Analyzing Business Models, Innovation, and Strategies in Depth

This essay delves into the critical interconnections between business models, innovation, and strategies, emphasizing their significance for organizational sustainability. It examines how business models define value delivery, customer attraction, and profit generation, while innovation serves as a catalyst for future preparedness, particularly through sustainable practices. The essay categorizes innovation into product, process, and business model types, further mapping innovation for sustainability across dimensions like technology focus, societal relation, and organizational integration. It presents a framework for innovation, including operational optimization, organizational transformation, and system building, supported by practical examples. The analysis extends to business development processes, highlighting the importance of efficiency targets, sustainability development goals, revised business models, cross-company collaborations, customer insights, and greener supply chains. Ultimately, the essay underscores the necessity of continuous innovation and adaptable business models for achieving sustainable business practices.

Running head: BUSINESS MODELS, INNOVATION 1
BUSINESS MODELS, INNOVATION AND STRATEGIES
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Introduction
When an organisation is established, it must employ a certain business model which
will describe the mechanisms in use as well as the delivery and design of the value created. It
will define how an organisation delivers value to customers, attracts customers so that they
can pay for the value and these earnings to be converted to profits (Teece,2010). Therefore, it
reflects how a management plans to deliver the needs of the customers by first understanding
what the customer wants so as to make profits. For this reason, this essay focuses on
understanding why business models, strategy and innovation are important and how they are
related.
Innovation strategies and paths to ensure future sustainability of a business
Business sustainability involves business models and decisions made by the
management that are focused on the social and environmental concerns (Casadesus-Masanell,
2010). Innovation in an organisation is very important as it can help you to prepare for the
future. For this reason, organisation should look into the innovation for sustainability
concept. Innovation for sustainability is defined as an organisation making changes to its
products or processes so as to produces economic value and environmental/social
benefits(Utterback,1994).
Categories of innovation.
1. Product innovation.
This is where products are introduced (Osterwalder, 2005) or made better for the
satisfaction of the customer. These are usually technological advancements which could be
responding to changes in the customer requirements. Product innovations usually results to a
greater demand.

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They include:
 Developing a new product.
 Improving a product’s performance.
 Introducing a new feature to an existing product.
2. Process innovation
This includes improving the skills, technologies and facilities that are used in the
production and delivering of a product (Boons and Freund,2013). They can include training
of employees so as to improve their skills, changing the technologies used in the production
like the machine parts and coming up with better software solutions (Chesbrough and
Rosenbloom,2002).
3. Business model innovation.
This involves changing how a product or service is brought into the market. This is a
very radical, risky and transformative innovation (Morrie et al.,2005). They include
companies like uber and Spotify
Innovation for sustainability.
Innovation for sustainability of a business can be mapped along 3 dimensions. They include:
 Innovation focus. This defines whether the innovation is focused on technology or
people.
 How the firm relate to the society. Is it focused on itself or does it view itself as part
of the organizational ecosystem?

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 How much an innovation is used in the firm. Is it an innovation for a specific
unit/department or is it integrated or part of the organization’s DNA? (Baden and
Haefliger,2013)
Framework for innovation.
Businesses can use ideas to check their processes so as to achieve innovation for
sustainable business.
1. Optimization of operations
This involves usual things in better ways while observing the regulations. In this
stage, the organization reduces its impacts on the environmental while still using the same
business model (Amit and Zott, 2012). Here innovations are done increasingly while
addressing one issue at a time. Business in this stage focus on technology to reduce
impact and maintain business as usual while optimizing its processes(Baden and
Mangematin,2013). Innovations examples include:
 Waste diversions.
 Use of renewable energy.
 Pollution control.
 Energy efficient learning.
 Flexible work hours.
 Consolidating facilities.
 Reduced paper consumption and production levels.
 Reduced raw materials use.
 Hybrid electric fleet vehicles.
 Multiuse delivery boxes.
 Reduced packaging.

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 Getting rid harmful or deadly materials.
 Optimizing the size of the products to take advantage of the shipping levels.
 And many more.
2. Organizational transformation
This level focuses on creating new things with the aim of doing good. Organizational
transformers believe that coming up with new products and services help create employment
hence upgrade the people’s standards of living (Baden and Mangematin,2013). They produce
innovation s that are technological and sociotechnical. Innovations examples will include:
 Products and services that benefit people.
 New products that change the consumption levels and habits of people.
 Replacing products with services e.g. leasing, instead of selling.
 Preferring electronic services to physical services.
 Providing services which have social benefits.
3. Systems building.
This refers to creating new things as a way of doing good but with the involvement of others.
It involves collaboration between many organizations so as to create positive impacts on the
community and the world (DaSilva and Trkman, 2014). These innovations include:
 B Corporations. These are organisations that are forced by law to give benefits
to the society.
 Industrial symbiosis. This is where organisations have a circular economy in
which what a firm produce as waste is used as a resource by another firm.
Innovation and business development processes.

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Business development refers to the processes and activities that are concerned with
the analysis for business growth opportunities and supports strategies put in place for the
growth of the business. It aims for a big number of clients or customers, better technologies
and employees who are greatly skilled. Business development process therefore has to cover
all the operations of a company for there to be development and improvement (Achtenhagen
et al., 2013). Its basis is to create a long-term value and favourable image in the eyes of all
the stakeholders. Business development involves discovering networks that will help in
growth.
How to innovate for sustainability.
There are many ways that an organisation can come up with to ensure innovation for
sustainability. They include:
Setting up efficiency targets and policies. For example, reduce energy consumption
by 25 per cent in 20 years’ time.
Coming up with sustainability development goals(SDGs). It is important to have
sustainability goals added to the existing technological specifications.
Have a revised business model. Go back to your business model. Reframe it so that it
can allow for innovations. Revisit it and the model of governance so that it can be based on
the triple bottom line. This concept allows that organisation to consider the needs of all
stakeholders too.
Cross-company collaborations. Opportunities should be created for the employees so
that they can collaborate across functions. This strengthens the employees’ awareness and the
commitment to the sustainability awareness. It also spreads the innovation practices.

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Collaborations with knowledge institutions. The business can work with the experts in
campuses to compensate for inadequate resources and technical skills.
Customer insights. Work with the customers, interact with them so as to know more
about their need and expectations. Know their concerns with respect to sustainability of your
products and services, functionality and satisfaction. Get to understand and know the
consumer groups for product line development and product uptake.
Greener supply chain. An organisation should make it its responsibility to ensure that
the environmental performance of its supply chain is improved. For example, Have a code of
conduct for the suppliers you work with requiring the products they supply to be sourced
using environment friendly practices. Have high specifications and request suppliers to come
up with written confirmation that they meet the set requirements.
You can use tools like Environmental Management Systems(EMS) and the Life Cycle
Analysis (LCA) to help in the product and process innovations. These could be as simple as
checklists or as complicated as cross company programs.
Come up with methods of production that would use fewer resources and less energy.
For example, one can use biogas, wind or solar energy. If it is not possible, purchase
renewable energy credits. Have innovations that will allow the products to use fewer raw
materials and virgin resources with maximum efficiency.
Come up with internal communications strategies that focus on sustainability
objectives and success. Have formal methods of communication like intranets, websites,
annual reports and informal methods like progress reports from the management.

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Trainings. Have time to time trainings on sustainability. You can import Expertise
from outside and recruit new employees who have interests and skills in innovation and
sustainability.
Adopt a closed -loop manufacturing concept. This concept involves recovering wastes
this is, water, heat, raw materials or energy and reuse them. This can be done through the
circular economy where these wastes are reused across different organisations. A business
can also adopt a cradle-to-cradle design in which a product ends up to the manufacturer at the
end of its lifecycle.
When coming up with strategies, use back casting. This is where an organisation’s
vision starts from the future to the present but not the other way round.
Biomimicry. This is a concept in which an organisation learns from nature. Have your
experts, this is the engineers, product development teams and designers, learn from the
activities and process of the nature.
Let your organization be leaders and agents of change. Think of ways of engaging
your suppliers and manufacturers that would lead to sustainability even in their organisations.
Conclusion.
It is evident that innovation is a fundamental thing for there to be sustainability of a
business. For this reason, an organisation’s governance should come up with business
strategies that focus on achieving continuous innovations and should be flexible and be ready
to change the business model according to the requirements for sustainability.

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References
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Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan
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Baden-Fuller, C., & Mangematin, V. (2013). Business models: A challenging
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