Alternatives for the eco-innovation of business models: A conceptual reference to valueholders

Abstract

Most of what we have seen to date related to eco-innovation of business models (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund and Hansen, 2012; Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013; Bocken et al., 2014; Morioka, Evans and de Carvalho, 2016) shows the importance of stakeholders. But we are living a renovated search for quick-and-stable-economic results. And this “search” may be conflicting our bet for building more sustainable business models. Lean Startup (LS) takes into consideration the needs of every stakeholder. It explores and prioritizes the stakeholders concentrating first on the “valueholders” to produce swift iterations and pivots of the original business model, aiming for its sustainability. With this conceptual paper we contribute to the extant literature on eco-innovation of business models presenting LS as a methodology that can provide speed and urgency to sustainable business modeling. And we open new options for research using LS as framework for sustainable business model innovation.