THE ROLE OF FIRM ALLIANCE PORTFOLIO DIVERSITY TO LEVERAGE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of a firm's alliance portfolio diversity and its barriers to innovation on the successful implementation of sustainable business model innovation. To achieve this goal, we propose a conceptual model that operationalises the following constructs: sustainable business model innovation, alliance portfolio diversity, and barriers to innovation. Additionally, the proposed model considers the moderating influence of absorptive capacity on the relationship between alliance portfolio diversity and sustainable business model innovation. The test of the model in 899 Chilean firms, using structural equation modelling, makes evident that alliance portfolio diversity has an inverted U-shaped impact on sustainable business model innovation, which is moderated by the firm's absorptive capacity. Moreover, it indicates that the influence of the firm's perception of barriers impacts sustainable business model innovation in different ways, depending on the nature of these barriers. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]