Conceptualizing a “Sustainability Business Model”

Abstract

According to one perspective, organizations will only be sustainable if the dominant neoclassical model of the firm is transformed, rather than supplemented, by social and environmental priorities. This article seeks to develop a “sustainability business model” (SBM)—a model where sustainability concepts shape the driving force of the firm and its decision making. The SBM is drawn from two case studies of organizations considered to be leaders in operationalizing sustainability and is informed by the ecological modernization perspective of sustainability. The analysis reveals that organizations adopting a SBM must develop internal structural and cultural capabilities to achieve firm-level sustainability and collaborate with key stakeholders to achieve sustainability for the system that an organization is part of.