Sustainability integration and firm’s innovation: the virtuous case of Sgambaro S.p.A

Abstract

More and more companies are trying to adopt a sustainability-oriented strategy. The paper aims to define how companies that integrate sustainability innovate their business through a case study approach. After defining the concept of sustainability and describing how companies integrate and manage it, the attention is focused on the Italian productive system. Sgambaro S.p.A is among the Italian companies that through the integration of sustainability record benefits in terms of internationalization, turnover, and degree of innovation. After company’s contextualization and the description of its journey towards sustainability integration, it emerges that to implement a sustainability oriented strategy, leaders’ commitment is a fundamental element. Leaders’ orientation towards sustainability-related issues fosters the redefinition of the business core priorities and activities accordingly to sustainability. Business model innovation is accompanied by new forms of stakeholder engagement that contribute to create and promote sustainable product innovations, properly certified with international standards to further strengthen company’s commitment towards sustainability. The well implemented sustainability strategy improves company’s environmental performance, market and financial performance, and brand reputation and awareness.