Abstract
The development of sustainable innovation (SI) is complex and risky due to the characteristics and diversity of actors involved in its process. Little is known about the collaborative process underlying this development. The objective of the paper is to explore the collaborative mechanisms and dynamics that influence the process and characteristics of sustainable innovations. The translation approach of the actor–network theory is applied to shed light on the collaborative process of two cases of sustainable innovations within small- and medium-sized enterprises. The sociotechnical graph method is used as a methodology to track the mechanisms and compare the dynamics of their processes. The results reveal that the governance characteristic of sustainable innovations and the moment of mobilization are essential aspects of the collaborative processes. They show that, depending on the intensity and systemic impacts of SI, attraction and retention are important mechanisms in the construction of the governance characteristics of SI. A manager who uses these mechanisms during the mobilization of actors, having resources related to the governance characteristics, succeeds in sustainable innovation development. The paper contributes to the literature on sustainability management by linking the ‘becoming’ of sustainable innovations to their collaborative processes. It also informs managers on how to manage the collaborative process of sustainable innovations by relying on a translation approach.
Highlights
Unlike some changes made to the sustainable innovation (SI) characteristics during the process, the managers especially failed to construct the governance dimension because the passing of a law was beyond their control, despite attempts to convince members of parliament
The lack of environmental regulation and the prevalence of a standard solution impact the subsystem and system characteristics of the Legionella Preventive Treatment (LPT): if the LPT is not supported by a law and accepted in the industry, it cannot be used at the systemic level and, loses its relevance
The results reveal that the dimension of governance and the moment of mobilization have been, among others, crucial in the collaborative process of the SIs and in their characteristics
Summary
] limitations imposed by the present state of technology and social organization on environmental resources and by the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities” [1] This observation implicitly urges a reassessment of social and technological change via the introduction of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental) dimensions into organizations’. Existing and new activities and, into their innovations This reassessment leads to the development of sustainable innovations (SIs), defined as innovations that significantly reduce their negative (or improve their positive) economic, environmental, and/or social effects [2,3]. One question raised during these debates, which should help managers better structure the SI journey, is what a SI should be or what characteristics should it have to ensure sustainability dimensions
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