Innovation management and sustainable development

Sustainable development is a source of both technological and organizational innovation. This article suggests ways in which companies that are or wish to become involved in a socially responsible approach can apply this approach to their strategy and innovation process.

After clarifying the concepts of sustainable development, social responsibility and innovation management, we present four situations in which innovation and sustainable development can be linked: the "product" approach, the "life-cycle thinking" approach, the "sustainable performance management" approach and, finally, the "responsible management" approach. For each of these situations, we propose methods and tools to facilitate the integration of sustainable development issues into the innovation process. To make these different scenarios explicit, we will illustrate our remarks with examples of companies or organizations that have already embarked on these new forms of innovation (eco-design, industrial ecology, functional economy, collaborative economy...).

Finally, we'll be proposing levers for progress to support companies wishing to move towards responsible innovation management. These levers, which are a source of organizational innovation, are four in number: training in sustainable development tools, opening up the company to its stakeholders, shared resource management, and a dynamic, integrated assessment of the impact of innovative projects.