Responsible Design Thinking for Sustainable Development: Critical Literature Review, New Conceptual Framework, and Research Agenda

Brian Baldassarre (), Giulia Calabretta (), Ingo Oswald Karpen (), Nancy Bocken () and Erik Jan Hultink ()
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Brian Baldassarre: Delft University of Technology
Giulia Calabretta: Delft University of Technology
Ingo Oswald Karpen: Karlstad University
Nancy Bocken: Maastricht Sustainability Institute, Maastricht University
Erik Jan Hultink: Delft University of Technology

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024, vol. 195, issue 1, No 2, 25-46

Abstract: Abstract In the 1960s, influential thinkers defined design as a rational problem-solving approach to deal with the challenges of sustainable human development. In 2009, a design consultant and a business academic selected some of these ideas and successfully branded them with the term “design thinking.” As a result, design thinking has developed into a stream of innovation management research discussing how to innovate faster and better in competitive markets. This article aims to foster a reconsideration of the purposes of design thinking moving forward, in view of the sustainable development challenges intertwined with accelerating innovation in a perpetual economic growth paradigm. To this end, we use a problematization method to challenge innovation management research on design thinking. As part of this method, we first systematically collect and critically analyze the articles in this research stream. We uncover a prominent focus on economic impact, while social and environmental impacts remain largely neglected. To overcome this critical limitation, we integrate design thinking with responsible innovation theorizing. We develop a framework for responsible design thinking, explaining how to apply this approach beyond a private interest and competitive advantage logic, to address sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, resource depletion, poverty, and injustice. The framework contributes to strengthening the practical relevance of design thinking and its theoretical foundations. To catalyze this effort, we propose an agenda for future research.

Keywords: Design; Responsible innovation; Responsible business; Circular economy; Sustainable innovation; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05600-z

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