IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v18y2009i1p64-77.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New sustainable business models in China

Author

Listed:
  • F. Birkin
  • A. Cashman
  • S. C. L. Koh
  • Z. Liu

Abstract

This research explores the need to establish new sustainable business models in China and uses multiple objectives to examine in a sample of Chinese companies the reality of the level of sustainable development, environmental awareness and performance, community responsibility, performance barriers and drivers and other sustainability issues. A mixed methodology was adopted, using a questionnaire survey and interviews with 20 manufacturing companies in Guangzhou and Shenzen. Evidence from the small sample of companies demonstrates the lack of significant sustainable development practices in China, although small and medium sized companies appeared to show interest in this area and would like to further contribute to for example triple bottom line objectives. Increasing concerns are found from the company level regarding the need to use renewable energy, source alternative sustainable materials, close the loop of the supply chain, improve the quality of products produced rather than reducing cost, export to Europe and treat employees as an asset. The lack of skills, finance and knowledge are found to be prohibiting the effective embedment of sustainable development within companies and hence cause an under‐performance in this regard. The study concludes that the establishing of a new business model for sustainable development in China is needed urgently, and this should be a joint effort with the Chinese government. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • F. Birkin & A. Cashman & S. C. L. Koh & Z. Liu, 2009. "New sustainable business models in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 64-77, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:1:p:64-77
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.568
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.568
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.568?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hilde N. Opoku, 2004. "Policy implications of industrial ecology conceptions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 320-333, September.
    2. Stefan Schaltegger & Roger L. Burritt, 2006. "Corporate sustainability accounting: a nightmare or a dream coming true?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 293-295, September.
    3. Jem Bendell & Kate Kearins, 2005. "The political bottom line: the emerging dimension to corporate responsibility for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(6), pages 372-383, November.
    4. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    5. Jacqueline Cramer, 2005. "Company learning about corporate social responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 255-266, July.
    6. Pierre Desrochers, 2002. "Natural Capitalists' indictment of traditional capitalism: A reappraisal," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 203-220, July.
    7. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arash Najmaei & Zahra Sadeghinejad, 2023. "Green and sustainable business models: historical roots, growth trajectory, conceptual architecture and an agenda for future research—A bibliometric review of green and sustainable business models," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 957-999, February.
    2. Jeremy Hall & Marcus Wagner, 2012. "Integrating Sustainability into Firms' Processes: Performance Effects and the Moderating Role of Business Models and Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 183-196, March.
    3. Joern H. Block & Marcus Wagner, 2014. "The Effect of Family Ownership on Different Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Large US Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(7), pages 475-492, November.
    4. Maurizio Massaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Carlo Bagnoli, 2020. "Crypto‐economy and new sustainable business models: Reflections and projections using a case study analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2150-2160, September.
    5. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    6. Li-Min Chuang & Yu-Po Lee & Te-Hui Liu, 2022. "Towards Sustainable Business Model Innovation for the Pharmaceutical Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    7. Steve Evans & Doroteya Vladimirova & Maria Holgado & Kirsten Van Fossen & Miying Yang & Elisabete A. Silva & Claire Y. Barlow, 2017. "Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Towards a Unified Perspective for Creation of Sustainable Business Models," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 597-608, July.
    8. José F. Molina‐Azorín & María D. López‐Gamero, 2016. "Mixed Methods Studies in Environmental Management Research: Prevalence, Purposes and Designs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 134-148, February.
    9. Li-Min Chuang, 2019. "A reconceptualization of manufacturers’ sustainable product-service business models: Triple bottom line perspective," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 1-4.
    10. Chris A. Kelsall, 2020. "Ecological Management Accounting—Taking into Account Sustainability, Does Accounting Have Far to Travel?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Danilo Brozovic, 2020. "Business model based on strong sustainability: Insights from an empirical study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 763-778, February.
    12. Caterina Cavicchi & Emidia Vagnoni, 2020. "Sustainable Business Models in Hybrids: A Conceptual Framework for Community Pharmacies’ Business Owners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Raimund Bleischwitz, 2020. "Business models for environmental sustainability: Contemporary shortcomings and some perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3352-3369, December.
    14. Marzanna Katarzyna Witek-Hajduk & Piotr Zaborek, 2016. "Does Business Model Affect CSR Involvement? A Survey of Polish Manufacturing and Service Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Giacomo Fabietti & Francesca Trovarelli, 2016. "The role of Eco-control in the implementation of Sustainable Business Models," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(3), pages 141-172.
    16. David L. Olson & Scott R. Swenseth, 2014. "Trade‐offs in Supply Chain System Risk Mitigation," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 565-579, July.
    17. Mara Del Baldo & Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli, 2017. "Renewing and improving the business model toward sustainability in theory and practice," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13, December.
    18. Per Engelseth & Richard Glavee-Geo & Artur Janusz & Enoch Niboi, 2020. "The Emergent Nature of Networked Sustainable Procurement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Cumali Kılıç & Gaye Atilla, 2024. "Industry 4.0 and sustainable business models: An intercontinental sample," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3142-3166, May.
    20. S. J. Chang, 2016. "Sustainable Evolution for Global Business: A Synthetic Review of the Literature," Journal of Management and Sustainability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, March.
    21. Wing Chow & Yang Chen, 2012. "Corporate Sustainable Development: Testing a New Scale Based on the Mainland Chinese Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(4), pages 519-533, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2014. "Managing Corporate Sustainability and CSR: A Conceptual Framework Combining Values, Strategies and Instruments Contributing to Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(5), pages 258-271, September.
    2. Christian Felber & Vanessa Campos & Joan R. Sanchis, 2019. "The Common Good Balance Sheet, an Adequate Tool to Capture Non-Financials?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-23, July.
    3. Pishchulov, Grigory & Trautrims, Alexander & Chesney, Thomas & Gold, Stefan & Schwab, Leila, 2019. "The Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process revisited: A revised method with application to sustainable supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 166-179.
    4. Francesco Di Maddaloni & Roya Derakhshan, 2019. "A Leap from Negative to Positive Bond. A Step towards Project Sustainability," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Hsueh, Che-Fu, 2014. "Improving corporate social responsibility in a supply chain through a new revenue sharing contract," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 214-222.
    6. Broekhuis, Manda & Vos, Janita F.J., 2003. "Improving organizational sustainability using a quality perspective," Research Report 03A43, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    7. Marileena Koskela & Jarmo Vehmas, 2012. "Defining Eco‐efficiency: A Case Study on the Finnish Forest Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 546-566, December.
    8. Galbreath, Jeremy, 2017. "Drivers Of Environmental Sustainability In Wine Firms: The Role And Effect Of Women In Leadership," Working Papers 253851, American Association of Wine Economists.
    9. Viju Raghupathi & Jie Ren & Wullianallur Raghupathi, 2020. "Identifying Corporate Sustainability Issues by Analyzing Shareholder Resolutions: A Machine-Learning Text Analytics Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    10. Nadine Székely & Jan vom Brocke, 2017. "What can we learn from corporate sustainability reporting? Deriving propositions for research and practice from over 9,500 corporate sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 using topic ," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-27, April.
    11. Jacob D Rendtorff, 2019. "Sustainable Development Goals and progressive business models for economic transformation," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(6), pages 510-524, September.
    12. Katarzyna Piwowar‐Sulej, 2021. "Core functions of Sustainable Human Resource Management. A hybrid literature review with the use of H‐Classics methodology," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 671-693, July.
    13. Christy Glass & Alison Cook & Alicia R. Ingersoll, 2016. "Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 495-511, November.
    14. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    15. Tom Thomas & Eric Lamm, 2012. "Legitimacy and Organizational Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 191-203, October.
    16. Jochen Schmid & Marieta Olaru & Ana-Maria Verje, 2017. "The Effect of Sustainable Investments to the Economic Objectives of the Company in Relation to the Total Quality Management," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(S11), pages 939-939.
    17. Anselm Schneider, 2015. "Reflexivity in Sustainability Accounting and Management: Transcending the Economic Focus of Corporate Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 525-536, March.
    18. Juliana Segura-Salazar & Luís Marcelo Tavares, 2018. "Sustainability in the Minerals Industry: Seeking a Consensus on Its Meaning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-38, May.
    19. Abdullah Yıldızbaşı & Cihat Öztürk & Deniz Efendioğlu & Serol Bulkan, 2021. "Assessing the social sustainable supply chain indicators using an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods: a case study of Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4285-4320, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:1:p:64-77. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.