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INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Call for Papers

Innovative Strategic Relationships Among Sustainable Start-Ups

Deadline for submission: February 28, 2020

Industrial Marketing Management announces the call for papers for a special issue on innovative strategic relationships among sustainable start-ups.

Overview and Purpose of the special issue

Sustainable development challenges require radical innovation to search for new technologies, products, and services capable of tackling social, environmental, and economic issues both locally and globally (Hockerts & Wüstenhagen, 2010). Radical innovation is directly linked to entrepreneurship, particularly sustainable entrepreneurship and start-ups (Hall, Daneke, & Lenox, 2010), which are therefore essential to transition toward a more sustainable form of development. Nevertheless, individual companies are just part of a wider and more complex context, and they cannot be treated in isolation from the society in which they operate. Sustainable start-ups, like any other type of start-up, must overcome the challenge of establishing and managing relationships with different partners (suppliers, customers, investors, and other agents) to develop the business, build a new network, or gain a foothold in an existing one. Thus, the analysis of the strategic relationships between sustainable start-ups and other companies and the way in which sustainability issues condition or influence those relationships is a valuable area of research. Sustainable start-ups are committed to the simultaneous creation of economic, social, and environmental value (Binder & Belz, 2015), often referred to as triple-bottom-line value creation. This triple-bottom-line objective is expected to be their main competitive weapon in the market. They will be scrutinized to determine whether they are effectively creating economic, social, and environmental value. One interesting avenue for future research is to analyze whether this sustainability orientation enhances a start-up’s chances of survival and success (de Lange, 2017). However, striking a balance between the three value creation dimensions often proves difficult. Economic value creation continues to be the core management objective of any corporation, and to survive, sustainable start-ups may be forced to overlook their social and environmental objectives in favor of their economic goals. Conversely, sustainable start-ups face the risk of focusing excessively on their environmental and social performance, thereby neglecting their financial results. Either way, strategic and innovative marketing relationships can offer one of the best ways to meet the triple-bottom-line value creation objective. It is therefore of interest to analyze how a network can affect the triple-bottom-line performance of a sustainable start-up.

Sustainable start-ups may need not only a radical innovation approach to provide new technologies, products, or services but also radical innovation in business models and processes to build and manage business-to-business (B2B) relationships and thus meet their triple-bottom-line value creation objectives (Weissbrod & Bocken, 2017). It is also necessary to support these innovations with effective and well-structured sustainable marketing communication efforts (Zaušková, Bezáková, & Grib, 2015). A sustainable start-up with environmental and social value creation potential might need to build strong relationships with other companies to create economic value. Likewise, a sustainable start-up with an excellent economic value creation capacity might need to collaborate with other companies to achieve positive environmental and social outcomes (Weissbrod & Bocken, 2017). Placing sustainability at the forefront of a start-up’s strategy can also mean that economic considerations are less important than environmental or social performance considerations when choosing partners in B2B relations (Earl & Clift, 1999). Concepts such as the circular economy, industrial ecology, and the sharing economy are highly related to this kind of collaborative framework for sustainable start-ups. These concepts provide an interesting foundation to explore how strategic relationships between companies are built and managed, how multiple actors in the supply chain manage their interdependence or develop shared practices, how all these actors can effectively communicate their sustainability efforts and obligations to each other, and how collaborating companies mutually reinforce their triple-bottom-line objectives. Value co-creation, network value, and shared value are other fundamental concepts in this context. The development of strategic networks highlights the need to extend the analysis of value creation in isolated organizations to determine how the organization and its partners create value within the network and with the other members of the network (Aminoff, Valkokari, & Kettunen, 2016; Lacoste, 2016; Peppard & Rylander, 2006) or generate shared value across the value chain (Porter & Kramer, 2011). As long as sustainability plays a major role in value co-creation in B2B markets (Lacoste, 2016), it is of great interest to analyze how sustainable start-ups can contribute to value co-creation across their supply chains or within their networks.

Finally, sustainable development needs action from all economic agents and from all types of companies and requires that traditional companies develop radical innovations in products, services, and business models. It is therefore also of interest to analyze how these companies could benefit from the application of start-up thinking in their sustainable innovation processes. Several studies have examined the impact of sustainable development on start-ups’ business models. Industrial marketing management has itself devoted increasing attention to the role of B2B marketing in sustainability strategies (Kumar & Christodoulopoulou, 2014; Scandelius & Cohen, 2016; Sharma, Iyer, Mehrotra, & Krishnan, 2010), the analysis of B2B relationships in the sharing economy (Kumar, Lahiri, & Dogan, 2018), and the importance of networks for start-ups (special issue in press). However, more research is needed to analyze how sustainable start-ups build and manage strategic industrial relationships to meet their economic, social, and environmental objectives. It is also necessary to develop suitable frameworks for the measurement of triple-bottom-line results at the network level, acknowledging that sustainable start-ups must consider not only their own triple-bottom-line performance but also that of the other members of their networks and value chains.

The overall objective of this special issue is to provide discussion and collect theoretical studies, surveys, and case studies of the management of sustainable start-ups in collaborative and B2B contexts. Understanding the mutual influence of the decisions of sustainable start-ups managers’ and other socioeconomic agents is central to research on start-up management, sustainable innovation, and sustainability in B2B relationships. On that basis, specific topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Analysis of sustainable start-ups’ innovative strategies and managerial decisions.
• Analysis of sustainable start-ups’ triple-bottom-line performance and tensions between their environmental, social, and economic dimensions.
• Analysis of sustainable start-ups’ innovative relationships through marketing dimensions.
• Analysis of sustainable start-ups’ innovation, entrepreneurship, marketing, and financial ecosystems and analysis of the way the relationships among them are built and managed.
• Relationship management and the development life cycle of sustainable start-ups.
• Relationship management in the context of the circular economy, industrial ecology, or the sharing economy applied to sustainable start-ups.
• Implications of sustainable start-ups’ sustainability commitment to attract partners, customers, or suppliers to their value chains.
• Building and managing sustainable start-ups’ sustainable supply chains.
• Impacts on the sustainability performance of sustainable start-ups’ customers and supply chain partners.
• Sustainability marketing in B2B relationships between sustainable start-ups and their partners.
• New modes of value creation or collaborative business models applied to sustainable start-ups.
• Practices performed by sustainable start-ups in interaction with partners across the B2B system to co-create value.
• Value creation measurement frameworks for sustainable start-ups and networks.
• Application of start-up thinking to develop radical sustainability-oriented innovation processes in traditional companies.
• Implications of cultural values in the strategic management relationships among sustainable start-ups.
• Human relationship management through collaborative relationships among sustainable start-ups.

Preparation and submission of paper and review process

Papers submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions should be about 6,000-8,000 words in length. Copies should be uploaded on Industrial Marketing Management’s homepage through the EVISE system. You need to upload your paper using the dropdown box for the special issue on innovative strategic relationships among sustainable start-ups. For guidelines, visit

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Papers not complying with the notes for contributors (cf. homepage) or poorly written will be desk rejected. Suitable papers will be subjected to a double-blind review; hence, authors must not identify themselves in the body of their paper. (Please do not submit a Word file with “track changes” active or a PDF file.)

Please address all questions to the guest editor(s):

Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano
Facultad de Economia de la University of Valencia and Instituto IUDESCOOP, Edificio Departamental Oriental, Campus de los Naranjos, 46022 Valencia, Spain
domingo.ribeiro@uv.es

Juan Pineiro-Chousa
Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of Santiago de Compostela, Facultad de ADE, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n, 27002 Lugo, Spain
j.pineiro@usc.es

References

Aminoff, A., Valkokari, K., & Kettunen, O. (2016). Mapping Multidimensional Value(s) for Co-creation Networks in a Circular Economy. In H. Afsarmanesh, L. M. Camarinha-Matos, & A. Lucas Soares (Eds.), Collaboration in a Hyperconnected World. PRO-VE 2016. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 480 (pp. 629–638). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Binder, J. K., & Belz, F.M. (2015). Sustainable entrepreneurship: what it is. In P. Kyrö (Ed.), Handbook of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Research, (pp. 30–72). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

de Lange, D. E. (2017). Start-up sustainability: An insurmountable cost or a life-giving investment? Journal of Cleaner Production, 156, 838–854.

Earl, G., & Clift, R. (1999). Environmental Performance: What is it Worth? A Case Study of ‘Business-to-Business’ Consumers. In M. Charter & M. J. Polonsky (Eds.), Greener Marketing: A Global Perspective on Greening Marketing Practice (pp. 255–274). Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Publishing.

Hall, J. K., Daneke, G. A., & Lenox, M. J. (2010). Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future directions. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(5), 439–448.

Hockerts, K., & Wüstenhagen, R. (2010). Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids — Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(5), 481–492.

Kumar, V., & Christodoulopoulou, A. (2014). Sustainability and branding: An integrated perspective. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(1), 6–15.

Kumar, V., Lahiri, A., & Dogan, O. B. (2018). A strategic framework for a profitable business model in the sharing economy. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, 147–160.

Lacoste, S. (2016). Sustainable value co-creation in business networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 52, 151–162.

Peppard, J., & Rylander, A. (2006). From Value Chain to Value Network: Insights for Mobile Operators. European Management Journal, 24(2), 128–141.

Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review, 89(1/2), 62-77.

Scandelius, C., & Cohen, G. (2016). Sustainability program brands: Platforms for collaboration and co-creation. Industrial Marketing Management, 57, 166–176.

Sharma, A., Iyer, G. R., Mehrotra, A., & Krishnan, R. (2010). Sustainability and business-to-business marketing: A framework and implications. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(2), 330–341.

Weissbrod, I., & Bocken, N. M. P. (2017). Developing sustainable business experimentation capability – A case study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 2663–2676.

Zaušková, A., Bezáková, Z., & Grib, L. (2015). Marketing Communication in Eco-innovation Process. Procedia Economics and Finance, 34, 670–675.

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