Chapter 6. Recommendations and Conclusion
6.5. Recommendations for Future Research
Extant research is predominantly based on conceptual and review studies and more case studies are needed. Future research should be conducted using multiple methods to facilitate a richer means of data collection and approach to analysis and interpretation (Lewis et al., 2019).
More research is required to expand on the findings and conclusions of this study to better understand to what extent the themes identified in this study influence SBMI in the TES.
Anne Marie Kininmonth Future research pertaining to the significance of legislation and government influence in shaping sustainable innovation is needed. Understanding the policies and systems in place at this level and the impact it has across the TES can support the development of SBMI.
Similarly, due to the Reform of Vocational Education, Te Pūkenga’s sustainability framework is in development and the sector is undergoing tremendous changes. Therefore, it would be valuable for future research to investigate how these changes influence sustainability innovation and SBMI.
Including a larger sample of participants at all levels of the organisation could provide more valuable insights regarding the challenges, advantages, and processes attributed to SBMI.
Future research could include other crown-interest TEOs like Wānanga and other TEC-funded education and training organisations to provide more valuable insights regarding sustainability strategies and engender opportunities for further research into SBMI and how it can be leveraged.
Future research could glean significant insights into the contribution of indigenous innovation to SBMI. Including the current three Wānanga TEOs may provide additional aspects that influence an organisation’s sustainability value creation and broaden the existing components of SBMI. Understanding how the Māori approaches to teaching and learning, unique to the New Zealand context, may strengthen awareness within the cultural dimension of sustainability and provide diversity to SBMI literature. According to Aspelund and Hermundsdottir (2020), social issues are often a neglected component of sustainability, as research is usually concentrated on environmental innovations.
Knowledge gaps are also identified by Aldowaish et al. (2022) regarding the relationship between ESG and the BM and the processes of implementing ESG factors into operations (Kluza et al., 2021). As this study highlighted, more research is needed into the relationship between the SDGs and the BM, the associated processes of embedding these goals into the core of the TES, and how they influence approaches to SBMI and capture and create sustainability value.
There is little reference to how digital technologies can enable businesses to improve their business practices for SBMI (Cheng et al., 2019; Gao & Li, 2020; Gregori & Holzmann, 2020). As Chofreh et al. (2020) noted, more research is needed to improve guidance on adopting and implementing technologies for SBMI and how it can enable SBMI (Ciaburri et al., 2020). Future research regarding emerging and digital technologies in the TES may
Anne Marie Kininmonth engender additional valuable insights into understanding the role technological solutions play and how they can be leveraged to accelerate SBMI.
Franco et al. (2022) research highlights a gap in the integrative perspective of SBMI that balances all three aspects of sustainability, how to implement it, and with what tools. The development of the inclusion of sustainability-related courses in TEO curricula is a potential working example that future research could explore to understand better how to conceptualise, design, and implement SBMI. Similarly, future research is needed to understand the fourth sustainability pillar, purpose or what is commonly referred to as cultural performance, found in the quadruple bottom line that has yet to be adequately addressed in SBMI literature.
More research is needed to provide clearer guidance on how businesses and decision- makers can create an environment that fosters capabilities to be proactive to the changing needs of the environment and society (Chofreh et al., 2020; Franco et al., 2022). SBMI literature recognises that businesses require DCs to create SBMI. However, the organisational design influence on fostering DCs for this purpose has not been adequately addressed (Bocken &
Geradts, 2020). Therefore, more research could be conducted on the influence of organisational design on SBMI and the interdependency with DCs.
As discussed in section 6.3, the following are several recommendations and points of advice:
• Sustainability-related funding from government and other entities, like the TEC, should allow for the allocation of more adequate levels of resourcing within TEOs for sustainability innovation,
• Government organisations should allocate more resourcing to support TEOs in their sustainability innovation investments through building technology solutions and enhancing staff technological capabilities,
• The processes involved in obtaining resourcing should be simplified,
• Flexible, regionally focused, and locally driven frameworks would overcome potential barriers to innovating for sustainability,
• Resourcing must be prioritised to design and deliver targeted and consistent sustainability training for all staff and potentially for other stakeholders,
Anne Marie Kininmonth
• Prospective staff should be screened for sustainability orientation and skills, especially for leadership positions,
• Implementation of a leadership structure for appointing sustainability skilled staff at top-level management may engender benefits across the TES, and
• Increasing diversity in top-level management may ameliorate issues associated with sustainability innovation decision-making and processes.