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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.   

Publications

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2026

Managing Circular Business Model Innovation

Es­ben Ra­h­bek Gjer­d­rum Pe­der­sen, Professor

Kirsti Reitan Andersen
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November 2025

A Boundary Perspective on Sustainable Business Models

Insights From the Nordic Fashion Industry

Thorey S. Thorisdottir

Es­ben Ra­h­bek Gjer­d­rum Pe­der­sen, Professor

Kirsi Niinimäki
Go to publication

6 October 2025

Those Who Mind Matter

The Relationship Between Stakeholder Demands, Business Model Innovation, and Corporate Sustainability

Es­ben Ra­h­bek Gjer­d­rum Pe­der­sen, Professor

Roberta Costa

Francesco Rosati

Armando Calabrese
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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