IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i2p358-d129471.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transition towards Sustainable Solutions: Product, Service, Technology, and Business Model

Author

Listed:
  • Mina Nasiri

    (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Tero Rantala

    (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Minna Saunila

    (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Juhani Ukko

    (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Hannu Rantanen

    (School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

Abstract

Nowadays, the horse industry can be considered as an important industry in European countries and has a major role in agricultural industry throughout the world. Although today the diversity of the horse-related companies provides new markets and business opportunities, there are also some sustainable issues which needs to be addressed. Therefore, this study contributes to this research gap by reviewing the concept of sustainability and existing approaches to find sustainable solutions for companies. These sustainable approaches can be applied to products, services and technologies as well as business models, such as the product-service-system (PSS), circular economy (CE) and industrial symbiosis (IS). Although there seems to be a growing understanding of sustainable approaches and their role in sustainable development, there is a lack of research at the empirical level regarding the types of sustainability approaches (i.e., technologies, services, products and business models) that evolve in specific industries. The empirical data in this research have been collected from a cross-section of Finnish horse industry operators to determine how willing companies are to exploit approaches to sustainable solutions, as well as what the existing sustainable solutions are in this industry. The response rate of this study is approximately 24 percent, including 139 received valid responses among the sample of 580 operators.

Suggested Citation

  • Mina Nasiri & Tero Rantala & Minna Saunila & Juhani Ukko & Hannu Rantanen, 2018. "Transition towards Sustainable Solutions: Product, Service, Technology, and Business Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:358-:d:129471
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/358/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/358/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodrigo Lozano, 2015. "A Holistic Perspective on Corporate Sustainability Drivers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(1), pages 32-44, January.
    2. Olivier Furrer, 2010. "A Customer Relationship Typology of Product Services Strategies," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 29, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Mowery, David C., 1989. "Collaborative ventures between U.S. and foreign manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 19-32, February.
    4. Christina Weidinger, 2014. "Business Success Through Sustainability," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Christina Weidinger & Franz Fischler & René Schmidpeter (ed.), Sustainable Entrepreneurship, edition 127, pages 287-301, Springer.
    5. Cruz, Jose M. & Wakolbinger, Tina, 2008. "Multiperiod effects of corporate social responsibility on supply chain networks, transaction costs, emissions, and risk," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 61-74, November.
    6. Karan Girotra & Serguei Netessine, 2013. "OM Forum —Business Model Innovation for Sustainability," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 537-544, October.
    7. Székely, Francisco & Knirsch, Marianna, 2005. "Responsible Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility:: Metrics for Sustainable Performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 628-647, December.
    8. Bebbington, Jan & Brown, Judy & Frame, Bob, 2007. "Accounting technologies and sustainability assessment models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 224-236, March.
    9. Ivete Delai & Sérgio Takahashi, 2011. "Sustainability measurement system: a reference model proposal," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 438-471, August.
    10. Sungchul Choi & Alex Ng, 2011. "Environmental and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability and Price Effects on Consumer Responses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 269-282, December.
    11. Gimenez, Cristina & Sierra, Vicenta & Rodon, Juan, 2012. "Sustainable operations: Their impact on the triple bottom line," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 149-159.
    12. repec:eme:srjpps:v:6:y:2010:i:2:p:438-471 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Paul Shrivastava & Silvester Ivanaj & Vera Ivanaj, 2016. "Strategic Technological Innovation for Sustainable Development," Post-Print hal-01512866, HAL.
    14. Rosa Dangelico & Devashish Pujari, 2010. "Mainstreaming Green Product Innovation: Why and How Companies Integrate Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 471-486, September.
    15. John Ehrenfeld & Nicholas Gertler, 1997. "Industrial Ecology in Practice: The Evolution of Interdependence at Kalundborg," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 1(1), pages 67-79, January.
    16. Diaz Anadon, Laura & Chan, Gabriel & Harley, Alicia & Matus, Kira & Moon, Suerie & Murthy, Sharmila L. & Clark, William C., 2015. "Making Technological Innovation Work for Sustainable Development," Working Paper Series 15-079, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    17. Angappa Gunasekaran & Zahir Irani & Thanos Papadopoulos, 2014. "Modelling and analysis of sustainable operations management: certain investigations for research and applications," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 65(6), pages 806-823, June.
    18. Noel Brings Jacobsen, 2006. "Industrial Symbiosis in Kalundborg, Denmark: A Quantitative Assessment of Economic and Environmental Aspects," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 10(1‐2), pages 239-255, January.
    19. Pedro Mamede & Carlos Gomes, 2014. "Corporate Sustainability Measurement in Service Organizations: A Case Study From Portugal," Post-Print halshs-01898189, HAL.
    20. Markard, Jochen & Stadelmann, Martin & Truffer, Bernhard, 2009. "Prospective analysis of technological innovation systems: Identifying technological and organizational development options for biogas in Switzerland," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 655-667, May.
    21. Winans, K. & Kendall, A. & Deng, H., 2017. "The history and current applications of the circular economy concept," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 825-833.
    22. Pierre Desrochers, 2002. "Regional development and inter-industry recycling linkages: some historical perspectives," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 49-65, January.
    23. Ans Kolk, 2008. "Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals' reporting practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, January.
    24. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    25. Anna Sadovnikova & Ashish Pujari, 2017. "The effect of green partnerships on firm value," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 251-267, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hakyeon Lee & Hanbin Seo & Youngjung Geum, 2018. "Uncovering the Topic Landscape of Product-Service System Research: from Sustainability to Value Creation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Natalia Muñoz López & Jose Luis Santolaya Sáenz & Anna Biedermann & Ana Serrano Tierz, 2020. "Sustainability Assessment of Product–Service Systems Using Flows between Systems Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Marco Pesce & Ilaria Tamai & Deyan Guo & Andrea Critto & Daniele Brombal & Xiaohui Wang & Hongguang Cheng & Antonio Marcomini, 2020. "Circular Economy in China: Translating Principles into Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-31, January.
    4. Angela Neves & Radu Godina & Susana G. Azevedo & Carina Pimentel & João C.O. Matias, 2019. "The Potential of Industrial Symbiosis: Case Analysis and Main Drivers and Barriers to Its Implementation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-68, December.
    5. Giselle Rentería Núñez & David Perez-Castillo, 2023. "Business Models for Industrial Symbiosis: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Mustafa Ozguven & Chong Yan Gao & Mohamed Yacine Si Tayeb, 2021. "The Utilization of Autoregressive Forecasting Models in Strategic Management," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 5(7), pages 170-185.
    7. Yang Yang & Zhongqiu Li & Yingying Su, 2018. "The Effectiveness of Service Innovation Practices to Reduce Energy Consumption Based on Adaptive Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Davide Chiaroni & Pasquale Del Vecchio & Andrea Urbinati, 2020. "Designing business models in circular economy: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1734-1749, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wafa Alwakid & Sebastian Aparicio & David Urbano, 2021. "The Influence of Green Entrepreneurship on Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: The Role of Formal Institutions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Rodrigo Lozano, 2020. "Analysing the use of tools, initiatives, and approaches to promote sustainability in corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 982-998, March.
    3. Jesko Schulte & Sophie Isaksson Hallstedt, 2018. "Self-Assessment Method for Sustainability Implementation in Product Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
    5. Jinxia Jiao & ChenGuang Liu & Yan Xu, 2020. "Effects of stakeholder pressure, managerial perceptions, and resource availability on sustainable operations adoption," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3246-3260, December.
    6. Colton Brehm & Astrid Layton, 2021. "Nestedness of eco‐industrial networks: Exploring linkage distribution to promote sustainable industrial growth," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 205-218, February.
    7. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    8. Korhonen, Jouni & Snakin, Juha-Pekka, 2005. "Analysing the evolution of industrial ecosystems: concepts and application," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 169-186, January.
    9. Truffer, Bernhard & Schippl, Jens & Fleischer, Torsten, 2017. "Decentering technology in technology assessment: prospects for socio-technical transitions in electric mobility in Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 34-48.
    10. Christoph Markmann & Alexander Spickermann & Heiko A. von der Gracht & Alexander Brem, 2021. "Improving the question formulation in Delphi‐like surveys: Analysis of the effects of abstract language and amount of information on response behavior," Futures & Foresight Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 3(1), March.
    11. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    12. Kadia Georges Aka & François Labelle, 2021. "The Collaborative Process of Sustainable Innovations under the Lens of Actor–Network Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-32, September.
    13. Ming‐Lang Tseng & Ming K. Lim & Kuo‐Jui Wu, 2018. "Corporate sustainability performance improvement using an interrelationship hierarchical model approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1334-1346, December.
    14. Schöll, Michaela, 2017. "Three Essays on Sustainable Supply Chain Management – Towards Sustainable Supplier Selection and Sustainable Sourcing," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 172463, March.
    15. Thomas A. Tsalis & Kyveli E. Malamateniou & Dimitrios Koulouriotis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2020. "New challenges for corporate sustainability reporting: United Nations' 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1617-1629, July.
    16. Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Moacir Godinho Filho & David Roubaud, 2018. "Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: a proposed research agenda and original roadmap for sustainable operations," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 270(1), pages 273-286, November.
    17. Francesco Polese & Carmen Gallucci & Luca Carrubbo & Rosalia Santulli, 2021. "Predictive Maintenance as a Driver for Corporate Sustainability: Evidence from a Public-Private Co-Financed R&D Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-21, May.
    18. Emilia Faria & Armando Caldeira-Pires & Cristiane Barreto, 2021. "Social, Economic, and Institutional Configurations of the Industrial Symbiosis Process: A Comparative Analysis of the Literature and a Proposed Theoretical and Analytical Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-25, June.
    19. Daniel A. Salas & Paulina Criollo & Angel D. Ramirez, 2021. "The Role of Higher Education Institutions in the Implementation of Circular Economy in Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, August.
    20. Shyamal Gondkar & Sivakumar Sreeramagiri & Edwin Zondervan, 2012. "Methodology for Assessment and Optimization of Industrial Eco-Systems," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:358-:d:129471. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.