Exploring limitations and opportunities for "sufficiency" and "stewardship" as a sustainable business model
Fecha
2019Autor
Bain, Rod
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Institución
Resumen
Sustainable business models (SBM) challenge traditional ways of doing business by creating, delivering and capturing value for a broad range of stakeholders, including society and the environment.
This dissertation analyses how two SBM archetypes, Sufficiency and Stewardship, are developed in an entrepreneurial venture and what strategies to grow the business are compatible with the models. Through a case study approach, it explores the development of the business model of a sustainable interior and exterior design firm located in Chile.
The study results showed that key modifications through the evolution of the business model were to expand the value network, to change their customer relationship dynamics and the expansion of the product offering. Working with local workshops allowed to provide tailored goods, manufacture in high quality and extend the product lifetime. Sufficiency practices improve the reputation of the company and increase customer loyalty. Regarding the strategies to grow the business, the study found that the most favourable strategies were brand awareness, alliances to export internationally, and product differentiation. In overall, the preferred growth strategies are the ones that do not undermine the value-driven logic behind Sufficiency and Stewardship. Particularly in this case, strategies related to reducing unit costs and seeking market power were perceived as possibly undermining the business model.
The insights discussed in this dissertation can contribute to understanding how sustainable entrepreneurs can benefit from pursuing a Sufficiency and Stewardship business model.