Collaborative Innovation for Sustainability A Quick Guide for Business Authors: Jennifer Goodman, Angelina Korsunova, Minna Halme Aalto University School of Business December 2016 This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613194
Making the Case Why innovate for sustainability? Companies today find themselves in a world that is more volatile, complex and uncertain than ever before. A wide range of macro trends, societal challenges and political upheaval are affecting global value chains, indicating that business as usual will not be a sustainable option for much longer. Against this backdrop, leading companies are recognising that they need to adapt and change the way they do business in order to thrive in this new context. Why take a collaborative approach? The 17 th UN Sustainable Development Goal underlines that partnerships will be key to achieving sustainability by 2030. Since 2014, the EU-InnovatE Project has enabled Aalto University along with partners from Warsaw, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Munich to identify and study 18 multinational companies breaking new ground in the energy, food, living and mobility domains, including household names such as E.ON, Barilla, Unilever, IKEA, and BMW. All these cases have included collaborative innovation processes to make products or services more sustainable. What can we learn from their experiences? Analysis of these companies unique approaches to collaborative innovation for sustainability has created a valuable new set of insights and case studies for managers, business students, and other interested stakeholders. In the next pages we offer some key insights as a starting point for any midlarge company interested in taking its first steps in collaboration for sustainability innovation. For more information please explore the further resources available at http://www.eu-innovate.com
Learning from Pioneers Top enablers for companies Our case companies identified 8 key enablers that helped them to succeed in their collaborative innovation activities. We reformulate these here as recommendations for first steps towards collaborative innovation for sustainability: ØSeek top management support ØSupport a company culture of learning, trial and error ØCreate cross functional teams to work on innovations ØTry out ideas early on with end users ØMake resources available for experimentation ØEnable staff and managers to work directly with stakeholders ØEngage a limited number of well-chosen stakeholders ØBe open to collaborating beyond the usual business partners to access new ideas and capabilities Who to collaborate with and how In addition to how to create an enabling environment within the company, our case companies also shared their insights about which stakeholders they had collaborated with and how these stakeholders helped them. In the next section we identify eight stakeholder roles existing in collaborative innovation for sustainability.
Harnessing Stakeholder Potential Stakeholders can contribute in many ways to collaborative innovation for sustainability, we identify 8 different stakeholder roles which helped make innovation a success. Where can we learn about projects? STIMULATORS: Look out for policy initiatives stimulated by public authorities. City greening projects, calls for proposals and offers of funding can be a great stimulation for innovative solutions. Where can we get new ideas? Who can help us work with stakeholders? How can we make sure our innovations are right for end users? How can we reassure end users? How can we best explain our solution? What about regulations? How can we make a bigger impact? INITIATORS: Inspiring ideas can come from all over the place such as online ideas contests or even conversations next to the coffee machine! BROKER/MEDIATORS: Stakeholders such as public authorities, universities, foundations and other non-profit or civil society organisations can help to mediate between multiple different stakeholders which may be included in the project. They can bring their capabilities to help the company navigate the complex multi-stakeholder environment and facilitate in gathering inputs and feedback from these different stakeholder groups. CONCEPT REFINERS: Collaborative innovation provides an opportunity to try out new concepts of products and services with different audiences, particularly end users. New technologies such as online focus groups or ideas contests can assist in getting end user feedback. It also offers the chance to draw on technical expertise and specialist knowledge, including social and environmental impacts, which may reside in other organisations. LEGITIMATORS: NGOs, academic institutions and public authorities can help to build credibility and trust around sustainability solutions and encourage the acceptance of product and service innovations among end users. EDUCATORS: When innovations reflect broader changes in lifestyles towards greater sustainability, stakeholders such as universities, NGOs and public authorities can be valuable in sensitizing and informing the public of the broader sustainable behaviour changes. CONTEXT ENABLERS: Don t take policy as a given! Public authorities can be highly valuable in supporting changes in the regulatory context for innovative new products and services. Check these out early on! IMPACT EXTENDER: Stakeholders specialised in different aspects of sustainability, either social or environmental can help to promote the product or service and can also extend the sustainability impact in different areas to provide a more holistic sustainability lifestyle solution. Based on Goodman, J., Korsunova, A. & Halme, M. (forthcoming) Our Collaborative Future: Activities and Roles of Stakeholders in Sustainabiltiy-Oriented Innovation. Business Strategy and the Envrironment
Learning from Pioneers Partner Companies Contact Contact Details: angelina.korsunova@aalto.fi minna.halme@aalto.fi jennifer.goodman@aalto.fi