Innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry: Entrepreneurial drivers, opportunities, and challenges

We aim to understand how actors respond to field logic plurality and maintain legitimacy through business model innovation. Drawing on a longitudinal field study in the fashion industry, we traced how de novo and incumbent firms incorporate circular logics in business models (for sustainability) and uncover how the intersection between issue and exchange fields creates institutional complexity and experimental spaces for business model innovation. Our findings showed a shift in the discourse on circular logic that diverted attention and resources from materials innovation (e.g., recycling) to business model innovation (e.g., circular business models). By juxtaposing institutional complexity and external pressure to maintain legitimacy, we derived four strategic business model innovation responses—preserve, detach, integrate and extend—that illuminate how actors leverage shifting logics and innovate extant business models (for sustainability). We make novel contributions to the literature on organizational fields, business models for sustainability, and business model innovation.

The paper discusses the importance of Real-Time Data Analysis (RTDA) with innovative fluid business models for the tourism industry. The study uses a conceptual approach to identify innovative fluid tourism business models and their relationships with RTDA based on the problematisation of the crucial need for a holistic, macro understanding of the tourism ecosystem approach rather than framing the issue from a micro point of view. The paper highlights that the current digital era makes it no longer possible for the tourism ecosystem stakeholders to use static models that collect, store, analyse data and make decisions accordingly. Innovative business models should be fluid structural models that use instant data and provide continuous, multiple, and variable decisions with RTDA. The real-time analysis of macro (e.g., countries), meso (e.g., destinations), and micro (e.g., tourists) data obtained from the tourism ecosystem is vital for innovative business models which facilitate the offerings of individualised services and provide increased cooperation between stakeholders using open innovation opportunities in the ecosystem. To date, the tourism industry has not adequately grasped the outcomes and benefits of big data analytics (BDA). While a growing body of literature on big data has focused extensively on technical aspects (e.g., infrastructure, intelligence, and analytical tools), the issue of how and under what conditions BDA can generate value and impacts for various stakeholders involved in the tourism ecosystem remains largely underexplored. Thus, this paper fills this void by being among the first attempts to conceptually explain and propose unique, innovative fluid business models and RTDA in three specific areas in the tourism and hospitality context.

The importance of developing sustainable business models has recently received increased interest in society and among scholars. While firms attempt to innovate their business models towards sustainability or create new businesses to address sustainability issues, it becomes clear that there is no one‐size‐fits‐all model when it comes to sustainable business models. Consequently, firms often struggle to identify, develop, and implement sustainable business models that suit them. This paper aims to address this problem by drawing on the wealth of recently published empirical studies and reviewing 87 cases where firms have performed business model innovation to achieve sustainable business models. Four main sustainable business models are identified that have been achieved through different business model innovation strategies. The review contributes to managers by offering a portfolio of strategies to achieve sustainable business models and to research by clarifying the relation between the business model innovation and sustainable business model concepts.

We aim to understand the interaction between shifting organizational field logics and field actors’ responses to reconcile logic plurality and maintain legitimacy through business model innovation. Drawing on a multimethod, longitudinal field study in the fashion industry, we traced how de novo and incumbent firms integrate circular logics in business models (for sustainability) and uncover how productive tensions in field logics lead to experimental spaces for business model innovation. Our findings showed a shift in the discourse on circular logic that diverted attention and resources from materials innovation (e.g. recycling) to business model innovation (e.g. circular business models). By juxtaposing the degree of field logic tension and the degree of business model innovation, we derive four types of business model hybridization responses that actors engaged in to maintain legitimacy – constrained, limited, integrated, and expanded. Our study generates new insights on business models for sustainability as vehicles for organizational field change.

Companies have been pressured to act more responsibly and transparently due to the growing concerns about economic activities, social, environmental and governance consequences. In this regard, regulatory frameworks for sustainability reporting, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), were established and imposed practices and requirements for sustainability-related disclosure. Innovation in business models offers companies opportunities to present their commitment to sustainability, contributing to corporate strategy and social impact. This study examines how innovation in sustainable business models is disclosed in the healthcare sector, focusing on stakeholder and legitimacy theories. A multiple case study analysis based on sustainability reports of two Romanian healthcare companies (Medlife and Regina Maria) has been used. The results show that innovation is observed in sustainability reports through the integrated studies that combat the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and in the information about how the companies adapted their reporting to meet stakeholder expectations and maintain legitimacy. The study contributes to understanding how the healthcare sector companies align their sustainable business models with sustainability practices and regulatory frameworks. The originality of this study resides in the focus on examining the sustainable strategies of the healthcare sector in Romania, on their business model innovation, stakeholder, and legitimacy integration during crisis period.

Contemporary research on sustainable business practices and business model innovation increasingly emphasises the need to identify new, inclusive pathways for circular enterprise development and sustainable business practices. There is growing interest in alternative knowledge systems for their potential to support innovative and inclusive business model development. Although widely acknowledged for their cultural significance, indigenous clothing traditions have not been sufficiently examined for their potential to contribute to contemporary business model innovation, particularly through adaptive reuse strategies. Most existing literature addresses cultural or aesthetic aspects, with limited empirical research investigating how traditional clothing systems can be transformed into viable, scalable, and sustainable enterprises, supported by both qualitative and quantitative evidence. A mixed-method research design was employed, integrating qualitative approaches with quantitative and descriptive analysis. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatanis’ homeland, where most community members have ancestral roots. Additionally, Itanagar, the capital city, was selected for its significant Apatani population, enabling comparative insights from both traditional and urban contexts. Consumer perspectives are incorporated to assess market relevance and adoption potential, particularly among younger demographics. A structured survey was administered to the target age group (18–55 years) using snowball sampling. The survey collected quantitative data on usage frequency, perceived barriers, sustainability awareness, and openness to contemporary adaptations. Data were analysed using thematic analysis supported by basic statistical techniques. This study demonstrates how indigenous clothing practices of the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh can contribute to the evolution of sustainable and circular business models within the fashion and creative industries and facilitate sustainable business model innovation through adaptive reuse, circular design strategies, and community-based value creation. The study conceptualises these practices as embedded knowledge systems that demonstrate resource efficiency, adaptive reuse of materials, and community-based production logic. The research presents an empirically grounded framework connecting cultural heritage to scalable and resource-efficient enterprise models. The resulting business model provides practical guidance for designers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers seeking to create heritage-driven circular enterprises while maintaining cultural integrity. These findings apply to other indigenous and craft-based contexts, supporting sustainable growth, innovation, and broader societal impact within the creative economy.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the digitalization phenomenon in the development of innovative business models that are sustainability oriented. Thus, the authors aim to understand whether the presence of digitalization forces companies to create, capture and deliver value in new ways, focusing on their social impact.Design/methodology/approachThrough the analysis of a case study in the automotive sector, the authors provide evidence that both digitalization and sustainability need to be considered to adequately innovate business models. Moreover, these two dimensions are interrelated, and therefore digitalization sustains sustainability and vice versa.FindingsBy inductively investigating the evolutionary path along which companies tend to adapt their business models to digitalization and sustainability trends, the authors found that this innovative transformation needs to be as sustainable as possible in order to offer benefits to organizations, customers and society at large. Furthermore, the authors revealed that, at least in the automotive sector, companies and customers are aware of the remarkable consequences of digitalization; however, they are still uncertain regarding the actual adoption of new technologies.Originality/valueThe literature on business model innovation is quite extensive. However, the role of digitalization in developing sustainable business models to achieve a competitive advantage has been overlooked. This study suggests that, within a specific context, forging a value network of stakeholders is helpful when innovating a business model with a sustainability orientation.

Anatomy of sustainable business model innovation

The number of entrepreneurs in South Africa and, therefore, the Total Entrepreneurial Activity is lower than expected. The absence of entrepreneurial orientation is not the problem but, rather, instead of focusing on the innovative products and services, we should focus on innovative business models that change the processes. This chapter conceptualises an appropriate conceptual framework for effectively researching disruptive innovation and innovative business models at subnational level. We employ systems thinking to interrogate literature to realise three objectives. First, to understand the root causes and consequences of low innovation in new business ventures in South Africa and more specifically Gauteng Province. Second, to uncover the knowledge gap on this subject generally and specifically Gauteng Province. Lastly, to establish the most appropriate framework in innovation and entrepreneurship studies for interpreting anticipated empirical results. Eventually, this research will detail innovativeness in new business ventures after interrogating the theoretical material and empirical data and information on disruptive innovation and innovative business models. We have sufficient theoretical grounding on this subject but not empirical grounding to support some of our assertions. Even though most of the interrogations are general, it is within the context of Gauteng Province and, therefore, we may not generalise our conclusions and proposals. We do not address how innovativeness influences policies in general and we do not restrict ourselves to any specific sector.

Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted many businesses with irredeemable consequences, while the rest are trying to keep rowing, believing that making business as usual will save them. Only a few embarked on what academics call the innovation of business models. And they are doing it at the speed of light because the world they knew is no longer the same. The event management domain is not different. There is an urgent need to consider the impact of the emerging trends and the unexpected turbulence on the event industry, in general, and event management in particular. There is a common consensus that business model innovation can provide an effective path towards acquiring competitive advantage. Still, event management practice seems to be facing real challenges connecting related concepts like eco-innovation, stakeholder engagement, long-term sustain- ability (based on the triple bottom line) and impact of public and private governance from both the supply and demand sides. In short, there are very few examples in the industry that connect eco-innovation and the ways organisations create, deliver and capture value (the value cycle), and avoid leaving value uncaptured (Yang et al., 2017). The few examples of the value cycle connected to eco-innovation – i.e., connecting business models and sustainable innovation – concentrate on properly integrating the eco-innovated products, services, processes with working business models. The sort of linear thinking that advocates pursuing the sustainability of a business model by just producing greener or environmentally-conscious services seldom considers eco-innovation of business models as driven by valueholders’ needs and interests. This chapter will discuss how business models in the event industry, while aiming to achieve the sustainability goals, balancing economic, social and environmental needs and requirements for better or greener products and extended value proposals, should realise that these are imposed by the valueholders affecting their value creation, delivery and capture cycle. The chapter starts with an introduction, explaining the relevant basic concepts of business models (BM), business model innovation (BMI) and sustainable business models (SBM) while linking to the concept of eco-innovation. The remaining sections explicate the concept of valueholder from a SBM perspective and its impact on the development and implementation of the SBM. The discussion starts by looking at how the concept of (institutional) logic can help to implement business model eco-innovation, with emphasis on the behavioural aspects that influence the decisions made, which determine the effectiveness of the BM.

The study explores critical factors that impact the Business Model of Biopharmaceutical firms and assess how ESG pillars can aid in Business Model innovation. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted in face to face meetings with experienced industry professionals from cross-functional domains to attain diverse insights. The objective was to explore the relevance of ESG factors and their interplay, during Business Model Innovation from the perspective of experts in the Biopharmaceutical industry. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) – a structured approach is applied to understand the criticality of various factors in sustainable business models. The study revealed that special emphasis should be laid on the Business Model and Governance Pillar – for re-designing innovative and sustainable business models. Social and Environment factors, although important, were rated lower on priority as such issues are usually focused upon by organizations at a higher level of maturity, after the basic hygiene factors are met. Some of the factors which were prioritized for Business Model innovation are Patient Health and Safety, Ethical marketing and advertising, Waste/ Effluent Management, Employee Health, Safety and Wellness, Patient value propositions, Building strategic resources and competencies, Product Quality & Safety and Business ethics and competitive behavior. Integrated reporting is another value-added dimension that was stressed by the respondents, to have a seamless and transparent communication channel established with all stakeholders. Aligning business metrics with ESG metrics is the focal point of this study, and the impact of each pillar on Biopharma Business Models was evaluated by industry experts. Integration of ESG parameters for Business Model Innovation is the new mantra for forward looking companies, and this study would help frame strategies for the Biopharma industry for sustainable value creation. The impact created by Business Model Innovation at an industry level will help create value for the society at large (who are the key beneficiaries of Biopharma products and services), and such studies would help add to the knowledge base.

Background InfAct is tackling the European Health Information (HI) sustainability. New population HI methods should be designed to be sustainable European-wide. Internet and digital health developments have also creating the need for innovative business model for the HI-RI that provides value to all involved stakeholders. Methods Leveraging from previous work and from a SWOT analysis, covering both market environment and health data opportunities, a set of health information services was designed. The evaluation of these services was done using Business Model Canvas (BMC), a strategic management template for developing new and innovative business models. Its visual chart was used for describing the services value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. The usefulness of resources is paramount in healthcare. Therefore, it is important to assess the actual benefits obtained with the services. Results The SWOT analysis has shown the importance of addressing innovative HI business models to tackle the challenge of a healthcare sector more and more driven by information. Four main services were selected to support a European health information strategy: One-stop Shop, Innovation Research in HI (e.g. access to more updated HI), Capacity Building in HI (e.g., training support), and Knowledge translation research for decision-making (e.g., support policies with evidence-based). BMC analysis contributed to the identification of services value and innovative approach to the health data market. Moreover, from this analysis proper access to services required sophisticated HI infrastructure that should be able to brokering information in a competitive way. Conclusions Novel HI requires innovative business models services based on priority and planning for the next stages grounded on a sustainable roadmap towards the construction of a HI platform. BMC analysis provided the support for the prioritizations and helped designing the HI marketing and adoption strategy.

Human activity is increasingly impacting the environment negatively on all scales. There is an urgent need to transform human activity toward sustainable development. Business has a key role to play in this sustainability transition through technological, product and service, and process innovations, as well as innovative business models. Business models can enable new technologies, and vice versa. These models are therefore important in the transition to sustainability. Business models for sustainability, or synonymously, sustainable business models, take holistic views on how business is operated in relation to its stakeholders, including the society and the natural environment. They incorporate economic, environmental, and social aspects in an organization’s purpose and performance measures; consider the needs of all stakeholders rather than giving priority to owner and shareholder expectations; treat “nature” as a stakeholder; and take a system as well as a firm-level perspective on the way business is conducted. The research field of sustainable business models emerged from fields such as service business models, green and social business models, and concepts such as sharing and circular economy. Academics have argued that the most service-oriented business models can achieve a “factor 10” environmental impact improvement if designed the right way. Researchers have developed various conceptualizations, typologies, tools, and methods and reviews on sustainable business models. However, sustainable business models are not yet mainstream. Important research areas include the following: (a) tools, methods, and experimentation; (b) the assessment of sustainability impact and rebounds for different stakeholders; (c) sufficiency and degrowth; and (d) the twin revolution of sustainability and digital transition. First, a plethora of tools and approaches are available for inspiration and for creation of sustainable business model designs. Second, in the field of assessment, methods have been based on life cycle thinking considering the supply chain and how a product is (re)used and eventually disposed of. In the field of sufficiency, authors have recognized the importance of moderating consumption through innovative business models to reduce the total need for products, reducing the impact on the environment. Finally, researchers have started to investigate the important interplay between sustainability and digitalization. Because of the potential to achieve a factor 10 environmental impact improvement, sustainable business models are an important source of inspiration for further work, including the upscaling of sustainable business models in established businesses and in new ventures. Understanding how to design better business models and preempting their usage in practice are essential to achieve a desired positive impact. In the field of sufficiency, the macro-impacts of individual and business behavior would need to be better understood. In the area of digital innovation, environmental, societal, and economic values need scrutinization. Researchers and practitioners can leverage the popularity of this field by addressing these important areas to support the development and roll-out of sustainable business models with significantly improved economic, environmental, and societal impact.

Although researchers have increasingly examined how business models promote sustainable urban mobility through innovation, the literature has focused less attention on what constitutes a sustainable and innovative business model in the context of urban mobility. To fill this research gap, this article aims to answer the following research question: what elements characterize sustainable and innovative business models in the field of urban mobility? To identify whether and to what extent the existing intersection between business models and sustainable urban mobility literature contributes to the development of this concept, a systematic review and analysis of the literature was conducted. The results indicate that the following aspects contribute to the sustainability of an urban mobility business model: favoring the use of clean energy; maximizing the use of transport resources and capabilities; encouraging substitution using sustainable modes; offering service orientation and functionality; articulating initiatives that address the needs of a wide range of stakeholders in transport systems; reducing travel demands; extending benefits to society and the environment in a systemic perspective; and developing scale-up mobility solutions.

Objective: This study reviews the existing literature on sustainable business models for food waste management within the circular economy context. The findings aim to map the research landscape, highlight significant contributions, and suggest future research directions to inspire further studies in this domain. Theoretical Framework: Business model innovation is crucial for companies to remain competitive and sustainable, with a focus on integrating environmental considerations. The circular economy, emphasizing renewable and closed-loop product life cycles, offers a sustainable alternative to traditional economic models. In this topic, the main concepts and theories that underpin the research are presented. Method: Using bibliometric analysis and mapping, this study examines the intensity, influence, and key topics of research articles, journals, and authors from 2016 to January 2023 via Scopus. Keywords were selected based on prior studies, and a Prisma diagram was adapted. A descriptive approach is used for frequency analysis, while co-occurrence clustering reveals literature evolution, topic interlinkages, and research focus areas to guide future studies. Results and Discussion: This study highlights the critical role of business models in addressing food waste within the circular economy and sustainable production and consumption contexts. By mapping recent literature and research trends from 2016-2023, the study identifies essential concepts such as sustainable and circular business models, circular food systems, and food waste recovery methods, digitalization's role, alongside themes like zero waste, food sustainability, smart cities, urban recycling, and upcycling. Research Implications: To understand the research trends, orientations, concepts, and interrelations between these concepts, this study presented a literature review on food waste and business models for 2016-2023. The paper discusses some essential concepts surpassing all industries and waste types in the sustainability context: circular economy, sustainable business models, and circular business models. The study calls for further research and well-structured roadmaps to enhance the global impact of food waste business models and facilitate a shift toward circular economy frameworks. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by revealing in the integration of food waste management with retail and supply chain dynamics, underscoring the need for collaborative solutions and sustainable packaging innovations. This analysis contribute to reflecting the accumulated knowledge landscape to the research and practice community and elaborating on the research gaps and possible research venues to guide future practices.