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Business Model Innovation for Eco-innovation: Developing a Boundary-Spanning Business Model of an Ecosystem Integrator

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Eco-Innovation and the Development of Business Models

Part of the book series: Greening of Industry Networks Studies ((GINS,volume 2))

Abstract

Biogas production and its use as traffic fuel are discussed in this chapter as an example of a system eco-innovation that is struggling to become implemented in a focal municipality. The biogas producer and distributor as the owner of the “core technology” have the potential to become the integrator of a functioning ecosystem required for the innovation to succeed. The company’s business model, however, should be transformed to incorporate the radical and system nature of the eco-innovation as well as create a business solution that would make the technology profitable. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how an ecosystem integrator can develop a boundary-spanning business model that is capable of integrating the multitude of stakeholders into a working biogas-for-traffic solution, thereby achieving a system change. The chapter is based on the results of two research projects during which a sustainable local biogas-for-traffic solution and the business model of the ecosystem integrator were developed together with the major ecosystem stakeholders. The main principle of developing such a business model lies in considering business models of the relevant stakeholders and managing uncertainties pertinent to their integration into the biogas-for-traffic ecosystem.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Management, Åbo Akademi University, Piispankatu 8, Turku, FI-20500, Finland

    Anastasia Tsvetkova, Magnus Gustafsson & Kim Wikström

  2. PBI Research Institute, Aurakatu 1 B, Turku, FI-20100, Finland

    Anastasia Tsvetkova, Magnus Gustafsson & Kim Wikström

Authors
  1. Anastasia Tsvetkova
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  2. Magnus Gustafsson
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  3. Kim Wikström
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anastasia Tsvetkova .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Economics, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    Susana Garrido Azevedo

  2. Supply Chain Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

    Marcus Brandenburg

  3. UNIDEMI, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena Carvalho

  4. UNIDEMI, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Virgílio Cruz-Machado

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Tsvetkova, A., Gustafsson, M., Wikström, K. (2014). Business Model Innovation for Eco-innovation: Developing a Boundary-Spanning Business Model of an Ecosystem Integrator. In: Azevedo, S., Brandenburg, M., Carvalho, H., Cruz-Machado, V. (eds) Eco-Innovation and the Development of Business Models. Greening of Industry Networks Studies, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05077-5_12

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