Sustainable Innovations and Environmental Certification

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Problem Definition
Need for the Study
Relevance of the Study
Summary of Literature Survey
Research Objectives
Research Methodology
Research Questions/ Hypothesis to be Tested
Plan for Presentation of Results
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction: Problem Definition

There are numerous challenges in the current fast-paced and globalized world. Growing inequality, environmental degradation, and the dynamics of production and consumption patterns are among them. Those issues force the need for developing sustainable business models for organizations and significant investments in process and product innovation. Business organizations face severe challenges in the current socio-economic environment that require discovering unique approaches to remain competitive and increase productivity. Constant inventions have always been a decisive factor in achieving competitive advantages. Nowadays, innovations are recognized as a critical mechanism for solving the hardships of sustainable development. Studying their features, approaches, and impact is crucial to overcoming global challenges.

Need for the Study

Enterprises create innovations that simultaneously pursue economic, environmental, and social goals to adhere to the concept of constant development. However, it is not effortless to achieve this triune purpose because there is no systematization of the available theoretical and practical results in sustainable innovation. The absence of organization of available data significantly hinders the effectiveness of management. It is the primary reason for the demand to conduct research to contribute to a more reasonable understanding and implementation of sustainable development.

Relevance of the Study

Despite the significant number of barriers to the development of sustainable innovation, it can be assumed that future consumer expectations will include environmental and social elements. In this case, gaining a competitive advantage for commodity producers will depend on the ability to create innovations that consider ecological and social standards. Therefore, this is a remarkably relevant topic for organizations whose existence will be demanding without considering the new development conditions. It is no less critical for society, which seeks to accommodate without jeopardizing the nature and opportunities of future generations.

Summary of Literature Survey

Combining the concept of sustainability with innovation is the most reasonable method to construct a unified theoretical basis for the transition to a unique development paradigm. Several theoretical approaches have emerged in the scientific literature recently. They include sustainable innovation, eco-innovation, and innovation established on endurable development. Cisilino and Monteleone define eco-innovation as “unique products and processes that create consumer and business value and reduce the burden on the environment.” Sustainable innovation is comprehended as inventing products, processes, services, and technologies that contribute to satisfying human needs and developing relevant institutions (Cisilino and Monteleone, 2020). It simultaneously ensures improved economic, environmental, and social performance in the short and long term.

Bacinello and Alberton (2020, p. 752) indicate that “although sustainable innovation and eco-innovation are frequently operated synonymously, it is inaccurate.” Eco-innovation involves only environmental and economic aspects, while sustainable innovation incorporates ethical and social elements. Sustainability-oriented innovation is broader than the concept of eco-innovation because it encompasses the social dimension (Sudolska and Chodorek, 2019). Moreover, it is a multi-level phenomenon, requiring the coherence of forces and factors at different hierarchical levels.

Therefore, it is most appropriate to operate the term “sustainable innovation,” which is more capacious. Sustainability-oriented innovations involve changing philosophies and organizational values and products, processes, or practices to achieve a trinity of goals (creating social, environmental, and economic value) (Sudolska and Chodorek, 2019). They can improve performance and refer to changes in processes, operational practices, models, mindset, and business systems. In this context, innovation at the business model level is needed to align incentives and revenue generation mechanisms in making “sustainable” decisions.

Lüdeke‐Freund (2020, p. 667) claims that “sustainable innovations at the business model level are assumed to deliver greater returns than product or process innovations, opening up additional opportunities for diversification of production and value creation. ” A sustainable business model can be defined as a concept in which sustainable development shapes the organization’s driving force. Moreover, it stimulates the entire decision-making process, and the dominant neoclassical firm model is transformed rather than complemented by social and environmental priorities. Furthermore, the customer interface motivates taking responsibility for one’s consumption. The financial model reflects the appropriate distribution of economic costs and benefits between the business model participants and considers environmental and social impacts.

Thus, it can be argued that a sustainable business model can eventually replace the business model concept. Product and process innovations aimed at preserving natural resources, recycling, and respect for all types of resources bring significant economic benefits to businesses, ultimately increasing their competitiveness. There is a growing awareness that overcoming socio-environmental crises requires a sustainable way of life and innovations that contribute to sustainable development.

Research Objectives

Research Goals:
- Conduct an analysis of the existing literature to determine how to implement the concept of sustainable innovation.
- Perform a definition and content analysis to specify the distinctive characteristics of the concept.
- Analyze the impact of sustainable innovation in the enterprise.
Research Objectives:
- Examine the factors that contribute to the productive implementation of sustainable innovation.
- Identify the leading scientific papers, journals, and authors on the issue of sustainable innovation research.
- Formulate recommendations for organizations to sufficiently incorporate the concept into their organizational structure.

Research Methodology

A systematic literature review as a quantitative method and a qualitative content analysis was conducted in the study. Furthermore, the analysis of publications on the issue of sustainable innovation using the SLR approach based on citations was made. The search was limited to the definition of “sustainable innovation.” The search strategy was limited to articles indexed in the Web of Science international citation database. The PRISMA guidelines were operated to identify, screen, and include papers in the systematic review.

In the first stage, 16786 articles were selected using appropriate keywords in the titles of the WoS database papers. In the second phase, the sample was limited to management, business economics, operations research, management science, social interdisciplinary, and public administration. Conference proceedings, papers in languages other than English, previous literature reviews, and unique issue articles were removed in the third step. Furthermore, the documents were reviewed for relevance to include them in the database for additional analysis. Eventually, the final review consisted of 256 articles published in 15 nonnative journals, and five of them were selected for research objectives.

Research Questions/ Hypothesis to be Tested

Questions:
- What is the difference between various types of innovations, and what are their distinctive features?
- How to implement the concept of sustainable development in an enterprise?
- To what extent can organizations benefit from transformations in implementing innovations in the organizational structure?
Hypothesis:
- Sustainable innovation improves performance from social, economic, and environmental perspectives.
- The concept of sustainable innovation directly affects the business model.

Plan for Presentation of Results

The literature review provides a detailed examination of the chosen topic and is relevant in the context of globalization. The most relevant sources have been selected and may provide a reliable basis for further research. The study’s final results will be presented in a clear oral presentation using PowerPoint (computerized oral presentation). The information collected will be assembled and introduced in the form of a generalized conclusion derived from deductive reasoning.

Conclusion

Therefore, end-users and stakeholders are increasingly curious about sustainable trademarks with environmental product certification. It is becoming the primary criterion according to which consumers make purchasing decisions. From this perspective, it is clear that sustainable innovation provides competitive advantages and environmental benefits and ensures social well-being. The conducted literature review enables to indicate that there is no precise definition of sustainable innovation. However, the key is the wisdom that sustainable innovation is not solely a new theoretical concept but a practical approach. It includes aspects of the commercialization of new technologies, products, or services and the entrepreneurial factor.

Reference List

Bacinello, E. and Alberton, A. (2020). ‘Influence of maturity on corporate social responsibility and sustainable innovation in business performance’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), pp. 749–759.

Cisilino, F. and Monteleone, A. (2020). ‘Designing rural policies for sustainable innovations through a participatory approach’, Sustainability, 12(21), pp. 9100–9120.

Kumar, P. and Bhattacharya, A. (2021). ‘Two‐period supply chain coordination strategies with ambidextrous sustainable innovations’, Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(7), pp. 2980–2995.

Lüdeke‐Freund, F. (2020). ‘Sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and business models: Integrative framework and propositions for future research’, Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(2), pp. 665–681.

Sudolska, A. and Chodorek, M. (2019). ‘Research profiling for responsible and sustainable innovations’, Sustainability, 11(23), pp. 6553-6562.

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