Innovation Management and Corporate Social Responsibility: Social Responsibility as Competitive Advantage

362 Pages·2018·7.53 MB·English

by  Reinhard Altenburger

CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance
Series Editors: Samuel O. Idowu · René Schmidpeter
Reinhard Altenburger E ditor
Innovation
Management and
Corporate Social
Responsibility
Social Responsibility as Competitive
Advantage
CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance
Serieseditors
SamuelO.Idowu,LondonMetropolitanUniversity,London,UnitedKingdom
RenéSchmidpeter,CologneBusinessSchool,Germany
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/11565
Reinhard Altenburger
Editor
Innovation Management and
Corporate Social
Responsibility
Social Responsibility as Competitive
Advantage
Editor
ReinhardAltenburger
DepartmentBusiness
IMCUniversityofAppliedSciencesKrems
Krems,Austria
ISSN2196-7075 ISSN2196-7083 (electronic)
CSR,Sustainability,Ethics&Governance
ISBN978-3-319-93628-4 ISBN978-3-319-93629-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93629-1
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018956809
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2018
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Responsibility and Innovation: Two Sides of the
Same Coin?
In order to successful address the current societal and environmental chal-
lenges—resource scarcity, climate change, social and political tensions, and
demographic changes—we need increased levels of ecological and social inno-
vations. Companies play a crucial role in this process, as they will decisively
influence both contemporary and future society through “corporate creativity”
and sustainable value creation.
If one takes a look at history, for example, industrialization, it is clear that
visionary entrepreneurs, executives, and economic thinkers recognized their time
period’s respective issues and developed new solutions, which specifically
attempted to solve these societal problems. Today is no different. We will only
overcomethecurrentchallengeswhencompaniesrepresentapartofthesolutionand
notpartoftheproblem,whichisunfortunatelynottheviewofmanyofcriticswho
viewbusinessesandcapitalismastheproblem.
Theapproachofsustainablevaluecreationconnectedwithsustainableinnovation
is essentially a rediscovery of an “old” management paradigm. Due to this
rediscovery, the currentdiscussion inbusinesscirclessurrounding corporate social
responsibilityhasshiftedfromprofitsandethicsbeingmutuallyexclusivetothatone
shouldconsiderbothinequalregard.
Incontrasttocriticsofcapitalism,thecommongoodshouldnotbedictatorially
placed above economic rationality. Rather, economic expertise should be used to
reconcile the interests of companies (to generate added value) with respect to the
legitimateinterestsofsociety(togeneratesocietaladdedvalue).
Sustainable innovation bridges this gap. If one views the current social and
ecological challenges, in this light, they represent a tremendous opportunity for all
entrepreneurs.Itisnowevidentthatsustainableinnovationscreatecompletelynew
products and markets that both enhance the future viability of our society and
increasethecompetitivenessandprofitabilityofcompanies.
If we succeed in understanding social and ecological issues as part of the
entrepreneurial innovation process, the solutions to our current problems will be a
natural result of it. That is why one can and should consider responsibility and
v
vi ResponsibilityandInnovation:TwoSidesoftheSameCoin?
innovation as two sides of the same coin. After all, a lack of innovative strength
ultimatelyalsomeansthattheresponsibilityrightlydemandedbysocietycannotbe
bornebycompanies.
Bydefinition,entrepreneursareinnovators,astheyarealwaysseekingoutbetter
solutionsandcompetitiveadvantages.Companieswillbegiventhesociallicenseto
operate,iftheygenerateprofitsandactivelyhelptosolvethecurrentecologicaland
socialchallengesinaconstructivemanner.Thisisnotonlyanethicalnecessity,but
ratherisamannerofeconomicnecessityandultimatelylucrativeforcompanies.
This publication breaks the mold of the public black-and-white discussion on
sustainability: on the one hand through new business management approaches and
ontheotherhandthroughnumerouspositivepracticalexamplesfromverydifferent
sectors.ThebookprovidesfurtherconceptsregardingtheimplementationofCSRin
companies.Allreadersareinvitedtotakeuptheideaspresentedintheseriesandto
usethemfortheirownprofessionalchallengesandtodiscussthemintensivelywith
theeditors,authors,andsupportersofthisseries.Lastbutnotleast,Iwouldliketo
thanktheeditor,Prof.Dr.ReinhardAltenburger,forhiscommitmentandcontinued
supportandChristianRauscherfromSpringer-Verlagforhisexcellentworkandall
the supporters of the series and hope that you, dear readers, have an interesting,
enjoyable,andinformativeread.
CologneBusinessSchool,Germany RenéSchmidpeter
Preface
Enterprises play a key role in addressing environmental and social challenges.
Globally, in an increasing number of companies—not only hand multinationals,
but also family businesses and SMEs—an increasing involvement of innovation
managementwithissuesofsustainabilityandsocialresponsibilitycanbeidentified.
Ontheonehand,thisdevelopmentisdrivenbytheperceptiblepressureofnumerous
stakeholder groups such as customers, suppliers, NGOs, and consumer protection
organizations and, on the other hand, by the growing awareness of globally active
companiesoftakingonresponsibilitytowardsociety.Increasinginternationalinter-
connectedness in the value chain requires intensive consideration of aspects of
sustainability and also a different understanding of “sustainability” and “responsi-
bility” in different regions of the world. New technologies such as artificial intelli-
gence and blockchain often enable a rapid increase in productivity but often also
require an intensive examination of the social consequences. This requires execu-
tivestodealwithincreasingcomplexityinmanaginginnovation.CEOsaroundthe
world are becomingincreasinglyaware thatresponsibilityandsustainabilityissues
require not just a change in their product mix, but often a reorientation of their
businessmodel.Howfarsocialresponsibilitygoesisseendifferentlybymanagersin
differentcultures.Itisnotaboutrightorwrong,buttodevelopsuitableapproaches
to the challenges of the industry but also the respective culture. The international
discussionoftheUNSustainableDevelopmentGoalsisexpectedtomakeasignif-
icantcontribution.
Interactingwithstakeholdersonceagaingainssignificanceforsustainableinno-
vations.Especially thecooperationwith customersandsuppliersbutalso universi-
ties and NGOs requires a professionalization of the open-innovation process and
investmentsina“cultureoftrust.”.Itisalsorequiredtohaveamorecomprehensive
understandingofinnovation,ascorporatesocialresponsibilityandsustainabilitywill
impactoninnovationinprocesses,products,andservicesaswellasontheorgani-
zationandbusinessmodelofcompanies.
Thisvolumepresentsexamplesfromtheperspectiveofgloballyoperatingcom-
panies as well as SMEs and family businesses, as wellas integrating contributions
vii
viii Preface
from the current scientific discussion on innovation and social responsibility/sus-
tainability. Likewise, it is important to point out the challenges in various indus-
tries—from the textile, electronics, and logistics industries—to selected companies
andexemplifysolutionapproachesforsustainableinnovation.
Thedifferentperspectivesandapproachesoftheindividualauthorsshouldoffer
suggestions for dealing with the connection between social responsibility, sustain-
ability,andinnovationmanagement.MyspecialthanksgototheSpringerpublish-
ing house team—and in particular to Christian Rauscher and Barbara Bethke for
theirsupportintheproductionprocessofthispublication.
Krems,Austria ReinhardAltenburger
March2018
Contents
CorporateSocialResponsibilityasaDriverofInnovationProcesses. . . 1
ReinhardAltenburger
ManagingSustainableInnovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
AnnabethAagaard
CSRandInnovation:AHolisticApproachFromaBusiness
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Hans-JürgenAugust
IntegratingCSRinInnovationValueNetworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
KarenL.Janssen,VeraBlazevic,andKristinaLauche
TheArtofResponsibleChange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
WolfgangStark
X-IDEA:HowtoUseaSystematicInnovationMethodforSocial
InnovationProjects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
DetlefReisandBrianHunt
Innovation,BusinessModels,andCatastrophe:ReframingtheMental
ModelforInnovationManagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
FriedrichGlauner
CSRBehavior:BetweenAltruismandProfitMaximization. . . . . . . . . . 159
KlausKotek,AlinaM.Schoenberg,andChristopherSchwand
SustainabilityinFashion:AnOxymoron?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
DorisBerger-Grabner
TheBoschGroup’sApproachtoInnovationandSustainability
Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
BernhardSchwager
ix