Documents & Downloads

 

Antony Upward’s graduate thesis:

  1. Upward, A. (2013). Towards an Ontology and Canvas for Strongly Sustainable Business Models: A Systemic Design Science Exploration. (Masters of Environmental Studies / Graduate Diploma in Business + Environment, York University, Faculty of Environmental Studies and Schulich School of Business), http://hdl.handle.net/10315/20777.

This thesis has now been summarized and published as four increasingly well cited peer-reviewed articles listed below (most recent first).  All manuscripts are available at ocadu.academia.edu/antonyupward (ORCID: 0000-0002-4060-180X).  A list of all Antony Upward’s publications can be found on our Publications page.

  1. 1.Hoveskog, M., Halila, F., Mattsson, M., Upward, A., & Karlsson, N. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development: Business Modelling for Flourishing. Journal of Cleaner Production, doi 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.112

  2. -This peer reviewed article was part of the special issue “Education for Sustainable Development” and features the Flourishing Business Canvas as the tools used for the business modelling aspect of this research.

  3. 2.Kurucz, E. C., Colbert, B. A., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Upward, A., & Willard, B. (2016). Relational Leadership for Strategic Sustainability: Practices and Capabilities to Advance the Design and Assessment of Sustainable Business Models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(1), 189-204. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.087

  4. -A peer reviewed article about leadership and the new generation of science based tools and methods that can assist: the future-fit business benchmark and the strongly sustainable business model canvas.

  5. -Since this article was developed, the practitioner visual business model design tool, the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Canvas, has been further refined to become the Flourishing Business Canvas.

  6. -This paper is part of the special issue “Systematic Leadership Towards Strategic Sustainability”.  Dr. Bob Willard and I were personally invited to submit an article by the guest editors Göran Broman, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, George Basile, Terrence Collins, Rupert Baumgartner and Tobias Larsson

  7. 3.Elkington, R., & Upward, A. (2016). Leadership as enabling function for flourishing by design. Journal of Global Responsibility, 7(1). doi:10.1108/JGR-01-2016-0002

  8. -This peer reviewed article provides a good introduction to the Flourishing Business Canvas and its value to leaders seeking to design enterprise that sustain the possibility for human and other life to flourish on this planet for seven generations and beyond.

  9. 4.Upward, A., & Jones, P. H. (2016). An Ontology for Strongly Sustainable Business Models: Defining an Enterprise Framework Compatible with Natural and Social Science. Organization & Environment, 29(1), 97–123. doi: 10.1177/1086026615592933

  10. -A peer reviewed article about strongly sustainable business models published special Issue of the journal Organization and Environment on Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation.

  11. -This article summarizes significant elements of my graduate thesis - see below and https://yorku.academia.edu/AntonyUpward/Thesis.

  12. -Since this paper was published, the practitioner visual design tool (the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Canvas) that is conceptually "powered by" the the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology, has been further refined to become the Flourishing Business Canvas.

  13. -This paper is part of the special issue “Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transformation”.  It was submitted at the personal invitation of guest editors Prof. Dr. Stefan Schaltegger, Prof. Dr. Erik Hansen and Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund (Leuphana University Centre for Sustainability Management).

The following documents and presentations are posted on SlideShare

Note SlideShare doesn’t do a very good job of the PowerPoint animations which makes some of the slides more comprehendible - suggest you download before viewing. Also downloading allows you to see the speakers notes on many of the slides.

  1. Supply Side Sustainability - Summary (v1.02).  A summary of the excellent works of Allan, Tainter and Hoekstra on Thermodynamics, Sociology, Sustainability, Ecology and Management!

  2. Towards a Definition of Organizational Sustainability (v2.0b).  This term paper for York University Master of Environmental Studies course ES/ENVS5150 Perspectives on Green Business (Fall 2010, Prof. Brian Milani) develops a working definition of organizational sustainability and explores the implications for the reporting of organizational performance.

  3. Summary of Benefit Corporations (B-Corps): Objectives, History and Next Steps.   Part of a term paper for York University Master of Environmental Studies course ES/ENVS5150 Perspectives on Green Business (Fall 2010, Prof. Brian Milani) which specifically reviews the objectives, history and next steps for the Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) movement (www.bcorporation.net, www.benefitcorp.net)

    This is a little bit out of date now - many of the things described have now happened and work is starting on Ontario / Canadian legislative changes.  This is being co-ordinated by the Certified B Corporation Hub at the MaRSDD, contact is Joyce Sou.

    There are now some excellent videos by B-Labs founder Jay Coen Gilbert which provide much of the rational and objectives for Benefit Corporations

  4. Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology Example - Timberland - Summary (v4.0).  A summary description of the Timberland Company’s business model, based on publicly available information gathered between Nov 2010 and August 2011, described using the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology (SSBMO)
    This work © Antony Upward / Edward James Consulting Ltd 2012, all rights reserved.


Some working documents concerning the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology, Canvas and Toolkit are also available upon request on Prezi.  Please contact us for access.

A presentation made on May 17, 2010 at MeshU -
How (and Why) To Build a Data Warehouse 101
This work © Antony Upward / Edward James Consulting Ltd 2012, all rights reserved.