Networking at multiple levels to manage transitions to resource efficient mobility: A novel analytical framework drawing on the Multi-Level Perspective and the Industrial Interaction Framework

This conceptual paper presents a theoretical framework formulated to study just
transitions to sustainable transport, drawing on the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) to
sustainability transitions, rooted in the sociology of innovations and on the Industrial
Marketing and Purchasing Interaction Framework (IMP-IF), rooted in the Industrial
marketing discipline. The discussion focuses on a low carbon transport offering,
Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS is a digital interface to source and manage the
provision of a transport related service(s) which meets the mobility requirements of a
customer in environmentally sustainable ways. The framework this paper proposes
aims to address some of the limitations of the MLP, which is an historical perspective,
with little attention to the agency of stakeholders in directing change and forming
networks, by combining it with the IMP IF, which offers conceptual apparatus to
analyse these very processes.
To illustrate how the proposed novel framework can be operationalized, the discussion
draws on Tesla Inc, a USA company providing Electric Vehicles (EV), as a case study
based on publicly available information. Tesla had to establish interconnected
networks to enable a transition towards sustainable transport through EVs, to secure a
capillary charging network to power their cars. The Tesla case study shows how
networks can be established across the strategic niches and the socio-technical
regime and are performative, demonstrating the ability of the networks to shape the
market for this novel mobility offering and effectively demonstrate the use of the
proposed framework.
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