How Startups Can Foster Innovation through Sustainability

Dear Colleagues, 

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of issues related to the environment in general and to sustainability in particular (Bigliardi et al., 2020; Secundo et al., 2020). As a consequence, an increasing number of entrepreneurs, companies and start-ups decided to invest in sustainability. With particular regard to start-ups, the more and more competitive context in which they have to operate is spurring these companies around the world to invest in sustainability (Passaro et al., 2020). For a start-up, sustainability is mainly linked to its ability to generate a positive impact producing benefits for society and ecosystem. Both academics and practitioners recognize that sustainable entrepreneurship and start-ups play a key role in accelerating the growth of society and the economy of a nation (Schick et al., 2002). Specifically, the impact of a start-up is derived from the effectiveness with which the innovations they propose respond to market needs. In this way, start-ups become agents of innovation while promoting sustainability (Piccarozzi, 2017).

We need to advance our understanding of how start-ups simultaneously achieve sustainability and innovation goals. Based on these premises, the purpose of this Special Issue is to contribute to the research domains of sustainable innovative start-ups.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Sustainability and innovation in the start-ups’ ecosystem;
• Sustainable innovative start-up and their business models;
• Innovative start-ups’ practices for sustainability;
• Growth of sustainable innovative start-ups;
• Factors impacting on innovative start-ups sustainability;
• Collaborative networks for innovative sustainable start-ups;
• Founders motivation leading to the creation of innovative sustainable start-ups;
• Success factors for sustainable startups;
• Dynamic capabilities and sustainable startups;
• Digital transformation and sustainable startups;
• Catching the role of intangibles in the development and success of sustainable startups.

High quality research, both qualitative and quantitative, but also comprehensive reviews, addressing the above-mentioned and further issues are explicitly welcome.

We believe that this Special Issue should offer useful contributions regarding the sustainability impact of start-ups to practitioners and academics that will benefit from the resulting overview. Furthermore, it should inspire future research avenue through the identification of research gaps and future research opportunities.

References:

Bigliardi, B., Campisi, D., Ferraro, G., Filippelli, S., Galati, F., & Petroni, A. (2020). The Intention to Purchase Recycled Products: Towards an Integrative Theoretical Framework. Sustainability, 12(22), 9739.

Secundo, G., Ndou, V., Del Vecchio, P., & De Pascale, G. (2020). Sustainable development, intellectual capital and technology policies: A structured literature review and future research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 153, 119917.

Passaro, R., Quinto, I., Rippa, P., & Thomas, A. (2020). Evolution of Collaborative Networks Supporting Startup Sustainability: Evidences from Digital Firms. Sustainability, 12(22), 9437.

Schick, H., Marxen, S., & Freimann, J. (2002). Sustainability Issues for Start-up Entrepreneurs. Greener management international, 38.

Piccarozzi, M. (2017). Does social innovation contribute to sustainability? The case of Italian innovative start-ups. Sustainability, 9(12), 2376.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Bigliardi
Prof. Dr. Vincenzo Corvello
Dr. Serena Filippelli
Prof. Dr. Renato Passaro
Prof. Dr. Giustina Secundo
Guest Editors

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• start-up
• sustainability
• innovation
• ecosystem