1. Professor Minna Halme Oct 26, 2017
Collaborative sustainability innovating – Integrating stakeholders into R&D processes of business firms
Professor Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017
Oct 26, 2017

2. Collaborative innovating for sustainability
Complex
problems
Systemic
solutions
Collaborative
innovating
Innovation
Innovation – because minor adjustments in business as usual are not sufficient for sustainable development
Collaborative innovation - because systemic changes are a prerequisite for sustainable development
The processes of sustainability innovation are highly networked and integrate external knowledge from a variety of sources. A single innovator alone is unlikely to possess the requisite expertise of the multiple impacts of sustainability.
Similarly, single innovators alone lack the power to implement the systemic changes that are necessary to bring the innovation to fruition.
With whom and how do firms collaborate in their sustainability innovating?
Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017

3. How do firms collaborate with stakeholders in sustainability innovating?
Analysis of stakeholder activities in sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI)
13 medium to large companies across Europe; 80 interviews
Innovation for new products, services and business models to achieve improved economic, social and ecological impact.
Energy, mobility, living and food
Integrated stakeholders ranging from typical partners such as customers, other businesses or experts, to untypical ones such as users and non- governmental organizations or public sector representatives
Research covered sustainability-oriented product, service and business model innovations in established companies around Europe.
Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017

4. Stakeholders’ collaborative and proactive roles in SOI
New roles we identified for SOI
Existing roles
Stimulator
(proactive)
Initial funding or call for proposals
Initiator
(proactive)
Inspiring and generating ideas
Organising testing, pilots, trials and collecting feedback
Broker/mediator
(mixed)
Developing technical aspects
Integrating other stakeholders
Concept refiner
(reactive)
Participating in testing, pilots, trials and giving feedback
Legitimator
(reactive)
Assuring and promoting the innovation
Providing information and communications
Activities that stakeholders conduct in the different phases of the innovation process result in a variety of roles performed
Role: The action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists
New roles are in green
Educator
(reactive)
Context enabler
(mixed)
Dealing with infrastructure and regulation
Increasing and extending usage and impact
Impact extender
(proactive)
Goodman, J., Korsunova, A. and Halme, M Our collaborative future: Activities and roles of stakeholders in sustainability-oriented innovation. Business Strategy & Environment. DOI: /bse.1941.
Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017

5. Integration of stakeholder inputs
Untypical stakeholders may be more relevant for SOI than typical market stakeholders – 37 out of 53 stakeholder groups were environmental & social groups, end-users, public sector
Deep stakeholder engagement is a necessary condition for high sustainability impact of innovation
Firms can follow (1) progressive or (2) limited openness strategies in SOI
(1) Engage untypical stakeholders early on in innovation process
(2) Selects only a few stakeholders for collaboration or collaborates with multiple but typical stakeholders in late phases of the innovation process
(2) Firm limits the either the number of external ideas or the novelty of the ideas
Juntunen, J, Halme, M, Korsunova, A. & Rajala, R Leveraging the sustainability of innovations with deviant stakeholders. 2nd round of revision in Journal of Product Innovation Management.
Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017

6. THANKS! Professori Minna Halme, minna.halme@aalto.fi sub.aalto.fi
Minna Halme
Oct 26, 2017