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Nancy Bocken

Visiting professor

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A Boundary Tool for Multi-stakeholder Sustainable Business Model Innovation

Author

  • M. G.E. Velter
  • V. Bitzer
  • N. M.P. Bocken

Summary, in English

Sustainable business model innovation cannot reach its full sustainability potential if it neglects the importance of multi-stakeholder alignment. Several studies emphasize the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to enable sustainable business model innovation, but few studies offer guidance to companies for engaging in such a collaborative process. Based on the concept of boundary work, this study presents a tested process tool that helps companies engage with multiple stakeholders to innovate sustainable business models. The tool was developed in three iterative phases, including testing and evaluation with 74 participants in six sustainable business model innovation cases. The final process tool consists of five steps to facilitate multi-stakeholder alignment for sustainable business model innovation: (1) defining a collective ambition, (2) mapping and negotiating the changing organizational boundaries, (3) exploring opportunities and tensions for aligning stakeholders, (4) defining first interventions and (5) developing a collaboration pitch. We found that the tool enables discussions and negotiations on sensitive topics, such as power reconfigurations and mutual responsibilities to help stakeholders align. For companies, the boundary tool enriches sustainable business model innovation by offering guidance in the process of redesigning their multi-stakeholder system, assessing their own organizational boundaries, exploring, negotiating and prioritizing strategic actions based on organizational boundary changes and kick-starting new partnerships.

Department/s

  • The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics

Publishing year

2022-06

Language

English

Pages

401-431

Publication/Series

Circular Economy and Sustainability

Volume

2

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Business Administration

Keywords

  • Boundary work
  • Circular business model innovation
  • Multi-stakeholder collaboration
  • Process tool
  • Sustainable business model innovation

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2730-597X