Turning Sustainability into Strategic Growth in Frontier Markets
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.1311.19637Keywords:
Sustainability, Strategic growth, Sustainability strategy, Frontier marketsAbstract
In the scenario that frontier markets are currently facing up with pressure of rapidly growth but without sustainability, this paper offers an approach to sustainability growth, based on “Beyond Greening”, a sustainability strategy launched by Stuart L.Hart. Instead of considering environment protection as a compliance, the paper emphasizes that companies can take advantages of growing sustainable as a motivation to create long-term strategic values via three stages: Pollution Prevention, Product Stewardship, and Clean Technology. However, the results show that the pursuing sustainability strategies cannot be separated from governance reform, the readiness in investing in intrinsic capabilities to transit from compliance to value creation.
References
Boom Cárcamo, E.A. and Peñabaena-Niebles, R. (2022). Opportunities and challenges for the waste management in emerging and frontier countries through industrial symbiosis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 363, p.132607. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132607.
Brands, S. (2022). Many Business Leaders See Sustainability as Costly Obligation Rather Than Investment in the Future. [online] Sustainable Brands. Available at: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/many-businessleaders-see-sustainability-as-costly-obligation-rather-than-investment-in-the-future [Accessed 12 May 2025].
Christensen, Clayton M., Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon. "Cracking Frontier Markets." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 1 (January–February 2019): 90–101.
Earth how (2023). The 3 R’s - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. [online] Earth How. Available at: https://earthhow.com/reduce-reuse-recycle/.
Gao, H., Zhang, Y., Hao, C., Zhao, B., Wang, M., Ci, H., Song, L., Lu, Z. and Song, Y. (2025). Clean and tunable fabrication of ternary graphene-cobalt based promoter by chemical vapor deposition for lithium-sulfur batteries. Journal of Energy Chemistry, [online] 107, pp.194–202. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2025.02.065.
Hart, S. (1997). Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/1997/01/beyond-greening-strategies-for-a-sustainable-world [Accessed 12 May 2025].
Hart, S. L., & Milstein, M. B. (2003). Creating sustainable value. Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 56–67. https://doi.org/10.5465/AME.2003.10025194
IFC. (n.d.). Green Finance. [online] Available at: https://www.ifc.org/en/what-we-do/sectorexpertise/financial-institutions/climate-finance/green-finance.
Jeurissen, R. (1997). John Elkington, Cannibals With Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Journal of Business Ethics, [online] 23(2), pp.229–231. doi:https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006129603978.
Kim, K. (2018). Proactive versus Reactive Corporate Environmental Practices and Environmental Performance. Sustainability, 10(2), p.97. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010097.
Mazzucato, M. (2015). The Green Entrepreneurial State. [online] papers.ssrn.com. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2744602.
Org/ (2025). A Comprehensive Guide to DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORT FOR TEXTILES. [online] Available at: https://thetextilethinktank.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ultimate-Guide-to-Digital-Product-Passport-for-Textiles.pdf [Accessed 19 May 2025].
Prahalad, C.K. and Hart, S.L. (2002). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. [online] strategy+business. Available at: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/11518.
ROME A. Beyond Compliance: The Origins of Corporate Interest in Sustainability. Enterprise & Society. 2021;22(2):409-437. doi:10.1017/eso.2019.76
Sally Davison (2004) Editorial: Frontier markets, Soundings, 2004(28)
Simmons, J. (2025). Powering the Future: Clean Tech Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture. [online] CleantekMarket.com. Available at: https://www.cleantekmarket.com/powering-future-clean-techinnovations/ [Accessed 24 May 2025].
Statista. (2018). China: size of the IT security software market 2018-2023| Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1398382/china-size-of-the-it-security-software-market/ [Accessed 24 May 2025].
Tauschinski, J., Stylianou, N. and White, E. (2025). How Xi sparked China’s electricity revolution. [online] @FinancialTimes. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/f86782fa-9f2e-448a-b710-29e787dc9831.
The World Bank (2021). Demographic Trends and Urbanization. [online] World Bank. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/demographic-trends-andurbanization.
Thompson, P.S. (2024). Understanding Frontier Markets: Opportunities and Challenges. [online] SciVast. Available at: https://scivast.com/articles/understanding-frontier-markets-opportunities-challenges/
Tochukwu Ignatius Ijomah, Uloma Stella Nwabekee, Agu, E.E., Oluwatosin Yetunde and Azeez, A. (2024). The evolution of environmental responsibility in corporate governance: Case studies and lessons learned. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383848045_The_evolution_of_environmental_responsibility_in_corporate_governance_Case_studies_and_lessons_learned.
UNFPA (2002). State of World Population 2002. [online] Available at: https://www.unfpa.org/publications/state-world-population-2002.
US EPA, O. (2023). Pollution Prevention Grants Overview. [online] www.epa.gov. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/p2/pollution-prevention-grants-overview. [Accessed 18 May 2025].
Warrender, E. (2025). Sustainable textile production: Policies and certifications transforming the global landscape. [online] Open Access Government. Available at: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/article/sustainable-textile-production-policies-and-certificationstransforming-the-global-landscape/190123/. [Accessed 19 May 2025].
www.mckinsey.com. (n.d.). The world’s new growth frontier: Midsize cities in emerging markets | McKinsey. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/urbanization/the-worlds-new-growthfrontier-midsize-cities-in-emerging-markets.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Thi Ha Nguyen, Thai Ha Thuong Nguyen, Le Hanh Đinh
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
