In Part II of the book, we developed the RESTART framework and its seven constituent components. Each component sheds light on a major development toward enabling companies to become sustainable and profitable. In the following sections, we will draw implications of the framework, and we begin with its potential practical implications. However, as we will discuss further toward the end of the book, much more research is needed in order to investigate how companies can design and innovate more sustainable business models. The framework—in its current form—can at least serve as a platform for asking the right kinds of questions for companies aiming to align their sustainability performance and their business performance and for researchers interested in investigating such phenomena.

The seven chapters outlining the RESTART framework have explored the following propositions about the business models of the future, based on the RESTART framework:

Verse

Verse   …they will require frequent REDESIGN,  …which necessitates controlled EXPERIMENTATION.   …and be characterized by SERVICE-LOGIC  …based on ideas from THE CIRCULAR economy.  …which will make ALLIANCES even more important,    …in order to achieve the right RESULTS   …in a world where the scorecard is THREE-DIMENSIONAL.

At first glance, it might seem that not all seven components are, or will be, equally relevant for all companies. However, all companies will to a greater or lesser extent need to change their business model and will need the tools to think, articulate and act with regard to redesign of its business model going forward. To succeed, it is necessary to conduct controlled experimentation to identify and analyze what works and what does not. In many cases, sustainable business can be promoted by a service-logic, in which value creation and value delivery are oriented toward giving the customer access to what he or she needs, rather than offering it in the form of a product based on ownership. There is no company in the world that does not use energy, water and other natural resources or that does not generate to some extent excess resources and waste from their operations. To become more sustainable in a way that is compatible with financial performance, it can be helpful to think in terms of the circular economy in designing the way resources are acquired, processed, used and ultimately reused. Solutions of the type that promote service-logic and circulation will often require that businesses enter into alliances with other entities that may enable them to create and deliver value in this way. In order to set the right objectives and to prioritize efforts that can both promote real sustainability and align this with profitable growth, it is essential to emphasize results, in the sense of addressing the right externalities and the material sustainability issues, which are related to core business and critical for corporate strategy and performance. To succeed in achieving these goals, the entire organization must be designed in a way that reflects three-dimensionality, which implies that social, environmental and financial objectives are reflected in organizational design, leadership and management control systems (Fig. 13.1).

Fig. 13.1
figure 1

A roadmap to RESTART

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In the following chapters, we outline implications of this framework, both for practical application and for future research. First, we account for The Business Model RESTARTer—a process model for working with sustainable business model innovation in practice. Thereafter, we outline implications for future research based on each of the seven components of the framework. Finally, we present two case studies that build on the framework, of the company Scanship and the alliance between the two companies BIR and Orkla, respectively.