Linking Sustainable Business Models to Socio-Ecological Resilience Through Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Complex Adaptive Systems View

Abstract

A flourishing literature assesses how sustainable business models create and capture value in socio-ecological systems. Nevertheless, we still know relatively little about how the organization of sustainable business models—of which cross-sector partnerships represent a core and distinctive mechanism—can support socio-ecological resilience. We address this knowledge gap by taking a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective. We develop a framework that identifies the key strategic, institutional, and learning elements of partnerships that sustainable business models rely on to support socio-ecological resilience. With our analytical framework, we underpin the importance of assessing sustainable business initiatives in terms of their impact on resilience at the level of socio-ecological systems, not just of organizations. Therefore, we reveal how cross-sector partnerships provide the organizational support for sustainable business models to support socio-ecological resilience. By combining the key features of CAS and the key elements of partnerships, we provide insight into the formidable task of designing cross-sector partnerships so that they support socio-ecological resilience and avoid unintended consequences.

Adaptive learning in cross-sector collaboration during global emergency: conceptual insights in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

“…However, and despite their potentials, the nature and dynamics of AL in cross-sector collaboration for global crisis response have received very little attention (Dentoni et al, 2020).…”

“…However, there is limited research that has focused on how such partnerships create value for its stakeholders through learning routines and processes (Al-Tabbaa et al, 2019;Bai and Wei, 2019;Dentoni et al, 2020), and this remarkable gap is particularly pronounced in the context of emerging markets. At the same time, Koschmann et al (2012) provide important insights into the role of collective agency and communication processes in generating value from crosssector partnerships, which suggest that this is an issue to be reckoned with.…”

Roadmapping New Impact Bonds in a Post-COVID World: Insights from Case Studies in the Education Sector

“…With regard to the potentials of IBs in the fight of education poverty, the nature of IBs as business models are evolving. It is thus possible to observe how they can highlight a transition from business models for sustainable innovation [75], as initially conceived before the agenda 2030, to business models adapted to address sustainability [9] up to an emerging concept of IBs as business models for resilience [76]. Such evolution is represented in Figure 2.…”

“…Second, IBs appear suitable to be adopted for interventions directed to the mitigation of the new education challenges derived from the pandemic. For these reasons, in a post-COVID world, IBs can be considered business models that fit particularly well in a time of crisis [78], representing an essential tool for communities in the mitigation of negative impact produced by the pandemic [76]. In brief, from our analysis emerged a first empirical base regarding IBs in the education sector.…”

Toward Collaborative Cross-Sector Business Models for Sustainability

“…Finally, Dentoni, Pinkse, and Lubberink’s (2021) contribution is titled “Linking Sustainable Business Models to Socio-Ecological Resilience Through Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Complex Adaptive Systems View.” The article adopts the complex adaptive system (CAS) perspective as a conceptual lens to discuss how cross-sector partnerships can contribute to sustainable business models and their impact on the socioecological systems. The authors develop a framework outlining the key strategic, institutional, and learning dimensions supporting sustainable business models in bringing about socioecological resilience.…”