According to André Martinuzzi, despite many efforts by individual companies to make their products or even production methods sustainable, we have not managed to sufficiently address global challenges such as human rights or climate change. In the STANDARD, he argues that Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation Management need to be brought together. In concrete terms, this can be implemented in the following three aspects.

First, people's concerns and needs have to be taken into account in innovation. To this end, we need to understand the challenges that different people are facing, for example by directly involving them in innovation processes. It is important to include people with diverse backgrounds, because this is the only way to develop new approaches and ways of thinking. The needs identified in this way should serve as the basis for innovation. This can be done with the help of CSR and sustainability managers who have experience in transforming societal challenges into business ideas.

Secondly, we need to pay more attention to the impacts of innovations on society and the environment. New technologies require a broad social dialogue on ethical boundaries, technological risks and social consequences, in which companies should participate actively and transparently. Technology assessment tools that have been used in CSR for decades can be helpful here.

Thirdly, we will not overcome current global challenges if we focus solely on the sustainability of individual products or companies. Change must take place on a structural level. André Martinuzzi points out that most of the social systems in which we operate today have not evolved according in a planned way. Business leaders must play an active role in transforming these systems. This is only possible if they act outside of the constraints their system imposes on them.

Responsible innovation can play a part in making these systems sustainable. However, if these far-reaching changes in the way we do business do not happen, "we will drive our way of life and the economy into the ground," says André Martinuzzi.