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Articles scientifiques

Local niches and firm responses in sustainability transitions: The case of low-emission vehicles in China

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Publication date: Available online 13 March 2018
Source:Technovation

Author(s): René Bohnsack

The Chinese government has implemented a comprehensive strategy to push low-emission vehicles (LEVs). Local municipalities have played an important role in this transition. Programs such as the “Ten Cities Thousand Vehicles” (TCTV) program created protection mechanisms in local niches for the development of LEVs in which public and private actors have been able to experiment without market pressures. However, often the setup of local niches has favoured local companies which led to incompatibility across provinces and barriers to diffusion. This article aims to explore the dynamics in the local niche and how the niche has been shaped by local protection and firm responses. Heeding the call for a better conceptualization of the spatial dimension in sustainability transitions, we draw on the recent second generation, multi-scalar multi-level perspective (MLP) and conceptualize the local niche. Based on our empirical results we find four ideal type local niches – the open niche, the technology shielding niche, the market shielding niche and the closed niche – and distill respective firm responses. This has important implications for policy-makers and managers in China and for industries in sustainability transition in general.






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Driving innovation through ambidextrous service provision — long life cycle products in manufacturing contexts

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Publication date: May 2018
Source:Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 130

Author(s): Nusa Fain, Beverly Wagner, Neil Kay

The aim of this paper is to explore the possibility that continuous improvement rather than radical innovation in the case of long life-cycle products can be consistent with both economic growth and the market drive towards sustainability in some circumstances. Sustainability within this context is defined in terms of extending the new product development (NPD) process to encapsulate cost and waste reduction by continuous incremental innovation and servicing of existing products. Ambidexterity is introduced as the enabler of sustainable service provision within this context. The paper discusses a conceptual framework for driving innovation through ambidextrous service provision and provides an illustrative case to support it. It contributes to the innovation and sustainability literature through acknowledging the importance of both exploration and exploitation within NPD processes, integrating this with sustainable service provision, and with particular reference to Product Service Systems (PSS).






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Technology and the balancing of corporate growth with sustainability

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Publication date: May 2018
Source:Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 130

Author(s): Henry L. Petersen, Fred Lemke








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Renewable energy sources: Using PROMETHEE II for ranking websites to support market opportunities

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Publication date: June 2018
Source:Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 131

Author(s): Zacharoula Andreopoulou, Christiana Koliouska, Emilios Galariotis, Constantin Zopounidis

Environmental sustainability has become a major goal of public policies throughout the world, as environmental resources are continually eliminated. Climate change mitigation involves decarbonizing electricity generation as the most important energy system-wide change, with a vital role for energy efficiency. The utilization and development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) constitutes the most critical measure to safeguard energy security, strengthen environmental protection, and tackle climate change. RES are favored as a means of reducing the use of fossil fuels. The market of RES is continuously developing and promoted through the Internet. Renewable energy is, by definition, sustainable and clean. Moreover, the market of RES offers the opportunity to tackle the increasing depletion of fossil resources and the associated environmental impacts. The paper aims to present RES and study the energy policy in EU and Greece. Furthermore, the status of the renewable energy market in Greece and especially in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki is presented. The Internet research retrieved 30 enterprises that promote renewable energy in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki, which were analyzed according to 18 characteristics representing internet adoption. The multicriteria method used for total ranking is PROMETHEE II. According to PROMETHEE II findings, the ‘superior’ websites can be used to form a conceptual content model while designing an enhanced website for a RES enterprise. The results show that these enterprises in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki must adjust to the new ‘information era’ and aim to become more effective and efficient while creating their autonomous website. Furthermore, most enterprises with their own websites in this sector are generally still in the initial adoption phase and they should further mature in the next phases of e-commerce adoption.






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