ESCP EUROPE
INNOVATION + SUSTAINABILITY= NEW BUSINESS MODELS
Key Findings of a Survey on Sustainable Innovation by Profs Aurélien ACQUIER, Valentina CARBONE & Olivier DELBARD
Sustainability, Competitiveness & Innovation
Demographic trends
Source: UN predictions and US census bureau
Source: J.M Jancovici 2012 sur UNEP
Energy transition
World energy consumption
Supply of Raw materials
Innovation
?
How do companies respond?
• Innovation, sustainability, competitiveness… : what is the current level of awareness?
• What are the mechanisms enabling sustainability issues to be integrated into innovation strategies? What are the key success factors?
• Interviews with top managers
• On-line Questionnaire
The questions asked
The sampleFunctions: innovation Management, Marketing, sustainability… Sectors of activity: transportation, building, energy, luxury, mass retail…
312 international respondents on the importance and the management of sustainable innovation within their organizations.
36 top managers of big companies and start ups in Europe
The Results: 7 KEY
FINDINGS
The need to integrate sustainability into innovation strategies:
Key Finding n°1
A key issue, but a very destabilizing one!
« if I gather 10 people in the same room and ask them to define sustainable
innovation, I’ll get 30 different definitions! »
Trevor Davis, Global Expert, IBM
Innovation
Sustainability
Product process Business Models
&
Which actors?
Environmental Social Economic
Which focus?
Large organizations tend to deal with sustainable innovation as an incremental innovation process…
Key finding n°2
... Before re-designing business models
Sustainability and business model innovations
Circular economy
Not for Profit, Social Business and Bottom of the Pyramid
From product to service
sharing economy (Collaborative production and consumption)
Environmental scope Social scope
Consumption
Production
The ingredients of the sharing economy
« Wired to share »
Intensifying the use of material capital
… involve to rethink the relationship between the company and its ecosystem
Key finding n°3
Disruptive innovations in the field of sustainability …
Thinking at a broader scale
Companies
Public actors
DistributorsSuppliers
Other stakeholders
Research & Educational institutions
Standardization agencies
NGOs competitors
Natural eco-systems Business eco-systems
Clients
How to favor the emergence of sustainable business ecosystems ?
Big data
2. Sharing & Structuring informations, agreeing on shared objectives
3. Create platforms and rules for interconnecting actors
1. Capitalizing on distributed intelligence within the ecosystem
Intra-firm
Open innovation
Implementing sustainable innovation ...
Key Finding n°4
... Involves a total revamping of organizational strategies
Which organizational models?
Simplifiying innovation by desystemizing it
Monitoring a series of innovative projects
Conducting a policy of partnerships, acquisitions, financing
Creating new brands or divisions
Key Finding n°5
The need to mobilize new skills and new evaluation criteria
« I don’t think many people could claim to have all the skills required for sustainability. It is multidisciplinary by nature. We need scientists, technicians, public affairs specialists, lawyers… »
Catherine Tissot-Colle, Communication and Sustainability Director, Eramet
« Our sustainability approach has to be long term, but today’s societies all think short term, which is the crucial point. »
Sandrine Sommer, Sustainability Director, Guerlain
Key finding n°6
Government & the Consumer:
2 key players, whose role remains ambiguous!
Key Finding n°7
For sustainable innovation to be successful,
It is necessary to learn from failures and develop an iterative approach!
• Successful failures as sources of learning and opportunities
Pilar AcostaAurélien Acquier
Valentina Carbone Olivier Delbard
Julie Fabbri Florent Gitiaux
Delphine ManceauCatherine Ronge
The authors
