Creating and Capturing Value Through Sustainability

OVERVIEW: Recent research and practice have shown that business model innovation can be one way to create and capture new value and drive production and consumption toward sustainability. However, business model tools typically do not create a space to consider how sustainability concerns may be integrated into the innovation process. To address this gap, this article describes a tool that can help companies identify new opportunities to create and capture value through sustainability by analyzing value captured and uncaptured for key stakeholders across the product life cycle. The Sustainable Value Analysis Tool is shown to help companies recognize value uncaptured and turn it into opportunities; it facilitates sustainability-focused business model innovation by identifying value uncaptured—and hence, opportunities for innovation—associated with environmental and social sustainability in production, use, and disposal.