Delivering Sustainability Through Ecosystem Innovation: A Multilevel Framework for Sustainability Transitions

Pierre-Jean  Barlatier; Jingshu  Du; Emmanuel  Josserand; Thibaut  Bardon; Philippe  Hermel; Émilie Ruiz

doi:10.37725/mgmt.2025.13718

Pierre-Jean Barlatier EDHEC Business School, Nice, France https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6052-4947
Jingshu Du De Vinci Higher Education, De Vinci Research Center, Paris, France; and UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, LAREQUOI, Versailles, France https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8462-9823
Emmanuel Josserand De Vinci Higher Education, De Vinci Research Center, Paris, France, Work and Organisational Studies, University of Sydney, Australia
Thibaut Bardon Audencia Business School, Nantes, France https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5242-2668
Philippe Hermel Larequoi, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Université Paris-Saclay, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
Émilie Ruiz Institute for Research in Management and Economics (IREGE), Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0563-6115

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2025.13718

Keywords: Ecosystem innovation, sustainability, ecosystem governance, multilevel framework, value creation

Abstract

This introduction to the special issue examines how ecosystems can operate as arenas through which sustainability transition can be organized and enacted. Drawing on the articles included in this special issue, it analyses the mechanisms through which ecosystems generate and diffuse sustainable innovation by combining three complementary perspectives: (1) governance and coordination across plural logics, (2) redefinition of value creation, and (3) cognitive and learning dynamics supporting collective adaptation. Building on these insights, our introductive paper theorizes a multilevel framework that links microlevel cognition, mesolevel governance, and macrolevel institutions as recursive components of collective learning. It positions ecosystems as organizational interfaces that translate local experimentation into systemic transformation and argues that research methods should reflect this complexity through participatory, design-based, and data-enabled inquiry. We conclude by outlining several avenues for future research on sustainable ecosystem innovation as a continuous process of organizing, learning, and alignment across actors at different levels.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Pierre-Jean Barlatier, EDHEC Business School, Nice, France

Pierre-Jean Barlatier is professor of strategy and innovation at EDHEC Business School. He holds an habilitation to direct research (HDR) from the University of Strasbourg (France, 2015) and a PhD in management sciences from Université Côte d’Azur (France, 2006). His research focuses on strategic management and organization design applied to open innovation management. His works have been published in various academic journals (Research Policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Strategic Organization among others) and has received funding from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and Swiss National Fund (SNF).

Jingshu Du, De Vinci Higher Education, De Vinci Research Center, Paris, France; and UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, LAREQUOI, Versailles, France

Jingshu Du is affiliated senior researcher and HDR (habilitation to direct research) at Larequoi, Université Paris-Saclay, and associate professor of strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship at EMLV Business School, Paris, France. Before coming to France, she was assistant professor of strategic management and innovation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands); senior associate at Vlerick Business School, KU Leuven (Belgium); and FWO granted long-stay research scholar at University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley, United States). Jingshu’s research focuses on open and collaborative innovation, business ecosystems, and strategic decision-making. Her research output has been published in several leading academic journals, including Research Policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Industrial Marketing Management (sole author), Technovation, R&D Management, the ‘Best Paper’ Finalist and Best Paper proceedings of Academy of Management (AoM) (Strategy division), and in several books published by Oxford University Press, Imperial College London Press, Springer, and Routledge (sole author), respectively. Jingshu is currently serving on the editorial board of Relations industrielles/Industrial Relations.

Emmanuel Josserand, De Vinci Higher Education, De Vinci Research Center, Paris, France, Work and Organisational Studies, University of Sydney, Australia

Emmanuel Josserand is a researcher, senior adviser, trainer, and professor of management with a passion for business, sustainability, and social innovation. He conducts projects that bring together and support partners from all sectors in building a sustainable future. He is currently a professor at EMLV, Paris and at the Business Science Institute, Luxembourg. He is also associate researcher at University of Sydney Business School (Work and Organisational Studies). Before that he was a professor at UNSW, University of Technology Sydney and University of Geneva, as well as an associate professor at Université PSL. Emmanuel has more than 160 academic publications, including books, book chapters and articles in the best international, peer reviewed journals, leading to more than 6500 citations on Google Scholar and a h-index of 30.

Thibaut Bardon , Audencia Business School, Nantes, France

Thibaut Bardon is professor and associate dean for faculty and research at Audencia Business School. He holds an habilitation to direct research (HDR) from the Université Paris Dauphine-PSL (France, 2016) and a double PhD in management from Université Paris Dauphine-PSL (France, 2011) and University of Geneva (Switzerland, 2011). His research interests span several domains, including management innovations, identity construction, higher education, and critical epistemologies. Thibaut publishes regularly in leading academic journals including Human Relations, Journal of Business Ethics, Organization or British Journal of Management among others.

Philippe Hermel , Larequoi, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Université Paris-Saclay, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Philippe Hermel is a tenured professor, honorary dean, and founder of the ISM-IAE Graduate School of Management, as well as co-founder and scientific programme director of the Larequoi research center at the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Université Paris-Saclay. He is also a research professor at Georgetown University, where he directs global programmes at CIED. Holder of an MBA, a master in international economics, the Stanford-NUS certificate, a PhD and a habilitation to direct research (HDR) in management, he previously served as chief academic officer of ESCE and EBS in Paris. A former UNESCO Chairholder, he has supervised over 40 doctorates and HDRs, and now leads an international executive DBA programme. He has 40 years of consulting experience and has authored books, articles, and keynote lectures worldwide in strategic change, quality, and international management.

Émilie Ruiz, Institute for Research in Management and Economics (IREGE), Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France

Émilie Ruiz is associate professor of innovation management at Université Savoie Mont Blanc and a member of the Institute of Research in Management and Economics (IREGE). She is also associate fellow at University of Strasbourg (Bureau of Theoretical and Applied Economics, BETA). Her research, published in various journals such as M@n@gement, R&D Management, Technovation or European Management Journal, focuses on open innovation, particularly with communities of innovation, organizational creativity, as well as cultural and creative industries.