GodEl is a Swedish electricity retailer owned by a non-profit foundation that provides 100 percent renewable and environmentally certified electricity to its customers. Established in 2005 GodEl, has no private profit motive and it donates its revenues to non-governmental organizations. This case shows the role of social enterprises and business model innovation over time, driven by sustainability issues. The case further illustrates practices that lead to changes in the dominant business model of an industry while providing background on the Scandinavian electricity retail market.

The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. BMI is especially important in the agri-food industry that faces enormous challenges as the demand for food increases worldwide. Much of the BMI research focuses on the technology and biomedical industries. Far less attention has been paid to the agri-food industry. This article is a systematic literature review of the BMI research in the agri-food industry. The article’s aim is to identify and categorize various barriers to BMI as described in the literature (in English) published in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2014. The findings show a fairly even distribution among external and internal BMI barriers. Because the main barrier is the mind-set that is resistant to change, it is recommended the researchers and practitioners should focus more on the cognitive barriers to BMI in the agri-food industry.

Farm-based biogas production is a promising renewable energy technology with the potential for creating sustainable economic, environmental, and social value. However, Swedish farmers engaged in this activity struggle to turn a profit because of high-investment costs and severe price competition with fossil fuels. One way to address this situation is to re-organize the activity by innovating the business model (BM) towards sustainability. In this study, a team of researchers took an action research approach that proposed solutions for the financial difficulties at a farm cooperative that intended to develop its farm-based biogas production. Two participatory workshops (including researchers, producers, students, and consultants) were conducted using the sustainable business-modelling tool called the Flourishing Business Canvas (FBC). Based on the 215 ideas developed in the workshops, five sustainable BM prototypes were created. These five prototypes form the basis of an approach for initiating the development of a network-level BM for sustainability that highlights its superiority over a single-firm BM. The network-level BM’s main advantage in the farm-based biogas context is its strong focus on stakeholder collaboration that supports the development of a stakeholder business case for sustainability. Overall, this study highlights the usefulness of the network concept in the practice of sustainable BM development. Collaborative business modelling for developing network-level BMs that address environmental and social problems for and with stakeholders can be an effective way to increase long-term financial profit and promote the growth of a firm, a network, or an industry. © 2018 The Author(s)

In recent years in Sweden, interest has grown concerning the possibilities of biogas production from organic waste. This interest reflects a general concern over environmental sustainability in society. However, given the lack of financial backing and the competition of other energy producers, few Swedish biogas plants have been profitable. This is particularly the situation with farm-based biogas producers. One response to this problem in the farm-based biogas industry is to engage in business model innovation that can lead to new ways of organizing business structures and activities. This qualitative study, which takes an action research approach, explores the early phases (initiation and ideation) of the business model innovation process for sustainability at a biogas-producing farm cooperative in southern Sweden. The main activities and the actors who are central to the execution of these activities are identified in six sub-phases. The paper describes two Flourishing Business Canvas workshops in which the participants were the researchers, members of the farm cooperative, external consultants, and university students. This study contributes theoretically to the literature with its detailed examination of the early phases of the business model innovation process for sustainability. It also contributes to practice with its conceptual model that demonstrates how biogas producers and farm managers can innovate and transform their current business models towards sustainability in order to improve competitiveness and long-term profitability. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

As companies and other organizations increasingly recognize society’s demand for greater social and environmental sustainability, university and college business schools have responded with new pedagogic approaches. Business schools have begun to offer courses in business models and business model innovation that focus not only on profit-normative goals but also on social and environmental goals. This paper describes an Experiential Workshop for university undergraduates in which the Service-Learning pedagogic approach is taken and Flourishing Business Canvas is applied as a tool for collaborative visual business modelling. In the Workshop, the students work with business model innovation for a biogas production cooperative of farmer-members in southern Sweden. The students take the role of problem-owners and problem-solvers as they co-create new business models ideas for the cooperative. The paper presents the students’ achievement of three Learning Objectives as they engage in meaningful, “real-world” simulations with a high degree of autonomy that allows them to combine their theoretical knowledge with practice. Implications for educators who wish to test the Experiential Workshop in their classrooms are proposed. The paper concludes with the suggestion that Education for Flourishing is a useful expansion of Education for Sustainable Development. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organizations, such as social enterprises, engage in business model innovation when they wish to create, deliver, and capture value for their various stakeholders in ways that effect positive environmental and social change. Despite the increasing research attention paid to social enterprises, the literature on business model innovation in this context is still scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore business model innovation driven by sustainability issues at a social enterprise operating in the Scandinavian electricity retail market. A single case study research approach is taken, and data are collected from sixteen individual interviews and two focus groups with executives, managers, and directors. The study contributes to business model innovation as an organizational change process as well as an outcome of this process. The findings show that business model innovation over time at social enterprises reflects a shift in focus from novelty, via lock-in of customers, to efficiency in internal management routines. Additionally, the study concludes that social enterprises with innovative business models driven by sustainability issues can introduce novel practices that lead to changes in the dominant business model of their industry. The study also suggests how social entrepreneurs might innovate their business models as they focus on environmental and social sustainability. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

As competition for their products increases, manufacturers have taken a greater interest in servitization. However, they face a difficult challenge when they try to develop service-oriented business models and design service value propositions that require a change in mind-set and new approaches. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory paper is to develop, apply, and evaluate an approach for service value proposition design that manufacturers can use in their transition from a primarily product-oriented business model to a more service-oriented business model. A qualitative research approach - the research through design approach - is taken in a case study of a Spanish machine tool manufacturer engaged in servitization. The findings of this research derive from a service design project at two of the manufacturer’s divisions. The empirical data consist of 45 artifacts (prototypes, visualizations, and models) from six workshops and six semi-structured interviews with key company managers. The paper analyzes various service design visualization tools in manufacturing, examines the design of service value propositions, and suggests avenues for additional research on the use of a systematic methodology for service value proposition design.