Fostering sustainability-oriented service innovation (SOSI) through business model renewal: The SOSI tool

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aim to direct efforts of governments, societies and companies to deal with major social and environmental problems affecting contemporary societies. From a business perspective, companies’ commitment to solving these problems can be a propulsive boost of innovation. Particularly, companies can support achievement of SDGs through service innovation. Yet, to date, both theoretical and practical researches focusing on sustainability-oriented service innovation are still scarce in literature. By employing an engineering design process, this study proposes a tool framing Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation (SOSI) to foster organizational sustainability transitions within a business model perspective. Particularly, the tool supports managers and entrepreneurs to acknowledge in which component of the business model of their firms to unleash SOSI, and how to make flourish this type of innovation. The use of the tool is also illustrated through a descriptive case study of an innovative zero emissions’ service of mobility. Finally, a research agenda is proposed, aimed at promoting more studies toward the under-investigated area of service innovation oriented to sustainability.