Abstract
Sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) has received growing attention since it can provide sustainable competitive advantages for corporations under a dynamic external environment. This paper aims to understand the current situations and progress of SBMI research by conducting a bibliometric study of the existing literature. By collecting data from Web of Science and using bibliometric tools, the basic characteristics of SBMI research are first presented to show the productivity and citations of publications utilizing recognized bibliometric indicators. Then, the cooperation networks among countries/regions, institutions, and authors are drawn to determine their collaborative relationships. Furthermore, keyword analysis is presented to explore the evolution of the hotspots and themes of SBMI research through co-occurrence analysis, burst detection analysis, and thematic evolution analysis. Finally, we integrate the antecedents-decisions-outcomes framework for SBMI research. The findings in this study indicate that the development of SBMI research is positive and that greater collaboration among institutions and authors is required to explore the internal drivers and design SBMI as well as other topics to be developed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarons GA, Hurlburt M, Horwitz SM (2011) Advancing a conceptual model of evidence-based practice implementation in public service sectors. Adm Policy Ment Health Ment Health Serv Res 38(1):4–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-010-0327-7
Al-Zaman M (2021) A bibliometric and co-occurrence analysis of COVID-19-related literature published between December 2019 and June 2020. Sci Edit 8(1):57–63. https://doi.org/10.6087/kcse.230
Arcese G, Valeri M, Poponi S, Elmo GC (2020) Innovative drivers for family business models in tourism. J Fam Bus Manag. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-05-2020-0043
Aria M, Cuccurullo C (2017) Bibliometrix: an R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. J Informetr 11(4):959–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007
Aparicio G, Iturralde T, Maseda A (2019) Conceptual structure and perspectives on entrepreneurship education research: a bibliometric review. Eur Res Manag Bus Econ 25(3):105–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2019.04.003
Barth H, Ulvenblad PO, Ulvenblad P (2017) Towards a conceptual framework of sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review. Sustainability 9(9):1620. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091620
Batel S (2020) Research on the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies: past, present and future. Energy Res Soc Sci 68:101544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101544
Björklund JC (2018) Barriers to sustainable business model innovation in Swedish agriculture. J Entrep Manag Innov 14(1):65–90. https://doi.org/10.7341/20181414
Bocken NM, Geradts TH (2020) Barriers and drivers to sustainable business model innovation: organization design and dynamic capabilities. Long Range Plan 53(4):101950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2019.101950
Bocken NM, Short SW, Rana P, Evans S (2014) A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes. J Clean Prod 65:42–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.039
Boons F, Lüdeke-Freund F (2013) Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-the-art and steps towards a research agenda. J Clean Prod 45:9–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.07.007
Boons F, Montalvo C, Quist J, Wagner M (2013) Sustainable innovation, business models and economic performance: an overview. J Clean Prod 45:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.08.013
Boyd CE, D’Abramo LR, Glencross BD, Huyben DC, Valenti WC (2020) Achieving sustainable aquaculture: historical and current perspectives and future needs and challenges. J World Aquac Soc 51(3):578–633. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12714
Caputo A, Kargina MA (2021) User-friendly method to merge Scopus and Web of Science data during bibliometric analysis. J Market Anal. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-021-00142-7
Carayannis EG, Sindakis S, Walter C (2015) Business model innovation as lever of organizational sustainability. J Technol Transf 40(1):85–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-013-9330-y
Cenci MP, Dal Berto FC, Castillo BW, Veit HM (2020) Precious and critical metals from wasted LED lamps: characterization and evaluation. Environ Technol. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2020.185
Chahrour M, Assi S, Bejjani M, Nasrallah AA, Salhab H, Fares M, Khachfe HH (2020) A bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 research activity: a call for increased output. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7357
Chaurasia SS, Kaul N, Yadav BS, Shukla D (2020) Open innovation for sustainability through creating shared value-role of knowledge management system, openness and organizational structure. J Knowl Manag. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2020-0319
Chen C (2004) Searching for intellectual turning points: progressive knowledge domain visualization. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101(suppl 1):5303–5310. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0307513100
Cooper ID (2015) Bibliometrics basics. J Med Libr Assoc JMLA 103(4):217. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.4.013
Demil B, Lecocq X (2010) Business model evolution: in search of dynamic consistency. Long Range Plan 43(2–3):227–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2010.02.004
Donthu N, Kumar S, Pattnaik D (2020) Forty-five years of journal of business research: a bibliometric analysis. J Bus Res 109:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.10.039
Donthu N, Kumar S, Mukherjee D, Pandey N, Lim WM (2021a) How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: an overview and guidelines. J Bus Res 133:285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070
Donthu N, Kumar S, Pandey N, Gupta P (2021b) Forty years of the International Journal of Information Management: a bibliometric analysis. Int J Inf Manag 57:102307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102307
Dyck B, Silvestre BS (2018) Enhancing socio-ecological value creation through sustainable innovation 20: moving away from maximizing financial value capture. J Clean Prod 171:1593–1604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.209
Engelken M, Roemer B, Drescher M, Welpe IM, Picot A (2016) Comparing drivers, barriers, and opportunities of business models for renewable energies: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 60:795–809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.163
Filser M, Kraus S, Breier M, Nenova I, Puumalainen K (2021) Business model innovation: identifying foundations and trajectories. Bus Strateg Environ 30(2):891–907. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2660
Florian LF, Sarah C, Alexandre J, Lorenzo M, Henning B (2018) The sustainable business model pattern taxonomy—45 patterns to support sustainability-oriented business model innovation. Sustain Prod Consump 15:145–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2018.06.004
Ford S, Despeisse M (2016) Additive manufacturing and sustainability: an exploratory study of the advantages and challenges. J Clean Prod 137:1573–1587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.150
Foss NJ, Saebi T (2017) Fifteen years of research on business model innovation: how far have we come, and where should we go? J Manag 43(1):200–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316675927
Geissdoerfer M, Vladimirova D, Evans S (2018) Sustainable business model innovation: a review. J Clean Prod 198:401–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.240
Gilberto S, Federica M, Laura B (2018) Fabrication laboratories: the development of new business models with new digital technologies. J Manuf Technol Manag 29:8. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-03-2018-0072
Gil-Gomez H, Guerola-Navarro V, Oltra-Badenes R, Lozano-Quilis JA (2020) Customer relationship management: digital transformation and sustainable business model innovation. Econ Res Ekonomska Istraživanja 33(1):2733–2750. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2019.1676283
Higaki A, Uetani T, Ikeda S, Yamaguchi O (2020) Co-authorship network analysis in cardiovascular research utilizing machine learning (2009–2019). Int J Med Inform 143:104274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104274
Hoang AT, Nieti S, Olcer AI, Ong H, Chen WH, Chong CT, Thomas S, Bandh S, Nguyen XP (2021) Impacts of covid-19 pandemic on the global energy system and the shift progress to renewable energy: opportunities, challenges, and policy implications. Energy Policy 154:112322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112322
Horvath D, Szabo RZ (2018) Evolution of photovoltaic business models: overcoming the main barriers of distributed energy deployment. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 90:623–635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.101
Kalkbrenner BJ, Roosen J (2015) Citizens’ willingness to participate in local renewable energy projects: the role of community and trust in germany. Energy Res Soc Sci 13:60–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.12.006
Khan IS, Ahmad MO, Majava J (2021) Industry 40 and sustainable development: a systematic mapping of triple bottom line, circular economy and sustainable business models perspectives. J Clean Prod 297:126655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126655
Kondoh S, Komoto H, Kishita Y, Fukushige S (2014) Toward a sustainable business design: a survey. Procedia CIRP 15:367–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2014.06.094
Kraus S, Breier M, Dasí-Rodríguez S (2020a) The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research. Int Entrep Manag J 16(3):1023–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00635-4
Kraus S, Li H, Kang Q, Westhead P, Tiberius V (2020b) The sharing economy: a bibliometric analysis of the state-of-the-art. Int J Entrep Behav Res 26:1769–1786. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-06-2020-0438
Li B, Xu ZS (2021) A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of financial innovation. Econ Res Ekonomska Istraživanja. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1893203
Lim HJ, Suh CK (2021) The Intellectual structure of business analytics by author co-citation analysis: 2002–2020. J Inf Syst 30(1):21–44. https://doi.org/10.5859/KAIS.2021.30.1.21
Lin YC, Lu CC, Yeh CH, Jin C, Suenaga K, Chiu PW (2012) Graphene annealing: how clean can it be? Nano Lett 12(1):414. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl203733r
López-Robles JR, Cobo MJ, Gutiérrez-Salcedo M, Martínez-Sánchez MA, Gamboa-Rosales NK, Herrera-Viedma E (2021) 30th anniversary of applied intelligence: a combination of bibliometrics and thematic analysis using SciMAT. Appl Intell. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-021-02584-z
Mas-Tur A, Kraus S, Brandtner M, Ewert R, Kürsten W (2020) Advances in management research: a bibliometric overview of the Review of Managerial Science. RMS 14(5):933–958. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-020-00406-z
Meier H, Roy R, Seliger G (2010) Industrial product-service systems—IPS2. CIRP Ann 59(2):607–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2010.05.004
Mendoza JMF, Gallego-Schmid A, Azapagic A (2019) Building a business case for implementation of a circular economy in higher education institutions. J Clean Prod 220:553–567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.045
Molina-Castillo FJ, Sinkovics N, Sinkovics RR (2021) Sustainable business model innovation: review, analysis and impact on society. Sustainability 13(16):1–4. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168906
Nidumolu R, Prahalad CK, Rangaswami MR (2009) Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation. Harv Bus Rev 87(9):56–64. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMR.2013.6601104
Ohara S (2015) The next generation business model by p2m perspective: cross integration effects to front edge innovation in general trading firms. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 88:3–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2015.04.004
Paul J, Benito GR (2018) A review of research on outward foreign direct investment from emerging countries, including China: what do we know, how do we know and where should we be heading? Asia Pac Bus Rev 24(1):90–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2017.1357316
Richardson J (2008) The business model: an integrative framework for strategy execution. Strat Change 17(5–6):133–144. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.821
Sana SS (2021) A structural mathematical model on two echelon supply chain system. Ann Oper Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-020-03895-z
Schaltegger S, Lüdeke-Freund F, Hansen EG (2012) Business cases for sustainability: the role of business model innovation for corporate sustainability. Int J Innov Sustain 6(2):95–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_744
Shakeel J, Mardani A, Chofreh AG, Goni FA, Klemeš JJ (2020) Anatomy of sustainable business model innovation. J Clean Prod 261:121201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121201
Sharma S, Vredenburg H (1998) Proactive corporate environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable organizational capabilities. Strateg Manag J 19(8):729–753. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199808)19:83.0.CO;2-4
Singh VK, Singh P, Karmakar M, Leta J, Mayr P (2021) The journal coverage of Web of Science, Scopus and Dimensions: a comparative analysis. Scientometrics 126(6):5113–5142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-03948-5
Sinkovics N, Gunaratne D, Sinkovics RR, Molina-Castillo FJ (2021) Sustainable business model innovation: an umbrella review. Sustainability 13(13):7266
Sun W, Cai H, Wang Y (2018) Refined laspeyres decomposition-based analysis of relationship between economy and electric carbon productivity from the provincial perspective—development mode and policy. Energies 11(12):1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11123426
Van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2013) Vosviewer manual. Leiden Univeristeit Leiden 1(1):1–53
Velter MGE, Bitzer V, Bocken NMP, Kemp R (2020) Sustainable business model innovation: the role of boundary work for multi-stakeholder alignment. J Clean Prod 247:119497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119497
Visnjic I, Looy BV (2012) Servitization: disentangling the impact of service business model innovation on the performance of manufacturing firms. Soc Sci Electron Publ 31(4):44. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2117038
Vlačić B, Corbo L, Silva SC, Dabić M (2021) The evolving role of artificial intelligence in marketing: a review and research agenda. J Bus Res 128:187–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.055
Wang C, Cen Y, Sun R, Ying H (2021a) Optimal distribution of profit and leadership for a sustainable collaborative R & D project. J Clean Prod 4:127874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127874
Wang XX, Xu ZS, Su S-F, Zhou W (2021b) A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of uncertain group decision making from 1980 to 2019. Inf Sci 547:328–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2020.08.036
Wang XX, Xu ZS, Qin Y, Skare M (2021c) Foreign direct investment and economic growth: A bibliometric study of measurement approaches and results. Econ Res Ekonomska Istraživanja. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1952090
Xin T, Tao D, Lifset R (2017) Varieties of business model for post-consumer recycling in china. J Clean Prod 170:665–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.032
Yip AW, Bocken NM (2018) Sustainable business model archetypes for the banking industry. J Clean Prod 174:150–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.190
Yovanof GS, Hazapis GN (2008) Disruptive technologies, services, or business models? Wirel Pers Commun 45(4):569–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-008-9486-1
Yu DJ, Xu ZS, Pedrycz Wang WR (2017) Information Sciences 1968–2016: a retrospective analysis with text mining and bibliometric. Inf Sci 2017(418):619–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2017.08.031
Yuan ZH, Qin W, Zhao J (2017) Smart manufacturing for the oil refining and petrochemical industry. Engineering 3(2):4. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENG.2017.02.012
Zhou W, Kou A, Chen J, Ding B (2018) A retrospective analysis with bibliometric of energy security in 2000–2017. Energy Rep 4:724–732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2018.10.012
Zhou W, Chen J, Huang Y (2019) Co-citation analysis and burst detection on financial bubbles with scientometrics approach. Econ Res Ekonomska Istraživanja 32(1):2310–2328. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2019.1645716
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 72071135 and 71771155.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
LP is responsible for conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing-original draft, writing-review & editing; ZX provides funding acquisition, supervision, writing-original draft; MS gives resources, investigation and research conceptualization.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pan, L., Xu, Z. & Skare, M. Sustainable business model innovation literature: a bibliometrics analysis. Rev Manag Sci 17, 757–785 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00548-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00548-2