Strategic Management and Sustainability Transitions - Theory and Practice

Aug 27, 2026

Strategic Management and Sustainability Transitions - Theory and Practice advances research on how sustainability transitions unfold through interactions among actors, technologies, and institutions. The volume integrates three theoretical themes, linking ecological and human systems, critiquing multinational corporate expansion via circular economy and natural resource-based views, and proposing a multi-stakeholder ecosystems framework with structural alignment of value propositions. It also addresses the UN SDGs through critical and empirical examination, while presenting management practice cases and conclude with implications for strategy research and international business.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages231

Reading Time9 h 42 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Part I: Theoretical development

1 Ecosystems and human systems: A framework for exploring the linkages

2 Business model innovation for the circular economy: Market, multi-stakeholder, or circular vertical integration?

3 Multi-stakeholder ecosystems for sustainability transitions

Part II: Management practice

4 Managing the coal exit in a mining region - Strategic landscape design and niche management for a sustainable socio-technical regime in Lusatia

5 Creating a better food system: Reinventing the way we grow food in cities

6 Sustainability transitions through electric vehicles: The relevance of network externalities

7 Sustainability transition dynamics of SMEs in a volatile emerging economy: A qualitative exploration

8 Stakeholders of sustainability transition: Interventions in energy and Bangladesh RMG industry

Conclusion

Index

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENTAND SUSTAINABILITYTRANSITIONS THEORY AND PRACTICE Edited byMichael W.Zhang ROUTLEDGE Strategic Management andSustainability Transitions The subject of sustainability transitions has,in the past decade or so,becomean established research field for academics,policy makers,and practitionersalike.Conceptual and theoretical developments in the field have graduallyadvanced from the perspectives of socio-technical systems and businessmodels.Scholars contend that it is the interactions of the networks of actors,technologies,and institutions that drive transition processes towardsustainability.In this volume,we further advance this line of inquiry witha special reference to strategic management of sustainability transitions,inboth theory and practice.In theoretical development,we have selected threechapters to encompass the themes of (1)the interactions between ecologicalsystems and human systems;(2)a critique on the continuous expansion oflarge multinational companies and their strategic control of key resourceinputs through the lenses of circular economy and natural resource-basedview;and (3)a multi-stakeholder ecosystems framework for the managementof sustainability transitions with structural alignment of focal valuepropositions.The United Nations'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)are critically addressed and empirically examined.It will become an essentialreader and a reference book for researchers and postgraduate studentsinterested in strategic management,international business,innovationstudies,consumer behavior,and public administration. Michael W.Zhang is Reader(Associate Professor)in International Strategyat the Nottingham Business School,Nottingham Trent University,UK. Routledge Research in Strategic Management This series explores,develops and critiques the numerous models andframeworks designed to assist in strategic decision making in internal andexternal environments.It publishes scholarly research in all methodologiesand perspectives that comprise the discipline,and welcomes diverse multi-disciplinary research methods,including qualitative and quantitativestudies,and conceptual and computational models.It also welcomes thepractical application of the strategic management process to a businessworld inspired by new economic paradigms. 5.Ambidextrous Strategy:Antecedents,Strategic Choices,and Performance Agnieszka Zakrzewska-Bielawska 6.Strategic Management During a Pandemic Edited by Vikas Kumar and Gaurav Gupta 7.Acquisitions and Corporate Strategy:Alliances,Performance,andDivestment Edited by David R.King 8.Strategic Management and Myopia:Challenges and ImplicationsWojciech Czakon 9.Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage:A Reinterpretation ofMichael Porter's Work Jovo Ateljević,Dženan Kulović,Filip Dokovic and Mirza Bavčic 10.Competitive Advantage,Strategy and Innovation in Africa:Issues andApplications Edited by Mohammed El Amine Abdelli,Nawal Chemma,Soudani Ahlem,Samir B.Maliki and Gurmeet Singh 11.Strategic Management and Sustainability Transitions Theory and PracticeEdited by Michael W.Zhang Strategic Management andSustainability TransitionsTheory and Practice Edited by Michael W.Zhang First published 2024by Routledge605 Third Avenue,New York,NY 10158 and by Routledge4 Park Square,Milton Park,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor &Francis Group,an informabusiness ◎2024 Michael W.Zhang The right of Michael W.Zhang to be identified as the author of theeditorial material,and of the authors for their individual chapters,hasbeen asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted orreproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,orother means,now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording,or in any information storage or retrievalsystem,without permission in writing from the

FAQs

What interaction-based perspective drives sustainability transition processes in this volume?

The book emphasizes that transition processes are driven by interactions among networks of actors, technologies, and institutions, shaping pathways toward sustainability.

How does the theoretical part connect ecological and human systems?

It presents a framework to explore linkages between ecological systems and human systems, grounding sustainability transitions in both domains.

What management-practice topics are covered beyond theory?

It includes case-based discussions such as managing coal exits, reinventing urban food systems, electric-vehicle transition dynamics, sustainability-transition dynamics of SMEs, and stakeholder interventions in energy and the Bangladesh RMG industry.

Aug 27, 2026

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