To read this content please select one of the options below:

Incremental, radical and game-changing: strategic innovation for sustainability

Francisco Szekely (Sandoz Family Foundation Professor of Leadership and Sustainability at the Global Center for Sustainability Leadership, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland)
Heidi Strebel (Research Associate at the Global Center for Sustainability Leadership, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland)

Corporate Governance

ISSN: 1472-0701

Article publication date: 14 October 2013

7938

Abstract

Purpose

This article was developed to provide a viewpoint for the 10th Annual EABIS Colloquium on Strategic Innovation for Sustainability held at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland on 3-4 July 2012.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors present a framework of three practices that must be applied to an ever-increasing degree along the spectrum of strategic innovation for sustainability.

Findings

To reap the benefits of innovation for sustainability, businesses need to adapt the type of innovation they aim for to their particular context. Three practices are crucial to the innovation process – i.e. an integrated approach, multiple partnerships and visionary leadership from the top. These practices address two of the main challenges companies face in innovating for sustainability, namely actively engaging with the wider dynamic context in which they operate, and spanning boundaries they are not used to crossing.

Practical implications

By analysing the specific context in which a business operates, it is possible to form a better idea of where on the spectrum a particular company may focus its efforts in order to have the greatest chances of success.

Social implications

The analyses in this paper contribute to the debate and practical realisation of sustainable development.

Originality/value

While many studies distinguish between continuous versus discontinuous change as the two ends on a spectrum, the authors extend the spectrum to include three major points from incremental to radical to game-changing systemic innovation for sustainability. The three critical practices must be applied to an ever-increasing degree along the spectrum.

Keywords

Citation

Szekely, F. and Strebel, H. (2013), "Incremental, radical and game-changing: strategic innovation for sustainability", Corporate Governance, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 467-481. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-06-2013-0084

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles