Innovative business models for exploiting green vehicle potential in urban logistics

Abstract

Abstract When viewed through a traditional mindset, the goals of green and the goals of business seem incompatible; however, logistics companies that embrace a green mindset are becoming increasingly successful in today's economy. That is because the focus on green has not come at the expense of profit for these companies who managed to take advantage of key benefits of doing green. To generate value from these kind of benefits, new green business models are needed. This paper investigates the impacts that such business models might have on the effective uptake of green vehicles by the urban logistics industry. Particular emphasis is paid on assessing the level of eco-innovation this might bring and the repercussions it may have for business viability. To facilitate the research an adaptation of Osterwalder's business model ontology is applied to create a shared, formal, and explicit conceptualization of a green business model for logistics companies.