"An accessible and paradigm‐altering pathway for integral leadership, optimal innovation, conscious culture and stakeholder alignment: from resource efficiency to sustainability"

Abstract

The world is experiencing dramatic changes with human activities becoming a significant planetary force that shapes the biosphere. The economy, society and the environment are impacted by the exponentially growing connectivity, speed and interactions of globalisation. Exceeding the limits of any of the established nine planetary boundaries can have immediate and catastrophic consequences on a planetary scale due to the interdependent nature of these boundaries. Resource scarcity has become a major concern world-wide. The circular economy has emerged as the broader framework for addressing these challenges through a fundamental paradigm shift towards ecological economics and a sustainable civilization (The Worldwatch Institute, 2013). In this context, the broader objective of this research is to revolutionise the understanding of cross-border collaboration and globalisation and their roles as catalysts for resource efficiency innovation to leverage resources, ideas and talent globally to prepare businesses for tomorrow’s realities. This ProfD (Professional Doctorate) Innovation Portfolio, developed over a period of more than seven years, has focused on studying through multiple scalable case studies the sustainability successes achieved by some of the most renowned global missionaries of sustainability. The built-in universality of the innovation outcomes makes this research relevant to a broader context as it can be used by organisations operating at different levels of sophistication along their sustainability path allowing them to reconfigure their sustainability evolution journeys as part of their ongoing quest to achieve an improved intertemporal balance between short-term and long-term perspectives. The RECLAIM Sustainability Evolution Model, the primary outcome of this research, recontextualises the organisations’ leadership orientation, innovation strategy and organisational culture to enhance their ability to make a difference and influence the world in a meaningful way in the macro environment they operate in. The RECLAIM model represents a well-defined success blueprint that decodes sustainability, what really matters for creating, capturing and delivering value through sustainability driven talent management, business models and products and services. It helps businesses make a difference by having a higher purpose and enabling social capital to have a positive impact on individuals, communities and societies by improving sustainability. As part of the new way of thinking and a shift from ego-system (well-being of self) to eco-system awareness (well-being of all) for humankind, the RECLAIM model rides the big waves of disruption that are sweeping our planet and provides an effective and efficient sustainability evolution path for organisations worldwide interested in capitalising on these changes. This research represents a tour of the future and an open invitation to the process of inspiring people’s minds and hearts to explore the new unified and hyper-connected multi-stakeholder world view that can achieve balance among political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental factors that characterise market trends and systematic risks associated with unsustainable practices and behaviours. It is our gift to the world and an opportunity for organisations worldwide to begin their quest towards more sustainable business practices and transcend to higher levels of sustainability evolution to leave an impactful legacy.