Companies in the agri-food sector are under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable business models that consider not only economic but also both social and environmental aspects. This paper examines how Swedish food producers use sustainable business models to innovate their businesses. The empirical data comes from a telephone survey with 204 companies and from case studies of 4 companies. A conceptual framework regarding sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) and a eight sustainable business model archetypes are used to map and analyse the sustainability innovation practices and the sustainable business models. The results show a surprisingly sustainable business focus taken by many companies, which is not only on optimization, but also on organizational transformation and on systems building. The results show the companies vary as far as which archetypes they match. The most common archetype matches are ‘Maximise material and energy efficiency’ and ‘Adopt a stewardship role’. Only 10% measure success solely in financial terms, while 80% measure success in financial terms as well as social and environmental terms. Another conclusion is that companies in the agri-food sector have unique characteristics and the value intention of the entrepreneurs is an important building block in sustainable business model innovation. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

This article explores the roles of leadership, vision, and empowerment in two Swedish born global companies. Using case studies and interviews with employees and managers, the article examines how managers can lead their companies by creating a vision and empowering their employees. The findings indicate that a company vision should reflect a culture that supports the employees’ daily activities and decisions. A leadership style that features delegation of responsibility and recognition of employee work autonomy empowers employees in a way that can advance the development and internationalization of the born global company, especially in situations when top managers are often away from company headquarters. © 2017 The Author(s)

El presente artículo explora la influencia que ejercen el liderazgo y la visión compartida sobre el empoderamiento en empleados de empresas nacidas globales. Estudios de caso, basados en entrevistas con empleados y gerentes, examinaron la manera como los directivos pueden dirigir y desarrollar sus empresas, a través de la definición de una visión compartida y el empoderamiento de sus empleados. Este estudio indica que una visión compartida de la empresa debe verse reflejada en una cultura que apoya las actividades cotidianas y las decisiones de los empleados. En una empresa nacida global, donde el gerente se encuentra ausente gran parte del tiempo, el estilo de liderazgo debe estar orientado a la delegación de responsabilidades y la autonomía en el trabajo de los empleados, que los empodere para contribuir al desarrollo e internacionalización de la empresa.

The booming Chinese construction market has created both economic growth and environmental problems. Some 65 000 buildings in Europe have been constructed in accordance with the voluntary construction standard called Passive House that aims for energy efficiency. In China, however, by 2015, only twenty such projects were planned and only two Passive House projects were completed. In this paper we identify and describe the barriers to the diffusion and adoption of Passive House construction in China. We review the relevant literature (Chinese and Western) and conduct two case studies of Passive House construction in China. Two broad groups of barriers the bounded rationality of construction developers/managers and the high transaction costs of green innovation are found to be most responsible for the slow diffusion and adoption of the Passive House concept in China. Unless these barriers are overcome, prospects for the advance of green technology in the Chinese construction market are unfavourable. © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Considerable debate and discussion exist on the effectiveness and relevance of various management development models/approaches/methods intended to support companies and their managers. In recent years management researchers have described successful network collaborations among companies that increase managerial capability, effect positive change, and promote beneficial development. However, the literature has not fully explored the fundamental principles and learning outcomes of learning networks in this context. As a result, organisers (or providers) of management development courses and programs lack the needed resources that help them create effective learning environments. This paper describes an informal management development approach known as the learning network in which SME managers share experiences and ideas in a learning network characterised by mutual trust and purposeful collaboration.

The purpose of this article is to deepen our understanding of what we know about business model innovation in the agri-food sector, both from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective. The methodological approach used in the paper is built on interviews, focus groups and observations of agricultural entrepreneurs and agricultural advisors in the agriculture sector and a review of over 500 peer-reviewed research papers for the period 1990-2014. The findings of the study indicate that entrepreneurs within the agri-food sector ought to shift focus from only a producer perspective to also include an entrepreneurial perspective, e.g. to focus on business model innovation. Based on this knowledge the authors present implications for research and practice. The research field is young and broad, but developing, and in need of stronger theoretical foundations. This article is based on a combination of a systematic literature review of a new emerging field as well as empirical in-depth interviews, focus groups and observations. © 2016, IGI Global.

Purpose

Because the business model is a fairly new concept, research is lacking on business model innovation in certain industry sectors. One such sector is the agri-food sector. Using a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles published from 1990 to 2014, this paper examines the where, when, and how of the use of business models and business model innovation in the agri-food sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A web-based search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed journal articles that contained a combination of “business model” or “business model innovation” with agriculture-related and food-related terms (e.g., “agri-food sector”). After winnowing out irrelevant and duplicate articles, 505 articles were chosen for analysis.

Findings

Using categories, the paper analyses various data about the selected articles. The categories include research settings, units of analysis, methodologies, and theories. Based on this analysis, the paper finds that these agri-food sector articles are primarily qualitative, empirical studies that focus on one or a few companies (i.e., case studies). The paper also finds that theory is not yet well developed in the research on the agri-food sector.

Originality/value

Systematic literature reviews of various concepts, theories, and models are common in many fields (e.g., information/software technology, healthcare, and organizational management). However, no such review is available for the agri-food sector, in particular in its use of business models and business model innovation. This paper addresses that gap with its review of relevant articles published in more than 300 journals in recent years. Based on this review, the paper draws conclusions about business model innovation in the agri-food sector and offers suggestions for future research. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Swedish agricultural companies, especially small farms, are struggling to be profitable in difficult economic times. It is a challenge for Swedish farmers to compete with imported products on prices. The agricultural industry, however, supports the view that through business model innovation, farms can increase their competitive advantage. This paper identifies and describes some of the barriers Swedish small farms encounter when they consider business model innovation. A qualitative approach is used in the study. Agriculture business consultants were interviewed. In a focus group led by the researchers, farmers discussed business model innovation, including the exogenous and endogenous barriers to such innovation. The paper concludes many barriers exist when farmers consider innovation of agricultural business models. Some barriers are caused by human factors, such as individuals’ attitudes, histories, and traditions. Other barriers are more contextual in nature and relate to a particular industry or company setting. Still other barriers, such as government regulations, value chain position, and weather, are more abstract. All barriers, however, merit attention when Swedish agricultural companies develop new business models. © 2015 by the authors.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to better understand the management challenges facing managers in small growing firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data have been collected in Sweden through structured observations (approx. 20,000 min) of the working days of six top managers in fast- and six managers in slow-growing small manufacturing firms in order to compare managerial behaviour in two different contexts.

Findings

Managers in small firms are engaged in many different activities, but a small number of activities tend to take up the majority of the managers’ time. These activities can be classified as either operational or administrative. There are notably small differences (both in variance and differentiation) between the behaviours of managers in fast- and slow-growing firms; actually, there are more similarities than differences. There is also surprisingly little time spent by the managers on strategic work, even in the group of fast-growing firms. This might explain why growth and innovation in many cases come to a halt or even decline in these firms and represents such a challenge for the managers when they do not prioritize strategic work.

Originality/value

The study shows that managerial work in small firms is characterized by a generic behaviour and that the managers mainly use a habitual and limited behavioural repertoire. Many managers have difficulties in changing their mainly operational and administrative behaviour and thus the underlying strategy of the firm. They are ‘stuck’ in a path-dependency mindset, even though the development of the firm might require another strategy taken by the manager, as a response to meet environmental demands. © 2015 Tell

There has for decades been a discussion about the effectiveness and relevance of different management development methods in order to support companies to grow and develop. Management literature in recent years has made several references to successful collaborations between companies in different network constellations in order to enhance managerial capability, as well as to create change and development. However, the underlying idea and learning outcomes when using networks as a management development method have not been explicitly discussed in the literature. This makes it difficult for providers of management training to know how to organize and effectively apply the benefits of networks to create an effective learning environment.

In order to understand the benefits of using networks as a development method, providers of management training must take as a point of departure the day-to-day work of managers, as well as their high concern for tasks into consideration. This in combination with an action-oriented learning environment constitutes the idea behind using a network approach to provide effective management training. The guiding organizing principles then become to review and to reflect on managerial experiences through a trustful dialogue whereby the provider of the training acts as a facilitator.

This conceptual paper focuses on the need for knowledge in leadership, organization and innovative thinking that exist in primary production throughout the value chain from the farm to the final consumer. There are also needs in terms of improving and developing the entire value chain from the farm to the final consumer. Self-leadership and lean innovation is in this paper proposed to enhance the possibilities for business model innovation in the food production. The aims of the paper are two folded; Firstly, the aim is to present a framework containing self-leadership and lean innovation and how these theoretical approaches can facilitate and shape business model innovation in the agricultural sector. Secondly, the aim is to show a way of working with this problem area in order to meet these needs in the agricultural sector. A framework for business model innovation is presented as well as an interactive research design addressing the problem area in terms of action research in which learning networks is an important concept. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research challenges.