How to reconcile business with sustainable development: an innovation approach

Purpose – Sustainable development has first been perceived as a hindrance to economic growth. Today, the opposition between innovation and sustainable development is less evident. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential complementarities that could emerge between innovation strategies and sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual paper, this article aims at developing propositions. Findings – Sustainable development constitutes a new data of the macro‐environmental context, likely to modify the competing industries and systems in which companies evolve. In return, they represent many opportunities that companies can seize to model their strategies. Within the framework of such an approach, innovation and sustainable development constitute engines of development which can get connected and virtuously feed themselves. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, the results lack generalisability. Therefore, academics are encouraged to further test the propositions developed in the article. Practical implications – Strategies, and their translation at the organisational level, integrating SD, may provide both a source of competitive advantage for companies and an enhancement of their commitment to society. Social implications – The practices described in the article are aiming at stimulating the innovation of collaborators, in order to integrate the principles of sustainable development within the company. Originality/value – This paper fills a literature gap regarding the study of how managers can take sustainable development into account to build their strategies.