Sustainable Business Models: A Case Study of an Emerging Sri Lankan Company
Gunadasa, Ruvini (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112630145
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112630145
Tiivistelmä
Sri Lanka faced a severe economic crisis in recent years, highlighting the uncertainty of emerging markets. The study carried out to find a solution for economic resilience and development through emerging Sri Lankan companies. The main objective of this study was to identify how emerging Sri Lankan businesses can integrate and improve sustainability practices to enhance global competitiveness.
The study reviewed academic literature to understand key concepts of sustainability, emerging companies, and internationalization. The theories include, Triple Bottom Line, Stakeholder Theory, Value Proposition Design, Creating Shared Value, The Resource Base View, Uppsala Model, Network Theory, and Born Global Theory. These theories and frameworks guided the analysis and interpretation of the findings.
The research was conducted using qualitative case study approach. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with managerial and operational level participants. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis to identifying emerging themes.
The study revealed that the emerging business follow a hybrid business model which was a mix of traditional practices and modern techniques. Sustainability awareness and practices were mainly developed by experience and incremental approaches, instead of using formalized strategies. Firm enhanced competitiveness by value creation through quality and trust even the sustainability integration was constrained by limited finance, employee skill gaps, and insufficient institutional support. Reinvestments, internal collaborations, knowledge sharing, and institutional support found to be essential for successful sustainability integration. Overall, sustainability was shown to be a key driver of competitiveness and international growth of Sri Lankan MSMEs.
The study reviewed academic literature to understand key concepts of sustainability, emerging companies, and internationalization. The theories include, Triple Bottom Line, Stakeholder Theory, Value Proposition Design, Creating Shared Value, The Resource Base View, Uppsala Model, Network Theory, and Born Global Theory. These theories and frameworks guided the analysis and interpretation of the findings.
The research was conducted using qualitative case study approach. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with managerial and operational level participants. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis to identifying emerging themes.
The study revealed that the emerging business follow a hybrid business model which was a mix of traditional practices and modern techniques. Sustainability awareness and practices were mainly developed by experience and incremental approaches, instead of using formalized strategies. Firm enhanced competitiveness by value creation through quality and trust even the sustainability integration was constrained by limited finance, employee skill gaps, and insufficient institutional support. Reinvestments, internal collaborations, knowledge sharing, and institutional support found to be essential for successful sustainability integration. Overall, sustainability was shown to be a key driver of competitiveness and international growth of Sri Lankan MSMEs.