Syfte: I takt med att hållbarhet blivit en alltmer viktig fråga har forskare försökt finna medlande variabler mellan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) och den finansiella prestationen (FP), då lönsamhet är en av de mest betydelsefulla faktorerna för företag. Som ett led i forskningen har innovation uppdagats vara en medlande variabel eftersom CSR och innovation antyds uppnå maximalt värde för företag när de slås ihop. Vidare ses innovation förekomma i störst grad hos industriföretag. Med grund för detta är föreliggande studiens syfte att undersöka hur stark CSR och innovations kausala samband är genom att se till både CSRs påverkan på innovation, samt innovations påverkan på CSR hos industriföretag. Det vill säga om det existerar ett dubbelriktat kausalt samband som visar på en positiv spiral.  Metod: Studien tar avstamp från positivismen med en hypotetisk-deduktiv ansats. Vidare baseras studien på en kvantitativ metod och har utifrån en longitudinell design inhämtat data från Thomson Reuters. Datan representerar ett urval av 569 publika och globala bolag för tio år, vilka sedan har analyserats i statistikprogrammet SPSS.  Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar ett existerande dubbelriktat kausalt samband hos industriföretag, där vi dels kan se att bolagsstyrning- och miljödimensionen inom CSR utgör den främsta påverkan på företagens investeringar i innovation, som i sin tur utgör störst effekt på miljödimensionen inom CSR.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning:Några förslag på vidare forskning är att inkludera andra mått av CSR eftersom det existerar flertalet olika mätningar. Vi ser även att vidare forskning kan studera sambandet mellan CSR och innovation hos icke börsnoterade bolag för att möjliggöra ett ännu mer generaliserbart resultat, samt studera hur lönsamheten påverkas i det dubbelriktade sambandet mellan CSR och innovation. Uppsatsens bidrag:Studien bidrar främst med att fylla det forskningsgap som finns gällande CSRs samband med innovation genom att se till CSRs dimensioner, samt till industribranschen. Studien kan ge bevis för att företag som ser variablerna som två separata aktiviteter drar större fördel att istället förena strategierna till en.

Le 1er Juin 2007 l’union européenne met en place REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals), un des règlements les plus ambitieux jamais mis en place au niveau européen. Cette réglementation introduit une nouvelle philosophie dans la manière de concevoir la protection environnementale et sanitaire. Selon le préambule du règlement, l’objectif de REACH consiste « à assurer un niveau élevé de protection de la santé humaine et de l’environnement, tout en améliorant la compétitivité et l’innovation ». Aussi, le règlement vise à concilier des enjeux à priori antagonistes, grâce aux innovations environnementales qu’il induirait. En ce sens, REACH apparaît comme un objet d’étude privilégié pour analyser les effets d’une réglementation environnementale sur les stratégies d’innovations des entreprises. Dans cette perspective, nous étudierons les mécanismes du règlement REACH qui sont susceptibles de favoriser le développement des innovations environnementales. A travers une étude empirique originale réalisée auprès des entreprises en région PACA, nous déterminerons, d’une part, les mécanismes qui favorisent de nouvelles opportunités technologiques et commerciales dans le domaine de l’environnement et de la santé, et, d’autre part, ceux qui stimulent une demande de qualité environnementale. Enfin nous analyserons l’influence des attributs de la réglementation REACH sur la dynamique technologique et industrielle à partir d’un modèle multi-Agent. Ce cadre de modélisation s’avère particulièrement pertinent pour tenir compte du caractère stochastique et complexe des processus qui gouvernent les stratégies d’innovations des agents soumis à la pression de la réglementation REACH. / On 1 June 2007 the European Union set up REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals), one of the most ambitious regulations. This regulation establishes a new philosophy of how to design environmental protection and health. According to the preamble to the Regulation, the objective of REACH is "to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment while enhancing competitiveness and innovation." REACH has been designed to balance environmental objectives with competitiveness aims, and has the scope to induce the adoption of eco-Innovation as a side effect of the regulation itself. For this reasons, REACH appears as a privileged object of study to analyse the effects of environmental regulation on the innovation. In this regard, we analyse the innovation-Friendly mechanisms of REACH to promote the development of environmental innovations. From an unique original survey on REACH regulation, we study, one the hand, mechanisms to promote new opportunities in the field of environment and health, and, the other hand, those that stimulate demand for environmental quality. Finally, we analyse the impact of the attributes of the REACH regulation on technological and industrial dynamics from an agent-Based model (ABM). The ABM provide a powerful tool for exploring such complex and stochastic systems as innovation, and allow modelling the behaviour of heterogeneous agents, technological diversity and the change in selection environment that result from policy measures.

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

This study was conducted to explore the external sources of knowledge that are present around the eco-innovation firms. Our study has focused on eco-innovations with the aim  to find sustainable solutions, leading the reduction in greenhouse gases, on the extraction of renewable energy sources, since studies have indicated a link between the industrialization and the impact on the climate.  The purpose formulated for this study was to explore the external sources of knowledge that are present around the eco-innovation firms. By conducting this exploratory study we will contribute to existing research by adding empirical evidence to identifying what the external sources of knowledge are and further explore what kind of knowledge eco-innovation firms gain from these external sources. The participating companies in the study was chosen since they represent Swedish firms in the development of eco-innovations with the goal to minimize the environmental impact.  We conducted the thesis with a qualitative approach and the empirical data was gathered from four different companies in the field of wave and tidal power. The four interviews were executed through telephone interviews with both the researches acting as interviewers. The respondents were either the CEO of the company or a board member, since these persons were most likely to possess the relevant information for this study.  In our study we have found the external sources of knowledge to be of significant importance to the eco-innovation firms. Based on our theoretical framework, we have identified the external assets as suppliers, customers, competitors, governmental actors and research institutions. These external sources have different importance depending on the character of the knowledge that is gained. The external sources showed to contribute with important knowledge in areas of R&D capabilities, technology development, market orientation and regulation. By assessing the external sources of knowledge firms will unlock great potential knowledge that would otherwise be very costly. A conclusion was that as eco-innovation firms acquire knowledge by their external assets in parallel there are signals, unconsciously communicated going out to the external environment. Since our study has shown that academic experience among the founders seemed to have been helping the firms in their contact with governmental actors in order to attract subsidies and in the approval process for test sites, this indicates that what seems to be communicated from within the eco-innovation firms to their external environment is certain legitimacy, credibility and reputation that strengthen the relationship with governmental actors. This study was performed as a multiple case study on four different eco-innovation firms working with development of technology to extract energy from renewable energy sources in terms of wave and tidal power. Our choice to only interview one person on each firm, due to a limited time frame and resources, might make it hard to generalize the findings since there is a possibility of biased data. Other limitations that make it hard to draw to much from the results are the fact of focusing on a limited area on eco-innovation in only one country, since regulations play an important role this might differ between different countries.

Background: The background to the study is found in the recent development of applying circularity on traditional processes to support sustainability and reduce food waste. Especially the saturated food industry is in need of innovation (Cooper, 2011) and it is seen as beneficial to foster eco-innovation through collaboration with others, in particular between small and large enterprises rather than them doing it alone (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010). These networks however are complex and eventually require special attention. Research question: How do representatives of small enterprises and a global operating company view challenges in collaborating on sustainability driven projects? Aim: Gaining insight on how an established company with environmental conscious agenda collaborates with sustainable idea providers that have sustainability at the core of their operations. Method: This thesis is conducted with a qualitative case study using abductive reasoning given its exploratory style of execution. The empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews. As epistemological direction social constructionism is chosen, which puts into focus that social interactions between social actors create shared meaning and realities. Conclusion: It is identified how the case company’s collaborations with different stakeholders are impacted by challenges related to industry impact, process mobility and the ability to scale. Especially of importance is the selection of partners regarding shared sustainable values prior to start. After all, the mentioned challenges are eventually not seen as challenges but still are seen as important to achieve sustainable innovations that impact the company’s food handling.

The large environmental issues that are confronting modern society underscore that a critical shift is needed and there is an increasing demand for sustainable solutions to tackle these challenges. Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, outlined by the United Nations, encompasses 17 universal goals and 169 transformative targets that address the global challenges and emphasise the urgency of environmental degradation. In addressing the substantial environmental challenges, radical solutions are needed where eco-innovations will play a pivotal role. Eco-innovations are characterized by novelty and often new to the market, representing a risky and costly activity for companies. Managing environmental and financial performance becomes complex where addressing both goals simultaneously becomes conflicting.      To address the identified research gap the purpose of this study is to analyse how companies manage environmental and financial performance in eco-innovation, especially early in the innovation process. Conflicting perspectives and scattered research underscore the need for a nuanced understanding of how companies manage the tensions inherent in financial and environmental performance in eco-innovation. Paradox theory served as a theoretical lens to gain a deeper understanding of how companies manage the conflicting perspectives that can arise when balancing environmental and financial performance simultaneously. To address the research question and understand the complex interplay that organisations working with eco-innovation are facing, a qualitative method with an inductive approach was chosen. Semi-structured interviews were held with companies mainly working on reducing environmental impact through innovative activities.  The data collected from the semi-structured interviews were analysed through thematic analysis, it resulted in two main strategies that companies use to balance environmental and financial performance in eco-innovation: (1) Buying time through money (2) Future-proof customer demand which we interpret with the resolution strategy from paradox theory. The result indicated that companies that are buying time through money are facing a tension between saving the budget or saving the planet. The tension arises from the absence of strict regulations resulting in a market where demand is lacking and is not yet ready to embrace the radical eco-innovation. This time gap resulting in a lack of demand and our findings indicated that companies are handling this time gap by finding external resources until the market is ready which is coherent with a separation strategy from paradox theory.   The second strategy of future-proof customer demand indicates that companies are facing tension between being commercial or being sustainable. Companies are facing a mature market with price sensitive customers, suffering from fear of regulations and regulations that are not fit for purpose. The solution is to secure sales with an end-customer to reduce the financial uncertainty to be able to balance environmental and financial performance early in the innovation process before (if at all) the innovation starts generating profit. This aligns with a synthesis strategy from paradox theory.

Actuellement, l’industrie chimique est confrontée au défi de la production durable qui exige une évolution depuis la réduction de polluants pour les procédés existants vers une écologie industrielle qui permet l’équilibre entre le développement économique, sociale et environnemental. Ajouté aux exigences actuelles pesant sur la conception des procédés, la prise en compte des contraintes environnementales dès la phase amont du processus de conception. Cette exigence clé couplée aux enjeux actuels pour la conception préliminaire ont conduit à des changements par rapport à la conception classique des procédés, il y a un accent accru sur la recherche d’innovation et d’écoinnovation pour développer des nouveaux concepts, de nouvelles technologies et de nouveaux procédés. La question centrale sur la façon d’améliorer la créativité dans la phase de conception préliminaire nécessite des recherches plus poussées sur les méthodologies d’aide à la génération de solutions innovante et éco-innovante. Ainsi, dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons développé une méthodologie pour la formulation et la résolution de problèmes d’éco-innovation basée sur une approche à base de conflits. Ce cadre permet de traiter les exigences multi-objectifs et la nature combinatoire complexe de la phase de recherche de concepts de solutions. La méthodologie développée reflète la nature des problèmes à traiter avec de nombreuses contradictions (conflits) à résoudre simultanément. Dans ce contexte, les méthodes actuelles atteignent rapidement leurs limites car elles ne résolvent qu’un seul conflit à la fois. Or il devient très difficile (voire impossible) de faire émerger une contradiction unique des situations problématiques complexes telles que nous en rencontrons en génie des procédés. La méthodologie proposée pour traiter la problématique de multi-contradictions pour l’écoconception se divise en deux étapes principales. D’un part, une première cadre d’analyse pour la formulation des contradictions en s’appuyant sur une version adaptée d’OTSM-TRIZ. Il permet la représentation graphique d’un problème et intégré une méthode pour limiter la situation aux contradictions principales. D’un autre part, la résolution des contradictions principales se décompose en deux sous étapes. Dans un premier temps, la résolution individuelle de chaque contradiction au travers d’un outil alliant la simplicité conceptuelle des contradictions de TRIZ et les solutions concrètes que proposent les effets et phénomènes de la physique, chimie, biologie. Dans un deuxième temps, nous proposons un processus d’agrégation des solutions afin d’obtenir une solution finale plus intégrée. Un cas d’étude sur la réduction des polluants en sortie d’étape de gazéification de la biomasse est présenté afin d’illustrée l’approche. / In recent years, the chemical industry is facing the challenge of sustainable production in order to create a balance between the economic, social and environmental development. This shift requires an evolution from the reduction of pollutants for existing processes to industrial ecology. In the design process, this shift demands that the current requirements and the environmental constraints should be taken into account in the early stages. At these stages, however, there is an increased emphasis on innovation and eco-innovation to develop new concepts, new technologies and new processes, thereby limiting the problem-solving ability of the traditional design methodologies. Hence, there is a great necessity for new methodologies in order to develop innovative and eco-innovative solutions. Consequently, in this research, we developed a methodology for the formulation and solution of ecoinnovation problems based on a conflict approach. This framework can handle multi-objective requirements with the combinatorial complexity of the search phase of solution concepts. Thus, the methodology considers the problem of solving many contradictions (conflicts) simultaneously. In this context, current approaches quickly reach their limits because they solve one conflict at a time or it is very difficult to define only one contradiction in complex problems, such as those in process engineering. The proposed methodology for treating the problem of multi-contradictions for eco-design is divided into two main steps. On one hand, an analytical framework for the formulation of contradictions based on an adapted version of OTSM-TRIZ, which provides a graphical representation of a problem and integrated method to reduce the problem situation to the main contradictions. On the other hand, the resolution of contradictions which is itself divided into two sub-steps. At first, the resolution of each individual contradiction through a tool that combines conceptual simplicity of TRIZ contradictions and the practical solutions using the physics, chemical and biological effects and phenomena. In a second step, we propose an aggregation process solution to obtain a more integrated final solution. A case study about the reduction of pollutants at output stage gasification of biomass is presented to illustrate this approach.

L'industrie automobile tient une place à part dans l'histoire du capitalisme, dont elle détermine jusqu'à l'appellation de sa dernière grande période : le « fordisme ». Depuis la fin du 20ème siècle, elle se trouve confrontée à une double contrainte environnementale : l'épuisement annoncée des carburants fossiles et la lutte contre les pollutions, atmosphériques notamment. Le transport routier représente en effet 20% des émissions de GES. L'objectif de ce travail est d'analyser la réaction de cette industrie pour internaliser cette double contrainte, en se centrant sur la dimension « innovation ». La grille théorique proposée par Schumpeter et prolongée par les auteurs évolutionnistes est mobilisée pour tester l'hypothèse suivante : l'industrie automobile est en train d'amorcer un nouveau sentier de dépendance pour s'émanciper de cette double contrainte. Dès lors, le passage au moteur hybride, lu comme une éco-innovation de rupture, marque la fin du « lock in » sur le sentier précédant caractérisé par la dépendance au moteur à combustion interne. / Automotive industry has a special place in the history of the capitalism, of which it determines up to the name of its last great period: “Fordism”. It has to face double environmental constraints since the end of the 20th century: predicted exhaustion of world fossil fuel resources and the control of pollution, particularly atmospheric. Road transport accounts for 20% of the emission of greenhouse gases. The purpose of this work is to analyse how this industry will react to internalize that double constraint by focusing on “innovation”. The theoretical framework proposed by Schumpeter and prolonged by the evolutionary authors is mobilized to test the following assumption: automotive industry is starting a new path of dependence to become emancipated from this double constraint. Consequently, the transition to the hybrid engine, as an “breakthrough eco-innovation”, points out the end of the “lock in” on the previous path characterized by the dependence upon the internal combustion engine.

Dans une démarche d’éco-innovation, les entreprises cherchent à inventer et mettre en oeuvre de nouvelles activités plus durables parfois en rupture avec leurs pratiques existantes, et qui entraînent des changements plus ou moins importants au sein de leurs offres, de leur business model, et parfois sur l’ensemble de leurs écosystèmes. Confrontée à de tels enjeux et des dynamiques associées souvent complexes de par leur nature parfois techniques, économiques, sociales, juridiques, politiques…, l’entreprise et les parties prenantes du projet en émergence semblent ne pas toujours réussir à suffisamment s’écarter consciemment des cadres cognitifs existants pour explorer des alternatives en adéquation avec les ambitions initiales d’un projet d’éco-innovation. Ainsi, les trajectoires empruntées par ces projets sont susceptibles d’entrainer par exemple une dilution des valeurs environnementales et sociales ou de provoquer l’abandon de projets par un manque de considération des dimensions techniques ou économiques.Les travaux présentés ici portent sur la phase de maturation des concepts éco-innovants et cherchent à développer des modalités d’accompagnement pour éviter ou surpasser de telles situations dites de « fixation collective ».L’approche méthodologique repose sur une recherche-action effectuée au sein de l’organisme d’accompagnement Apesa structurée en deux étapes :- L’analyse de trois cas de projets d’éco-innovation nous a d’abord permis de caractériser la problématique des pratiques d’accompagnement et plus précisément les fixations collectives présentes lors de la maturation des concepts.- Cette première étude a alimenté la démarche de conception mise en oeuvre pour élaborer la méthode MIRAS, l’apport principal de notre recherche.La méthode MIRAS propose un panel d’outils d’animation destinés aux acteurs de l’accompagnement pour aider les groupes projets lors des phases de maturation de leur concept et de leur potentiel de soutenabilité en visant un certain équilibre du triptyque économique – environnemental – social). Dans cette optique, MIRAS vise à adopter une pensée systémique, qui ne soit pas centrée seulement sur l’entreprise mais qui reconsidère l’ensemble des dimensions du « réseau élargi des parties prenantes ». / During the development of eco-innovations, companies are looking to implement a new activity that can create ruptures with its existing practices and cause many changes in their business model. In such complex situations, the stakeholders of emerging projects have some difficulties to consciously deviate from existing cognitive frameworks to explore alternatives in line with the initial goals of the project. Thus, they take trajectories that may lead to a dilution of the environmental and social values or cause the abandonment of projects. The work presented here focuses on the maturation of eco-innovative concepts and seeks to develop tools and methods to avoid and overcome such situations called collective fixations.The methodological approach is based on an action research conducted in the organization Apesa and structured in two steps:- The analysis of three case-studies of eco-innovative projects allowed us to characterize supporting practices and deepen our knowledge on the collective fixation present during the maturation of concepts.- This first study has fueled the design process of the MIRAS method, the main contribution of our research.The MIRAS method offers a toolkit designed for eco-innovation intermediaries in order to help them to structure their intervention during the stage of concept maturation. Specifically the tools help to improve the sustainability potential of concepts, to analyze project group behaviors during sessions and to revisit stakeholder networks so as to anticipate future mutations and news ways of incubation.

La notion de développement durable est aujourd’hui une préoccupation centrale des populations et des pouvoirs publics. L’entrepreneuriat durable représente une forme de réponse à cette préoccupation à travers l’intégration des normes de développement durable dans le cœur de métier de l’entreprise. Ce type d’entreprise vient répondre à des objectifs économiques, sociaux et environnementaux. La recherche en entrepreneuriat durable s’est particulièrement intéressée au profil de l’entrepreneur durable. Cependant, la recherche ne s’est pas suffisamment interrogée sur la façon dont il procède. Il est considéré comme l’agent de rupture à travers l’introduction d’éco-innovations. L’innovation apparait donc comme une solution aux problématiques sociales et environnementales. Mais ceci n’est pas suffisant pour considérer ce phénomène entrepreneurial comme une forme innovante. Cette thèse tente de combler ces manquements en modélisant, le processus entrepreneurial durable. Par ailleurs, l’emprunt d’une théorie de l’innovation « C-K Theory » permet de rapprocher le processus entrepreneurial durable du processus de conception innovante CK dans l’objectif de déterminer le caractère innovant de l’entrepreneuriat durable. / The notion of sustainable development is today a central concern of the population and the public authorities. Sustainable entrepreneurship is a form of response to this concern through the integration of sustainable development standards into the core business of the company. This type of business comes to meet economic, social and environmental objectives. Sustainable entrepreneurship research has been particularly interested in the profile of the sustainable entrepreneur. However, the research did not ask enough about how it works. It is considered the breaking agent through the introduction of eco-innovations. Innovation therefore appears as a solution to social and environmental issues. But this is not enough to consider this entrepreneurial phenomenon as an innovative form. This thesis attempts to fill these gaps by modeling, the sustainable entrepreneurial process. In addition, the borrowing of a theory of innovation "C-K Theory" makes it possible to bring the sustainable entrepreneurial process closer to the CK innovative design process in order to determine the innovative nature of sustainable entrepreneurship.