Exploring the interplay between intellectual property models and sustainability transitions: A multi‐level analysis
Jain, A; Gurtoo, A; Eppinger, E; et al.Vimalnath, P; Tietze, F
Date: 1 July 2024
Article
Journal
Business Strategy and the Environment
Publisher
Wiley / ERP Environment
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Research on international technology transfer and partnership agreements provides a comprehensive understanding of country-level impacts of intellectual property (IP) rights on sustainability transitions. However, firm-level studies on how firms use and share their IP to support sustainability practices remains limited. The paper ...
Research on international technology transfer and partnership agreements provides a comprehensive understanding of country-level impacts of intellectual property (IP) rights on sustainability transitions. However, firm-level studies on how firms use and share their IP to support sustainability practices remains limited. The paper disentangles the relationship between firm-level IP models and sustainability practices drawing from a cross-case analysis of 28 firms offering sustainable innovations across four sectors. Analysis of firms' year-wise data collected from 854 documents (typically 1996–2021) and 58 in-depth interviews exploring linkage between IP models and sustainability practices of firms engaged in sustainable innovation provide six key findings: (a) emphasis on safeguarding registered and unregistered IP assets among firms with sustainable innovations; (b) widespread adoption of selectively open inbound IP models coupled with diverse IP sharing mechanisms; (c) a preference for collaborative (joint) IP ownership among internally driven firms, contrasting with a tendency for exclusive in-licensing among those reacting to external pressures; (d) a divergence in outbound IP models, with internally motivated firms favouring selectively open approaches and externally driven firms favouring closed IP models; (e) the adoption of fully open outbound IP models democratize sustainable innovation diffusion; and (f) leveraging broadly open outbound IP models alongside closed or selectively open models balances widespread use with access control and achieves significant social sustainability. A framework is hence developed to guide technology-sharing policies and procedures. Therefore, the paper creates a platform for prescribing sustainable IP incentives for encouraging firms to share IP for wider diffusion of sustainable innovations.
Management
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
Item views 0
Full item downloads 0
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2024 The author(s). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a ‘Creative Commons Attribution’ (CC BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Factors Influencing the Adoption of Nature Inspired Innovation for Sustainability in Multinational Corporations
Mead, Taryn Lee (University of Exeter Management, 9 June 2017)In recent decades, many multinational corporations have used nature inspired innovation (NII) strategies as a mechanism of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). In this context, these activities are typically initiated ... -
The moderating role of CEO sustainability reporting style in the relationship between sustainability performance, sustainability reporting, and cost of equity
Lopatta, K; Kaspereit, T; Tideman, SA; et al. (Springer, 29 March 2022)This paper explores the role of individual managers in the relationship between sustainability performance, sustainability reporting, and cost of equity. Based on prior research showing that both sustainability performance ... -
Construction Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: An Enabling Framework
Balasubramanian, S; Islam, N; Shukla, V; et al. (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 11 October 2021)Governments worldwide are taking actions to address the construction sector's sustainability concerns, including high carbon emissions, health and safety risks, low productivity, and increasing costs. ...