Sustainability orientation in conventional start-ups
Authors
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2023
Typ of student thesis
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Collections
Type
04B - Conference paper
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Parent work
Building partnerships for more sustainable, resilient and regenerative business models. Introduction to the New Business Models 2023 Conference proceedings
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Publisher / Publishing institution
Maastricht University Press
Place of publication / Event location
Maastricht
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Abstract
Sustainable entrepreneurship research often evaluates start-ups that pursue a sustainability goal as a main aspect in their business model or at least follow an ethical motivation. In this study so called conventional start-ups will be examined that do not have this special sustainability focus or ethical motivation as a core of their business model. The question is if and in which areas these numerous start-ups contribute to sustainability in our economy and how this contribution could be improved. Therefore, the sustainability orientation and previous experience in sustainability management of the founding teams was examined. Secondly, the types of ecological and social contributions and their extend were explored. 26 start-ups were interviewed with a semi-structured interview guide. In this explorative study, the interview transcripts were qualitatively analyzed. Many teams claim to have a sustainability-oriented mindset. The experience in managing sustainability issues in previous jobs or projects is low, though. Overall, ecological and social issues play a minor role in the analyzed conventional start-ups' founding processes, and if, they mostly contribute to areas that are easy to implement. The focus of the start-ups was to first enter the market and gain revenue and include sustainability aspects later. As start-ups would have the chance to include sustainability improvements more easily at an early stage, though, support should be developed that offers training and best practice for conventional start-ups. The generally positive attitude of the interviewees towards sustainability is promising. Future research could further explore sustainability contribution patterns of conventional business models to make support more effective.
Keywords
Subject (DDC)
330 - Wirtschaft
Event
8th International Conference on New Business Models NBM2023
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
22.06.2023
Conference end date
23.06.2023
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ISBN
ISSN
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Diamond
License
Citation
MILOW, Uta, 2023. Sustainability orientation in conventional start-ups. In: Abel Diaz GONZALEZ, Juliette KONING und Nancy BOCKEN (Hrsg.), Building partnerships for more sustainable, resilient and regenerative business models. Introduction to the New Business Models 2023 Conference proceedings. Maastricht: Maastricht University Press. 2023. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-7408