Sustainable Business Models in Hybrids: A Conceptual Framework for Community Pharmacies’ Business Owners

Caterina Cavicchi and Emidia Vagnoni
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Caterina Cavicchi: Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Emidia Vagnoni: Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: Community pharmacies have recently been asked to contribute to sustainable healthcare systems through active participation in an integrated model of care and by playing a major educational role for environmental conservation. Therefore, dramatic changes in their institutional context have led to increasing competition in the drugs retail sector and a shift toward a service-oriented business. These factors urge rethinking of the business model of these hybrid organizations, which combine a profit-oriented, social, and more recently addressed, environmental identity. This paper aims at discussing a sustainable business model (SBM) that could allow community pharmacies to contribute to public health through pharmacists’ current role and development of that role. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic suggest that human health should be at the center of the sustainable development agenda; the pandemic raises questions about the traditional role of community pharmacies, such as extending patient-oriented services. The SBM for community pharmacies represents an opportunity to enhance their role among the healthcare workforce, especially in a time of global pandemics. In addition, the SBM can support community pharmacies to integrate sustainability in day-to-day pharmacy practice, although it should be customized based on the contextual characteristics of the business and on differences between countries, such as health policies and regulations.

Keywords: sustainable business model; community pharmacies; pharmacy practice; public health; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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