Systematic Review - Network for Business Sustainability

Dear Reader,
I’m pleased to share with you this report on innovation
for sustainability. Innovation is fast becoming one
of the most exciting topics in business. Innovation
focuses on the opportunities, instead of risks. It
mobilizes positive action, rather than paralyzing
business in inaction. It allows us to imagine new
futures — ones in which business works hand-in-hand
with society.
This report outlines specific practices that have
been shown to help firms innovate for sustainability.
It also identifies the conditions and contexts in
which innovation is more likely to work. I especially
encourage you to examine the innovation model
on page 17, and the associated practices on page
20 to 21. Together, these show the steps of the
sustainability journey. Managers can use these to
benchmark firm activities and highlight new ways of
thinking about sustainability-oriented innovation.
This research was authored by a team that included
Dr. Richard Adams, Dr. Sally Jeanrenaud, Dr. John
Bessant, Patrick Overy, Dr. David Denyer and Hannah
Metcalfe. Dr. Denyer is from Cranfield University
School of Management; his colleagues on the team
are from University of Exeter. This research also
benefited from valuable insights from the team’s
academic advisor, Dr. Stuart Hart (Cornell University),
and its guidance committee: Dan Burt (Suncor), Scott
MacDougall (Suncor), Wendy Perkins (RIM), Matt
McCulloch (Pembina Institute), Luc Robitaille (Holcim)
and Georgina Wainwright-Kemdirim (Industry Canada).
This systematic review is one of many that form
the backbone of NBS. The topics are chosen by
our Leadership Council, a group of multi-sector
organizations leading in sustainability whose names
you will find at the end of this report. This group meets
annually to identify the sustainability topics most salient
to business. Identifying what innovation activities firms
engage in to become more sustainable was near the
top of their list for 2012. The reports from all their past
priorities are available freely on our website at nbs.net.
We are proud of our systematic reviews. Popularized in
the field of medicine, they systematically and rigorously
review the body of evidence from both academia
and practice on a topic. The result is an authoritative
account of the strategies and tactics of managing
sustainably, as well as the gaps for further research.
I hope this report will help you understand how you
and your organizations can enhance your innovation to
reach more sustainable outcomes.
Sincerely,
Tima Bansal, PhD
Executive Director, Network for Business Sustainability
Professor, Richard Ivey School of Business
Innovating for Sustainability 5