This paper seeks to make a contribution to business model experimentation for sustainability by putting forward a relatively simple tool. This tool calculates the financial and sustainability impact based on the SDG’s of a newly proposed business model (BM). BM experimentation is described by Bocken et al. (2019) as an iterative-multi-actor experimentation process. At the final experimentation phases some form of sustainability measurement will be necessary in order to validate if the new proposed business model will be achieving the aims set in the project. Despite the plethora of tools, research indicates that tools that fit needs and expectations are scarce, lack the specific focus on sustainable BM innovation, or may be too complex and demanding in terms of time commitment (Bocken, Strupeit, Whalen, & Nußholz, 2019a). In this abstract we address this gap, or current inability of calculating the financial and sustainability effect of a proposed sustainable BM in an integrated, time effective manner. By offering a practical tool that allows for this calculation, we aim to answer the research question; “How can the expected financial and sustainability impact of BMs be forecasted within the framework of BM experimentation?
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This paper seeks to contribute to sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) literature. It aims to do so by putting forward a relatively simple tool that simultaneously calculates the financial value alongside sustainability impact based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of a proposed business model innovation. For small businesses to validate the outcome of a proposed SBMI, some form of sustainability measurement will be necessary. Simple tooling specifically aimed at small businesses do not exist. We address this gap in how to predict or create a prognosis of the combined financial and sustainability effect of a proposed business model (BM) in a frugal (easy, time and knowledge effective) and effectual (allowing for iterations, available means and calculating affordable loss) manner. The tool is called the Pos-FSBC (Positive Financial and Sustainability Business Case). The instrument is a calculation model in Excel where users insert a limited number of numerical variables. Alongside financial variables the tool uniquely links the key variable ∆ SDG to the expected quantity sold, it then calculates the contribution to the SDGs in a relevant and measurable unit. By being successful with a sustainable innovation, the tool helps businesses drive out nonsustainable competitors. The tool has been iteratively developed and tested in several students’ projects and in a pilot with practitioners. Based on the findings we propose more iterations to develop an understanding whether the tool inspires business change and if so how.
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The theoretical framework of this dissertation is based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach (Chapter 2). In the early 1980s, development economist Amartya Sen developed the capability framework as a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being and social arrangements mainly in countries in the Global South (Sen, 1999, 2009). I chose the capability approach was chosen because of its strong focus on the notion of freedom as the capability to live the life each individual is aiming for. The freedom to choose a particular lifestyle is an intrinsic part of Sen’s notions of agency and well-being (Sen, 1999). After elaborating on notions of agency and well-being in detail, I turn to the role of financial self-help groups and how their members are influenced by social structures. This chapter concludes by operationalizing the theoretical framework into three capabilities (C1–C3) that serve as sensitizing concepts throughout the dissertation. These capabilities focus on the potential impact CAF groups have on members’ abilities to develop social networks (C1), to control their financial household management (C2), and to adopt an enterprising attitude (C3). Chapter 3 discusses my research methodology. I describe how the three capabilities (C1–C3) were applied as sensitizing concepts in the set-up of this particular action research (Blumer, 1954). I also explain in more detail how, by using sensitizing concepts, I combined an inductive research approach with a deductive angle. Then, I elaborate on the fundamental elements of this action research project: the implementation of the CAF groups as well as the collection and analysis of the empirical data. Finally, I reflect on how I designed and carried out this action research, with a special focus on the interaction between researcher and CAF members as research participants. A more detailed background description of the Dutch financial landscape is provided in Chapter 4. The chapter focuses on two particular financial self-help groups: ROSCAs among Ethiopians and Ghanaians living in the Netherlands. Compared to the formal banking system dominating the current financial landscape, these financial self-help groups claim effectivity instead of efficiency in the operation and management of their respective groups. By exploring developments in the current financial landscape, this chapter argues that distinguishing different kinds of resilience creates possibilities for analysing the different roles of financial arrangements and institutions for the financial landscape. Thus, this explorative study on ROSCAs questions the dominance of the financial side of the coin that has resulted from the efficiency-driven institutions of the financial sector. Chapter 5 presents each CAF group in more detail. The reader gets to know the different members of each CAF group and their motivations to join. Financial performance is assessed according to members’ savings and loan behaviour during the period of their participation. The quantitative data is analysed on how much the members of a respective CAF group saved and how much they borrowed from the group’s fund during the entire period of the research. These insights help the reader to better understand the differences and similarities between the five CAF groups. Chapter 6 discusses the empirical findings from the first three CAF groups. This chapter explores whether and how participation in a CAF group improves individuals’ well-being with regard to expanding their social networks, improving their financial household management, and strengthening their entrepreneurial positions. It also shows how participating in CAF groups at the grassroots level contributes to the well- Balancing the social and financial sides of the coin26being of vulnerable people in the Netherlands. Finally, the chapter reconsiders Sen’s notion of freedom for the particular context of overconsumption, inequality, and overindebtedness. In applying Sen’s capability approach, I realized that the approach has a “blind spot” regarding individuals’ possible impacts on the structures within and around them. By adding notions of Giddens’s structuration theory to the core concepts of the capability approach, I rendered the capability approach more sensitive to how CAF-group members may interact with their surrounding structures (Chapter 7). The relation between individuals and surrounding societal structures is extensively discussed in what is often referred to as the agency-structure debate (Ritzer, 2003). This debate is based on differing views about whether and to what extent individuals have a free will and can act according to their preferences, values, and personal feelings, or to what extent they are the “product” of their surrounding social structures. By expanding the capability approach with the notions of internal structures, on the one hand, and more proximate and more distant societal structures, on the other (Stones, 2008), I detail not only how individual agents are influenced by their surrounding structures, but how they might also have – however small and modest – an impact on those structures themselves. As a result, this chapter not only provides answers to how CAF-group participation affects individual members’ access to social networks, their financial household management, and their entrepreneurial positioning, but it also enabled me to investigate how and why individuals join a CAF group to take part in a so-called countermovement. Thus, I also consider how CAF members could possibly play a role in their surrounding social structures, like the existing financial landscape and the emerging participation society in the Netherlands.One way in which a CAF group can play a role in the surrounding structures is to become a community of practice. Wenger (1998) describes a community of practice as a group of people who share a certain domain of interest that distinguishes them from others. In a community of practice, it is crucial to learn from each other by engaging in joint activities and discussions. To discuss whether and how some of the CAF groups studied here turned into a community of practice, I apply the criteria of a common goal, trust, democratic leadership, and accumulation of knowledge in Chapter 8. The application of these criteria to the functioning of the CAF groups also provides more insight into how members interacted which each other in the different CAF groups. I will show how two of the five CAF groups indeed turned into communities of practice. Chapter 9 concludes this dissertation by linking the empirical findings on the individual level (Chapters 6 and 7) with those on the group level (Chapter 8). I follow this with a general discussion of the main contribution to theory development made by the Balancing the social and financial sides of the coin27expansion of Sen’s capability approach with Giddens’s structuration theory. Then, I discuss the role of CAF groups in enabling individual participants to balance the social and financial sides of the coin. Finally, I conclude this dissertation by showing how CAF groups have the potential to empower their members to meet the expectations of the participation society and the challenges of the contemporary financial landscape. I also provide recommendations for how engaged scholars doing action research can be reflective about the way they interact with their research participants and for how practitioners can set up CAF groups in the field. In the Epilogue, I tell the story of Cash2Grow. Based on the experiences and findings of my research, I co-founded the Cash2Grow foundation to promote savings groups in the Netherlands as a tool for financial and social empowerment. By developing improved savings-group methodologies and financial education tools, the foundation aims to train staff and volunteers from different types of (welfare) organizations to establish savings groups among their target populations. At the moment, we are also collaborating with similar organizations in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Poland to learn more from each other in a project subsidized by the EU.
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The focus of this project is on improving the resilience of hospitality Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by enabling them to take advantage of digitalization tools and data analytics in particular. Hospitality SMEs play an important role in their local community but are vulnerable to shifts in demand. Due to a lack of resources (time, finance, and sometimes knowledge), they do not have sufficient access to data analytics tools that are typically available to larger organizations. The purpose of this project is therefore to develop a prototype infrastructure or ecosystem showcasing how Dutch hospitality SMEs can develop their data analytic capability in such a way that they increase their resilience to shifts in demand. The one year exploration period will be used to assess the feasibility of such an infrastructure and will address technological aspects (e.g. kind of technological platform), process aspects (e.g. prerequisites for collaboration such as confidentiality and safety of data), knowledge aspects (e.g. what knowledge of data analytics do SMEs need and through what medium), and organizational aspects (what kind of cooperation form is necessary and how should it be financed).Societal issueIn the Netherlands, hospitality SMEs such as hotels play an important role in local communities, providing employment opportunities, supporting financially or otherwise local social activities and sports teams (Panteia, 2023). Nevertheless, due to their high fixed cost / low variable business model, hospitality SMEs are vulnerable to shifts in consumer demand (Kokkinou, Mitas, et al., 2023; Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, 2023). This risk could be partially mitigated by using data analytics, to gain visibility over demand, and make data-driven decisions regarding allocation of marketing resources, pricing, procurement, etc…. However, this requires investments in technology, processes, and training that are oftentimes (financially) inaccessible to these small SMEs.Benefit for societyThe proposed study touches upon several key enabling technologies First, key enabling technology participation and co-creation lies at the center of this proposal. The premise is that regional hospitality SMEs can achieve more by combining their knowledge and resources. The proposed project therefore aims to give diverse stakeholders the means and opportunity to collaborate, learn from each other, and work together on a prototype collaboration. The proposed study thereby also contributes to developing knowledge with and for entrepreneurs and to digitalization of the tourism and hospitality sector.Collaborative partnersHZ University of Applied Sciences, Hotel Hulst, Hotel/Restaurant de Belgische Loodsensociëteit, Hotel Zilt, DM Hotels, Hotel Charley's, Juyo Analytics, Impuls Zeeland.
The project is a field study for several diverse hotel chains, including individual properties operated under the Marriott brand, Postillion Hotels. Each brand has unique values, missions, and visions. Therefore, this integration will lead to the development of company-specific sustainability strategies and processes. The study will use the model of levers of control to provide such tailor-made solutions and determine if a generic approach can be developed to match a corporate sustainability strategy with a corporate strategy and develop a supporting management control system for operationalizing the sustainability strategy. Research question: How can a hotel brand formulate and implement a sustainability strategy with a supporting management control system that not only complies with the new CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) legislation but also emphasizes the creation of substantial value in financial and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) aspects, based on double materiality, in line with the organization's corporate values and beliefs? Objective The aim is to develop a validated method, including tools, that hotels can use to create a sustainability strategy in line with the CSRD guidelines. This strategy should create value for the organization, the environment, and society, while aligning with the hotel's values and beliefs. Merely being compliant with the CSRD is not enough for hotels. Instead, they should view the implementation of the CSRD as an opportunity to stand out in terms of sustainability. By creating value in areas such as environment, safety, and governance, or through the six capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural) that align with the UN-SDGs, and explicitly taking both an inside-out and an outside in perspective (double materiality), hotels can significantly enhance their sustainability reputation.
In order to achieve much-needed transitions in energy and health, systemic changes are required that are firmly based on the principles of regard for others and community values, while at the same time operating in market conditions. Social entrepreneurship and community entrepreneurship (SCE) hold the promise to catalyze such transitions, as they combine bottom-up social initiatives with a focus on financially viable business models. SCE requires a facilitating ecosystem in order to be able to fully realize its potential. As yet it is unclear in which way the entrepreneurial ecosystem for social and community entrepreneurship facilitates or hinders the flourishing and scaling of such entrepreneurship. It is also unclear how exactly entrepreneurs and stakeholders influence their ecosystem to become more facilitative. This research programme addresses these questions. Conceptually it integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks with upcoming theories on civic wealth creation, collaborative governance, participative learning and collective action frameworks.This multidisciplinary research project capitalizes on a unique consortium: the Dutch City Deal ‘Impact Ondernemen’. In this collaborative research, we enhance and expand current data collection efforts and adopt a living-lab setting centered on nine local and regional cases for collaborative learning through experimenting with innovative financial and business models. We develop meaningful, participatory design and evaluation methods and state-of-the-art digital tools to increase the effectiveness of impact measurement and management. Educational modules for professionals are developed to boost the abovementioned transition. The project’s learnings on mechanisms and processes can easily be adapted and translated to a broad range of impact areas.
