THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE "SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE" CONCEPT, MECHANISMS FOR ITS SUPPORT THROUGH A SPECIFIC COMPONENT OF CROSS-SECTOR PARTNERSHIP
Abstract
Modern literature is increasingly considering how business models create and measure economic value in socio-ecological systems. However, the available literature does not fully answer the question of how sustainable business model organizations, of which cross-sectoral partnerships represent their main and distinctive mechanism, can support socio-environmental sustainability and resilience. Based on the analysis of the available literature, this article forms a theoretical approach to expanding existing methods of maintaining socio-environmental sustainability in terms of "integrated adaptive system”. The article’s main contribution is considering socio-ecological resilience as the main outcome to analyze the effectiveness of sustainable business initiatives. Reinforcing the idea that sustainable business initiatives should be assessed in terms of their impact on the level of socio-ecological systems instead of the level of the organization only. Also an analytical structure has been developed that defines the key strategic, institutional and training elements of cross-sectoral partnerships, which rely on sustainable business models to maintain economical and socio-environmental development and resilience. The study of this structure confirms the importance of assessing business initiatives in terms of their impact on sustainability not just on the local level of organizations, but at a more complex level of socio-ecological systems those agents are operating with. The research reveals how cross-sectoral partnerships provide organizational support for sustainable business models supporting and providing socio-environmental sustainability. By combining the key features of adaptive systems and key elements of partnership, it becomes possible to understand the potential and importance of cross-sectoral partnerships that support socio-environmental sustainability and avoid and / or comprehensively address unpredictable systemic problems at both organizational and external levels in general. These elements of a cross-sectoral partnership need to be considered and agreed upon to ensure and create social and environmental value, and to further explore the potential impact on socio-environmental sustainability itself.
References
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Schaltegger, S., Hansen, E. G., & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2016). Business models for sustainability: Origins, present research, and future avenues. Organization & Environment, 29(3), 264–289.
Whiteman, G., Walker, B., & Perego, P. (2013). Planetary boundaries: Ecological foundations for corporate sustainability. Journal of Management Studies, 50(2), 307–336.
Folke, C. (2006). Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Global Environmental Change, 16(3), 253–267.
Boin, A., Comfort, L. K., & Demchak, C. C. (2010). The rise of resilience. In L. K. Comfort, A. Boin & C. C. Demchak (Eds.), Designing resilience: Preparing for extreme events (pp. 1–12). University of Pittsburgh Press.
Carpenter, S. R., Walker, B. H., Anderies, J. M., & Abel, N. (2001). From metaphor to measurement: Resilience of what to what? Ecosystems, 4, 765–781.
Walker, B., Holling, C. S., Carpenter, S. R., & Kinzig, A. (2004). Resilience, adapt- ability and transformability in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 9(2), Article 5.
Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1–23.
Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2003). Navigating social–ecological systems: Building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press. 5(1), 16.
Gunderson, L. H., & Holling, C. S. (2002). Panarchy: Understanding transforma- tions in human and natural systems. Island Press. 11(4), 11-12.
Norberg, J., & Cumming, G. S. (2006). Complexity theory for a sustainable future. Columbia University Press. 6(1), 17.
Smit, B., & Wandel, J. (2006). Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Global Environmental Change, 16(3), 282–292.
Kinzig, A. P., Ryan, P., Etienne, M., Elmqvist, T., Allison, H. E., & Walker, B. H. (2006). Resilience and regime shifts: Assessing cascading effects. Ecology and Society, 11(1), Article 20.
Clarke, A., & Crane, A. (2018). Cross-sector partnerships for systemic change: Systematized literature review and agenda for further research. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(2), 303–313.
Olsson, P., Folke, C., & Berkes, F. (2004). Adaptive comanagement for building resil- ience in social–ecological systems. Environmental Management, 34(1), 75–90.
Inigo, E. A., & Albareda, L. (2016). Understanding sustainable innovation as a complex adaptive system: A systemic approach to the firm. Journal of Cleaner Production, 126, 1–20.
Kauffman, S. (1995). At home in the universe: The search for the laws of self- orga- nization and complexity. Oxford University Press, 2(1), 8.
Boisot, M., & Child, J. (1999). Organizations as adaptive systems in complex envi- ronments: The case of China. Organization Science, 10(3), 237–252.
Winn, M. I., & Pogutz, S. (2013). Business, ecosystems, and biodiversity: New hori- zons for management research. Organization & Environment, 26(2), 203–229.
Heuer, M. (2011). Ecosystem cross-sector collaboration: Conceptualizing an adaptive approach to sustainability governance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20(4), 211–221.
Seitanidi, M. (2008). Adaptive responsibilities: Nonlinear interactions in cross sector social partnerships. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 10(3), 51–64.
Le Ber, M. J., & Branzei, O. (2010). Towards a critical theory of value creation in cross-sector partnerships. Organization, 17(5), 599–629.
Laasch, O. (2018). Beyond the purely commercial business model: Organizational value logics and the heterogeneity of sustainability business models. Long Range Planning, 51(1), 158–183.
Ashraf, N., Pinkse, J., Ahmadsimab, A., Ul-Haq, S., & Badar, K. (2019). Divide and rule: The effects of diversity and network structure on a firm’s sustainability performance. Long Range Planning, 52(6), Article 101880.
Brown, S. L., & Eisenhardt, K. M. (1997). The art of continuous change: Linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organiza- tions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 1–34.
Martins, L. L., Rindova, V. P., & Greenbaum, B. E. (2015). Unlocking the hidden value of concepts: A cognitive approach to business model innovation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9(1), 99–117.
Dentoni, D., Waddell, S., & Waddock, S. (2017). Pathways of transformation in global food and agricultural systems: Implications from a large-systems change theory perspective. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 29, 8–13.
Parkhill, K. A., Shirani, F., Butler, C., Henwood, K. L., Groves, C., & Pidgeon, N.F. (2015). “We are a community [but] that takes a certain amount of energy”: Exploring shared visions, social action, and resilience in place-based community- led energy initiatives. Environmental Science & Policy, 53, 60–69.
