The interplay between calculative practices and eco-innovation: performativity and amplifying effects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how calculative practices perform eco-innovation, focusing on how calculative practices are reframed through the integration of their traces and how they actively shape the ongoing development of eco-innovation. Design/methodology/approach A two-year action case study was conducted at a Swedish global original equipment manufacturer that operates in the transportation industry. The action case study included observations, interviews and workshops during which researchers worked with practitioners to develop and reframe calculative practices that shaped the company’s eco-innovation development. Findings The results indicate that calculative practices are reframed through the integration of traces of change in value creation introduced by eco-innovation, a process through which they extend their boundaries and actively enact eco-innovation. This reframing involves a shift from retrospective, cost-based assessment to prospective, value-based assessment and from traditional cost-plus pricing to customer-oriented target costing. The findings further illustrate an interplay between illocutionary and perlocutionary performativity, which produces an amplifying effect on eco-innovation. Social implications The paper emphasizes the active and constitutive role of calculative practices in enacting environmental initiatives, showing how they can reorient organizational decision-making and value creation toward sustainability, thereby contributing to broader processes of sustainable change. Originality/value The paper advances the research on the performativity of calculative practices by showing how the dynamics of performativity trigger an amplifying effect. It further provides knowledge on calculative framing that enacts eco-innovation.