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Get it off the ground – Facilitating water-related environmental measures to support agricultural managers in business model innovation processes for sustainability
Halmstad University, School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability. (Avdelningen för miljö- och biovetenskap, Department of Environment and Biosciences)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2848-7717
2023 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Agricultural businesses, which currently maintain, manage, create, and capture economic value from natural resources on farmland, play an important role in creating sustainable economic, environmental, and social value through maintaining and utilising a variety of ecosystem services in addition to traditional food production. This thesis focuses on ecosystem services that derive from water-related environmental measures (WREMs). This focus is motivated by a growing awareness of WREMs in the agricultural landscape, and of their connection to climate effects and water quantity and quality issues, which have substantial societal impact. Even though many agricultural business managers have a genuine interest in sustainability concerns, they tend to favour food production at the cost of providing other ecosystem services. Part of the explanation is that ecosystem services’ ability to provide social and environmental value for the public good often lacks full-cost accounting and clear market demand. This results in uncertainties among agricultural business managers about how to capture economic value from WREMs and associated ecosystem services, leading to their benefits and value being only partly known or only indirectly connected to the main agricultural production, and therefore not included in current business models to any great extent.

Business models can be developed to enable value capture from WREMs through the business model innovation process for sustainability (BMIpfS). The BMIpfS identifies changes of current activities and adapts existing business models to support sustainable development and produce positive (or reduce negative) environmental effects on society, while producing long-term prosperity for businesses and their stakeholders. Due to the wide range of activities and stakeholders, the BMIpfS is complex and needs to be incentivised and facilitated. To provide sufficient facilitation for the BMIpfS initiation, underlying barriers and drivers for business managers’ value intention (their business motives) for the BMIpfS need to be explored. Facilitation based on the value intention of business managers can ease the process and be used to support identification of value not yet captured in business models, as well as provide expertise to identify marketable sustainable products and services beyond existing markets. Facilitation can be managed through government-affiliated intermediaries who are in a favourable position to assess local conditions, identify needs and resources, and develop partnerships with stakeholders that align with current agri-environmental programmes. To facilitate sustainable business commitments in agriculture, a better understanding is needed of how government-affiliated intermediaries can support implementation of WREMs and promote the BMIpfS initiation by aligning agricultural business managers’ value intention with societal sustainability goals. Consequently, the overarching aim of this thesis is to explore how the facilitation of WREMs can support the BMIpfS through an improved understanding of (i) the value intention of agricultural business managers and (ii) how government-affiliated intermediaries can facilitate the process initiation.

This thesis builds on four sequential studies, all conducted within external research projects. The first two are qualitative interview studies that build on each other to inductively explore agricultural business mangers’ incentives for taking on more long-term and high-effort WREMs and committing to value capture of sustainability-related measures. They identify barriers and drivers as part of the agricultural business managers’ value intention and analyse its connection to the BMIpfS initiation. The third study is quantitative and was conducted through a survey that more deductively explores how opportunities for sustainable value creation and business model innovation through WREMs can be facilitated to align with the managers’ value intention that emerged in the first two studies. Finally, the fourth study is a qualitative interview study that takes an evaluative approach to further clarify how the facilitation of WREMs can be structured and organised to promote BMIpfS initiation in agriculture.  

The results of this research show that business change incentives for sustainability activities are part of pre-initiation conditions of the BMIpfS through the value intention of business managers. The value intention is clarified as business managers’ (i) identification as producers of value, (ii) difficulties identifying uncaptured sustainability value, and (iii) prioritisation of profitability and practical benefits. Adding value intention to a pre-initiation process phase contributes to the BMIpfS literature by providing a better understanding of how to support the BMIpfS initiation and promote more long-term and high-effort sustainability commitments, and value creating and capturing activities, among business managers. The results also show how WREM commitments and initiation of the BMIpfS can be facilitated through government-affiliated intermediaries. The government-affiliated intermediation is explained as comprising structures and activities to promote: (i) WREMs that include synergy between environmental and business aspects from a long-term perspective on value creating and capturing activities; (ii) flexible approaches adapted to business managers’ needs, that promote autonomy, trust, and sense of control; and (iii) structured collaboration and networks for knowledge exchange between stakeholders on different societal levels. With the value intention of business managers as a foundation, these results complement previous research on government-affiliated intermediaries and show how they can be structured to facilitate sustainable agricultural business activities and promote the BMIpfS initiation in line with societal sustainability targets. 

To integrate its results, this thesis develops a framework that advances the understanding of how to facilitate business model innovation towards sustainability and capture a wider range of value from ecosystem services. Through facilitation, innovation of business models towards sustainability can be promoted to realise currently uncaptured value that could benefit business revenues and societal goals. In this way, agriculture could continue to provide the world’s population with food, in line with the goals of sustainable development, but with an expanded approach so that food production becomes a basis on which to build business activities that also improve the conditions for several other goals, such as protection of ecosystems and water resources.

Abstract [sv]

Lantbruksföretag skapar ekonomiska värden genom att bruka naturresurser och förvalta ekosystemtjänster, främst i form av livsmedelsproduktion. Lantbruket har även en viktig funktion att fylla för att skapa ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala hållbarhetsvärden genom att främja och nyttja en rad andra ekosystemtjänster. Från samhällets sida finns en efterfrågan på ekosystemtjänster från vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder som minskar klimatgasutsläpp och förbättrar förutsättningar för vattenkvantitet och kvalitet. Men även om många lantbruksföretagare har ett genuint intresse för hållbarhetsfrågor tenderar de att prioritera värdeskapande från livsmedelproduktion. En av förklaringarna är att det saknas marknadsefterfrågan för hållbarhetsåtgärder som gynnar det allmänna intresset, vilket skapar osäkerhet bland lantbruksföretagarna för hur de kan omsätta vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder i deras nuvarande affärsmodeller.

Affärsmodeller kan genomgå en innovationsprocess för att utvecklas i en hållbarhetsriktning. Innovationsprocessen kan möjliggöra att affärsmodellerna fångar upp ekonomiskt värde, från hållbarhetåtgärder efterfrågade av samhället, genom företagsaktiviteter som ger positiv, eller minskar negativ, miljöpåverkan, samtidigt som de skapar lönsamhet för företaget och gynnar dess intresse. Affärsmodellsinnovation för hållbarhet är dock en komplex process som behöver motiveras och faciliteras. För att anpassa faciliteringen behöver företagarnas upplevda hinder och drivkrafter för att utveckla sina affärsmodeller utforskas. Dessa hinder och drivkrafter utgör en del av grunden för företagarnas värdeintention, m.a.o. deras affärsmässiga motiv för att genomföra affärsmodellsinnovation i en hållbarhetsriktning. Facilitering i linje med företagarnas värdeintention kan underlätta initiering av innovationsprocessen, genom anpassat stöd och förslag på företagsaktiviteter som inbegriper ekosystemtjänster, ännu inte inkluderade i affärsmodellen, och hur dessa kan marknadsföras på, och bortom, befintliga marknader. Faciliteringen kan genomföras via offentligt finansierade samordnare med uppgift att fungera som mellanhänder mellan officiella regelverk och företag. Samordnarna kan bedöma lokala förutsättningar, identifiera behov och resurstillgångar, samt etablera kontakter med intressenter i linje med de strategiska planerna för företagens miljöarbete.

För att underlätta hållbara företagsåtaganden inom lantbruket, behövs en bättre förståelse för hur offentligt finansierade samordnare kan stödja implementeringen av vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder. Vidare behövs kunskap om hur samordnarna kan främja initiering av innovationsprocesser, där affärsmodeller utvecklas mot hållbarhet, genom att finna synergier mellan lantbruksföretagarnas värdeintention och samhällets hållbarhetsmål. Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är därför att undersöka hur facilitering av vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder kan stödja initiering av innovationsprocesser för förändring av affärsmodeller mot hållbarhet genom en ökad förståelse för (i) lantbruksföretagares värdeintention och (ii) hur offentligt finansierade samordnare kan facilitera processinitieringen.

Avhandlingen bygger på fyra sekventiella studier, alla genomförda inom forskningsprojekt med extern finansiering. De två första är kvalitativa intervjustudier som bygger på varandra för att induktivt utforska lantbruksföretagares incitament för att skapa värde från större och mer långsiktiga vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder. I studierna identifieras hinder och drivkrafter som en del av lantbruksföretagarnas värdeintention och kopplingen till initiering av innovationsprocessen för att utveckla affärsmodeller i en hållbarhetsriktning analyseras. Den tredje studien utforskar möjligheterna för hur hållbart värdeskapande och affärsmodellsinnovation kan underlättas genom att matchas med den värdeintention som framkom i de två första studierna. I studien tillämpas en deduktiv ansats med enkäter och kvantifierade resultat. Slutligen tar den fjärde studien en utvärderande utgångspunkt när den genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie undersöker hur facilitering av vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder kan struktureras och organiseras för att främja affärsmodellsinnovation för hållbarhet inom lantbruket.

Resultaten visar att incitament för hållbara företagsåtaganden föregås av en pre-initieringsfas där lantbruksföretagarnas värdeintention skapar förutsättning för genomförandet av innovationsprocesser där affärsmodeller utvecklas i en hållbarhetsriktning. Värdeintention som koncept förtydligas genom lantbruksföretagarnas (i) definition av sig själva som värdeskapande producenter, (ii) svårigheter att identifiera nya hållbarhetsvärden, och (iii) prioritering av lönsamhetsaspekter och åtgärder som underlättar produktionen. Genom att inkludera värdeintention till pre-initieringsfasen ökar avhandlingen förståelsen av hur initiering av innovationsprocesser för hållbarhet kan stimuleras så att mer omfattande och långsiktiga hållbarhetsåtaganden inkluderas i affärsmodeller.

Resultaten visar också att offentligt finansierade samordnare kan underlätta initiering av innovationsprocessen av affärsmodeller mot hållbarhet genom att främja implementering av vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder. Samordnarnas roll som mellanhänder förtydligas genom identifiering av strukturer och aktiviteter som främjar (i) vattenrelaterade miljöåtgärder som inkluderar synergier mellan hållbarhets- och företagsaspekter utifrån långsiktiga lönsamhetsperspektiv, (ii) flexibla arbetssätt anpassade utefter lantbruksföretagarnas behov och som därmed främjar självständighet, förtroendeskapande och egenbestämmande, och (iii) strukturerat samarbete i nätverk för kunskapsutbyte mellan intressenter på olika samhällsnivåer.

Genom dessa resultat kompletterar avhandlingen tidigare forskning om facilitering av innovationsprocesser och visar hur samordnarnas arbete, med lantbruksföretagarnas värdeintention som grund, kan struktureras för att underlätta hållbarhetsåtaganden i lantbruket och främja innovationsprocesser av affärsmodeller i linje med samhälleliga hållbarhetsmål.

I avhandlingen integreras resultaten i ett ramverk som bidrar till förståelsen för hur facilitering av affärsmodellsinnovation för hållbarhet kan underlättas så att värde från fler ekosystemtjänster kan bevaras och tillvaratas. Facilitering av innovationsprocesser som driver innovation av affärsmodeller i en hållbarhetsriktning kan främja identifiering av nya värden som skulle kunna gynna både företagens intäkter och samhällets mål. På så sätt skulle lantbruket kunna bibehålla sin betydelsefulla roll som livsmedelsförsörjare åt världens befolkning i linje med de globala hållbarhetsmålen, samtidigt som livsmedelsproduktionen blir en bas för nya åtaganden som skapar värde och förbättrar förutsättningarna för en rad andra hållbarhetsmål, så som skyddandet av ekosystem och vattenresurser.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Halmstad: Halmstad University Press, 2023. , p. 90
Series
Halmstad University Dissertations ; 106
Keywords [en]
Sustainable value creation, Business model innovation, Facilitation, Agriculture, Water management, Ecosystem services
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-52216ISBN: 978-91-89587-25-0 (electronic)ISBN: 978-91-89587-26-7 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-52216DiVA, id: diva2:1818856
Public defence
2024-01-19, S1022, S-huset, Kristian IV:s väg 3, Halmstad, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2023-12-13 Created: 2023-12-12 Last updated: 2023-12-13Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Landowners’ incentives for constructing wetlands in an agricultural area in south Sweden
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Landowners’ incentives for constructing wetlands in an agricultural area in south Sweden
2012 (English)In: Journal of Environmental Management, ISSN 0301-4797, E-ISSN 1095-8630, Vol. 113, p. 271-278Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea has in Sweden led to the initiation of government schemes aiming to increase wetland areas in agricultural regions and thereby reduce nutrient transport to the sea. Landowners play a significant role as providers of this ecosystem service and are currently offered subsidies to cover their costs for constructing and maintaining wetlands. We undertook a grounded theory study, in which landowners were interviewed, aiming at identifying landowners’ incentives for constructing wetlands on their land. The study showed that adequate subsidies, additional services that the wetland could provide to the landowner, local environmental benefits, sufficient knowledge, and peers’ good experiences could encourage landowners to construct wetlands. Perceived hindrances were burdensome management, deficient knowledge, time-consuming application procedures and unclear effectiveness of nutrient reduction. The main reason for not creating a wetland, however, was that the land was classified as productive by the landowner, i.e., suitable for food production. Current schemes are directed toward landowners as individuals and based on subsidies to cover costs. We propose that landowners instead are approached as ecosystem service entrepreneurs and contracted after a tendering process based on nutrient reduction effects. This would lead to new definitions of production and may stimulate improved design and placement of wetlands.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
London: Academic Press, 2012
Keywords
Constructed wetlands, Ecosystem services, Entrepreneurs, Eutrophication, Farmers
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-19593 (URN)10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.09.008 (DOI)000313153000029 ()23064246 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-84867234810 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2012-09-12 Created: 2012-09-12 Last updated: 2023-12-12Bibliographically approved
2. Barriers and drivers for sustainable business model innovation based on a radical farmland change scenario
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Barriers and drivers for sustainable business model innovation based on a radical farmland change scenario
2023 (English)In: Environment, Development and Sustainability, ISSN 1387-585X, E-ISSN 1573-2975, Vol. 25, no 8, p. 8083-8106Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The agricultural sector has a critical role in creating social and environmental value of natural resources in addition to its traditional role of creating economic value by supplying food to the ever-increasing world population. In fulfilling this dual role, the agricultural sector often faces competing pressures: to operate financially profitable businesses and to create, maintain, and benefit from ecosystem services (ES) in their operations. This paper analyses these pressures in an examination of drivers and barriers to the initiation of the business model innovation process for sustainability (BMIpfS) as perceived by ten agricultural business managers who operate farms in southern Sweden. The paper explores the interplay between managerial cognition and business decisions as revealed in semi-structured interviews. The new ES in focus connect to radical land-use change, paludiculture, as used in the rewetting of farmland intended to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drained peat soil causes. The paper contributes to the literature by identifying drivers and barriers that moderates the initiation of the BMIpfS. Although the managers acknowledge the importance of long-term, sustainable social, and environmental value creation, they have grave doubts about the profitability of activities associated with the preservation of peat soils and connected ES. These managers would benefit from taking a more proactive, long-term approach to business model changes for sustainability and from acquiring more knowledge about market demand for sustainability-oriented ES. Successful facilitation and implementation of knowledge transfer and government subsidies that support ES could improve the turning of profits based on sustainable value creation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Dordrecht: Springer, 2023
Keywords
Business model innovation process, Sustainable value creation, Agricultural businesses, Rewetting of peat soils, Ecosystem services
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-46940 (URN)10.1007/s10668-022-02389-1 (DOI)000795192200001 ()2-s2.0-85132617656 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 155-2014-1745
Note

Funding: Open access funding provided by Halmstad University.

Available from: 2022-06-07 Created: 2022-06-07 Last updated: 2023-12-12Bibliographically approved
3. Facilitation of water-related environmental measures to support business model innovation for sustainability in agricultural business
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Facilitation of water-related environmental measures to support business model innovation for sustainability in agricultural business
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-52219 (URN)
Note

Som manuskript i avhandling / As manuscript in thesis

Available from: 2023-12-13 Created: 2023-12-13 Last updated: 2023-12-13Bibliographically approved
4. Structuring government-affiliated intermediation to facilitate water-related environmental measures in agricultural businesses
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Structuring government-affiliated intermediation to facilitate water-related environmental measures in agricultural businesses
2023 (English)In: p. 1-22Article in journal (Other academic) Submitted
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-52220 (URN)
Note

Som manuskript i avhandling/As manuscript in thesis

Available from: 2023-12-13 Created: 2023-12-13 Last updated: 2024-08-21Bibliographically approved

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Get it off the ground - Thesis - Anna M Hansson(1858 kB)222 downloads
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