riversimple's way towards eco-mobility - florian lüdeke-freund & peter wells - 1st new...

Prof. Dr. Peter Wells Cardiff University | Centre for Automotive Industry Research Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund University of Hamburg | Faculty of Business, Economics & Social Sciences

Riversimple’s Way Towards Eco-Mobility: Synergistic Innovation in Governance, Technology and Business Model 1st “New Business Models” Conference Toulouse, 17 June 2016

http://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/

www.SustainableBusinessModel.org 2

A Brief History of Riversimple

Source: http://riversimple.com (pictures show technology demonstrator, not final product)

Wales-based car designer RIVERSIMPLE founded by Hugo Spowers aims to bring

about “mobility at zero cost to the planet”

“Whole system design” + new technology + new business model + new corporate governance




Source: http://riversimple.com




2001: OSCar Automotive founded by Hugo Spowers

2005: “Hyrban” project

2006: “LIFEcar” project UK TSB: £900k

2018 (plan): Fleet of demonstrator vehicles

2008: Morgan LIFEcar 2009: Hyrban 2016: Rasa

2000 2016 2018 2005 2010

2009: “Hyrban” unveiled

2007: OSCar became Riversimple

2008: “LIFEcar” unveiled

2016: “Rasa” unveiled

2014: Move to Wales Gov’: £2 million

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… …

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Engaged scholarship (e.g. van de Ven & Johnson, 2006) - Trying to overcome the rigour and relevance divide - Reducing the gap between management theories and practical application - Increasing the potential impact on business and other organisations

Conducting research with rather than on organisations

- Problem-driven and contextually embedded research - Research outcomes may include theory development - Major consideration is the co-production of knowledge

Systematic, qualitative content analysis (e.g. Bowen, 2009)

- Using public sources such as corporate publications, news reports - Systematic inductive and deductive coding - Complemented with personal access to corporate information

Research Methodology and Theoretical Framing



Focus on the triple-determination of corporate governance, technology, and business model on the micro level …

… as embedded within the …

Co-evolution of the wider contextual system, industry structure, consumer behaviour etc. on the macro level.

Research Methodology and Theoretical Framing

Cf. Norgaard, 1994



The Technology – “Hyrban” (2009)

Concept car “Hyrban” - Installed range: 220 miles (350 km) - Top speed: 50 mph (80 km/h) - Weight: 520 kg - Number of passengers: 2 - Emissions, well-to-wheel: <31g CO2/km

Source: http://www.40fires.org (pictures show technology demonstrator, not final product)



The Technology – “Rasa” (2016)

Prototype “Rasa” - Installed range: 300 miles (480 km) - Top speed: 62 mph (100 km/h) - Weight: 580 kg - Number of passengers: 2 - Emissions, well-to-wheel: <40g CO2/km

Source: http://riversimple.com (pictures show technology demonstrator, not final product)



“A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.” (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2009)

“A business model for sustainability helps describing, analyzing, managing, and communicating - (i) a company’s sustainable value proposition to its customers, and all other

stakeholders, (ii) how it creates and delivers this value, (iii) and how it captures economic value while maintaining or regenerating natural, social, and economic capital beyond its organizational boundaries.” (Schaltegger et al., 2016)

Organization & Environment special issue

“Business Models for Sustainability” http://oae.sagepub.com/content/29/1.toc

The Business Model



The Business Model • Affordable eco-mobility • Personal mobility as service • No hassle of ownership • A car that lasts • …

• Start-up: seed / venture capital

• Major revenue stream: monthly leasing fee

• …

• Distributed manufacturing network with small facilities

• Open source approach • Local provision of cars owned

by Riversimple • Local refuelling network • Refuelling for free • …

“Use-oriented PSS”

“Designing a car for this business model requires us to sell performance, not just cars.” (Hugo Spowers)



According to Claessens (2006, p. 93), corporate governance is …

1. “… concerned with a set of behavioral patterns – the actual behavior of corporations, in terms of such measures as performance, efficiency, growth, financial structure, and treatment of shareholders and other stakeholders.” … as well as …

1. “… concerned with the normative framework – the rules under which firms are operating, with the rules coming from such sources as the legal system, the judicial system, financial markets, and factor (labor) markets.”

The behavioural perspective applies to the analysis of single firms.

It deals with how a company’s behaviour is directed and controlled …

… and how claims of shareholders and further stakeholders are handled.

Corporate Governance



Corporate Governance

Source: http://riversimple.com



Preliminary Results

Managed co-development and co-evolution of a whole ecosystem

- Technological artefact & infrastructure – Car & local refuelling network

- Business model – Eco-mobility as an all-in service

- Corporate governance – Open and stakeholder inclusive

Addressing major barriers* to sustainable business model innovation

- Environmental and social externalities – How to provide zero impact mobility? → Offering eco-efficient mobility as hassle-free, all-in, fee-based service

- Capital intensity and long lead time – How to finance RD&D? → Patient capital from purpose-driven seed capital investors and public funding

- The power of incumbents – How to overcome path dependence of one century? → Non-exclusive, open source and network approach to create a “movement”

*Cf. Wüstenhagen & Boehnke, 2008



Preliminary Results

Business model innovation orientations* employed

- “Maximise material and energy efficiency” → Light-weight construction, high-efficiency fuel cells and engines

- “Deliver functionality rather than ownership” → Riversimple owns the car, users pay an all-in fee

- “Develop scale-up solutions” → Open source approach, local, replicable production network

*Cf. Bocken, Short, Rana & Evans, 2014



THANK YOU!

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Literature Bocken, N.; Short, S.; Rana, P. & Evans, S. (2014): A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model

archetypes, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 65, 42–56. Boons, F. & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2013): Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-the-art and steps towards a

research agenda, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 45, 9–19. Bowen, G. (2009) ‘Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method’, Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2,

pp.27–40. Claessens, S. (2006): Corporate Governance and Development, The World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 21, No. 1, 91–

122. Norgaard, R. (1994): Development betrayed. The end of progress and a coevolutionary revisioning of the future.

London, New York: Routledge. Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2009): Business model generation. Amsterdam: self-published. Schaltegger, S.; Hansen, E. and Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2016): ‘Business Models for Sustainability: Origins, Present Research,

and Future Avenues’, Organization & Environment, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp.3–10. Schaltegger, S.; Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Hansen, E. (2016): Business Models for Sustainability: A Co-Evolutionary Analysis of

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Van de Ven, A. and Johnson, P. (2006) ‘Knowledge for theory and practice’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 31, pp.802-821.

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Stø, E. & Andersen, M. M. (Eds.): Perspectives on radical changes to sustainable consumption and production. System Innovation for Sustainability. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing, 70–79.
