Reviewers

Dr. Lourival Monaco, Research Assistant Professor, Purdue University

Article

Effective Mission Integration: A Triple Bottom Line Canvas by Erkko Autio, Anu Wadhwa, Henning Breuer, and Greg Bernarda

Source

Autio, E., Wadhwa, A., Breuer, H., & Bernarda, G. (2024). Effective mission integration: A triple bottom line canvas. In Innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability and impact. Springer.

Summary

Innovation requires more than simply creating new products or services. To generate lasting impact, businesses must understand the deeper reasons why customers “hire” solutions in the first place. These reasons go beyond functional performance and extend into emotional and social dimensions. Customers are not only solving problems; they are also seeking confidence, trust and a sense of identity in the choices they make. Companies that can recognize and design for this broader set of jobs consistently outperform those that limit their focus to surface-level needs.

The Value Proposition Canvas offers a structured way to capture these insights. By mapping jobs, pains and gains, it creates clarity around what customers truly value and where offerings succeed or fall short. When this view is expanded to include sustainability – economic, environmental and social – it becomes a tool not just for short-term differentiation but for long-term resilience. Firms that align innovations with all three dimensions position themselves to thrive in a marketplace where customers increasingly expect responsibility alongside performance.

Examples from leading companies reinforce this logic. Digital platforms succeed not only because they make processes faster, but because they reduce uncertainty and provide reassurance. Purpose-driven firms thrive because they connect values with purchasing decisions, translating abstract commitments into tangible customer benefits. These cases highlight several important lessons:

  • Customers “hire” products and services for functional, emotional and social reasons.
  • The Value Proposition Canvas offers a clear method for uncovering and designing around these drivers.
  • Integrating sustainability – economic, environmental and social – into value propositions creates enduring relevance.
  • Companies that connect customer jobs with a broader mission consistently outperform those focused on narrow needs.

Taken together, these insights show that long-term success depends on more than operational efficiency or product quality. It requires building trust and loyalty by addressing the full spectrum of customer jobs, while embedding responsibility into the way value is created and delivered.

What does this mean for food and agricultural business?

For leaders in food and agriculture, the lessons are clear. Competing on efficiency or product attributes alone is no longer enough. Customers – whether they are farmers, processors, retailers or end consumers – are making decisions based on a wider set of jobs. They are looking for trust, simplicity and alignment with their values and reassurance that the companies they work with are building solutions for the long run. This means executives must broaden their perspective on innovation and move beyond incremental improvements to reimagine the value they deliver.

The first step is to get closer to the customer. Too often, businesses focus narrowly on functional needs, such as yield, speed or cost. These are important, but they do not explain the full decision-making process. Companies that win in today’s environment recognize that farmers want confidence in their investment decisions, that processors want reliability in supply chains and that consumers want both health and responsibility in the products they purchase. Capturing these deeper jobs requires a structured approach to listening and learning, not just selling.

The second step is to redesign value propositions so they address these jobs holistically. The Value Proposition Canvas is a powerful tool for doing this, especially when extended to include sustainability considerations. In practice, this means asking hard questions about how current offerings align with the jobs customers truly care about and where there are gaps. Firms that integrate environmental stewardship and social contribution alongside economic outcomes will be better positioned to earn loyalty across the supply chain.

Executives should take away several concrete actions:

  • Reframe customer understanding. Move beyond transactional metrics like price or efficiency and uncover the functional, emotional and social jobs customers are hiring you to solve.
  • Audit value propositions. Use structured tools to test whether current offerings align with the jobs that matter most – and whether sustainability is embedded into that value.
  • Design for resilience. Build innovations that deliver not just short-term wins but also long-term trust by balancing economic returns with environmental and social responsibility.
  • Translate values into benefits. Don’t just declare commitments – show how they directly improve the customer experience, whether in the form of reliability, health or responsible practices.

Food and agricultural businesses operate in one of the most dynamic and scrutinized sectors of the economy. Success will not come from being faster or cheaper alone. It will come from solving the full spectrum of customer jobs in ways that are meaningful, responsible and sustainable. Companies that can make this shift will find themselves shaping the future of the industry.