New publication in Sustainability Journal

06.10.2021 - A new article by Martin Ritter and Heiner Schanz has been published in the Sustainability Journal. On the empirical example of two carsharing companies, the article proposes a way how strategizing mindsets can be reconstructed out of business model narratives. Thereby the strategizing mindsets reconstructed out of the business model showed that both companies do not follow a mindset that inherit a system perspective or focus on providing solutions to environmental problems, despite their vision proclamation that state otherwise.

A new article by Martin Ritter and Heiner Schanz has been published in the Sustainability Journal. It aims at uncovering strategizing mindsets behind carsharing business models. | https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212700

Abstract:

Carsharing is seen as one of the most promising business model innovations for transforming the mobility system towards sustainability. Yet, carsharing businesses are faced with similar sustainability paradoxes as business in general; whether a company’s business model is pushed towards sustainability depends on its strategizing mindset. However, few studies have addressed the strategizing mindsets of carsharing providers. The present study addresses this gap with an empirical assessment of (1) the relevance of environmental sustainability in the strategies of carsharing corporations compared to their proclaimed vision and (2) the underlying type of strategizing mindset, i.e., corporate purpose and vision. In using a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard approach in a reversed manner, accompanied by an objective hermeneutic methodology, we reconstructed strategy maps out of two distinct carsharing business models, unveiling for each company its strategic reasoning, its understanding of corporate purpose and its underlying strategizing mindset. The results reveal that none of the carsharing businesses follow a mindset that orients their strategy to a systems-based view and accordingly do not provide solutions to environmental problems. The study not only adds to our understanding of carsharing companies, it also introduces a conceptual framework that allows the investigation of purpose in comparison to vision, revealing a company’s strategizing mindset.