ABSTRACT
The 2020–2030 decade is a pivotal time for businesses to redefine their role in driving economic and societal well-being. The rapid flow of externalities that challenge our global context has unveiled a series of systemic dependencies from nontraditional environmental, social and governance sources that organizations need to effectively quantify to manage. The booming landscape for sustainability data and product innovation continues to redefine common measures against which standards of responsible business and financial management is benchmarked. System innovation – the wide range of processes that influence the effectiveness of evolving business models to deliver large-scale sustainability objectives – has lagged behind. While multiyear horizons require a novel set of management solutions, the ability to leverage open technological innovation across sectors will be key to develop a thriving business ecosystem and enable sustainable transitions of business activities where multilateral cooperation efforts provide pathways for co-creation of socio-economic value and mutually beneficial change. Examples of circular economy models introduce regenerative consumption-production systems and allow for a dynamic assessment of business vulnerabilities as well as value-capture opportunities during a sustainable transition.
