TY - JOUR
T1 - Defining the “Positive Impact” of socio-technical systems for absolute sustainability
T2 - a literature review based on the identification of system design principles and management functions
AU - Gebler, Malte
AU - Juraschek, Max
AU - Thiede, Sebastian
AU - Cerdas, Felipe
AU - Herrmann, Christoph
N1 - Funding Information:
Sustainable value generation refers to the generation of long-term value through linking economic activities to absolute social and environmental goals (Bocken et al. ). McEvoy () describes long-term economic revenues besides environmental gains and community wellbeing through responsible forestry or stewardship. Hunt () proclaims an enhancement of a firm’s financial performance through improved corporate social performance. This is supported by Simpson and Kohers (), who provide a positive example from the banking sector. Van Rekom et al. () depict that the communication of social activities leads to customer loyalty and stakeholder satisfaction. Costantini et al. () show that eco-innovations and sustainable supply chains both contribute to sectoral ecological sustainability and economic performance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Socio-technical systems represent complex interactions of humans with ecological, social and economic systems. A system’s design and its operations determine whether its impact is “negative”, “neutral/zero” or “positive” over the system life cycle with regard to its contribution to sustainable development. But coping with exceeded planetary boundaries and social challenges requires more than “net-zero” approaches to achieve biosphere resilience and healthy societies. While negative and zero impacts are widely studied, the term “positive impact” has just recently gained importance to describe the outcome of design, planning, operational, organizational or engineering processes. Various case studies, reviews and conceptual proposals exist—mostly applied in a specific context—but a clear definition is not yet detectable. Based on a review of existing literature, this paper: (i) analyzes current perceptions of negative, zero and positive impacts of socio-technical systems on absolute sustainability, (ii) summarizes the current state of knowledge on positive impact concepts for sustainable development, (iii) identifies relevant socio-technical system design principles for positive impacts on biosphere, society and economy, (iv) derives management functions and organizational prerequisites within socio-technical systems to enable positive impacts, (v) proposes a guiding framework and a definition for “positive impact of socio-technical systems for absolute sustainability”, and (vi) discusses briefly potential applications and further research demand. This review intends to synthesize existing knowledge from an industrial and engineering design perspective, and delivers an overview on the subject from a global sustainability level to the operational level. The derived insights provide a basis for method development, system design processes and new business models.
AB - Socio-technical systems represent complex interactions of humans with ecological, social and economic systems. A system’s design and its operations determine whether its impact is “negative”, “neutral/zero” or “positive” over the system life cycle with regard to its contribution to sustainable development. But coping with exceeded planetary boundaries and social challenges requires more than “net-zero” approaches to achieve biosphere resilience and healthy societies. While negative and zero impacts are widely studied, the term “positive impact” has just recently gained importance to describe the outcome of design, planning, operational, organizational or engineering processes. Various case studies, reviews and conceptual proposals exist—mostly applied in a specific context—but a clear definition is not yet detectable. Based on a review of existing literature, this paper: (i) analyzes current perceptions of negative, zero and positive impacts of socio-technical systems on absolute sustainability, (ii) summarizes the current state of knowledge on positive impact concepts for sustainable development, (iii) identifies relevant socio-technical system design principles for positive impacts on biosphere, society and economy, (iv) derives management functions and organizational prerequisites within socio-technical systems to enable positive impacts, (v) proposes a guiding framework and a definition for “positive impact of socio-technical systems for absolute sustainability”, and (vi) discusses briefly potential applications and further research demand. This review intends to synthesize existing knowledge from an industrial and engineering design perspective, and delivers an overview on the subject from a global sustainability level to the operational level. The derived insights provide a basis for method development, system design processes and new business models.
KW - Absolute sustainability
KW - Positive impact
KW - Socio-technical systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132289081&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11625-022-01168-1
DO - 10.1007/s11625-022-01168-1
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85132289081
SN - 1862-4065
VL - 17
SP - 2597
EP - 2613
JO - Sustainability Science
JF - Sustainability Science
ER -
