Nowadays sustainability plays a crucial role in both academia and industry, and new insights are required to answer many open questions on the topic. This study focuses on sustainable business models (SBMs) by adopting a supply chain perspective to identify the value of sustainability practices along the supply chain for different SBMs. In particular, the research investigates four small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) case studies that have been able to implement new SBMs wisely integrating the concept of sustainability with their supply chain partners. First, the results confirm that SBMs need to be supported by strong alignment with sustainability practices within the entire supply chain to be successfully implemented. Secondly, the application of the proper practices of selection, monitoring, collaboration, and integration among supply chain partners within various SBMs is the key to achieving sustainability objectives. The paper, therefore, contributes to the debate by bringing new evidence to the SBMs topic, investigating how the success of these models is possible only through a precise definition of the relationships to be established in the supply chain.

中文翻译：

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中小型企业的可持续商业模式以及为支持这些模式而在供应链中建立的关系

如今，可持续性在学术界和工业界都发挥着至关重要的作用，需要新的见解来回答有关该主题的许多悬而未决的问题。本研究重点关注可持续商业模式 (SBM)，采用供应链视角来确定供应链中可持续发展实践对不同 SBM 的价值。特别是，该研究调查了四个中小型企业 (SME) 案例研究，这些企业已经能够实施新的 SBM，明智地将可持续性概念与其供应链合作伙伴相结合。首先，结果证实，SBM 需要在整个供应链中与可持续发展实践高度一致才能成功实施。其次，应用选择、监控、协作的正确做法，供应链合作伙伴在各种 SBM 中的整合是实现可持续发展目标的关键。因此，本文通过为 SBM 主题提供新证据来促进辩论，研究如何只有通过精确定义供应链中要建立的关系才能实现这些模型的成功。