Strategic Management of Sustainable Innovation in Brazilian Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

Conditioning factors of globalization create new demands and opportunities for the development of an organizational management model that takes into account the principles of sustainability, which presupposes significant investments in innovation. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between strategic management for sustainable innovation and the business model and performance of manufacturing companies. The strategic management of sustainable innovation was analyzed from two dimensions: strategic posture, underpinned on the studies of Schaltegger et al. (Int J Innov Sustain Dev 6:95–119, 2012) and Eiriz et al. (Innov Manag Policy Pract, 15:97–111, 2013); and sustainable innovation practices, evaluated on the basis of Bocken et al. (J Clean Prod 65: 42–56, 2014). The analysis of the business model was based on studies of Boons and Lüdeke-Freund (J Clean Prod 45:9–19, 2013), Kiron et al. (MIT Sloan Manag Rev, 54:69–73, 2013a) and Taran et al. (Decis Sci 46:301–331, 2015). Business performance was evaluated by considering the dimensions proposed by Gunday et al. (Int J Prod Econ 133:662–676, 2011). The study was characterized as quantitative and consisted of a survey with Brazilian manufacturing companies. The results allow to say that strategic management for sustainable innovation is related to the business model and corporate performance, given that positive associations between the dependent and independent variables dimensions were found. Therefore, it was possible to confirm the guiding hypotheses of the study.