Sustainability-centered business model innovation:Learning from and insights into how sustainability has affected the business models of Nespresso and Starbucks.

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT Title: Sustainability-centred business model innovation: Learnings from and insights into how sustainability has affected the business models of Nespresso and Starbucks. Seminar Date: 31st May 2017. Course: BUSN09: Degree Project in Strategic Management. Authors: Marcovecchio Hernán & Nambalirwa Kawuma Pamela Supervisor: Blom Martin Keywords: Sustainability, Business Model Innovation, Triple Layer Business Model Canvas, Triple Bottom Line, Coffee Industry, Nespresso, Starbucks. Purpose: To investigate, analyse and comprehend how sustainability has affected the business models of Nespresso and Starbucks and the extent to which the selected firms have incorporated the triple bottom line approach into their core business. Methodology: The research is a qualitative study in which secondary archival data is collected with respect to the selected industry and firms. It follows a multiple case-study approach where data is analysed by using pattern-matching. Theoretical perspectives: This study focuses on Osterwalder and Pigneur’s Business Model Canvas, Joyce and Paquin’s Triple Layer Business Model Canvas framework and Morelli’s triple bottom line approach. Empirical Foundation: The case study of Starbucks and Nespresso in the coffee industry. Conclusion: The research arrives to the conclusion that as ambitious the sustainability programs of the selected firms may be, they are not radical enough for tackling the sustainability challenge of the 21st century. The business models of the firms are today more sustainability-centred than before. However, they present a number of interdependent weaknesses that if not tackled, they will result in increasingly high costs for both society and environment. We strongly argue that harnessing sustainability-centred business model innovation cannot be done incrementally. Moreover, to achieve sustainable value firms in the coffee industry should reduce material consumption and pollution. They should operate at a high level of transparency aiding civil society. Then, they need to develop new disruptive technology with the potential of shrinking footprint, a step that also aids the environment. Lastly, they need to meet the needs of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid in ways that enable inclusive wealth creation and distribution.