The road to Sustainable Value: The path-dependent construction of sustainable innovation as sociomaterial practices in the car industry

Abstract

Sustainable innovation is not only about the design of radical “green” technologies, it is also about generating social and institutional support that complement and reinforce the adoption and diffusion of these technologies at large. Hence, treating the ecologically hazardous nature of the prevalent technologies alone is insufficient without complementary social change. Building on a longitudinal study of sustainable innovation in the car industry, we argue that the prevailing discourse that is centered on the creation of business value is unlikely to facilitate the widespread adoption of sustainable technologies. Furthermore, taking into consideration the sociomateriality of sustainable innovation, we rather suggest that a focus on creating social value is indispensable for triggering the desired change toward sustainable value. Following the analysis of sustainable innovation in the car industry, we generate two relevant insights for sustainable value. First, our results demonstrate the path-dependent nature of sustainable innovation, which is constrained and sustained by the materiality, social structures, and institutional frameworks that comprise the overall sociotechnical system in which innovation takes place. Second, our findings show that a successful diffusion of radical sustainable innovation requires both technological innovation and complementary social changes that together can disrupt the existing evolutionary path of technology and construct more sustainable alternatives. All in all, we argue that reframing the discourse around social value in lieu of monetary value can be leveraged by organizations for shaping alternative courses of action, creating innovative technologies, and developing novel practices that create sustainable value for all stakeholders in society.

Citation

van Osch, W. and Avital, M. (2010), "The road to Sustainable Value: The path-dependent construction of sustainable innovation as sociomaterial practices in the car industry", Thatchenkery, T., Cooperrider, D.L. and Avital, M. (Ed.) Positive Design and Appreciative Construction: From Sustainable Development to Sustainable Value (Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1475-9152(2010)0000003010