Innovation Management for Sustainability and Health
Innovation, driven in large part by businesses, is imperative for transformative change towards a sustainable, resilient, healthy, and inclusive future. Integrating incremental and radical product and process advancements, disruptive business models, supportive policy frameworks, and societal engagement, innovation paves the way for sustainability transitions.
What we offer
For businesses, innovation is a critical element in adapting and thriving in dynamic markets effectively. Organisations must foster a culture of experimentation and collaboration, align sustainability initiatives with strategic objectives and stakeholder expectations, and do so proactively. When managing innovation effectively, businesses can drive transitions to resilient, sustainable, and circular systems, unlock new opportunities for growth while enhancing their competitive market position, and contribute to a healthier and fairer future for society.
A key focus of our research is exploring how businesses can effectively manage innovation processes. We explore barriers that organisations encounter and identify strategies to overcome these challenges. We examine approaches that successful organisations employ to foster innovation and how they integrate relevant management practices into their innovation efforts. We investigate how organisations leverage collaborations, such as partnerships and strategic alliances, to enhance both firm and system level performance. Ideas which underpin our research stem from open innovation models, business ecosystem approaches, dynamic capabilities, network approaches and stakeholder theory, among others.
Wageningen University & Research sits at the heart of Food Valley ecosystem in the Netherlands, where many food companies and multinationals concentrate their research and innovation efforts. BMO plays an active role in this dynamic environment, supporting our enterprising life science innovators both large and small alike.
Key Publications
Annosi, M. C., Appio, F. P., & Martini, A. (2024). Institutional context and agile team innovation: A sensemaking approach to collective knowledge creation. Technovation, 129: 102894.
Annosi, M. C., Ráez, R. M. O., Appio, F. P., & Del Giudice, T. (2022). An integrative review of innovations in the agricultural sector: The roles of agency, structure, and their dynamic interplay. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 185, 122035.
Bloem, V., & Salimi, N. (2023). Role of knowledge management processes within different stages of technological innovation: evidence from biotechnology SMEs. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 21(4): 822-836.
Curzi, D.; Materia, V.C.; Vaquero-Piñeiro, C. (2023). Innovation as a resilience strategy to economic crises for international food and drink firms. Agribusiness 39(2): 303-321.
Garst, J., Blok, V., Jansen, L., & Omta, O. S. W. F. (2017). Responsibility versus Profit: The Motives of Food Firms for Healthy Product Innovation. Sustainability 9(12): 2286. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122286
Garst, J., Blok, V., Jansen, L., & Omta, O. S. W. F. (2022). From Value Sensitive Design to values absorption–building an instrument to analyze organizational capabilities for value-sensitive innovation. Journal of Responsible Innovation 9(2): 196–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2022.2069994
Giua, C.; Materia, V.C.; Camanzi, L. (2023). Smart farming technologies adoption: Which factors
play a role in the digital transition? Technology in Society 68(3):101869
Kint, S., Dolfsma, W., Robinson, D. (2024). Strategic partnerships for AI-driven drug discovery: The role of relational dynamics https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2024.104242
Rueger, J., W. Dolfsma & H.L. Aalbers “Perception of Peer Advice in Online Health
Communities: Access to Lay Expertise” Social Science & Medicine 277(113117): 2021.
Wolfert, S., Verdouw, C., Van Wassenaer, L., Dolfsma, W., & Klerkx, L. (2023). Digital innovation ecosystems in agri-food: Design principles and organizational framework. Agricultural Systems 204: 103558.
Silva de Mattos, C., Hagelaar, G., Pellegrini, G. & Dolfsma, W. (2023)Systematic literature review on technological transformation in SMEs: a transformation encompassing technology assimilation and business model innovation. Management Review Quarterly 74: 1057-1095.