SUSTAINOPRENEURSHIP: A THEORY OF ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH WITH SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Sustainopreneurship is a theoretical approach that is a combination of entrepreneurial orientation and sustainability requirements to solve the complex socio-environmental problems. This paper proposes a theory of sustainopreneurship as a process of seeking opportunities in which entrepreneurs create innovative, scalable and economically viable solutions that not only create social equity but also regenerate the environment and create economic value in the long-term. Sustainopreneurship is based on the idea of a balanced triple-bottom-line logic, which is embedded into the opportunity recognition, the orchestration of the resources and the creation of value processes, unlike the traditional entrepreneurship, which is generally driven by a logic of profit, or the social entrepreneurship, which is generally driven by a logic of social impact. The theory is based on a synthesis of the fields of entrepreneurship, sustainability science, and strategic management and highlights six constructs: sustainability-oriented opportunity recognition, creation of triple-bottom-line value, orchestration of regenerative resources, stakeholder co-creation, impact scalability, and adaptive sustainability capability. The framework is comprised of a set of eight theoretical propositions: a vision of links between sustainability challenges and entrepreneurial outcomes within specific boundary conditions. Antecedents, core processes and long-term outcomes are also distinguished, to create an integrated conceptual model for the study. Sustainopreneurship contributes to the academic discourse by integrating the two literatures of entrepreneurship and sustainability, by adding a dimension of creating regenerative value as a key entrepreneurial process, and by introducing a dimension of process into the triple bottom line, as a goal, rather than only an outcome. It's a theoretical underpinning to guide practitioners, policymakers and educators on how to try to go about striking a balance between benefits and losses to the planet and its people, and profitability. Finally, Sustainopreneurship is seen as a paradigm for a resilient, inclusive and sustainable economic model amidst global uncertainties.