Business innovation and sustainability dichotomy

STEPHEN LIDDLE,SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA
SIHAM EL-KAFAFI, MANUKAU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NEW ZEALAND
Abstract: We are living in an era of rapid technological changes where innovation has increased exponentially. Accordingly companies with cutting edge research are facing lots of challenges in creating new and creative products to enable a sustainable human existence and to ensure their acceptance by the society especially when we hear of reports like Tomorrow’s Market signalling that the current trends are leading to an unsustainable human society. This research is a part of a bigger study investigating the determinants of innovation in the New Zealand biotechnology sector. This paper discusses business innovation in general and how it could contribute to sustainable development across several key areas such as agriculture, biotechnology, consumer products, energy and life sciences. To provide a link between business innovation and sustainability, this research paper explores trends across the following concepts: social expectations of innovation in the biotechnology field, innovations versus sustainability, sustainable agricultural biotechnology and sustainable industry practices in the biotechnology field. Finally, this study provides some tentative ideas of the conditions required for business innovation to make a constructive contribution to sustainability.
Keywords: Business Innovation, Agricultural Biotechnology, Sustainable Development