Abstract Corporate sustainability has recently been challenging traditional business models that have been based on value proposition, creation and capture. There has been a steady increase in publications using the term “sustainable business models”; however, there have been few that have theoretically defined or characterized the term, and in most cases, they just apply the term. Seven peer‐reviewed papers were selected that aimed to define and explain sustainable business models and that have been widely cited. The papers were analyzed by assessing the elements and activities covered using the corporate sustainability framework, and by comparing them against four approaches to explain organizations. The paper proposes a definition and framework for more sustainable business models aimed at integrating organizational approaches, the company system, stakeholders, change and sustainability dimensions, thus providing a more holistic and systemic approach to discourses on sustainable business models.
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