit, research, and commercial organizations can build institutional arrangements that stimulate these sustainable innovations, changing both industry and society. Adopting a managerial perspective and discussing concepts and methods to manage eco-innovation in business, this book highlights the interrelated roles of the individual, the firm, partnerships, and business environments. Researchers and practitioners who want to combine a commercial and economical approach with an ethical and social ambition to create an ecologically sustainable firm stand to learn much from these pages.




Managing Sustainable Innovation


Book Description

Ian Maxwell applies decades of research and application to present a novel approach to innovation, with an emphasis on sustainable and renewable practices that benefit many, and not just a handful of executives and shareholders. Featuring examples from a wide range of innovators around the world, from Google to Genentech to the Masdar “clean” city initiative in Abu Dhabi, Maxwell argues that organizations that embrace structured innovation management systems and drive a “top down” innovation culture will achieve sustainable high growth and strong shareholder returns. Countries that provide the right physical, financial and human resource infrastructure to support a highly innovative macro-economic environment will experience both strong GPD growth and high living standards. Those companies and countries that fail to support innovation will struggle to compete and raise living standards, respectively. Maxwell considers the cases of China and India, whose low-cost innovation strategies are posing a serious competitive threat to established multinationals in the developed world, and considers the impact of innovation on such timely issues as climate change, environmental pollution, fossil fuel shortages, third world poverty, rising healthcare costs and ageing populations.




Managing Sustainable Innovation


Book Description

This book is an insightful text looking at sustainable innovation and the emerging fourth sector, i.e. hybrid organizations, through an interdisciplinary approach. The book illuminates what hybrid organizations are and how they generate new ways of creating blended value to secure the well-being of future generations and preservation of ecological services. The book also discusses how sustainable innovation may offer creative solutions to societal issues, the sharing economy and the circular economy. This book will appeal to those taking MBA and EMBA programmes, and those with an interest in creating sustainable business and innovation solutions.




Innovation Strategies in Environmental Science


Book Description

Innovation Strategies in Environmental Science introduces and examines economically viable innovations to optimize performance and sustainability. By exploring short and long-term strategies for the development of networks and platform development, along with suggestions for open innovation, chapters discuss sustainable development ideas in key areas such as urban management/eco-design and conclude with case studies of end-user-inclusive strategies for the water supply sector. This book is an important resource for environmental and sustainability scientists interested in introducing innovative practices into their work to minimize environmental impacts. - Presents problem-oriented research and solutions - Offers strategies for minimizing or avoiding the environmental impacts of industrial production - Includes case studies on topics such as end user-inclusive innovation strategies for the water supply sector




Sustainable Innovation


Book Description

The most important theme of the discourse on sustainable development and sustainability challenges concerns the relationship between innovation and sustainability. This book represents a realistic critical overview of the state of affairs of sustainable innovations, offering an accessible and comprehensive diagnostic point of reference for both the academic and practitioner worlds. In order for sustainable innovation to truly become mainstream practice in business it is necessary to find out how organizations can strategically and efficiently accommodate sustainability and innovation in such a manner that they accomplish value capturing (for firms, stakeholders, and for society), not merely creating a return on the social responsibility agenda. Addressing this challenge, the book draws together research from a range of perspectives in order to understand the potential shifts and barriers, benefits, and outcomes from all angles: inception, strategic process, and impact for companies and society. The book also delivers insights of (open) innovation in public sector organizations, which is not so much a process of invention as it is one of adoption and diffusion. It examines how the environmental pillar of the triple bottom line in private firms is often a by-product of thinking about the economic pillar, where cost reductions may be achieved through process innovation in terms of eliminating waste and reducing energy consumption. The impact of open innovation on process innovation, and sustainable process innovation in particular, is an underexplored area but is examined in this book. It also considers the role of the individual entrepreneur in bringing about sustainable innovation; entrepreneurs, their small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the innovation ecosystems they build play a significant role in generating sustainable innovations where these smaller organizations are much more flexible than large organizations in targeting societal needs and challenges. The readership will incorporate PhD students and postgraduate researchers, as well as practitioners from organizational advisory fields.




Sustainable Innovation


Book Description

If we can carry in our pockets more computing power than the Apollo program needed to put a man on the moon, why can't we solve problems like climate change, famine, or poverty? The answer lies, in part, in the distinctive challenges of creating innovations that address today's pressing environmental and social problems. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Hargadon shows why sustainable innovation—the development of financially viable products that support a healthy environment and communities—is so difficult when compared to creating the next internet ventures or mobile apps that disregard these criteria. While other books treat innovation across sectors equally, Hargadon argues that most effective innovation strategies hinge on attention to the context in which they are pursued. Instead of relying on a stale set of "best practices," executives must craft their own strategies based on the particulars of their industries and markets. But, there are some rules of the road that foster a triple bottom line; this book provides a research-based framework that outlines the critical capabilities necessary to drive sustainable innovation: a long-term commitment, nexus work, science and policy expertise, recombinant innovation, and robust design. Sustainable Innovation draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary examples to show business readers and their companies how to stand on the shoulders of successful pioneers.




Sustainable Innovation and Impact


Book Description

Following the Brexit and Trump election cycles, consistent, long-term policy solutions to environmental and other societal challenges are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Stepping into this breach is a clear opportunity for innovation by public and privately held companies, as well as the increasingly significant role of investment and consumption. Sustainable Innovation and Impact provides a roadmap of the many critical pathways of positive change emerging to achieve modern day societal success, including rapidly evolving corporate and investment innovation and impact strategy considerations. Exploring innovation around the future of energy, electricity and related technologies, as well as transportation and buildings efficiency, Krosinsky and Cort consider ideas framed around the circular economy, operational and supply chain strategies and the global economy. Drawing together a diverse range of contributors and case studies, this book will be of great relevance to students, scholars and professionals with an interest in innovation, economics and sustainability more broadly.




Management Strategies for Sustainability, New Knowledge Innovation, and Personalized Products and Services


Book Description

In today’s changing business environment, managers and employees need essential capabilities such as innovativeness to successfully reach organizational goals. In this digitalized era, it is obvious that undigitized firms and organizations will not survive changing demands unless they can quickly adapt and form new business strategies. The upcoming era necessitates a digital transformation in all institutions from government to the non-profit sector. In such a change-oriented and complex business era, both entrepreneurs and leaders must keep up with the latest developments around them. Management Strategies for Sustainability, New Knowledge Innovation, and Personalized Products and Services discusses the emerging topics of digital transformation, new knowledge innovation, sustainability, and personalized products and services and provides a theoretical infrastructure to share the latest empirical research findings within management, knowledge creation, sustainability practices, artificial intelligence, and digital business functions and strategies. Covering a wide range of topics such as Industry 4.0 and user satisfaction, it is ideal for industry professionals, practitioners, consultants, educators, scholars, researchers, academicians, and students.




Grassroots Sustainability Innovations in Sports Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities


Book Description

Progression in sustainable sports practices is an up-and-coming area of research that also has an overarching impact on other professional fields. Analyzing the latest trends and methods in this niche area allows for further advancements in the field of sustainability. Grassroots Sustainability Innovations in Sports Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a crucial resource that offers an in-depth discussion on growth in the sports sector and how incorporating sustainable practices in this field’s rising trajectory can further enhance its impact. Highlighting pertinent topics including innovation dynamics, management studies, corporate social responsibility, and systemic change, this publication is ideal for academicians, students, and researchers that are interested in expanding their knowledge of intertwining sustainable actions with sports administration.




Managing Environmentally Sustainable Innovation


Book Description

A paradigm shift is happening at this moment. Firms and consumers are aware of the fact that they cause environmental pollution, depletion of resources and are responsible for the dangers involved. At the same time awareness is growing that they need to and will develop the appropriate solutions in the time to come. The idea that sustainable, cyclic businesses are more logical than consumption-oriented and waste-dumping ones seems fascinating to a growing number of people. For this change to happen new thinking and behavior is needed. Firms and consumers play a central role in a sustainable business. Companies deliver what consumers buy and vice versa. In a sustainable paradigm, companies are able to develop and produce sustainably. Therefore, companies need new management concepts for sustainable investment, manufacturing, logistics and marketing and for sustainable management. In Managing Environmentally Sustainable Innovation, Bossink evaluates the innovation chain in a process of five consecutive stages, articulates five levels at which people collectively manage the chain, and analyzes the interplay between the two. Acquainting the reader with the complexities of innovation, as well as which complexities are active in the management of environmental sustainability, this book offers guiding principles and a toolbox for the management of environmentally sustainable innovation in construction.