Organizational culture: A tool for bridging the design–implementation gap of sustainable business model innovation

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, many companies try to integrate sustainability into their activities by means of sustainable business model innovation (SBMI). Unfortunately, they encounter numerous challenges, known as the design–implementation gap of SBMI. This article provides an overview and classification of these challenges, focusing on organizational culture (OC), because while it can hinder advancement toward sustainable development, it can, equally, serve as a catalyst. For this reason, it is considered as a potential tool for bridging the design–implementation gap of SBMI. After identifying the OC prevailing in companies that succeeded in bridging this gap, it was possible to offer recommendations on how to switch to this particular culture type. This was achieved with the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument questionnaire, which was sent to companies detaining the Swiss Venture Club Award and B Corporation Certificate. The result showed an inclination toward the cult OC, where employees and customers are at the core.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• sustainable business model innovation
• organizational culture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.