Drivers of Sustainable Innovation: Exploratory Views And Corporate Strategies

Abstract

Various forces drive corporate commitment to sustainable innovation including: (a) external stimuli, (b) business opportunities, and (c) a business orientation toward corporate social responsibility. The depth of corporate response to these drivers is shaped by how the managing team of a corporation views the relationship between economic growth and the environment. This paper examines associations between key drivers of sustainable innovation and three alternative views of the economic growth-environment relationship. We also examine three contrasting modes of corporate response (i.e. compliance, commitment and resistance) to those drivers and suggest directions for further research on the corporate practice of sustainable innovation.