| dc.description.abstract | Since the current dominant model of most businesses is not able to effectively address ecological degradation, the call for implementing corporate sustainability in business is getting louder. For an organization, in order to achieve this level of corporate sustainability, it is important to possess willingness to reach a fit between the organizational culture and the sustainability activities. A sustainable business model could foster the development of sustainability concepts by enabling the use of more sustainable technologies. This paper will develop a conceptual model defining the interrelation of the concepts treated in the following research question: to what extent could sustainable business models contribute to implementation of corporate sustainability in organizational culture? To properly conduct this, a narrative literature review is conducted. Articles for the research are gathered using the electronic search engines Google Scholar and Scopus.
First, existing approaches towards corporate sustainability and sustainable business models are researched. The comparison of these approaches reveals that an ecological approach towards the concept of sustainable business models is not treated. This result provides an overarching view from which the presented conceptual model can be regarded.
Next, the link between sustainable business models and corporate sustainability is analysed. It can be seen that with regard to all sustainable business elements different ecological aspects should be incorporated. Economic and ecological goals should be combined while at the same time a paradigm shift towards sustainability is needed.
Finally, the link between corporate sustainability and organizational culture is researched. A change in core assumptions with respect to the ecological system is necessary for enabling a paradigm shift towards more sustainability. Furthermore, a system of sustainable products, services and supporting networks and infrastructure should be developed on the value creation level of a sustainable business model. More ecological policies, technologies and innovation should be implemented on financial model level.
While the research contributes to an enlarged scientific knowledge on the relationship between sustainable business models and organizational culture, the developed conceptual model serves as a guide for future research. More research should be conducted on the presented interconnection between the concepts to measure its validity. | |
