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Es­ben Rah­bek Gjer­drum Ped­er­sen

Professor

Subjects
Sustainability Circular economy Management Organisation Innovation Health

Primary research areas

Cor­por­ate Sustain­ability, Cor­por­ate So­cial Respons­ibility, and Cir­cu­lar Eco­nomy
Re­search fo­cuses on how com­pan­ies op­er­a­tion­al­ise cor­por­ate sustain­ability with­in the or­gan­isa­tion and in the re­la­tion­ships with key stake­hold­ers. Ex­amples of cor­por­ate sustain­ability ini­ti­at­ives in­clude cer­ti­fic­a­tions, la­bels, stand­ards, and re­port­ing re­quire­ments. Of in­terest is how these new man­age­ment ideas are ne­go­ti­ated between stake­hold­ers and ad­ap­ted to the spe­cif­ic or­gan­isa­tion­al con­text.
Busi­ness Mod­el In­nov­a­tion and Change Man­age­ment
Re­search fo­cuses on how com­pan­ies de­vel­op and im­ple­ment new busi­ness mod­els. Ex­amples in­clude shar­ing sys­tems, re­cyc­ling solu­tions, and health in­nov­a­tion. The re­search also in­cludes ana­lyses of bar­ri­ers and suc­cess factors.
Cross-Sec­tor Part­ner­ships and Col­lab­or­a­tion
Re­search fo­cuses on how or­gan­isa­tions from dif­fer­ent sec­tors (state, mar­ket, civil so­ci­ety) work to­geth­er to ad­dress so­cial and en­vir­on­ment­al chal­lenges.

Mak­ing Sense of Sustain­ability and Respons­ibility

My research focuses on how new management ideas are implemented in public and private organisations. Examples include corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), certifications, cross-sector partnerships, lean management and health innovation. The research often addresses some of the internal and external factors explaining why the actual implementation often diverge from the original intentions.   

Recent research projects

Bal­an­cing Bound­ary Ten­sions in Cor­por­ate Sustain­ability Work

The aim of this pro­ject is to ex­am­ine how or­gan­isa­tions bal­ance bound­ary ten­sions in cor­por­ate sustain­ability work. The pro­ject is based on the as­sump­tion that or­gan­isa­tion­al bound­ar­ies have a dis­tinct in­flu­ence on the pro­cesses and out­comes of cor­por­ate sustain­ability work. Cor­por­ate sustain­ability is by defin­i­tion a hol­ist­ic and cross-dis­cip­lin­ary concept, which re­quire prac­ti­tion­ers to work with­in, and/or care­fully cross­ing, de­marc­a­tion lines between people (e.g. com­mer­cial vs. sustain­ability lo­gics), func­tions (e.g. sustain­ability vs. fin­ance), hier­arch­ic­al lay­ers (e.g. man­age­ment vs. em­ploy­ees) and sys­tems (e.g. sustain­ability ac­count­ing vs. tra­di­tion­al ac­count­ing). There­fore, cor­por­ate sustain­ability will be dif­fi­cult in or­gan­isa­tions char­ac­ter­ised by im­per­meable or­gan­isa­tion­al bound­ar­ies (also known as ‘silos’). The Pro­ject is fun­ded by the Dan­ish Re­search Coun­cil/DFF.

SECre­Tour

SECre­Tour is a large re­search con­sor­ti­um that aims to pro­mote com­munity-based and com­munity-centred tour­ism in rur­al areas in Europe. The pro­ject is fun­ded by the European Com­mis­sion. The CBS re­search team fo­cuses e.g. on identi­fy­ing cul­tur­al busi­ness mod­els that can pro­mote the new forms of rur­al tour­ism.

Links

We have de­veloped two massive open on­line courses (MOOCs) that dis­sem­in­ate the find­ings from our re­search. The MOOCs can be found on the learn­ing plat­form Cours­era.

MOOC on Sus­tain­able Fash­ion
The MOOC on Sus­tain­able Fash­ion broadens the learner’s know­ledge on sus­tain­able fash­ion, sus­tain­able busi­ness mod­els, cir­cu­lar eco­nomy and re­lated con­cepts. Moreover, the learner will un­der­stand the chal­lenges and op­por­tun­it­ies brands face when they try to cre­ate or trans­ition into sus­tain­able busi­ness mod­els.
Sustainable Fashion
Busi­ness Mod­els for Sustain­ability
The Learner will get an in­tro­duc­tion to the rich lit­er­at­ure on sus­tain­able busi­ness mod­els. Moreover, the learner will ac­quire tools to ana­lyse and de­vel­op strategies for sus­tain­able busi­ness mod­el in­nov­a­tion. The Course con­tains video lec­tures, ex­pert in­ter­views, and in­spir­ing case ex­amples.
Business Models for Sustainability

Outside activities

Fonden Mental Sundhed, 2020–2024

Board Mem­ber

FIERS, 2018–2020

Board Mem­ber

Region Zealand, 2018–2023

Con­sult­ant

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, 2026–ongoing

Mem­ber of the Flexit pro­gramme's work­ing group