Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principles of corporate
sustainability, which is generally described as th e integration of economic,
environmental and social dimensions. Of particular interest are sustainability-
oriented product innovations: products are perceived to be a major source of
sustainability issues and crucial for tapping into new customer segments and
new markets. Yet sustainability-oriented innovations are very risky: Not only is
the product’s market success uncertain, but also the direction of innovations’
sustainability effects, i.e. whether they contribute positively or negatively to
sustainability. This paper presents a generic model termed ‘Sustainability
Innovation Cube’ for structuring innovations ’ sustainability effects and, thus,
enabling business to minimize the ‘directional risk’ of sustainability-oriented
innovations. A qualitative expert study reveals the opportunities and challenges
related to the developed model. Limitations are discussed and a brief outlook is
given