Exploring the Role of Stakeholder Engagement for the Development of Sustainable Innovation Strategies

This chapter aims to explore how configurations of stakeholder engagement influence the generation of sustainable innovations (SIs). More specifically, by assessing a sample of agro-food Italian companies, the study contributes to (1) identifying different SI strategies and (2) exploring the role of cultural and managerial attributes related to stakeholder engagement in supporting the development of SI strategies. A cluster analysis was conducted on a sample of 72 companies in Italy, revealing the existence of three bundles, each characterized by differences in the degree and types of SI. A variance analysis of business practices among the three clusters highlights the critical role played by stakeholder engagement in supportingthe development of SI strategies.