Innovations in Sustainability
Fuel and Food

This insightful book employs high-profile company cases to focus on two major challenges for sustainable innovation: fuel and food.

Alfred A. Marcus (Author)

9781107072794, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 August 2015

379 pages, 1 b/w illus. 58 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.67 kg

'Innovations in Sustainability represents an important contribution to the growing literature on the theory and practice of sustainable business. As we have seen, the last twenty years of sustainable innovation have been focused on incremental strategies like pollution prevention, eco-efficiency, and social responsibility. These have now been widely adopted and studied extensively. There is little left to learn or explore in this domain. The next twenty years of sustainable innovation will be focused on disruptive and transformational strategies like clean and regenerative technology commercialization, base of the pyramid business, and frugal innovation. As a result, this book by Alfred Marcus stands as a beacon lighting the path toward the next era of sustainable innovation that might truly lead us toward a more sustainable world.' Academy of Management Learning and Education

To what extent can competition between companies encourage innovations in sustainability that have the potential to solve some of the world's major challenges? Using a series of case studies, this book pits closely related competitors against each other to examine the progress in and obstacles to the evolution of sustainable innovations in energy efficiency, solar power, electric vehicles and hybrids, wind energy, healthy eating, and agricultural productivity. It delves into the efforts of Tesla Motors to bring about a revolution in personal transportation, and the challenges Toyota and General Motors (GM) confront in commercializing hybrids. It explores the movement to healthy food by cereal companies General Mills and Kellogg's, and depicts the battles between Whole Foods and Walmart for the world's palate. By examining the experiences that particular businesses have had with sustainable innovation, this insightful book reflects upon lessons learned and encourages readers to think carefully about the challenges that lie ahead.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction: the path to sustainability
Part I. Funding Sustainable Startups: 1. Leaders of the pack: Khosla Ventures and KPCB
2. Scaling up: Intel Capital and Google Ventures
Part II. Business Models: 3. Follow the sun: First Solar and Suntech
4. Making a revolution: Tesla and Better Place
Part III. The Macroenvironment and Industry Context: 5. Ticket to ride: Toyota and General Motors
6. Blowing in the wind: Vestas and General Electric
Part IV. Finding Customers: 7. Carrying that weight: General Mills and Kellogg's
8. Bridge over troubled waters: Pepsi and Coke
Part V. Competition between Mission and Non-Mission-Based Businesses: 9. Consensus capitalism: Whole Foods and Walmart
10. Sustainability's next frontier: Dupont and Monsanto
Concluding observations: the journey continues
Index.

Subject Areas: Sustainability [RNU], Entrepreneurship [KJH], Business ethics & social responsibility [KJG], Environmental economics [KCN]