17 Stakeholders’ Influence Towards Sustainability Transition …
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value in organizations, elaborated that the value embedded in the interconnectedness
of stakeholders positively drives sustainable development.
Stakeholder involvement in sustainability transitions is an important stage, one
that analyses in which way the stakeholder either influences or is affected when
sustainable practices are adopted on a wide, market scale (Welp et al. 2006). Knowing
this information is pivotal to ultimately give recommendations to key decision makers
in the textile industry: investors on novel production technologies, investors within
the apparel and furniture industry, top managements leading those companies as well
as influencing conscious demand by consumers. By involving external and internal
stakeholders, industries have the opportunity to enhance transparency and trust in
their activities, thus increasing their reputation and overall sustainability performance. In order to drive sustainability performance, incorporating and enforcing a
sustainability strategy within organizations is important. Epstein et al. (Epstein and
Buhovac 2010) elaborated that companies need to integrate both formal systems
(e.g. performance measurement metrics and tools) that support the sustainability
agenda within their Business-As-Usual activities, as well as informal systems (e.g.
leadership, cultural mindset of employees and stakeholder involvement) in the organizational structure as critical drivers of performance, which could lead to more harm
than good with a lack of consideration thereof. In the context of this research, individual and collective actors whose roles were stable (Wittmayer et al. 2017) i.e., with
fixed responsibilities, were incorporated in the sustainability transition process.
17.2.3 Innovation Implementation
Implementation has been defined by Voss (1988) as “the user process that leads to the
successful adoption of an innovation of new technology”. Sustainable development
requires new innovations (Ritzén and Sandström 2017) to develop in the niche area
and then adopted and implemented into the fixed business models of organizations
within regimes. A concept that is widely addressed in innovation management literature (Van De Ven 1986; Nagji and Tuff 2012), is how novel innovations or solutions
could help mitigate the challenges arising from unsustainable activities of industries.
This can further be understood from Fig. 17.2 which has been adapted from the
innovation ambition matrix published by Harvard Business Review (Nagji and Tuff
2012) based on Igor Ansoff’s growth matrix (Ansoff and McDonnell 1986).
The model explains that the extent to which organizations are willing to integrate
change and initiatives within their business models along with a good understanding
of market potential, will ultimately determine success. In particular, breakthrough
innovations that cater to unestablished markets and new customer requirements will
create value for the organisation. The case study with DyeCoo illustrates the breakthrough of the innovative dyeing technology in the textile industry domain (their
success level has been depicted in Fig. 17.2). Other applications for the technology
exist in the fields of extraction (Lang and Wai 2001), impregnation (Üzer et al. 2006)
237
value in organizations, elaborated that the value embedded in the interconnectedness
of stakeholders positively drives sustainable development.
Stakeholder involvement in sustainability transitions is an important stage, one
that analyses in which way the stakeholder either influences or is affected when
sustainable practices are adopted on a wide, market scale (Welp et al. 2006). Knowing
this information is pivotal to ultimately give recommendations to key decision makers
in the textile industry: investors on novel production technologies, investors within
the apparel and furniture industry, top managements leading those companies as well
as influencing conscious demand by consumers. By involving external and internal
stakeholders, industries have the opportunity to enhance transparency and trust in
their activities, thus increasing their reputation and overall sustainability performance. In order to drive sustainability performance, incorporating and enforcing a
sustainability strategy within organizations is important. Epstein et al. (Epstein and
Buhovac 2010) elaborated that companies need to integrate both formal systems
(e.g. performance measurement metrics and tools) that support the sustainability
agenda within their Business-As-Usual activities, as well as informal systems (e.g.
leadership, cultural mindset of employees and stakeholder involvement) in the organizational structure as critical drivers of performance, which could lead to more harm
than good with a lack of consideration thereof. In the context of this research, individual and collective actors whose roles were stable (Wittmayer et al. 2017) i.e., with
fixed responsibilities, were incorporated in the sustainability transition process.
17.2.3 Innovation Implementation
Implementation has been defined by Voss (1988) as “the user process that leads to the
successful adoption of an innovation of new technology”. Sustainable development
requires new innovations (Ritzén and Sandström 2017) to develop in the niche area
and then adopted and implemented into the fixed business models of organizations
within regimes. A concept that is widely addressed in innovation management literature (Van De Ven 1986; Nagji and Tuff 2012), is how novel innovations or solutions
could help mitigate the challenges arising from unsustainable activities of industries.
This can further be understood from Fig. 17.2 which has been adapted from the
innovation ambition matrix published by Harvard Business Review (Nagji and Tuff
2012) based on Igor Ansoff’s growth matrix (Ansoff and McDonnell 1986).
The model explains that the extent to which organizations are willing to integrate
change and initiatives within their business models along with a good understanding
of market potential, will ultimately determine success. In particular, breakthrough
innovations that cater to unestablished markets and new customer requirements will
create value for the organisation. The case study with DyeCoo illustrates the breakthrough of the innovative dyeing technology in the textile industry domain (their
success level has been depicted in Fig. 17.2). Other applications for the technology
exist in the fields of extraction (Lang and Wai 2001), impregnation (Üzer et al. 2006)