Rainbow Wash or Rainbow Revolution? Dynamic Stakeholder Engagement for SDG-Driven Responsible Innovation

Leopoldo Gutierrez, Ivan Montiel, Jordi A. Surroca, Josep A. Tribo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

The United Nations’ increasing involvement in global sustainability culminated in 2015 with the release of the 2030 Agenda. This agenda puts businesses in the spotlight, and their innovation and stakeholder partnering activities are portrayed as essential strategies for achieving an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we identify six distinct dynamic stakeholder engagement strategies—resilient specialists, opportunity explorers, uncommitted diversifiers, rainbow warriors, rainbow washers, and progressive learners—and distinguish two approaches to innovate, depending on the range of SDG targets aimed to achieve simultaneously. On the one hand, for firms that take a narrow approach intended to achieve a reduced set of SDG targets, we predict that successful dynamic stakeholder engagement strategies are those that end up with an intensive collaboration with a reduced number of stakeholder groups. On the other hand, for firms adopting a broad innovation approach to satisfy a wide set of SDG targets, we predict that successful dynamic stakeholder engagement strategies are those that end up interacting with a wide number of stakeholder groups. Longitudinal analysis of more than 3900 Spanish firms supports our predictions and suggests clear implications for responsible innovation research and the advancement of sustainable development through collaboration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1113-1136
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume180
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Grand challenges
  • Innovation
  • Responsible innovation
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Sustainability
  • Sustainable Development Goals

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Rainbow Wash or Rainbow Revolution? Dynamic Stakeholder Engagement for SDG-Driven Responsible Innovation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this