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Risk of cannibalising their product for goliaths if

they make a product that is just better than the current.

This article has aimed at advancing the academic discussion on sustainable entrepreneurship by

(i) highlighting the differential roles of “Davids” and “Goliaths” in the sustainable transformation of industries, (ii) discussing the speciﬁc opportunities and challenges of “Emerging Davids” and “Greening Goliaths” as pathways towards sustainable development, and
(iii) exploring the interaction of entrepreneurial initiatives in small and large companies in bringing about this development.

Our analysis has resulted in a dynamic view of industry transformation, where the initial phase is characterized by

sustainability initiatives of idealistic “Davids”. In a second phase,somepioneering“Goliaths”,for example retailers with a higher quality positioning, mimic some of the David in itiatives and try to bring them into their mainstream distribution channels. Inisolation, none of these two developments would necessarily lead to sustainable transformation of mainstream markets, because as we have argued above Davids tend to get stuck in their highquality,

while Goliaths have an inherent tendency to react to cost pressures by lowering the sustainability quality of their offerings. However, we see increasing evidence for a next stage of development on both paths. As for “Emerging Davids”, ﬁrms such as Wholefoods, Green Mountain Energy, Vestas or Ben&Jerry's have found ways to scale up their sustainable innovations without unduly compromising on their sustainability ambitions.

while Goliaths have an inherent tendency to react to cost pressures by lowering the sustainability quality of their offerings. However, we see increasing evidence for a next stage of development on both paths. As for “Emerging Davids”, ﬁrms such as Wholefoods, Green Mountain Energy, Vestas or Ben&Jerry's have found ways to scale up their sustainable innovations without unduly compromising on their sustainability ambitions.

On the other hand, in the “Greening Goliaths” camp, there are examples of large ﬁrms such as Walmart, GE, Kraftor Toyota who have taken on the challenge of building sustainability into their mainstream business. Arguably, the success of emerging Davids, which can also be seen as a potential competitive threat, has been instrumental for some of these Goliaths to embark on the level of sustainable entrepreneurship that they did. Therefore, we would argue that the sustainable transformation of industries is not going to be brought about by either Davids or Goliaths alone, but instead that their interaction is essential.

On the other hand, in the “Greening Goliaths” camp, there are examples of large ﬁrms such as Walmart, GE, Kraftor Toyota who have taken on the challenge of building sustainability into their mainstream business. Arguably, the success of emerging Davids, which can also be seen as a potential competitive threat, has been instrumental for some of these Goliaths to embark on the level of sustainable entrepreneurship that they did. Therefore, we would argue that the sustainable transformation of industries is not going to be brought about by either Davids or Goliaths alone, but instead that their interaction is essential.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

The Economics of Innovation An Introduction | 9781781007747 | G M P Swann

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