Abstract
The topic of sustainable business models is growing in literature and in the industry, driving companies to search for opportunities to improve their impact on the three pillars of sustainability—profit, people, and planet (economic, social, and environmental). However, the process of developing sustainable business models is often complex, due to conflicting objectives from the three dimensions of sustainability. This paper presents a procedure model that supports the design and assessment of business models with a sustainable perspective, by integrating a new business model canvas for sustainability (BMCS) and an evaluation method to assess it. A comprehensive assessment is proposed, performed in a life cycle perspective. The proposed model is applied and validated with a real case study, based on a new business model for an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul company. The case is based on shifting from traditional maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities to adopting additive manufacturing as an activity that allows manufacturing optimized spare parts with benefits for the costumer. The results show the application of the procedure model on a specific case study, as well as the potential of additive manufacturing as a driver for more sustainable business models in the aircraft maintenance sector.
Highlights
The definition of a business model appears to vary between authors; while there is not a definitive definition, most agree that it intends to describe how a business works and how value is created and captured [1]
Some authors have looked into integrating environmental and social aspects into the Business Model Canvas [14,15,16], the topic is relatively new and there is no established method for mapping and designing sustainable business models
By focusing on a life cycle perspective, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows for an holistic evaluation of the business model environmental sustainability, considering impacts directly resultant from its activities, and the impact of down or upstream activities that may occur as a result
Summary
The definition of a business model appears to vary between authors; while there is not a definitive definition, most agree that it intends to describe how a business works and how value is created and captured [1]. One of the most popular tools among entrepreneurs to conceive and design business models is Osterwalder and Pigneur’s Business Model Canvas [13] This framework fails to map the environmental and social aspects of a business model. Besides these theoretical contributions, the case of introducing additive manufacturing technologies in an aircraft maintenance company is analyzed, applying the proposed canvas and procedure model. The changes in the company’s business model are mapped in the BMCS, taking into account the introduction of additive manufacturing Based on this mapping, the economic, environmental, and social dimension are evaluated using the sustainability assessment methodologies suggested in the procedure model
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
