Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation | HBR

In the Harvard Business Review, Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad, and M.R. Rangaswami describe five phases of change on the journey to sustainability, and innovation opportunities in each:

Stage 1: Viewing Compliance as Opportunity
Innovation Opportunity:
> Using compliance to induce the company and its partners to experiment with sustainable technologies, materials, and processes.

Stage 2: Making Value Chains Sustainable
Innovation Opportunities:
> Developing sustainable sources of raw materials and components.
> Increasing the use of clean energy sources such as wind and solar power.
> Finding innovative uses for returned products.

Stage 3: Designing Sustainable Products and Services
Innovation Opportunities:
> Applying techniques such as biomimicry in product development.
> Developing compact and eco-friendly packaging.

Stage 4: Developing New Business Models
Innovation Opportunities:
> Developing new delivery technologies that change value-chain relationships in significant ways.
> Creating monetization models that relate to services rather than products.
> Devising business models that combine digital and physical infrastructures.

Stage 5: Creating Next-Practice Platforms
Innovation Opportunities:
> Building business platforms that will enable costumers and suppliers to manage energy in radically different ways.
> Developing products that won't need water in categories traditionally associated with it, such as cleaning products.
> Designing technologies that will allow industries to use the energy produced as a by-product.