scholarly journals Sustainable development: Innovations in business

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Evolutionary Economics ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Business System ◽  
Manual Classification

Innovation and sustainable development have become buzzwords in the 21st century with the idea of creative destruction launched by Joseph Alois Schumpeter being the base for evolutionary economics. However, new institutional economics helps to understand the necessity of support provided to entrepreneurs and innovators by science and administration to reduce the risk of launching the said innovations. This e-book is devoted to selected types of innovation. Every type of innovation is described with the use of theoretical background and is enriched by adequate case study. Traditional division into four types of innovation, proposed by J.A. Schumpeter (1934), containing product, process, organizational and marketing innovations, was widely accepted, including European Union institutions (OECD/Eurostat, 2008). The concept of innovation has long been dominated by a technical approach to the innovation process, despite the economic arguments exposed by one of the precursors of the theory of innovation and, at the same time, the school of evolutionary economics—Joseph Alois Schumpeter. Frequently, in the context of innovation, it is indicated that organizational and marketing aspects play a part in the successful introduction of innovation onto the market. The structure of the book is based on the typology proposed by Keeley, Walters, Pikkel and Quinn (2013), which focuses on the economic character of innovations. Ten types of innovation are directly related to Schumpeter’s and Oslo Manual classification. A new set of innovations emphasize the economic side of innovation process. The technical novelties are to support new configuration, offering or customers’ experience. This new approach is based on presumptions coming from design thinking idea, leading to user—driven innovation and on cooperation with institutions and entities supporting innovation process. The chapters are devoted to every type of innovation, grouped into three major parts: innovations based on configuration, offering and experience. In the book, configuration includes types of innovations focused on innermost workings of an enterprise and its business system. Offering part contains the types of innovations, that are focused on an enterprise’s core product (good or service), or a collection of its products. The last part, dedicated to innovations based on experience, is focused on more customer-facing elements of an enterprise and its business system.

scholarly journals Sustainable Smart City—Opening a Black Box

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 769
Author(s):  
Mona Treude
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Evolutionary Economics ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Sustainable City ◽  
Smart Services ◽  
Underlying Processes

Cities are becoming digital and are aiming to be sustainable. How they are combining the two is not always apparent from the outside. What we need is a look from inside. In recent years, cities have increasingly called themselves Smart City. This can mean different things, but generally includes a look towards new digital technologies and claim that a Smart City has various advantages for its citizens, roughly in line with the demands of sustainable development. A city can be seen as smart in a narrow sense, technology wise, sustainable or smart and sustainable. Current city rankings, which often evaluate and classify cities in terms of the target dimensions “smart” and “sustainable”, certify that some cities are both. In its most established academic definitions, the Smart City also serves both to improve the quality of life of its citizens and to promote sustainable development. Some cities have obviously managed to combine the two. The question that arises is as follows: What are the underlying processes towards a sustainable Smart City and are cities really using smart tools to make themselves sustainable in the sense of the 2015 United Nations Sustainability Goal 11? This question is to be answered by a method that has not yet been applied in research on cities and smart cities: the innovation biography. Based on evolutionary economics, the innovation biography approaches the process towards a Smart City as an innovation process. It will highlight which actors are involved, how knowledge is shared among them, what form citizen participation processes take and whether the use of digital and smart services within a Smart City leads to a more sustainable city. Such a process-oriented method should show, among other things, to what extent and when sustainability-relevant motives play a role and which actors and citizens are involved in the process at all.

Altruism, reciprocity and Islamic equity finance

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasushi Suzuki ◽  
Mohammad Dulal Miah
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Economics ◽  
Transaction Cost Economics ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Fund Raising ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Protection Mechanisms ◽  
Equity Finance ◽  
The Right

Purpose This paper argues how Islamic altruism and reciprocity can enhance or drain the supply of Islamic equity finance. The paper also analyzes the feasibility of Islamic equity finance through the lens of new institutional economics (NIE) and transaction cost economics (TCE). Design/methodology/approach One of the salient contributions by NIE is to support the proposition that effective contracting depends greatly on institutions in terms of “rules that constrain economic behavior”, including informal or intangible institutions, such as religion, culture and customary practices. This paper draws on the theoretical contributions of the NIE and TCE and applies some of these contributions to an analysis of general altruism and reciprocity in Islamic economies. Findings It is said that solutions based on the Islamic injunctions (collectively termed as spiritual quotient) could serve to mitigate agency risks. However, in theory, the Muslim principal (particularly fund providers) is exposed to higher agency risk unless appropriate rules of protecting the right of the principal (or of punishing the agent when its opportunistic behavior is revealed) are devised, because the Muslim fund providers have the divine obligation to share risks in enterprise under the profit-loss sharing (PLS) scheme as well as to share a portion of income with the poor or those entrepreneurs who face difficulties in fund-raising. Originality/value Many scholars refer to the lack of the “formal” institutions that hinder the sound development of Islamic venture capital (VC). This paper contributes to shedding an analytical light on the unique feature of the Muslims’ “informal” constraints which make them hesitate to invest in Islamic VC. To develop the Islamic VC market, this paper provides a theoretical background to suggest how important it would be for the national financial system to devise some tangible provisions by installing enterprise-friendly regulations as well as adequate incentive and protection mechanisms consistent with Islamic principles.

scholarly journals “INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL” AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ‐ THE IMPORTANCE OF AN INSTITUTIONAL EQUILIBRIUM / INSTITUCINIS KAPITALAS KAIP DARNAUS VYSTYMOSI VEIKSNYS – INSTITUCINĖS PUSIAUSVYROS SVARBA

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost Platje
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Institutional Capital

The main aim of this article is to provide a basis for changing the focus in New Institutional Economics (NIE) from the economic effects of institutions to the importance of “institutional capital” for sustainable development. First, a theoretical model of NIE is presented in the context of sustainable development. Then, the concept of an institutional equilibrium (where informal institutions support and strengthen formal institutions) is discussed as an important determinant of “institutional capital” stimulating or hampering sustainable development. Santrauka Šio straipsnio tikslas – pateikti naujos institucinės ekonomikos (NIE) pokyčius, kai pastebimas perėjimas nuo ekonominių institucijų efektų prie institucinio kapitalo plėtotės darnaus vystymosi kontekste. Visų pirma autorius pateikia teorinį NIE modelį darnaus vystymosi aplinkoje. Vėliau nagrinėjama institucinės pusiausvyros koncepcija (atvejis, kada neformalios institucijos palaiko ir stiprina formaliąsias institucijas). Autorius konceptualiai apibrėžia stimuliacinį ir prevencinį šios koncepcijos poveikį sąveikaujant instituciniam kapitalui bei darniam vystymuisi.

scholarly journals From Design Thinking to Art Thinking with an Open Innovation Perspective—A Case Study of How Art Thinking Rescued a Cultural Institution in Dublin

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Optimal Position ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
New Perspective

This article uses a contemporary and revelatory case study to explore the relationship between three conversations in the innovation literature: Design Thinking, creativity in strategy, and the emerging area of Art Thinking. Businesses are increasingly operating in a VUCA environment where they need to design better experiences for their customers and better outcomes for their firm and the Arts are no exception. Innovation, or more correctly, growth through innovation, is a top priority for business and although there is no single, unifying blueprint for success at innovation, Design Thinking is the process that is receiving most attention and getting most traction. We review the literature on Design Thinking, showing how it teaches businesses to think with the creativity and intuition of a designer to show a deep understanding of, and have empathy with, the user. However, Design Thinking has limitations. By placing the consumer at the very heart of the innovation process, Design Thinking can often lead to more incremental, rather than radical, ideas. Now there is a new perspective emerging, Art Thinking, in which the objective is not to design a journey from the current scenario, A, to an improved position, A+. Art Thinking requires the creation of an optimal position B, and spends more time in the open-ended problem space, staking out possibilities and looking for uncontested space. This paper offers a single case study of a national arts organisation in Dublin facing an existential crisis, which used an Art Thinking approach successfully to give a much-needed shot in the arm to its commercial innovation activities.

Enhancing design thinking approaches to innovation through gamification

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Patrício ◽  
Antonio Carrizo Moreira ◽  
Francesco Zurlo
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Improve Design ◽  
Business Environments ◽  
Product Service

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the relationship between gamification and design thinking approach to innovation in the context of the early stage of innovation process (ESoIP). Design thinking is conceptually appropriate to support innovative, complex and uncertain business environments. Still, its practices have demonstrated some difficulties in managing the ESoIP, such as lack of structure and clarity around goals. This paper argues that gamification can enhance and complement design thinking in the management of firms' ESoIP.Design/methodology/approachGiven the need to achieve a deeper understanding of the linkages between gamification and design thinking, the paper follows an exploratory theory building approach for this complex reality of innovation. The case study research method was conducted in three firms (Trivalor, Novartis and Microsoft) that applied a gamification approach to the ESoIP.FindingsThe results demonstrate that gamification has the power to enhance and complement design thinking practices by getting tasks more organized and improving coordination and employees' engagement in the innovation process.Practical implicationsThe paper provides critical managerial contributions on how firms can use gamification to improve design thinking approaches to ESoIP. Its consequences are also crucial to innovation, R&D, and product/service development managers interested in using gamification to support the ideation and concept development of new solutions complementing traditional design thinking approaches.Originality/valueMerging the gamification and design thinking approaches is novel, particularly on firms' ESoIP. The paper provides a comprehensive discussion of design thinking shortcomings and the role that gamification can play in overcoming them.

Challenge or Potential? Risk Identification in the Context of Sustainable Development

2018 ◽  
pp. 1318-1336
Author(s):  
Martina Huemann ◽  
Claudia Ringhofer
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Environmental Impact Analysis ◽  
Identification Methods ◽  
Wind Park

The chapter describes the importance of balancing risk reduction and “taken risks” and what role a holistic risk identification plays in the context of Sustainable Development (SD). It provides a theoretical background on SD, Risk Management and the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA). It discusses the implementation of SD in the EIA as one example for a holistic risk identification. The link between SD and risk management is discussed and the identified learning potentials for further developing traditional risk identification methods are explained. A risk identification explicitly considering SD as well as considering project and stakeholder risks is presented within a case study. The case study project is Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of a wind park farm in Brazil from the supplier perspective. Based on SD both, the risks of the project as well as the risks of the project stakeholders are considered. Whereby the chapter shares the risk identification as such as well as the process for which a systemic board constellation was applied.

Introduction to the special issue on the future of institutional and evolutionary economics

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEOFFREY M. HODGSON ◽  
J. W. STOELHORST
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
Evolutionary Economics ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Common

Abstract:This special issue of the Journal of Institutional Economics on the future of institutional and evolutionary economics consists of this introduction, four full essays, and two sizeable comments. Ménard and Shirley (2014) and Ménard (2014) discuss the future of the new institutional economics, and their two essays are followed by a reflection by Hodgson. Winter (2014) and Witt (2014) discuss the future of evolutionary economics, and their essays are followed by a comment by Stoelhorst. Here, we introduce these essays and comments by putting them in a broader historical perspective. In particular, we trace the common origins of modern institutional and evolutionary economics, particularly in the work of Veblen, as well as important additional influences such as Schumpeter and Simon. We highlight how the two approaches became disconnected, and signal the possibility of, and need for, re-establishing closer connections between them. Possible elements of a future overlapping research programme are outlined.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document