How to get off to a good start in responsible innovation

For a few years now, a new way of innovating has been emerging: responsible innovation. What’s it all about? It’s about innovating in a way that is useful for society and the planet, but without overlooking economic considerations. But how does one go about changing the culture of a company and consumers in a way that shifts towards more virtuous and sustainable models? 

The EDHEC Alumni Innovation club brought together three experts for a roundtable discussion of this issue: Aurélie Sykes-Darmon (EDHEC 2012), co-founder and CEO of KeekOff (which supports businesses in their environmental and social transition), Ana Maria Bonduelle, director of consultancy firm Bartle, and Élisa Pahlawan, a senior manager at the same firm. The event was a chance to delve deep into this most topical of developments.

Innovation vs responsible innovation

Innovation is synonymous with production and dissemination of a novelty for the market or for a company that requires risk-taking and responds to needs or uses. Responsible innovation seeks to respond to social or environmental needs or problems and seeks to limit the impact on the entire value chain. To innovate does not necessarily mean to invent; often it’s about taking an existing concept and finding a different approach and way of cooperating. The aim of responsible innovation is to provoke social changes or work on the sustainability of a product, which requires different governance: it’s about anticipating the impact of innovation on the future in terms of decision-making, it requires daring and constant improvement with a willingness to change direction if needed.

Before you undertake responsible innovation 

The first step is to ask who this novelty is for and why: is the idea viable, feasible and desirable? 

Applying the criteria of the ARIR method will enable you to take a step back, set out your vision and identify the consequences:

• Anticipate: what impact will it have on society or the planet? 
• Reflect: innovate for what purpose?
• Include: how can you go beyond the simple customer/company relationship and include all stakeholders?
• Respond: does this innovation respond to the needs of society?

Aurélie underscores the importance of involving all stakeholders, ensuring that staff can put in place strategies and take tangible actions, while Ana Maria emphasises the notion of being willing to “start small”.   

4 pitfalls to avoid 

1. Lack of collaboration between departments
2. Poor use of collected data; data should enable you to rectify errors and make improvements
3. Actions based on mere assumptions
4. Organizational inertia (having intentions but failing to act)

The challenges of responsible innovation

One thing is certain: responsible innovation requires greater effort than regular innovation. Élisa tell us, “this transformation involves giving meaning to one’s actions, displaying leadership and developing a new culture within the company”. It is essential to have the resources and knowledge internally to engage in responsible innovation, as well as rallying the support of all staff members. And collaboration outside the business is also a key element: calling on both private and public actors is a way to share costs and risks. Lastly, responsible innovation means testing the concept very quickly on a customer panel. 

Similarly, ROI and performance measurement are important: responsible innovation involves putting in place extra-financial criteria (such as those of ADEME, the French environment and energy management agency, or label affiliation) to measure the impact in terms of CSR. 

Factors of success

7 CSR criteria 

1. Ensure a responsible supply chain: origin of raw materials and components, suppliers, etc. An example is Fairphone, a telephone manufacturer that has reduced its impact on the planet.
2. Determine both positive and negative impacts of the way you produce and distribute, choosing technologies and processes with the least possible impact on the environment, like Durabric, which makes bricks that do not need to be cooked and are made using local raw materials. 
3. Have a responsible value proposition: think carefully about your target, the problem that needs to be addressed and the value that will be created.
4. Establish a lasting customer relationship: improve the customer experience, as the University Hospital did in Montréal, where AI was used to transport carts around the hospital, thus optimising the time staff could spend with patients.
5. Encourage responsible customer practices by changing their behaviours, like Loop, which introduced reusable packaging for several brands at Carrefour, incentivising consumers to choose those products and then return to the store with their containers. 
6. Seek out responsible partners, involving suppliers customers and retailers, like Too Good To Go, which put in place several partnerships to combat food waste.
7. Think about your product’s life-cycle, making it repairable, reusable, biodegradable, etc.

3 financial criteria 

As pointed out by Ana Maria, “to be viable, responsible innovation must have its own business model” so it is essential to analyse:

1. Costs and investments
2. Taxation (tax benefits, regional and European subsidies, etc.) 
3. Sources of revenue generated 

3 positive and 3 negative impacts to steer your decision

• Can the positive repercussions on society and the environment be maximised throughout the production and business cycle? 
• Can the negative repercussions on society and the environment be minimised or avoided; do they undermine the appeal of the innovation itself? 

As you can see, while responsible innovation is guided by many different relevant factors, it requires in-depth reflection on feasibility, possible collaborations and partnerships, as well as the consequences. 

Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts or questions about this inspirational topic with the EDHEC Alumni community! And join us soon for more EDHEC Alumni  events and webinars – be sure to check the calendar of events.