Untangling the knots: Understanding the mechanisms to achieve Sustainability Oriented Innovation

Aims Achieving sustainable development is of utmost importance for companies, especially in industries that generate significant environmental and social impacts such as textile and fashion ones. Circular Economy (CE) has been widely recognized as a promising alternative to the current linear production and consumption models aimed at minimizing waste production and resource consumption through system-wide innovation, specifically Sustainability-Oriented Innovation (SOI). This study provide an empirical example of how a small enterprise succeeded in implementing CE principles by orchestrating the resources embedded into its local ecosystem. Methods/Approach This research carries out a longitudinal field study with embedded cases, i.e. 27 SOI projects, on a sustainable fashion company to investigate the resource orchestration mechanisms implemented for the successful development of the different projects. Results/Findings Valuable insights on the strategies and practices for achieving higher sustainability performance are provided and a Resource Orchestration (RO) framework for SOI in the CE context is developed. The findings highlight the importance of adopting different RO mechanisms for different SOI projects. Relevance / Implications for practitioners and academics Besides contributing to knowledge accumulation at the intersection of CE, SOI and RO, this study provides a number of practical implications for companies that strive to transition towards a CE.