Business Strategy and the Environment

Journal: Business Strategy and the Environment

Abbreviation

Bus. Strategy Environ.

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

0964-4733
1099-0836

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Publications 1 - 9 of 9

Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains: A research agenda
Grabs, Janina; Carodenuto, Sophia L. (2021)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Corporate actors are rapidly gaining ground as nontraditional forms of authority that shape sustainability governance efforts in global food supply chains. This paper highlights the critical, but underresearched role of traders-companies whose core business lies in the movement and exchange of agricultural commodities between producers and manufacturers-in linking corporate sustainability ambitions to on-the-ground impacts. Drawing on a systematic analysis of the major transnational corporations trading cocoa, coffee, and palm oil, we present advantages and potential pitfalls of relying on traders as implementers of sustainability governance and outline a future research agenda that focuses on producer-level impacts, changes in supply chain organization and power dynamics, and traders' interactions with state and other nonstate actors. At the intersection of supply chain management, political economy, geography, and global governance, research on traders as key sustainability governance actors also provides novel opportunities for interdisciplinary work and stakeholder engagement.
How to renew business strategy to achieve sustainability and circularity? A process model of strategic development in incumbent technology companies
Kaipainen, Jenni; Aarikka‐Stenroos, Leena (2022)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Strategic development to promote sustainability and circularity challenges incumbents to fundamentally renew their way of doing business. However, the management of this type of strategic development process, that is, strategic renewal aiming at achieving sustainability, remains largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated what constitutes incumbents' strategic renewal aimed at achieving sustainability and how to manage each stage of this process. We conducted a single-case study of the incumbent tech company, Neste Oyj, which is renewing from a fossil-based business to a sustainable and circular business. We analyzed multisourced interview- and document-based data collected from a 25-year longitudinal case study by applying a processual approach and the critical incident technique. We proposed an empirically based process model of business strategy renewal comprising five stages, each of which follows the subprocesses of strategic formulation, implementation, and evaluation. The findings and the process model extend the theoretical understanding of incumbents' business strategy development to achieve sustainability and circularity. The proposed model will enable managers to understand what management issues to focus on and what actions are needed at each stage of the strategic renewal process.
Bringing sustainability to life: A framework to guide biodiversity indicator development for business performance management
Addison, Prue F.E.; Stephenson, Peter J.; Bull, Joseph W.; et al. (2020)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Biodiversity loss is a critical sustainability issue, and companies are beginning to seek ways to assess their biodiversity performance. Initiatives to date have developed biodiversity indicators for specific business contexts (e.g., spatial scales-from site, to product, to regional, or corporate scales); however, many are not widely translatable across different contexts making it challenging for businesses seeking indicators to manage their biodiversity performance. By synthesising the steps of common conservation and business decision-making systems, we propose a framework to support more comprehensive development of quantitative biodiversity indicators, for a range of business contexts. The framework integrates experience from existing tried-and-tested conservation frameworks. We illustrate how our framework offers a pathway for businesses to assess their biodiversity performance and demonstrate responsible management by mitigating and reversing their biodiversity impacts and sustaining their dependencies, enabling them to demonstrate their contribution to emerging global biodiversity targets (e.g., Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 targets).
A theory of credible cross-temporal corporate commitments as goal-based private sustainability governance
Grabs, Janina (2023)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Goal-based corporate supply chain commitments to zero-deforestation, carbon neutrality, or sustainable sourcing have become important elements of businesses' sustainability and reputation management practices. However, we still know little about the conditions under which such cross-temporal commitments are likely to be successful. This article introduces commitment credibility as a crucial but understudied antecedent of success. Drawing on the economic theory of imagined futures, it shows how cross-temporal signaling via commitments may change suppliers' expectations and related actions and thereby co-create more sustainable futures. By using insights from credible commitment theory, it argues that this pathway relies on high motivational and/or imperative credibility of the committed company. Contrasting the example of zero-deforestation commitments in the palm oil sector with commitments to sustainable seafood and no farmworker exploitation, it highlights that the involvement of critical stakeholders (as external accountability partners or third-party implementing agents) is of particularly high importance for on-the-ground success.
Empirical analysis of the integration of environmental risks into the credit risk management process of European banks
Weber, Olaf; Fenchel, Marcus; Scholz, Roland W. (2008)
Business Strategy and the Environment
About 15 years ago, banks started to integrate environmental risks into their credit risk management procedures. In this article, a survey of the European banking sector focusing on the analysis of the integration of environmental risks into all phases of the credit risk management, rating, costing, pricing, monitoring and work-out, is presented. The integration of environmental risks into the whole credit risk management process is important because only then is an adequate risk management guaranteed. The results show that banks integrate environmental risks especially into the rating phase, but not in all phases of the credit management process, though this is recommendable because these risks influence all phases of the credit management process. Furthermore, significant differences in integrating environmental risks between banks that are signatories of the UNEP statement by banks on the environment and sustainable development and banks that had not signed this agreement so far could be found. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Should I stay or should I go? Understanding stakeholder dis/engagement for deforestation-free palm oil
Delabre, Izabela; Lyons-White, Joss; Melot, Clara; et al. (2023)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Addressing tropical deforestation in the palm oil sector involves a diverse range of stakeholders who engage or disengage with each other. Palm oil global value chain (GVC) firms (plantation companies, traders and processors, and consumer goods manufacturers and retailers), as well as nongovernmental organisations, financial institutions, consultancies and certification bodies, pursue their respective organisations' agendas through engagement practices, including through coalitions, in a palm oil sustainability network (POSN). Building on interviews with different stakeholder groups, this qualitative study characterises and critically analyses 'stakeholder engagement' by examining (1) the priority targets for engagement among different POSN stakeholders, (2) how mechanisms and tools are used in POSN stakeholder engagement or disengagement for addressing deforestation, and (3) the implications of stakeholder engagement or disengagement for addressing deforestation. Engagement and disengagement practices are shaped by and reshape GVC governance, with powerful stakeholders emerging as knowledge brokers and norm setters, raising important challenges for how deforestation is addressed.
Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles
Reike, Denise; Hekkert, Marko P.; Negro, Simona O. (2023)
Business Strategy and the Environment
The circular economy has been proposed to transform global textile supply chains which are currently challenged by a complex nexus of sustainability issues related to the dominant fast fashion trend. Research on circular economy in the textile sector often focuses on businesses or consumers as key enablers in circular transitions, yet it treats them as independent entities and thereby neglects the study of interactions that can provide insight at the systems level. The proclaimed “circular textile mission” in the Netherlands setting a national target for 100% circularity by 2050 is used as case study to address this research gap. We explore the circular textile transition processes found in the context of the Dutch mission and compare the development and interactions among various technical and non-technological solutions produced by engaged actor constellations for assessing key factors driving and blocking the overall mission fulfilment. To these ends, we derive a theoretical framework based on innovation system theory and conceptualize the Dutch circular textile transition as a Mission-oriented Innovation System (MIS). Analyzing the structure and functioning of the Dutch mission-oriented innovation system, we show that (1) there is a good match between the formal Dutch circular textile mission and system actor perceptions; (2) system actors have formed structures around three dominant solution trajectories in the Dutch system: secondhand, mechanical recycling, and chemical recycling; (3) these trajectories expose distinct key virtuous and vicious cycles, which characterize (4) the entire system as formative. Overall, the secondhand trajectory shows most developed structures and most positive dynamics, chemical recycling carries most technological breakthrough potential, whereas mechanical recycling is a mature technology but lacks market demand and supply. We compare the three solution trajectories, discuss the disruptive nature of the Dutch circular textile transition, and suggest installing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a potential intervention for accelerating system transformation. The study concludes with reflections on the case learnings and considerations for further research on mission-oriented innovation systems.
On the Right Path to Circularity or Running Around in Circles? A Fresh Perspective on Circular Business Model Barriers
Frishammar, Johan; Parida, Vinit; Panda, Debadrita; et al. (2025)
Business Strategy and the Environment
The literature on circular business models (CBMs) has generated barrier categories and taxonomies but provides an incomplete understanding of how firms develop and scale CBMs in practice. We challenge prior literature by relating barriers directly to the CBM dimensions of value creation, value delivery, and value capture. Following this approach, we analyze the Swedish manufacturing industry using qualitative content analysis and arrive at three key contributions. First, there is a distinct set of barriers affecting value creation, value delivery, and value capture. Second, the barriers are underpinned by a unique set of problems, many of which are nondecomposable. Third, most barriers inhibit the scaling of CBMs rather than their initial development. Altogether, this has major implications for understanding the nature of CBMs, productively addressing CBM barriers and problems, and scaling CBMs. We conceptualize these insights into a framework with implications for both the CBM literature and for managers innovating CBMs.
How incumbents realize disruptive circular innovation - Overcoming the innovator's dilemma for a circular economy
Kuhlmann, Marianne; Bening, Catharina R.; Hoffmann, Volker H. (2023)
Business Strategy and the Environment
Despite the promises of the circular economy to become an attractive source of innovation, many firms have so far hesitated to pursue circular innovations. Incumbents are facing a dilemma: While circular innovations may be potentially disruptive to the current profitable linear business, standing still may be dangerous, as traditional businesses may be rendered obsolete in the current changing environment. Yet, the literature has so far provided only a few insights into how firms can approach circular innovations strategically. By using the lens of disruptive innovation, we offer a strategic analysis of circular innovation challenges and potential ways to overcome them. Based on two in-depth cases, we show how a separate organizational structure can help to implement potentially disruptive circular innovation, but some caveats exist. In addition, this structural separation should be linked with a clear innovation strategy, and the partnerships, organizational culture, and competencies needed for implementation should also be considered.

Publications 1 - 9 of 9

Journal: Business Strategy and the Environment

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