Sustainable Management Through Knowledge and Innovation

Sustainable management in the sector of winemaking, despite being a relatively recent development, is deeply linked to the tradition of the sector, that has centuries of history (Da Silva Lopes et al, The changing and flexible nature of imitation and adulteration: The case of the global wine industry, 1850–1914. Business History Review, 94(2), 347–371, 2020), a tradition that has seen the art of winemaking evolve in response to the changing dynamics of our world, and has shaped the current practices of wine production, strengthening the relationship between humanity and wine, a relationship that has been both a source of artistic expression and a reflection of the environmental and societal contexts of each era (Forbes et al, Social sustainability in the global wine industry: Concepts and Cases. Palgrave MacMillan, 2020).

The theoretical foundations of sustainable management and more particularly the consideration of the environmental, economic and social factor emerge from what is known as the triple bottom line concept from (Elkington, Meas Bus Excell 2:18–22, 1998), which constituted a revolution in the way of business performance evaluation by expanding the tradition financial assessment to a wider analysis by including social and environmental aspects.

In the prior chapter, we ended up by showing the dynamics of the integration between knowledge and sustainability. However, knowledge is just one of the many tools at the disposal of the wine sector to achieve sustainability. The different ways to act are taken up in the strategy of wineries. More specifically, strategic planning for sustainability is a critical process for businesses, even more in the wine industry given the impact it has on the environment and the considerable dependence existing on it. The most popular way to consider the need for sustainability in the strategy of a business is by the already presented triple bottom line proposed by (Elkington, Meas. Bus. Excell. 2:18–22, 1998), as it expands the traditional financial reports to include environmental and social performance. This approach allows to develop an integral strategy that considers all the aspects where a business affects as a consequence of the activity it develops. As it is also part of the analysis, formulation and implementation of a firm’s strategy, it is present in every phase that is required.

In the prior chapters, we have delved into the concepts of innovation and sustainability in the wine industry, explaining the need for firms in this sector to be sustainable and the role that innovation plays on its achievement. We have also seen how the firm interacts with the environment in order to achieve that goal, and even some brief concepts regarding the configuration of businesses to be aligned toward innovation and sustainability have been presented. However, a profound reflection on the real set-up a firm needs both in terms of innovation and sustainability is needed, as staying on the surface would limit the application of all of the previously mentioned. However, we must warn that the aim of this chapter is not to specify in a deterministic way how firms in the wine sector should configure themselves. The following lines have to be interpreted as indications for those who want to initiate in the transformation of their wine-related businesses to improve their chances of improving sustainability via innovation. Consequently, we will provide certain indications, based on what has been exposed in previous chapters, so that practitioners and other professionals related to the industry have a starting point to introduce themselves in this adventure.

As we have seen in the previous chapters, the wine industry is made up of a wide melting pot of organizations in terms of their nature, functions and purposes. The case of the wine industry is of particular interest for several reasons. Firstly, its strong anchoring in tradition and history, both of the product itself and of the societies in which it was produced, is a heritage that has survived countless hostilities over the centuries. Thus, from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt to its current presence around the world, the origins on which the brew was founded have remained remarkably well preserved to this day. In addition, this economic activity is mostly located in rural and agricultural areas. This is of particular relevance given the role that the service sector is now taking on with the advent of new technologies. Given the opportunities presented by the latter, activities essential to human well-being seem to take a back seat, or at least for some people. As a turning point to this reality, we can present the wine industry. Strongly rooted as an industrial sector, it is closely linked to the primary sector through winegrowers, as well as to the territories where these activities are located. At the same time, it has many links with various tertiary sectors, such as distribution, sales and even tourism. Indeed, the wine sector serves as a dynamizing element for rural areas, encouraging diversification in them and acting as a pole of attraction for investment and consumers, whether in the form of wine, history and culture lovers, or simply tourists in search of new experiences.