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Sustainability-driven innovation and the Climate Savers' programme: experience of international companies in China

Anna Trifilova (based at the University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, and the University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK)
John Bessant (Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Transfer, University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK)
Fu Jia (Lecturer in Operations and Supply Management, University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK)
Jonathan Gosling (Professor of Leadership, University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK)

Corporate Governance

ISSN: 1472-0701

Article publication date: 14 October 2013

1821

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the experience of eight international companies, focusing on their strategies in sustainable innovations in China.

Design/methodology/approach

This investigation is accomplished using a case study methodology. The research is based on the companies' secondary data and 47 semi-structured face-to-face interviews carried out in Chinese (Mandarin) between September 2010 and March 2012. Access to the selected companies was supported by WWF China.

Findings

The findings of this study are summarised in a theoretical framework suggesting four different levels of multinational corporations' (MNCs') sustainability-driven innovations in China.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on the research population of MNCs being WWF Climate Savers partners in China. The research sample has no Chinese-only companies.

Originality/value

From the academic perspective this research is a qualitative analysis of the best practices in sustainable innovation of MNCs in China and an attempt to map them to a theoretical framework. From a policy-making perspective, this paper is a report on existing practices and positive experience in responsible industry leadership. For practitioners this study shows how to create profitable growth in harmony with environmental sustainability and good corporate citizenship.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The data for this paper were collected with the financial support of WWF China. The authors would like to give their special acknowledgements to Lin Li, Deputy Country Representative of WWF China and Leader, China for a Global Shift Initiative, and Xin Chen and Yun Jiang, Climate Saver Senior Programme Officers for the Climate Change and Energy Programme, from WWF China.

Citation

Trifilova, A., Bessant, J., Jia, F. and Gosling, J. (2013), "Sustainability-driven innovation and the Climate Savers' programme: experience of international companies in China", Corporate Governance, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 599-612. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-06-2013-0082

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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