Unpacking sustainable business models in the Swedish agricultural sector– the challenges of technological, social and organisational innovation. (1st July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barth, Henrik; Ulvenblad, Pia; Ulvenblad, Per-Ola; Hoveskog, Maya
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 304(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-01
• Subjects: Business model innovation -- Sustainable business model -- Archetypes -- Agriculture -- Agri-food -- NUTS -- Sustainability; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: The global challenges of today are many, and one of the most concerning aspects relates to food production for an increasing global population. The sustainability of doing 'more of the same thing' is being increasingly called into question. Several sustainable business model frameworks have been presented in recent years to address these challenges, but our knowledge is limited about the change processes of the agricultural sector. This paper aims to increase our understanding of how sustainable business models have developed in the agricultural sector in Sweden. It maps eight archetypes of sustainable business models, clustered in three groups, with a focus on the technological, social, and organisational innovation components at agri-food companies. The study takes a quantitative, methodological approach, conducting a telephone survey with owners and managers of 1143 agri-food companies in Sweden, and using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the analysis. The paper provides empirical evidence on the various options for sustainable business models that Swedish agri-food companies use. No major differences were found with respect to technical or social innovation components in the three regions: East, south, and north Sweden. However, significant differences were found between the regions with respect to the organisational innovation component. The organisational innovation component is based on two sustainable business model archetypes, namely, repurpose for society/environment and develop scale up solutions . North Sweden had a higher degree of organisational innovation than both south and east Sweden. The reason for this could be the larger environmental, economic, and organizational challenges in north Sweden compared to the rest of the country, which makes the need for innovation stronger. The paper also suggests new areas for researchers and practical avenues for stakeholders in the agricultural sector (and other industries) to translate social and environmental value creation into economic profit and competitive advantage. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use sustainable business model archetypes in an empirical setting in the agricultural sector.