Sustainable Business Models of Companies: Challenges and Prospects

Introduction

In the era of the intensified domestic and international market competition, progressive globalization of the world economy and advancement of information and digital technologies, the ability of enterprises to compete becomes a prerequisite for their survival and growth. Enterprises pursue competitive advantage, which M.E. Porter says “is at the heart of a firm’s performance in competitive markets”. However, a reservation must be made that, once gained, competitive advantage is neither permanent nor absolute, which forces enterprises to adapt their business models to the changing operating conditions and customer needs. Research confirms the existence of a positive reinforcing correlation between the level of a company’s competitiveness and the performance of a devised business model measured by its profitability (Jabłoński 2010).

Following on social and economic changes and the growing awareness of the negative anthropogenic impact on the environment, companies increasingly often integrate environmental, social and governance aspects in their operating policies, thus modifying their pursued business models towards sustainability.

The aim of this paper is to explain the term of a sustainable business model on the basis of a literature review, and then to discuss the process of its implementation in enterprises. The second part of the paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted in the form of an in-depth interview among entrepreneurs to examine their awareness of the business model implemented, the integration of ESG factors in their operating policies and the willingness to take into account social, environmental and governance factors in newly created business models. At the end of the chapter, the author will consider whether the implementation of a sustainable business model, in addition to the ethical and social aspect, can generate value in terms of financial profitability.