Values-Driven Service Innovation for Transformational Change

“Sustainable business” is a fuzzy term that implies that business is in some way sustainable, but in what way? Edvardsson and Enquist (2009) addressed values-based service for sustainable business and used IKEA for contextual understanding to study a values-based, driven global enterprise as a sustainable business. In this chapter, we use the concept of a sustainable business to assess and understand situations where sustainability is the key driver for innovation and transformation, embedded in the core values of the organization. The objective is built upon the latest service and transformative change management research, both theoretically and conceptually. We are using service research labeled as value creation through service, where service innovation and resource integration are two key elements, to interact with sustainable business practices and find a broader meaning, and to understand transformative change in the new globalized business landscape. The study presented in this chapter was also driven by innovation based on an organization’s transformation agenda to co-create value and networking, and to secure engagement and the foundational values of the sustainable business. Nidumolu et al. (2009) has shown in an explorative way why sustainability can be seen as a key driver of innovation…