BUSINESS MODELS BASED ON SUSTAINABILITY. PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

Abstract

Modern companies which look for sources of competitive advantage are more and more often taking into consideration concepts that allow them to assess their business activities in wider perspective than only of financial or marketing nature. The concept of sustainable development has become an important element in the public debate on the role and place of business in the modern society. Business organizations are expected to behave in socially responsible way including economic, ecological and social aspects of their operations. Sustainability, next to the other concepts, helps to understand complex relationships and improves ways of gaining common goals in a win-win strategy. Companies that are searching for a competitive advantage by using sustainable development adapt its principles to their strategies and business models. At the core issues of sustainable business models lie multiply value creation and strategic approach of development and survival on the market. Sustainable business models combine many of the concepts that characterize social and environmental values next to the traditionally understood business dimension. The paper aims at presenting the general view on sustainable business models. The attention will be put on short cases that illustrate how the sustainability may be translated into business practice.

Keywords

• sustainability, sustainable business models, business practice of sustainability, business models