The Decision-Making Process for Developing Sustainable Innovation via Dynamic Capabilities in Cleantechs

Noronha, Matheus Eurico Soares de; Ferraro, Diandra Maynne Juliano; Silva, Rosemeire de Souza Vieira

doi:10.1590/1984-92302023v30n0007EN

Matheus Eurico Soares de Noronha

conception of the idea

structuring of the research axes

writing of the introduction

theoretical framework

methodology

data analysis

results and discussions and concluding remarks

data collection and processing for carrying out the analyses

Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, São Paulo, Brazil

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4640-6690

Diandra Maynne Juliano Ferraro

conception of the idea

structuring of the research axes

writing of the introduction

theoretical framework

methodology

data analysis

results and discussions and concluding remarks

collaborated in the image editing process and full review of the text and consistency of the material

Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, São Paulo, Brazil

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5621-1523

Rosemeire de Souza Vieira Silva

conception of the idea

structuring of the research axes

writing of the introduction

theoretical framework

methodology

data analysis

results and discussions and concluding remarks

collaborated with the editing

formatting, and compliance with the norms required for submission

Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, São Paulo, Brazil

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6260-6724

Authorship

Matheus Eurico Soares de Noronha

PhD from the ESPM – Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (School of Higher Education in Advertising and Marketing). Has a Master’s in Consumer Behavior (ESPM), MBA in Administration and Marketing (Catholic Business School of Porto), and Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing (Mackenzie Presbyterian University). Currently occupies the position of Specialist in Offshore Wind Energy at ABEEólica (Brazilian Association of Wind Energy and New Technologies) and performs a role in matters of Strategy and Innovation (2015 until present). Has scientific and journalistic articles on innovation, strategy, and clean technology startups published in national and international scientific magazines and press journals. Actively participates in dialogues on clean and accessible energy through the Global Young Leaders initiative of the UN (United Nations Organization). E-mail: math.euriconoronha@icloud.com

Diandra Maynne Juliano Ferraro

Master’s student in administration at the School of Higher Education in Advertising and Marketing (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing – ESPM), with an emphasis on strategy and innovation. Her research line focuses on innovation in business models and decision-making processes. Has professional experience in the area of production engineering, with actuation in the Brazilian and American real estate sector, specifically in project management in the role of PMO. Is a member of the Group for Research Studies on Strategy and International Management (GPEEGI). E-mail: dimayy.f@gmail.com

Rosemeire de Souza Vieira Silva

PhD from the ESPM – Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (School of Higher Education in Advertising and Marketing). Has a Master’s in Consumer Behavior (ESPM), an MBA in Administration (Getulio Vargas Foundation), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Administration (Alvorada Plus/Adventist Faculty). Currently occupies the position of budgetary and cost planning Analyst at the ESPN School of Higher Education in Advertising and Marketing. Has scientific and journalistic articles on innovation, strategy, and clean technology startups published in national and international scientific magazines and press journals. Actively participates in the GPEEGI-ESPM research group – the Group for Research Studies on Strategy and International Management of the ESPM. E-mail: rosemeire.silva@espm.br

Conflict of interests

The authors state that there is no conflict of interests.

Associate Editor: Amarolinda Klein

Dimension	Characteristic of the dimension of dynamic capabilities	References
Sensing: Perceiving threats to overcome with opportunities and technologies in the market.	Investment in R&D; identifying customer needs; collecting information from different sources; monitoring the business’ structural evolution and technology; acquiring, accumulating, and sharing tacit knowledge; developing routines for formulating new ideas.	Brink, 2019Brink, T. (2019). Orchestration of Dynamic Capabilities for Competitive Advantage. International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 13 (4), 960-976. doi:10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-0005 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-00... ; Garrido et al., 2020Garrido, I. L., Kretschmer, C., Vasconcellos, S. L. D., Gonçalo, C. R. (2020). Dynamic Capabilities: A Measurement Proposal and its Relationship with Performance. Brazilian Business Review , 17 (1), 46-65. doi:10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3 https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3... ; Inigo et al., 2017Inigo, E. A., Albareda, L., Ritala, P. (2017). Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Exploring Evolutionary and Radical Approaches Through Dynamic Capabilities. Industry and Innovation , 24 (5), 515-542. doi:10.1080/13662716.2017.1310034 https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2017.13... ; Teece, 2017, 20Teece, D. J. (2017). Dynamic Capabilities and (Digital) Platform Lifecycles. In Entrepreneurship, innovation, and platforms (pp. 211-225). Bingley: Emerald. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220170000037008 https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-3322201700... , 2018Teece, D. J. (2018). Business Models and Dynamic Capabilities. Long Range Planning , 51 (1), 40-49. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.00... ; Teece et al., 1997Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal , 18 (7), 509-533. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(... .
Seizing: Transforming opportunities into new products, services, and processes.	Developing new products and processes; investing in technology; improving and developing new business models; combining knowledge; developing routines for internalizing knowledge for strategic decisions.	Brink, 2019Brink, T. (2019). Orchestration of Dynamic Capabilities for Competitive Advantage. International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 13 (4), 960-976. doi:10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-0005 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-00... ; Garrido et al., 2020Garrido, I. L., Kretschmer, C., Vasconcellos, S. L. D., Gonçalo, C. R. (2020). Dynamic Capabilities: A Measurement Proposal and its Relationship with Performance. Brazilian Business Review , 17 (1), 46-65. doi:10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3 https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3... ; Inigo et al., 2017Inigo, E. A., Albareda, L., Ritala, P. (2017). Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Exploring Evolutionary and Radical Approaches Through Dynamic Capabilities. Industry and Innovation , 24 (5), 515-542. doi:10.1080/13662716.2017.1310034 https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2017.13... ; Teece, 2017, 20Teece, D. J. (2017). Dynamic Capabilities and (Digital) Platform Lifecycles. In Entrepreneurship, innovation, and platforms (pp. 211-225). Bingley: Emerald. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220170000037008 https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-3322201700... , 2018Teece, D. J. (2018). Business Models and Dynamic Capabilities. Long Range Planning , 51 (1), 40-49. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.00... ; Teece et al., 1997Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal , 18 (7), 509-533. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(... .
Reconfiguring: Reconfiguring assets and the organizational structure to ensure the company’s evolution.	Defining partnerships in the value chain; decentralizing activities; orchestrating assets, aligning them, and redistributing them; capacity to integrate, share, and monitor knowledge; exploring the creation of new knowledge; widening collaboration networks to generate resource combinations; abandoning combinations and processes that do not generate competitive advantages.	Brink, 2019Brink, T. (2019). Orchestration of Dynamic Capabilities for Competitive Advantage. International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 13 (4), 960-976. doi:10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-0005 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-09-2018-00... ; Garrido et al., 2020Garrido, I. L., Kretschmer, C., Vasconcellos, S. L. D., Gonçalo, C. R. (2020). Dynamic Capabilities: A Measurement Proposal and its Relationship with Performance. Brazilian Business Review , 17 (1), 46-65. doi:10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3 https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2020.17.1.3... ; Inigo et al., 2017Inigo, E. A., Albareda, L., Ritala, P. (2017). Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Exploring Evolutionary and Radical Approaches Through Dynamic Capabilities. Industry and Innovation , 24 (5), 515-542. doi:10.1080/13662716.2017.1310034 https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2017.13... ; Teece, 2017, 20Teece, D. J. (2017). Dynamic Capabilities and (Digital) Platform Lifecycles. In Entrepreneurship, innovation, and platforms (pp. 211-225). Bingley: Emerald. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220170000037008 https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-3322201700... , 2018Teece, D. J. (2018). Business Models and Dynamic Capabilities. Long Range Planning , 51 (1), 40-49. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.00... ; Teece et al., 1997Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal , 18 (7), 509-533. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(... .

Entrepreneur interviewed	Company	Scope of the cleantech’s activities	Interview time	Interview date
Interviewee 1	A	Financial credits for implementing solar energy	42’:12”	October, 2020
Interviewee 2	B	Commercialization of renewable energy certificates	37’:11”	October, 2020
Interviewee 3	C	Monitoring of energy consumption, optimization, and energy efficiency	26’:37”	December, 2020
Interviewee 4	C		44’:02”	February, 2021
Interviewee 5	D	Commercialization of solar energy	35’:01”	February , 2021
Interviewee 6	E	Sanitation and water treatment	45’:52”	April, 2021
Interviewee 7	E	Sanitation and water treatment	40’:44”	April, 2021
Interviewee 8	F	Commercialization of solar energy	39’:22”	March, 2021
Interviewee 9	F	Commercialization of solar energy	29’:12”	March, 2021
Interviewee 10	G	Energy and mobility	31’:23”	June, 2021
Interviewee 11	G		45’:56”	June, 2021
Interviewee 12	H	Carbon capture	44’:10”	August, 2021
Interviewee 13			36’:12”	August , 2021
Interviewee 14			33’:17”	August , 2021
Interviewee 15	I	Systems for monitoring wind farms	28’:09”	November, 2021
Interviewee 16	J	Monitoring of energy consumption, optimization, and energy efficiency	49’:12”	November, 2021
Interviewee 17	K	Digital consulting for reducing energy consumption and an energy services platform	50’:22”	December, 2021

Block	Analysis categories	Repetition	Representative transcription
Decision-making process	Effectuation	15	“The commercialization of renewable energy certificates is for any entrepreneur that seeks to make their products sustainable and structure their business model focusing on the environment. The entrepreneur can choose to buy wind, solar, or biomass energy certificates and certify the “renewableness” of their business’ energy supply… This technology is also already made viable by blockchain.” (Interviewee 2, 2020) “The credit and access to produce their own solar energy give autonomy to the vendors to not depend on more expensive and non-renewable energy. The entrepreneurs come to have the choice of the type of energy, using a system of energy offsetting established by ANEEL (National Electrical Energy Agency) itself.” (Interviewee 1, 2020)
Decision-making process	Causation	19	“The monitoring systems store the data in the cloud... We can plan the strategies for the different types of consumer and they choose the best options for reducing their consumption. The cloud and data storage technology means we can offer different energy solutions for the customer to be able to economize in their day-to-day bill. These solutions for businesses range from exchanging rubbers for fridges to buying solar energy quotas, reducing the entrepreneurs’ costs and providing an outlook for fixed costs…” (Interviewee 3, 2020)
Dynamic capabilities	Sensing	29	“The existing devices give mobility for us to understand each customer’s consumption behavior… We have an intelligence which by means of satellites we can identify the different climate changes and monitor prices and send notifications to the consumers in periods spent… The algorithms can also map specific data to differentiate the customers and with those insights we can improve our service plant and provide specific options for different consumers, giving autonomy to choose products over the internet of things (IoT) in smart metering.” (Interviewee 5, 2021)
	Seizing	22	“... we have a technological and digital monitoring network for reducing waste and losses in water consumption and spillages… the artificial intelligence sensors detect the repairs needed and with maintenance support it is possible to resolve spillage problems in real time. This on a large scale can provide unmeasurable gains for residents of big cities like São Paulo. To get an idea, today Brazil loses 38% of the water it collects from rivers during its distribution. To understand the proportion of that volume, if we saved approximately 20% of what we lose, we’d have enough water to supply 35 million Brazilians without access to drinking water. Brazilians lose a lot of water and financially that represents a cost of 10 billion reais every year.” (Interviewee 7, 2021)
	Reconfiguring	31	“The changes in the current rules for the commercialization and offsetting of energy applied by ANEEL have enabled the commercialization of solar energy quotas. Entrepreneur owners of bakeries, restaurants, and stores can buy energy without installing solar panels… It was a rapid adaptation for commerce and to the opportunities that opened up for the energy sector because we know that the National Interlinked System of energy is complex and involves a series of structural questions that depend on energy transmission and distribution to major centers.” (Interviewee 9, 2021)
Sustainable innovation	Process innovation	38	“The renewableness of the grid is very important for urban mobility and will be fundamental for a sustainable future, considering that most of the fleet of cars in the world is gasoline and fossil fuel based… The launch of new cars, electric power points, and even the re-adaptation of the production chain have pushed the innovations toward the green economy. Innovation in customary processes led by sensors and intelligent systems have revolutionized in areas such as recycling cycles, product assembly, substitution of materials, and use of scarce raw materials.” (Interviewee 11, 2021)
	Organizational innovation	32	“The green recovery depends on the position of companies and their responsibility in the production of renewable and clean energy… Companies and the government need to look at their processes and type of energy, and update their portfolio to enable other infrastructure sectors such as transport to revitalize their fleets of electric vehicles, powered by hydrogen and that could have the structure to enable the different types of innovation.” (Interviewee 10, 2021)
	Product innovation	30	“Carbon offsetting is a solution that could help with the issue of climate change, capturing carbon. This considers the issuing of certifications and use of renewable energies that can foster sustainable consumption. The IoT and the cloud help a lot to monitor and create new products for the market in general, but we believe that blockchain is the next step for commercial exchanges of carbon between companies, especially in relation to the certification market… Not only startups, but large companies need to accompany the technological trend of the commercialization of energy and blockchain certificates, as well as monitoring solutions that already exist to reduce their carbon footprint.” (Interviewee 12, 2021)
Emerging categories	Green spillovers	16	“... energy consumption in the general context influences various factors linked to infrastructure and local socioeconomic development when we look at the renewable energy grids…. for example, 80% of Brazil’s grid is renewable and that makes the country competitive in terms of renewable resources, enabling it to explore energy development from an industrial viewpoint and access to clean energy… Here at the consultancy we see that the use of new technologies attracts investors to the energy sector, which stimulate the development of subsegments such as transmission lines, innovation ports and parks so that technologies such as offshore wind and hydrogen are made viable. That type of technological innovation is fundamental for energy transition and the regional development of emerging economies.” (Interviewee 17, 2021)
	Technological sustainability	28	“The greatest sustainable innovation in technological terms is linked to the capacity to identify bottlenecks and consumer spending. For that we use sensors and monitoring via the IoT. We accompany the consumer’s spending and we can reduce their energy expenditure, carbon emissions, and even indicate what the impact is that they failed to generate by carrying out their process optimization… Artificial intelligence and the IoT are very important for us, since it‘s an integration of resources of the computer programs that we use and the consultative practice… It seems complex, but to reduce the environmental impact via technological sustainability it’s necessary to use the digital resources we have to guide entrepreneurs.” (Interviewee 16, 2021)
	Digital leapfrogging to green technologies	35	“... the forecasting and monitoring systems work to predict the energy generation intervals, with a view to system optimization. Monitoring implies data management, using data analytics resources and artificial intelligence. The combination of these technologies enables better use of the assets of wind farms, giving large entrepreneurs digital mobility… The real monitoring of wind generation data, linked for example to energy constraints or intermittences of the systems, means entrepreneurs can assertively take routine decisions for the continuous development of their organization’s asset portfolio.” (Interviewee 15, 2021)

Research path based on the findings	Suggestions for future research
Green spillovers	Identify how green spillovers generated by clean technologies can drive the development of society and industry; map the relevance of the green spillovers caused by cleantechs for the development of international commerce; understand how spillover effects can intermediate in the internationalization of cleantechs; analyze what the relationship is between different types of innovation and green spillovers.
Technological sustainability	Verify what the main technologies are that foster sustainability and sustainable development among cleantechs (e.g. big data, the IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain); present the role of technological sustainability for the generation of capabilities and competences linked to innovation; understand how resources can be allocated for the generation of technological sustainability in organizations; identify the role of the entrepreneur and the decision-making process for the articulation of technological sustainability.
Digital leapfrogging to clean technologies	Understand how digital leapfrogging manifests in organizations that adopt clean technologies in their business models; evaluate the relationship between digital leapfrogging and organizational knowledge to produce sustainable innovation; verify how digital leapfrogging to clean technologies can accelerate the process of competitive advantage of companies in the market; map the main antecedents for digital leapfrogging of organizations focused on clean technologies.

Brasil

Brasil

The Decision-Making Process for Developing Sustainable Innovation via Dynamic Capabilities in Cleantechs

Abstract