scholarly journals How do incumbent firms innovate their business models for the circular economy? Identifying micro‐foundations of dynamic capabilities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Santa‐Maria ◽  
Walter J. V. Vermeulen ◽  
Rupert J. Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Micro Foundations

Exploring micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities for social enterprises

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit Bhardwaj ◽  
Saurabh Srivastava ◽  
Rashi Taggar ◽  
Sunali Bindra
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Wealth ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Primary Mission ◽  
Micro Foundations

Purpose Social enterprises (SEs) operate with a primary goal of meeting a social purpose while creating economic wealth for the fulfillment of their primary mission. These organizations need to develop a certain set of capabilities that facilitates the successful pursuit of their dual mission goals. This paper aims at exploring the micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities (DCs) that enable SEs to recognize and exploit opportunities and reconfigure their resources to pursue their dual-mission goals and adjust with the environmental dynamics. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multiple case design and an abductive research approach to conduct an in-depth and in-due course investigation of the development of DCs in two distinct SEs selected on the basis of theoretical-purposive sampling and availability of the richness of the information about them. Findings This study finds certain generic and exclusive micro-foundations of DCs that contribute to sensing opportunities, seizing opportunities and reconfiguring resources in SEs. The exclusive micro-foundations of DCs of SEs noted in this study are sustainability of beneficiaries, involving beneficiaries in decision-making, defining unique business models and selective suppliers for critical resources. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study lies in its dependence on retrospective data, which may perhaps influence the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the acquired data. This study, although, implemented the measures to minimize the bias, by supplementing the interview data with archival sources. Practical implications To the researchers, this study proffers an in-depth and in-due course explanation of the micro-foundations of DCs that facilitate SEs to sense opportunities, seize opportunities and reconfigure their resources with time. To practitioners working in the area of social entrepreneurship, this process study is an outline of reference that answers the how and why concerning the importance of micro-foundations of DCs for SEs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has explored the micro-foundations of DCs in the context of SEs from emerging economies. The exclusive micro-foundations of DCs for SEs found in this study are the unique and original contribution that outlines the path for future academic inquiry in this evolving research area.

Emerging Industrial Revolution: Symbiosis of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy: The Role of Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
Alfred Ngowi ◽  
Henk De Jager ◽  
Bankole O. Awuzie
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Jobs

Growing consumerism and population worldwide raises concerns about society’s sustainability aspirations. This has led to calls for concerted efforts to shift from the linear economy to a circular economy (CE), which are gaining momentum globally. CE approaches lead to a zero-waste scenario of economic growth and sustainable development. These approaches are based on semi-scientific and empirical concepts with technologies enabling 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and 6Rs (reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover). Studies estimate that the transition to a CE would save the world in excess of a trillion dollars annually while creating new jobs, business opportunities and economic growth. The emerging industrial revolution will enhance the symbiotic pursuit of new technologies and CE to transform extant production systems and business models for sustainability. This article examines the trends, availability and readiness of fourth industrial revolution (4IR or industry 4.0) technologies (for example, Internet of Things [IoT], artificial intelligence [AI] and nanotechnology) to support and promote CE transitions within the higher education institutional context. Furthermore, it elucidates the role of universities as living laboratories for experimenting the utility of industry 4.0 technologies in driving the shift towards CE futures. The article concludes that universities should play a pivotal role in engendering CE transitions.

scholarly journals Circular Bioeconomy Business Models to Overcome the Valley of Death. A Systematic Statistical Analysis of Studies and Projects in Emerging Bio-Based Technologies and Trends Linked to the SME Instrument Support

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1899
Author(s):  
Fabiana Gatto ◽  
Ilaria Re
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Orientations ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Valley Of Death

Reducing the environmental pressure along the products life cycle, increasing efficiency in the consumption of resources and use of renewable raw materials, and shifting the economic system toward a circular and a climate-neutral model represent the heart of the current macro-trends of the European Union (EU) policy agendas. The circular economy and bioeconomy concepts introduced in the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan and the Bioeconomy Strategy support innovation in rethinking economic systems focusing on market uptaking of greener solutions based on less-intensive resource consumption. In recent decades, industrial research has devoted enormous investments to demonstrate sustainable circular bio-based business models capable of overcoming the “Valley of Death” through alternative strategic orientations of “technological-push” and “market-pull”. The study highlights industrial research’s evolution on bio-based circular business model validation, trends, and topics with particular attention to the empowering capacity of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to close the loops in renewable biological use and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The research methodology involves a bibliographic search based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Data Hub investigation to understand SMEs’ key success factors and start-ups of the circular bioeconomy sector. Eco and bio-based materials, nutraceuticals, and microalgae represent the most sustainable industry applications, leading to circular bioeconomy business models’ future perspective.

scholarly journals From Barriers to Enablers: The Role of Organizational Learning in Transitioning SMEs into the Circular Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1021
Author(s):  
Sara Scipioni ◽  
Meir Russ ◽  
Federico Niccolini
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Contextual Elements ◽  
Transfer And Retention ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Medium Enterprises

To contribute to small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) sustainable transition into the circular economy, the study proposes the activation of organizational learning (OL) processes—denoted here as multi-level knowledge creation, transfer, and retention processes—as a key phase in introducing circular business models (CBMs) at SME and supply chain (SC) level. The research employs a mixed-method approach, using the focus group methodology to identify contextual elements impacting on CBM-related OL processes, and a survey-based evaluation to single out the most frequently used OL processes inside Italian construction SMEs. As a main result, a CBM-oriented OL multi-level model offers a fine-grained understanding of contextual elements acting mutually as barriers and drivers for OL processes, as possible OL dynamics among them. The multi-level culture construct—composed of external stakeholders’, SC stakeholders’, and organizational culture—identify the key element to activate CBM-oriented OL processes. Main implications are related to the identification of cultural, structural, regulatory, and process contextual elements across the external, SC, and organizational levels, and their interrelation with applicable intraorganizational and interorganizational learning processes. The proposed model would contribute to an improved implementation of transitioning into the circular economy utilizing sustainable business models in the construction SMEs.

scholarly journals DigiPrime: Digital Platform for Circular Economy in Cross-Sectorial Sustainable Value Networks

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Elena Mossali ◽  
Marco Diani ◽  
Marcello Colledani
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Economic Opportunity ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Digital Platform ◽  
Sustainable Value ◽  
Value Added Products

Circular Economy is the solution for the current environmental crisis, representing a huge economic opportunity to build new sustainable businesses. However, many barriers need to be faced for its implementation at industrial scale—firstly, the lack of data sharing between the different stakeholders of product value-chains. The DigiPrime project is an EU-funded Innovation Action aimed at developing and demonstrating a digital platform with services able to unlock innovative cross-sectorial business models for the remanufacturing and recycling of target value-added products. In this paper, the concept behind the DigiPrime project is reported, with a particular focus on the construction sector.

“Enabling circular business models in the fashion industry: the role of digital innovation”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phuc Hong Huynh
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Digital Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Radical Innovations

PurposeDigital innovation and circular business model innovation are two critical enablers of a circular economy. A wide variety of digital technologies such as blockchain, 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, or big data also diverges the applications of digital technologies in circular business models. Given heterogeneous attributes of circular business models and digital technologies, the selections of digital technologies and circular business models might be highly distinctive within and between sectorial contexts. This paper examines digital circular business models in the context of the fashion industry and its multiple actors. This industry as the world’s second polluting industry requires an urgent circular economy (CE) transition with less resource consumption, lower waste emissions and a more stable economy.Design/methodology/approachAn inductive, exploratory multiple-case study method is employed to investigate the ten cases of different sized fashion companies (i.e. large, small medium-sized firm (SME) and startup firms). The comparison across cases is conducted to understand fashion firms' distinct behaviours in adopting various digital circular economy strategies.FindingsThe paper presents three archetypes of digital-based circular business models in the fashion industry: the blockchain-based supply chain model, the service-based model and the pull demand-driven model. Besides incremental innovations, the radical business model and digital innovations as presented in the pull demand-driven model may be crucial to the fashion circular economy transition. The pull demand–driven model may shift the economy from scales to scopes, change the whole process of how the fashion items are forecasted, produced, and used, and reform consumer behaviours. The paths of adopting digital fashion circular business models are also different among large, SMEs and startup fashion firms.Practical implicationsThe study provides business managers with empirical insights on how circular business models (CBMs) should be chosen according to intrinsic business capacities, technological competences and CE strategies. The emerging trends of new fashion markets (e.g. rental, subscription) and consumers' sustainable awareness should be not be neglected. Moreover, besides adopting recycling and reuse strategies, large fashion incumbents consider collaborating with other technology suppliers and startup companies to incubate more radical innovations.Social implicationsAppropriate policies and regulations should be enacted to enable the digital CE transition. Market patterns and consumer acceptances are considered highly challenging to these digital fashion models. A balanced policy on both the demand and supply sides are suggested. The one-side policy may fail CBMs that entail an upside-down collaboration of both producers and consumers. Moreover, it is perhaps time to rethink how to reduce unnecessary new demand rather than repeatedly producing and recycling.Originality/valueThe pace of CE research is lagging far behind the accelerating environmental contamination by the fashion industry. The study aims to narrow the gap between theory and practice to harmonise fashion firms' orchestration and accelerate the transition of the fashion industry towards the CE. This study examines diverse types of digital technologies in different circular business models in a homogeneous context of the fashion industry with heterogeneous firm types.

Heavy Lifters, India: Towards a Circular Economy Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110435
Author(s):  
Anupama Prashar
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Total Cost Of Ownership ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Cost Of Ownership ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

The case helps students to understand the emerging concept of linear and circular economies. It facilitates to examine the implications of circular business models such as remanufacturing on operations management decisions. It also introduces them to the concept of total cost of ownership and impact of remanufacturing on reducing total cost of ownership. The cases help students to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of remanufacturing business in emerging economy like India. This case is among the first few cases on the application of circular economy principles in context of heavy-duty and off-road sector and the impact of these principles on product design and production planning and control decisions.

Exploring organizational problem-solving modes: a dynamic capabilities approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matin Mohaghegh ◽  
Andreas Größler
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Fundamental Solutions ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Improvement Programs ◽  
Micro Foundations

PurposeAdopting the dynamic capability perspective, this study aims at exploring which problem-solving capabilities result in fundamental solutions with a potentially low likelihood for problems to recur. This can also shed light on why, despite many attempts, process improvement programs often fail to produce such long-term solutions.Design/methodology/approachA case study is carried out to inductively describe and classify problem-solving in companies and to indicate why problem-solving efforts are typically bounded to short-term solutions. The empirical findings are triangulated with findings from the extant literature.FindingsFirst, the authors propose three problem-solving modes with different characteristics and potential impacts on operational performance: intuitive problem-solving, semi-structured problem-solving and systematic problem-solving. Second, by emphasizing dynamic capabilities' micro-foundations and with the focus on learning mechanisms, the authors show that, among these modes, only systematic problem-solving can serve as a dynamic capability with fundamental solutions. Third, based on insights from the case study, the authors address behavioral and organizational impediments that curb dynamic capabilities and limit systematic problem-solving adoption.Originality/valueThis study is an empirically informed attempt to understand systematic problem-solving as a dynamic capability. The authors uncover the micro-foundations and the learning mechanisms through which systematic problem-solving becomes a dynamic capability. By highlighting problem-solving orientation as a hardly investigated dimension of improvement programs, the authors show that a mixture of a static problem-solving approach and a set of impediments at both individual and organizational levels is the major reason of failures of improvement programs over time.

Business models for the circular economy: Empirical advances and future directions

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 2741-2744
Author(s):  
Luca Fraccascia ◽  
Ilaria Giannoccaro ◽  
Abhishek Agarwal ◽  
Erik G. Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Future Directions
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