IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i8p4794-d795574.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collaboration in Value Constellations for Sustainable Production: The Perspective of Small Technology Solution Providers

Author

Listed:
  • Hossein Rahnama

    (Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden)

  • Kerstin Johansen

    (School of Engineering, Jönköping University, 551 11 Jönköping, Sweden)

  • Lisa Larsson

    (Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden)

  • Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck

    (Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden)

Abstract

The rapid ongoing digital transformation creates new opportunities to generate value but also challenges companies in the manufacturing industry to adapt to the recent changes. Moreover, committing to sustainability is essential to maintain competitive advantages, build a more resilient company, and manage increasing societal demands and regulations. Referred to as a “twin transition”, the digital transformation can positively impact firms’ commitments to environmental sustainability. This paper explores challenges that small technology solution providers face on their path toward developing sustainable production solutions for their manufacturing customers. An empirical study was conducted in an industrial cluster of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) providing innovative, tailor-made production technology solutions to manufacturing companies. As a result, a collaborative process model was suggested for such SMEs to overcome internal and external barriers to obtaining sustainability, thus better supporting the manufacturing companies, i.e., their customers, to strive towards more sustainable production.

Suggested Citation

  • Hossein Rahnama & Kerstin Johansen & Lisa Larsson & Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck, 2022. "Collaboration in Value Constellations for Sustainable Production: The Perspective of Small Technology Solution Providers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4794-:d:795574
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4794/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4794/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phil Brown & Nancy Bocken & Ruud Balkenende, 2019. "Why Do Companies Pursue Collaborative Circular Oriented Innovation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Abdul Karim Feroz & Hangjung Zo & Ananth Chiravuri, 2021. "Digital Transformation and Environmental Sustainability: A Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Xie, Xuemei & Huo, Jiage & Zou, Hailiang, 2019. "Green process innovation, green product innovation, and corporate financial performance: A content analysis method," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 697-706.
    4. Ioannis-Dionysios Salavrakos & Chris Stewart, 2006. "Partner Selection Criteria as Determinants of Firm Performance in Joint Ventures: Evidence from Greek Joint Ventures in Eastern Europe," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 60-78, May.
    5. Diána Esses & Mária Szalmáné Csete & Bálint Németh, 2021. "Sustainability and Digital Transformation in the Visegrad Group of Central European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Marco Savastano & Carlo Amendola & Francesco Bellini & Fabrizio D’Ascenzo, 2019. "Contextual Impacts on Industrial Processes Brought by the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-38, February.
    7. Reshma H. Shah & Vanitha Swaminathan, 2008. "Factors influencing partner selection in strategic alliances: the moderating role of alliance context," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 471-494, May.
    8. Denicolai, Stefano & Zucchella, Antonella & Magnani, Giovanna, 2021. "Internationalization, digitalization, and sustainability: Are SMEs ready? A survey on synergies and substituting effects among growth paths," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    9. Marco Vacchi & Cristina Siligardi & Fabio Demaria & Erika Iveth Cedillo-González & Rocío González-Sánchez & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Technological Sustainability or Sustainable Technology? A Multidimensional Vision of Sustainability in Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Chun-Liang Chen, 2020. "Value-Constellation Innovation by Firms Participating in Government-funded Technology Development," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 248-272, October.
    11. Laima Gerlitz & Christopher Meyer, 2021. "Small and Medium-Sized Ports in the TEN-T Network and Nexus of Europe’s Twin Transition: The Way towards Sustainable and Digital Port Service Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Óscar González-Benito & Pablo A. Muñoz-Gallego & Evelyn García-Zamora, 2016. "Role of collaboration in innovation success: differences for large and small businesses," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 645-662, July.
    13. Christine Legner & Torsten Eymann & Thomas Hess & Christian Matt & Tilo Böhmann & Paul Drews & Alexander Mädche & Nils Urbach & Frederik Ahlemann, 2017. "Digitalization: Opportunity and Challenge for the Business and Information Systems Engineering Community," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 59(4), pages 301-308, August.
    14. Carla Gonçalves Machado & Mats Peter Winroth & Elias Hans Dener Ribeiro da Silva, 2020. "Sustainable manufacturing in Industry 4.0: an emerging research agenda," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(5), pages 1462-1484, March.
    15. Wiesböck, Florian & Hess, Thomas, 2018. "Understanding the capabilities for digital innovations from a digital technology perspective," Working Papers 1/2018, University of Munich, Munich School of Management, Institute for Information Systems and New Media.
    16. Alicia Rodríguez & María Jesús Nieto & Luis Santamaría, 2018. "International collaboration and innovation in professional and technological knowledge-intensive services," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 408-431, April.
    17. Ambika Zutshi & John Mendy & Gagan Deep Sharma & Asha Thomas & Tapan Sarker, 2021. "From Challenges to Creativity: Enhancing SMEs’ Resilience in the Context of COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-16, June.
    18. Xiao Li & Jiarou Cao & Zhenggang Liu & Xinggang Luo, 2020. "Sustainable Business Model Based on Digital Twin Platform Network: The Inspiration from Haier’s Case Study in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, January.
    19. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, 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. Rafael Martínez-Peláez & Alberto Ochoa-Brust & Solange Rivera & Vanessa G. Félix & Rodolfo Ostos & Héctor Brito & Ramón A. Félix & Luis J. Mena, 2023. "Role of Digital Transformation for Achieving Sustainability: Mediated Role of Stakeholders, Key Capabilities, and Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.

    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. Jaroslav Vrchota & Martin Pech & Ladislav Rolínek & Jiří Bednář, 2020. "Sustainability Outcomes of Green Processes in Relation to Industry 4.0 in Manufacturing: Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-47, July.
    2. Junping Yang & Ruiqi Wu & Haochun Yang, 2023. "Digital Transformation and Enterprise Sustainability: The Moderating Role of Regional Virtual Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, May.
    3. Rafael Martínez-Peláez & Alberto Ochoa-Brust & Solange Rivera & Vanessa G. Félix & Rodolfo Ostos & Héctor Brito & Ramón A. Félix & Luis J. Mena, 2023. "Role of Digital Transformation for Achieving Sustainability: Mediated Role of Stakeholders, Key Capabilities, and Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Albérico Travassos Rosário & Joana Carmo Dias, 2023. "The New Digital Economy and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-23, July.
    5. Rodríguez-Espíndola, Oscar & Cuevas-Romo, Ana & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Díaz-Acevedo, Natalie & Albores, Pavel & Despoudi, Stella & Malesios, Chrisovalantis & Dey, Prasanta, 2022. "The role of circular economy principles and sustainable-oriented innovation to enhance social, economic and environmental performance: Evidence from Mexican SMEs," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    6. Renato Camodeca & Alex Almici, 2021. "Digital Transformation and Convergence toward the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainability Development Goals: Evidence from Italian Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Georgeta Soava & Anca Mehedintu & Mihaela Sterpu, 2022. "Analysis and Forecast of the Use of E-Commerce in Enterprises of the European Union States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-29, July.
    8. Issam A. R. Moghrabi & Sameer Ahmad Bhat & Piotr Szczuko & Rawan A. AlKhaled & Muneer Ahmad Dar, 2023. "Digital Transformation and Its Influence on Sustainable Manufacturing and Business Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-35, February.
    9. Marco Vacchi & Cristina Siligardi & Fabio Demaria & Erika Iveth Cedillo-González & Rocío González-Sánchez & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Technological Sustainability or Sustainable Technology? A Multidimensional Vision of Sustainability in Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Eduard Eisner & Cadence Hsien & Mark Mennenga & Zi-Yu Khoo & Jasmin Dönmez & Christoph Herrmann & Jonathan Sze Choong Low, 2022. "Self-Assessment Framework for Corporate Environmental Sustainability in the Era of Digitalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-33, February.
    11. Rubina Canesi & Giuliano Marella, 2022. "Towards European Transitions: Indicators for the Development of Marginal Urban Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska & Bartosz Król, 2023. "Supply Chain in the Digital Age: A Scientometric–Thematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-25, July.
    13. Theerasak Nitlarp & Supaporn Kiattisin, 2022. "The Impact Factors of Industry 4.0 on ESG in the Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    14. Chen Liu & Dongmin Kong, 2021. "Business strategy and sustainable development: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 657-670, January.
    15. Sreenivasan Jayashree & Mohammad Nurul Hassan Reza & Chinnasamy Agamudai Nambi Malarvizhi & Hesti Maheswari & Zohre Hosseini & Azilah Kasim, 2021. "The Impact of Technological Innovation on Industry 4.0 Implementation and Sustainability: An Empirical Study on Malaysian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-23, September.
    16. Piccarozzi, Michela & Silvestri, Cecilia & Aquilani, Barbara & Silvestri, Luca, 2022. "Is this a new story of the ‘Two Giants’? A systematic literature review of the relationship between industry 4.0, sustainability and its pillars," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    17. Krzysztof Ejsmont & Bartlomiej Gladysz & Aldona Kluczek, 2020. "Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainability—Bibliometric Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-29, July.
    18. Maria Björklund & Helena Forslund, 2019. "Challenges Addressed by Swedish Third-Party Logistics Providers Conducting Sustainable Logistics Business Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, May.
    19. Merriam Haffar & Cory Searcy, 2018. "Target‐setting for ecological resilience: Are companies setting environmental sustainability targets in line with planetary thresholds?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1079-1092, November.
    20. Pishchulov, Grigory & Trautrims, Alexander & Chesney, Thomas & Gold, Stefan & Schwab, Leila, 2019. "The Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process revisited: A revised method with application to sustainable supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 166-179.

    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:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4794-:d:795574. 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.