“…And so working out behind the scenes how the incentives and performance is measured is the difficult task. [FSB1]FSB uses a combination of strategies to address these tensions: an integrative strategy (van Bommel, ) to “yield both more impact and profits”; avoidance strategy (van Bommel, ) with respect to performance measurement issues; instrumental strategy (van Bommel, ) in product design; and separation strategy (Siegner et al, ) in marketing. This suggests that multiple, sometimes conflicting, strategies are required by BMfS to manage the various tensions that arise.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…van Bommel () identified four types of tensions (organizing, performing, belonging/identity, and learning/temporal) and two types of strategies to address these tensions (instrumental and integrative; see Table ). Similarly, Siegner, Pinkse, and Panwar () identified two types of strategies: reconciling strategies that manifest as structural separation or temporal separation and acceptances strategies. The two separation strategies recognize tensions, but they are not addressed in an integrated manner.…”
Section: Business Model Innovation For Sustainabilitymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[FSB4]Although the CEO grew customer numbers to over 11,000 and the balance sheet to over one billion dollars, much of the investment in innovation was unprofitable. The CEO appeared to be pursuing a temporal separation strategy (Siegner et al, ), compromising temporarily for better future prospects. These findings align with Jolink and Niesten's () study of eco‐entrepreneurs who were not deterred from undertaking costly environmental initiatives.…”
Section: Research Findingsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In response to these belonging/identity tensions (van Bommel, ), the marketing team tailored the messages to the distribution channel to emphasize the financial value of the products. This response suggests a structural separation strategy (Siegner et al, ), where the distribution channel focuses on profitability and the direct sales force focuses on social impact, rather than a strategy of changing behavior (Adams et al, ).…”
This article provides new insights into sustainable innovation through the lens of business model innovation for sustainability. The article presents a case study of a new and underexplored business model for sustainability, the BCorp model. BCorps are profit-orientated businesses certified to meet rigorous standards in relation to environmental and social performance, accountability, and transparency. This article examines the strategy, structure, and practices of an Australian BCorp and the tensions in reconciling economic, social, and environmental imperatives. The study found that the BCorp focuses on the social and economic aspects, with environmental performance only just recently being addressed in response to its poor performance on the environmental categories in the BCorp certification process.The social and economic aspects are strongly integrated in some practices (e.g., recruitment and marketing), but trying to balance these two has created tensions and conflict in other areas (e.g., ownership structure, performance measurement, sales, and product design). The study contributes to understanding the structures, strategies, and practices that facilitate sustainable innovation initiatives, the tensions that arise, and how they are managed.
KEYWORDSBCorps, benefit corporations, business model innovation for sustainability, business models for sustainability, sustainable business model, tensions
“…And so working out behind the scenes how the incentives and performance is measured is the difficult task. [FSB1]FSB uses a combination of strategies to address these tensions: an integrative strategy (van Bommel, ) to “yield both more impact and profits”; avoidance strategy (van Bommel, ) with respect to performance measurement issues; instrumental strategy (van Bommel, ) in product design; and separation strategy (Siegner et al, ) in marketing. This suggests that multiple, sometimes conflicting, strategies are required by BMfS to manage the various tensions that arise.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…van Bommel () identified four types of tensions (organizing, performing, belonging/identity, and learning/temporal) and two types of strategies to address these tensions (instrumental and integrative; see Table ). Similarly, Siegner, Pinkse, and Panwar () identified two types of strategies: reconciling strategies that manifest as structural separation or temporal separation and acceptances strategies. The two separation strategies recognize tensions, but they are not addressed in an integrated manner.…”
Section: Business Model Innovation For Sustainabilitymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[FSB4]Although the CEO grew customer numbers to over 11,000 and the balance sheet to over one billion dollars, much of the investment in innovation was unprofitable. The CEO appeared to be pursuing a temporal separation strategy (Siegner et al, ), compromising temporarily for better future prospects. These findings align with Jolink and Niesten's () study of eco‐entrepreneurs who were not deterred from undertaking costly environmental initiatives.…”
Section: Research Findingsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In response to these belonging/identity tensions (van Bommel, ), the marketing team tailored the messages to the distribution channel to emphasize the financial value of the products. This response suggests a structural separation strategy (Siegner et al, ), where the distribution channel focuses on profitability and the direct sales force focuses on social impact, rather than a strategy of changing behavior (Adams et al, ).…”
This article provides new insights into sustainable innovation through the lens of business model innovation for sustainability. The article presents a case study of a new and underexplored business model for sustainability, the BCorp model. BCorps are profit-orientated businesses certified to meet rigorous standards in relation to environmental and social performance, accountability, and transparency. This article examines the strategy, structure, and practices of an Australian BCorp and the tensions in reconciling economic, social, and environmental imperatives. The study found that the BCorp focuses on the social and economic aspects, with environmental performance only just recently being addressed in response to its poor performance on the environmental categories in the BCorp certification process.The social and economic aspects are strongly integrated in some practices (e.g., recruitment and marketing), but trying to balance these two has created tensions and conflict in other areas (e.g., ownership structure, performance measurement, sales, and product design). The study contributes to understanding the structures, strategies, and practices that facilitate sustainable innovation initiatives, the tensions that arise, and how they are managed.
KEYWORDSBCorps, benefit corporations, business model innovation for sustainability, business models for sustainability, sustainable business model, tensions
“…Paradox scholars have recently provided ideas on how to manage the competing demands of social and commercial goals (Schad et al, 2016;Smith & Besharov, 2019;Smith, Gonin, & Besharov, 2013). However, this stream of research is usually confined to one national context and thus fails to provide insights on how social and commercial goals are managed in combination with local and global demands (e.g., Battilana & Dorado, 2010;Siegner, Pinkse, & Panwar, 2018;Zhao & Han, 2019).…”
While all multinational organizations face the challenge of managing tensions between local integration and global responsiveness, they are increasingly required to pursue additional, often paradoxical, objectives -such as social and commercial goals. However, we know little about how these tensions at the core of the MNC strategy interact. Based on an inductive qualitative study of four headquarters-subsidiary relationships in a Latin American Multinational Hybrid Organization, we develop a model showing the interplay of multiple tensions and management approaches to address them. This allows us to contribute to research on subsidiary roles, which we found to differ depending on how multiple tensions are addressed. Furthermore, we add to the literature on hybridity in multinational organizations by pointing out how regional differences between units of a single organization unfold. Finally, we provide some practical recommendations for the management of multinational hybrid organizations. Journal of International Business Studies (2020) 51, 906-932.
This paper presents a stakeholder perspective to study tensions in hybrid organizations (HOs). In this study, we investigate social enterprises (SEs) as emblematic cases of HO. The paper responds to literature that calls for studies about the interactions with stakeholders and proposes the relational paths SEs can implement to alleviate the emerging tensions between environmental–social and business goals. It also contributes to the academic debate offering empirical evidence on HO‐related tensions. Solving these tensions is beneficial for HOs and in terms of sustainable development. The paper presents a longitudinal case study of a leading SE in the fair trade industry. Fair trade represents an industry where economic, social, and environmental goals may be jointly achieved through the action of SEs. The main paper's contributions regard a stakeholders‐generated view of tensions and the identification of stakeholders‐tailored solutions to managing them. In addition, the proposed ad hoc approach contributes to a deeper understanding of how an SE deals with its hybrid nature.
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