IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i7p3083-3099.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Startups as sustainability transformers: A new empirically derived taxonomy and its policy implications

Author

Listed:
  • Yasmin Olteanu
  • Klaus Fichter

Abstract

For research as well as policymakers aiming at fostering multilevel transitions toward sustainability, there is a clear need to better understand the transformative role and relevance of startups as newcomers in the market. The existing typologies of sustainable entrepreneurship and green startups have been derived from theory and are conceptual or anecdotal in nature. The lack of validity and generalizability is a major research gap, as the existing typologies do not provide a sufficient basis for policy decisions on how to promote which type of entrepreneurship to effectively support specific transition policies. Against this backdrop, we investigate the research question: Does the transformation orientation differ among startups, and if so, how can they be clustered as basis for sustainability transition policy? Based on a sample of 1674 startups and cluster analysis, the paper makes three important contributions: First, we provide a differentiated perspective and empirical data on the transformation orientation of newcomers. Second, we provide an empirically founded taxonomy of the transformative orientation of startups and contribute to theory‐building of transformative entrepreneurship. Third, we test the assumption inherent in most existing frameworks that there exists a high‐potential subgroup of startups. Our results confirm the existence of a clearly distinguishable subgroup with a particularly high transformation orientation, which we label as “sustainability transformers.” In terms of transition strategies, policymakers can build on our findings to adjust public funds and support programs in favor of specific subgroups such as sustainability transformers.

Suggested Citation

  • Yasmin Olteanu & Klaus Fichter, 2022. "Startups as sustainability transformers: A new empirically derived taxonomy and its policy implications," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3083-3099, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:7:p:3083-3099
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3065
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3065
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3065?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. Hockerts, Kai & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2010. "Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids -- Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 481-492, September.
    2. Stefan Schaltegger & Markus Beckmann & Kai Hockerts, 2018. "Sustainable entrepreneurship: creating environmental solutions in light of planetary boundaries," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16.
    3. Christina Weidinger, 2014. "Business Success Through Sustainability," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Christina Weidinger & Franz Fischler & René Schmidpeter (ed.), Sustainable Entrepreneurship, edition 127, pages 287-301, Springer.
    4. Kuckertz, Andreas & Wagner, Marcus, 2010. "The influence of sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial intentions -- Investigating the role of business experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 524-539, September.
    5. Albert Jolink & Eva Niesten, 2015. "Sustainable Development and Business Models of Entrepreneurs in the Organic Food Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 386-401, September.
    6. Petra Dickel, 2018. "Exploring the role of entrepreneurial orientation in clean technology ventures," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 56-82.
    7. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    8. Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby, 2002. "Corporate environmentalism: the construct and its measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 177-191, March.
    9. Henning Breuer & Klaus Fichter & Florian Lüdeke-Freund & Irina Tiemann, 2018. "Sustainability-oriented business model development: principles, criteria and tools," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 256-286.
    10. Pablo Muñoz & Boyd Cohen, 2018. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research: Taking Stock and looking ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 300-322, March.
    11. Agnieszka Skala, 2019. "Digital Startups in Transition Economies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-01500-8, December.
    12. Zahra, Shaker A. & Gedajlovic, Eric & Neubaum, Donald O. & Shulman, Joel M., 2009. "A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 519-532, September.
    13. Brigitte Hoogendoorn & Daniela Guerra & Peter Zwan, 2015. "What drives environmental practices of SMEs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 759-781, April.
    14. I. E. Nikolaou & K. Tasopoulou & K. Tsagarakis, 2018. "A Typology of Green Entrepreneurs Based on Institutional and Resource-based Views," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 27(1), pages 111-132, March.
    15. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    16. Rosa Maria Dangelico, 2017. "What Drives Green Product Development and How do Different Antecedents Affect Market Performance? A Survey of Italian Companies with Eco‐Labels," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1144-1161, December.
    17. Stefan Schaltegger & Marcus Wagner, 2011. "Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 222-237, May.
    18. Pacheco, Desirée F. & Dean, Thomas J. & Payne, David S., 2010. "Escaping the green prison: Entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for sustainable development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 464-480, September.
    19. Johanna Mair & Julie Battilana & Julian Cardenas, 2012. "Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 353-373, December.
    20. Jonatan Pinkse & Koen Groot, 2015. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Corporate Political Activity: Overcoming Market Barriers in the Clean Energy Sector," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 633-654, May.
    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. Benjamin Gidron & Kfir Bar & Maya Finger Keren & Dalit Gafni & Yaari Hodara & Irina Krasnopolskaya & Alon Mannor, 2023. "The Impact Tech Startup: Initial Findings on a New, SDG-Focused Organizational Category," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Abdesselam, Rafik & Kedjar, Malia & Renou-Maissant, Patricia, 2024. "What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Halberstadt, Jantje & Schwab, Anne-Kathrin & Kraus, Sascha, 2024. "Cleaning the window of opportunity: Towards a typology of sustainability entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Rafik Abdesselam & Malia Kedjar & Patricia Renou-Maissant, 2024. "What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups," Post-Print hal-04304153, HAL.

    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. Matthew P. Johnson & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1141-1173, November.
    2. Aikaterini Argyrou & Nicolas Chevrollier & Andre Nijhof, 2023. "The versatile role of sustainable market entrepreneurs in market transformation: An intervention framework for institutional change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 259-273, January.
    3. Torbjörn Ljungkvist & Jim Andersén, 2021. "A taxonomy of ecopreneurship in small manufacturing firms: A multidimensional cluster analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1374-1388, February.
    4. Matthias Filser & Sascha Kraus & Norat Roig-Tierno & Norbert Kailer & Ulrike Fischer, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as Catalyst for Sustainable Development: Opening the Black Box," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Brigitte Hoogendoorn & Peter Zwan & Roy Thurik, 2019. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship: The Role of Perceived Barriers and Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1133-1154, July.
    6. Trin Thananusak, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Entrepreneurship, 1996–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Eduard-Gabriel Ceptureanu & Sebastian-Ion Ceptureanu & Mihai Cristian Orzan & Ovidiu Niculae Bordean & Violeta Radulescu, 2017. "Empirical Study on Sustainable Opportunities Recognition. A Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Joinery Industry Analysis Using Augmented Sustainable Development Process Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-36, September.
    8. Pablo Muñoz & Boyd Cohen, 2018. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research: Taking Stock and looking ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 300-322, March.
    9. Presley K. Wesseh & Boqiang Lin & Yixuan Zhang & Preslyn Sharon Wesseh, 2024. "Sustainable entrepreneurship: When does environmental compliance improve corporate performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3203-3221, May.
    10. Pelin Demirel & Qian Cher Li & Francesco Rentocchini & J. Pawan Tamvada, 2019. "Born to be green: new insights into the economics and management of green entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 759-771, April.
    11. Séverine Le Loarne Lemaire & Meriam Razgallah & Adnane Maalaoui & Sascha Kraus, 2022. "Becoming a green entrepreneur: An advanced entrepreneurial cognition model based on a practiced-based approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 801-828, June.
    12. Ana Criado-Gomis & Amparo Cervera-Taulet & Maria-Angeles Iniesta-Bonillo, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Business Strategic Approach for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, September.
    13. DiVito, Lori & Bohnsack, René, 2017. "Entrepreneurial orientation and its effect on sustainability decision tradeoffs: The case of sustainable fashion firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 569-587.
    14. Christoph Constantin Niemann & Petra Dickel & Gordon Eckardt, 2020. "The interplay of corporate entrepreneurship, environmental orientation, and performance in clean‐tech firms—A double‐edged sword," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 180-196, January.
    15. Sebastian Hinderer & Andreas Kuckertz, 2022. "The bioeconomy transformation as an external enabler of sustainable entrepreneurship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2947-2963, November.
    16. Theodore Tarnanidis & Jason Papathanasiou & Demetres Subeniotis, 2019. "How Far the TBL Concept of Sustainable Entrepreneurship Extends Beyond the Various Sustainability Regulations: Can Greek Food Manufacturing Enterprises Sustain Their Hybrid Nature Over Time?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 829-846, February.
    17. Jip Leendertse & Frank J. van Rijnsoever & Chris P. Eveleens, 2021. "The sustainable start‐up paradox: Predicting the business and climate performance of start‐ups," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1019-1036, February.
    18. Francoise Contreras & Utz Dornberger, 2022. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship as a Field of Knowledge: Analyzing the Global South," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-28, December.
    19. Marcus Wagner & Stefan Schaltegger & Erik G. Hansen & Klaus Fichter, 2021. "University-linked programmes for sustainable entrepreneurship and regional development: how and with what impact?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1141-1158, February.
    20. Matthew P. Johnson & Jacob Hörisch, 2022. "Reinforcing or counterproductive behaviors for sustainable entrepreneurship? The influence of causation and effectuation on sustainability orientation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 908-920, 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:31:y:2022:i:7:p:3083-3099. 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.