Strengthening industrial ecology's links with business studies: Insights and potential contributions from the innovation and business models literature

Sharpe, S; Agarwal, R

Strengthening industrial ecology's links with business studies: Insights and potential contributions from the innovation and business models literature

Sharpe, S

Agarwal, R

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Resources, 2014, 3 (2), pp. 362 - 382
Issue Date:: 2014-06-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sharpe, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8423-2519	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Agarwal, R https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8493-7313	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-06-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Resources, 2014, 3 (2), pp. 362 - 382	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33331
dc.description.abstract	© 2014 by the authors, licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The declining availability of natural resources and the environmental impacts of continued extraction of primary resources for production activities have forced greater focus on waste streams and recycling activities. Industrial ecology as a field of practice and theory has been closely related to sustainability issues, yet despite the development of much theory and specific tools and methodologies, the link between natural, industrial and economic systems is not convincing. Not only that, the need for delivering sustainable production and consumption practices is increasing, which is demanding new solutions to existing problems, particularly around the degree of novelty. The interaction of industrial ecology with business studies and industrial investment decision-making remains under-developed, and this is likely impacting on the adoption of more sustainable and resource-efficient practices. As such, this paper uses a constructive approach and explores how two areas of the literature can support the development of the industrial ecology field into strategic business practice: firstly, the innovation literature, particularly the emerging work on open innovation and sustainable innovation as a model to understand radical innovation processes and the creation and maintenance of networked systems of firms; secondly, the closely related area of business model (BM) innovation, specifically the emerging typologies of sustainable BMs and how these typologies can be developed and used as a route to positioning recycling activities at the strategic management level of the firm.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Resources	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/resources3020362	en_US
dc.title	Strengthening industrial ecology's links with business studies: Insights and potential contributions from the innovation and business models literature	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	3	en_US

Abstract:

© 2014 by the authors, licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The declining availability of natural resources and the environmental impacts of continued extraction of primary resources for production activities have forced greater focus on waste streams and recycling activities. Industrial ecology as a field of practice and theory has been closely related to sustainability issues, yet despite the development of much theory and specific tools and methodologies, the link between natural, industrial and economic systems is not convincing. Not only that, the need for delivering sustainable production and consumption practices is increasing, which is demanding new solutions to existing problems, particularly around the degree of novelty. The interaction of industrial ecology with business studies and industrial investment decision-making remains under-developed, and this is likely impacting on the adoption of more sustainable and resource-efficient practices. As such, this paper uses a constructive approach and explores how two areas of the literature can support the development of the industrial ecology field into strategic business practice: firstly, the innovation literature, particularly the emerging work on open innovation and sustainable innovation as a model to understand radical innovation processes and the creation and maintenance of networked systems of firms; secondly, the closely related area of business model (BM) innovation, specifically the emerging typologies of sustainable BMs and how these typologies can be developed and used as a route to positioning recycling activities at the strategic management level of the firm.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33331