Purpose: Environmental sustainability was firstly thought to be an obstacle to economic development, whereas innovation promotes it. Nowadays, the contradiction between these two terms is less and the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the connection between environmental sustainability and eco-innovations as this can lead to a win to win procedure with the help of the relevant strategies that should be applicable based also on scientific evidence. Design – Methodology – Approach: This paper consists of four case studies in the sustainability and eco-innovation sector in Sweden. An abductive method is used. Emails were sent and phone calls were made to the companies. Skype and telephone interviews were conducted. Findings: The findings provide a practical contribution to the companies of how certain strategies can be implemented in businesses so as to connect environmental sustainability and eco-innovations. Moreover, the findings showed that barriers did not appear that could influence or change companies’ strategies. Research limitations / implications: This paper is only limited to one dimension of sustainability, that of the environment, besides focuses on eco-innovations that come from the gulf of the environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the thesis is limited in the strategies that businesses implement towards environmental sustainability and eco-innovations, as well as the potentials barriers that may come up. Practical Implications: The practical implications are identified to the actions / strategies that businesses follow towards environmental sustainability and eco-innovations. Originality – Value: This paper finds and fills the gap that many companies have as far as the non-comprehension of how environmental sustainability and eco-innovations are connected by the means of implementing specific strategies. Key Words: sustainability, innovation, eco-innovation, strategies for sustainability and eco-innovations, barriers. Paper: Master Thesis

Much of the existing body of literature analyzes the relationship between eco-innovations and financial performance. Our study differentiates from this literature, by focusing on the scarcely investigated Nordic context, by providing a holistic view on eco-innovations and finally by analyzing also the effects eco-innovations have on marker performance. This research focuses on three types of eco-innovations (eco-product, eco-process, and eco-organizational), and additionally brings standard innovations into the perspective. To measure the impact eco-innovations in general and its categorized types have on financial performance, a sample of 50 Nordic listed firms, spread from the year 2003-2019, was employed. Financial performance was measured with profitability accounting measures (return on equity, return on assets, and operating margin), while market performance was measured with the change in firms’ market value. Our results indicate that eco-innovations were generally associated with lower profitability returns, except in the case of eco-process innovations. Moreover, our findings interestingly showed, that market performance is positively affected by standard innovations and eco-organizational innovations. The findings suggest, that even when these types of innovations have no significant effect on profitability, investors still believe these innovations will increase the long-term real value of firms. Overall this study extends the discussion of eco-innovations to their effects on firm performance, based from an investor/shareholder perspective.

There is an emerging market of radical eco-innovations that require high involvement from the U.S. consumer for successful routinization. Yet, there exists a gap in knowledge that guides the dissemination of such innovations for related stakeholders. Among these innovations is the household digester (HD), which is marketed as an innovation capable of generating biogas and fertilizer through processing organic waste at its point-of-source (POS). The HD may surpass other high-involvement eco-innovations in respect to levels of involvement necessary for consumer routinization and sustained operation. However, previously unexplored factors within the contemporary U.S. landscape have spurred recent growth in HD adoption. This dissertation took a three-manuscript approach in the investigation of factors that influence the adoption and diffusion of HD in the U.S. The first of three studies tested a literature-based conceptual model framed within the multi-level perspective (MLP) to identify barriers and drivers of HD adoption. Qualitative data from expert interviews and social media posts inform the production of a taxonomy of complexities that depict the current state of HD in the U.S. Findings indicate that HD marketing during the Covid pandemic brought forth new adopter populations seeking resilience due to infrastructure distrust. The second study investigated motivations for HD adoption through operationalizing constructs from psychology literature and diffusion of innovation theory (DOI). Through in-depth interviews with adopters, the factors of relative advantage, compatibility, and cost were found to outweigh pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in adoption decisions. Furthermore, high-involvement was not found to influence adoption decisions. The final study employed a collective case study approach that explored paths to HD routinization among ten adopters. Results highlight the ability of adopters to overcome technical challenges through reinventions necessary for contextual adaptations. This dissertation contributes insights into the adoption and diffusion of radical high-involvement eco-innovations, offering implications for policy, practice, and future research in emerging innovations interacting within socio-technical transitions. / Doctor of Philosophy / A variety of emerging products are entering the U.S. consumer market that promote household sustainability, many of which require high levels of involvement from consumers for successful adoption. These high-involvement eco-innovations have been studied within the context of electric cars, organic foods, and other products that require extensive consumer research before purchase. However, this research focuses on a new product entering the U.S. market where involvement not only requires extensive pre-purchase research but also radical levels of interaction during operation and maintenance for successful product use. The household anaerobic digester is an apparatus that turns organic waste into cooking fuel and fertilizer. This innovation has been widely adopted in the developing world with some success, but technical issues during operation have been shown to result in discontinued use. This dissertation focuses on the adoption of household digesters in the U.S. Radical high-involvement eco-innovations need further scientific analysis to understand what factors might affect adoption, as well as explore the viability of such products entering a market where convenience is a social norm. This research aims to provide an analysis of this phenomenon through three studies. Chapter Two explores this new product and factors that may hinder or accelerate adoption in the U.S. Experts in the field of household digesters are interviewed for data collection, as well as analysis of social media posts where new adopters share information. This study aims to determine the social and technical complexities of Americans adopting household digesters. The Third Chapter assesses the purchase motivations of current adopters of household digesters in the U.S. This assessment takes place through interviews, where consumers provide information about their traits, values, and the degree to which they use the product to replace an existing technology. Chapter Four takes a further look at adopters to gain an understanding of paths to adoption and commonly shared practices that are employed to be successful in the adoption of household digesters. This study first presents the stories of each adopter and then provides a cross-case analysis that reveals commonalities of adopters regarding how paths to adoption often lead to shared practices for successful HD operation. The work is summarized in Chapter Five with conclusions, lessons learned, and recommendations for future research. This includes drawing connections between the three studies' findings and how the studies' chronology brought forth validation in the instruments used for data collection.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-06-21T12:56:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ADRIANA SALETE DANTAS DE FARIAS - TESE (PPGRN) 2014.pdf: 2045602 bytes, checksum: 607530916eec27e5338d07950b6dcd67 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-21T12:56:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ADRIANA SALETE DANTAS DE FARIAS - TESE (PPGRN) 2014.pdf: 2045602 bytes, checksum: 607530916eec27e5338d07950b6dcd67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / A incorporação de eco-inovações nas atividades produtivas de uma empresa pode favorecer o alcance de benefícios econômicos, ambientais e/ou sociais. Tomando como referência as atividades agrícolas da fruticultura de manga desenvolvida na região Submédio São Francisco, que são realizadas, em grande medida, visando atender ao mercado externo, e que por isso necessitam ser realizadas de maneira eficiente e, ao mesmo tempo, devem observar critérios de qualidade para garantir a segurança do alimento e, critérios ambientais, para minimizar o impacto da atividade; considera-se que, a utilização de eco-inovações nas empresas produtoras de manga da região pode contribuir para a sustentabilidade dessa atividade. Nesse sentido, foi objetivo desta pesquisa analisar os benefícios das eco-inovações adotadas nas atividades de fruticultura de manga da região Submédio São Francisco e suas contribuições para a sustentabilidade dessa atividade agrícola. Para suportar as análises relativas, foram utilizados dois constructos: para identificação e tipificação de eco-inovações e de seus benefícios foi utilizada a tipologia de eco-inovações de Könnölä, Carrillo-Hermosilla e Gonzalez (2008); e, para analisar a sustentabilidade da fruticultura de manga da região, foi utilizada a metodologia de cálculo do Índice de Desenvolvimento Sustentável – IDS, de Sepúlveda (2008). A partir da adaptação desses modelos teóricos visando à aplicação nas atividades da fruticultura de manga, foi desenvolvido um instrumento de coleta de dados, tipo formulário semi-estruturado, para orientar as visitas a empresas do setor na região, a fim de coletar informações sobre as variáveis definidas para avaliação da relação entre adoção de eco-inovações e sustentabilidade dessa atividade agrícola. Foram visitadas dez empresas produtoras e exportadoras de manga para coleta de dados primários. De acordo com os parâmetros ou com a escala de ponderação definidos, esses dados foram submetidos a análises qualitativas e/ou quantitativas. Como resultados da aplicação do modelo de eco-inovações na fruticultura de manga da região Submédio São Francisco verificou-se que a quantidade de eco-inovações adotadas pelas empresas da pesquisa é baixa, em relação às possibilidades disponíveis nas cinco dimensões do modelo utilizado. O tipo de benefício das eco-inovações adotadas é predominantemente econômico. O resultado do índice do desenvolvimento sustentável- IDS para a fruticultura de manga na região, de 0,51, caracteriza o estado instável dessa atividade. Assim, verificou-se que há uma relação efetiva entre a presença de eco-inovações e o estado da sustentabilidade da fruticultura de manga na região porque, à medida que poucas eco-inovações foram adotadas, priorizando o alcance de benefícios econômicos, isso se refletiu na avaliação do IDS da atividade, que indicou o estado da fruticultura de manga na região como “instável”, em termos de sustentabilidade. / The incorporation of eco-innovations in the productive activities of a company can enhance the achievement of economic, environmental and social benefits. With reference to productive activities of mango developed in the Submédio São Francisco region, which are held, largely to meet the foreign market, and therefore need to be accomplished efficiently and at the same time must comply with criteria quality to ensure food safety and environmental criteria, to minimize the impact of the activity; it is considered that the use of eco-innovations in mango production companies in the region can contribute to the sustainability of this activity. In this sense, this research objective was to analyze the benefits of eco-innovations adopted in the mango production activities of the Submédio São Francisco region and its contributions to the sustainability of agriculture. To support the analyses in both constructs were used: for identification and characterization of eco-innovations and their benefits we used the typology of eco-innovations by Könnölä, Carrillo-Hermosilla and Gonzalez (2008); and to analyze the sustainability of productive activities of mango in the region, we used the methodology of calculation of Sustainable Development Index – SDI, by Sepúlveda (2008). From the adaptation of theoretical models aimed at implementing the activities of production mango, we developed a data collection instrument, semi-structured type form, to guide the visits to companies in the sector in the region in order to collect information on variables set to assess the relationship between adoption of eco-innovations and sustainability of agriculture. Were visited ten companies exporters of mango to collect primary data. In accordance with the defined parameters or the weight scale, these data were subjected to qualitative and/or quantitative analysis. As an application of the results of the eco-innovation model in production mango in the Submédio São Francisco region, found that the amount of eco-innovations adopted by companies is low in relation to the possibilities available in the five dimensions of the model and, the type of benefits of eco-innovations adopted is predominantly economic. The result of the SDI for productive activities of mango in the region was 0.51, featuring the unstable state of this activity. Thus, it was found that there is an effective relationship between the presence of eco-innovations and the state of sustainability of productive activities of mango in the region because, as few ecoinnovations were adopted, prioritizing the economic benefits, this was reflected in the evaluation of SDI of activity, which indicated the state of the mango production in the region as "unstable", in terms of sustainability.

The researcher has investigated what factors influence a startup in an international public-private-partnership (PPP). The researcher has designed an exploratory study with a case study on Greenely, which is a Stockholm-based startup that has developed an application to monitor the household’s electricity consumption. The theoretical framework covers topics such as the diffusion of innovations (in particular eco-innovations in the form of smart meters in Europe), business models, the Business Model Canvas, and public-private-partnerships. The researcher conducted semistructured interviews with employees of the municipality of Cesena, Italy and with employees of Greenely, which is interested in expanding its offerings to Italy via partnerships. This study has shown that the factors that should influence a  tartup in an international PPP are, mainly, five: Funding, Language and cultural identity, Timeline, Common vision and Bureaucracy. The factors “Funding” and “Common vision”, in particular, influence the PPP the most.