Creating A Sustainable Innovation with Stakeholder Engagement: A Case from Food &Agriculture Sector

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the contribution of stakeholder engagement to Sustainable innovation (SI) within the context of sustainable food and agriculture context. It investigates whether engagement with different stakeholders promotes sustainable innovation. The empirical analysis is based on a distinctive single case study of sustainable-oriented ventures that successfully deliver sustainable impact within their SI. A qualitative study, which an abductive approach was performed in order to delve the stakeholder engagement and its relationship with the type of SI. We use multiple data sources. Primary data such as semi-unstructured interview with several representative innovating ventures. Then, secondary data from multiple sources gathered to acquire deeper knowledge and information to capture the retrospective data about SI journey and development process of the ventures. Result showed that proactive role in venture to engage with various and wider stakeholders is needed to foster the SI particularly in system-building SI. Moreover, sustainability-oriented innovation (SI) as a journey and its characteristics constitutes from on practices that constitute day-to-day SI activities, strategies, activities, and linkages that resulting SI output and outcome. Particularly, stakeholders are part of these linkages. The wider and various of stakeholders also its engagement in co-creation of SI is affecting the output and outcomes of its SI. This research extends the response to the lack of systematic knowledge about stakeholder collaboration in SI. This paper provides a fine-grain qualitative analysis, a single case study, and identifies several types of stakeholders with various roles in the SI.本研究聚焦于可持续食品与农业场景下，利益相关方参与对可持续创新（Sustainable Innovation, SI）的贡献价值，旨在探究不同利益相关方的参与是否能够推动可持续创新的发展。本研究基于一项针对已在可持续创新实践中取得成功可持续影响的特色可持续导向型企业的单案例研究开展实证分析，采用溯因推理（abductive approach）的质性研究范式，深入剖析利益相关方参与模式及其与可持续创新类型之间的关联。研究采用多源数据采集方案：一手数据来自对多家代表性创新企业的半结构化访谈；二手数据则通过多渠道收集，以获取企业可持续创新历程与发展过程的回溯性信息，深化对研究主题的认知。研究结果表明，企业需主动与多元广泛的利益相关方开展合作，方能有效推动可持续创新，在体系构建型可持续创新场景中这一点尤为关键。此外，面向可持续发展的创新作为一项长期历程，其核心特征体现为日常可持续创新活动、战略举措、实践行为以及关联网络的有机整合，这些要素共同催生可持续创新的产出与成果。具体而言，利益相关方正是这类关联网络的重要组成部分；利益相关方的覆盖范围越广、参与可持续创新共创的程度越深，越能正向影响可持续创新的产出与成果。本研究弥补了当前可持续创新领域中利益相关方协作系统性认知的不足，通过精细化质性分析与单案例研究，识别出在可持续创新中承担不同角色的多类利益相关方。