Stakeholder engagement in business models for sustainability: The stakeholder value flow model for sustainable development

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate how stakeholder groups engaged by the company contribute to the value flow of business models for sustainability. The research aims to expand the knowledge on business models for sustainability by highlighting the most important contributions of stakeholders that are relevant from a value flow and sustainable development perspective. The research methodology is a multiple case study in five Italian B corporations. The paper contribution is a stakeholder value flow model of business models for sustainability that categorizes the stakeholders engaged in the specific value flow dimension, namely, value intention, value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture. The stakeholder value flow model can facilitate a systematic and deeper analysis of stakeholder contributions to the company business model. Moreover, the stakeholder value flow model can be used to map from the company perspective the most significant relationships and to facilitate the stakeholder engagement towards sustainable development.