Circular Business Model Innovation Research Articles

Prioritizing Barriers to Circular Business Model Innovation in Iran Renewable Energy Sector: A Multiple Case Study

Sustainable development holds the key to assembling stable and secure societies and is crucial because it may be a thanks to conserve natural resources. Resource efficiency is becoming an increasingly critical factor for long-term success of all sectors including renewable energy. Circular economy is main pillar of sustainable development and may lead to resource efficiency, real environmental benefits and economic feasibility. The adoption of circular business models and devise new configurations and innovation at company level, may be a key element within the transition to a circular economy and creating values. In this paper, we prioritized the barriers already defined for circular business model innovation in renewable energy sector in Iran by investigating ten companies active during this field. The results indicate that almost all companies believed organizational level barriers should be considered mostly and therefore the key barriers are special product design requirements, hesitant approach to promoting the circular economy agenda and regulatory barriers, respectively. The final result of the research should aid managers in renewable energy industry to develop effective action towards more successful implementation of circular business model innovation.

Circular business models in the medical device industry: paths towards sustainable healthcare

The medical device industry leads to high environmental footprint while holding fundamental social function. The panorama is composed of devices with rather specific lifecycles and impacts: imaging equipment that eventually become electronic waste, sophisticated invasive devices that require sterilisation before reprocessing, and potentially infected single-use devices that hinder recycling possibilities. It is, thus, challenging for practitioners to identify opportunities for circular business model (CBM) innovation to the many types of devices. Therefore, this research aims to detail the application of CBMs in the medical device industry so that they can be used as benchmarks. Systematic literature review and content analysis of cases and research articles grounds the types of business models. Cross-tabulation and network analysis ground the triangulation between cases and literature for discussion. Nine industry-specific CBMs were identified and positioned according to product value and criticality. An adapted version of the business model canvas describing each CBM sustains dissemination and discussion. While identified CBMs activate the known technical cycles, there is potential to combine different types of circular solutions and enhance triple bottom line benefits. The good practices presented in this research are relevant for the medical device industry, and other industries as the CBMs are designed to meet different spectra of product value and needs for hygiene.

Barriers to circular business model innovation: A multiple-case study

Abstract The concept of circular economy has been suggested as a possible avenue to sustainable development. The adoption of circular business models at a company level, which is a key element in the transition to a circular economy, has nevertheless been slow. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the barriers that hinder adoption of circular business models to facilitate circumvention of the barriers and a faster uptake. The article presents a multiple-case study of the circular business model innovation process in 12 Danish companies that includes a cross-case analysis across start-ups and incumbents and across different company sizes, industries and customer segments. The article furthermore compares the barriers derived from this empirical work to barriers found in the sustainable innovation literature. The research shows that barriers to circular business model innovation are found at all socio-technical levels and, overall, most barriers are encountered by companies at the organisational level, followed by the value chain level, the employee level and, finally, the market and institutional level. However, there are significant variation between the case companies regarding what barriers are encountered and how many in total. The cross-case analysis shows that factors other than company size, industry and customer segment affect what barriers are encountered. The comparison of empirically derived circular business model innovation barriers from the multiple-case study with barriers compiled from the broader literature on sustainable innovation shows a good correspondence between the two lists. The empirical study, nevertheless, identifies additional barriers not previously reported in the literature.

A Review and Evaluation of Circular Business Model Innovation Tools

The circular economy has been heralded as a potential driver for sustainable development by business, academia, and policymakers. In a future circular economy, new business models are needed that slow, close and narrow resource loops to address key resource and climate challenges. After a phase of excitement and inspiration, an operationalization phase needs to start to ensure the best possible implementation and transition towards a circular economy. This operationalization phase will involve the development of products, processes and business models that significantly lower the negative impact on the environment, reduce waste and resource pressures and, rather, create a positive impact on society and environment. This paper focuses on the circular business model lens as a comprehensive way of addressing business innovation. Within this evolving circular economy operationalization phase, several tools, approaches and methods are emerging that could support circular business model innovation. This paper seeks to create a comprehensive tools overview through a literature and practice review. It provides structure to the emerging range of tools, methods and approaches, and, based on this, a guideline for future tool development. Finally, it gives an overview of opportunities and gaps as well as a future agenda for research and practice.

A Framework for Sustainable Circular Business Model Innovation

The circular economy concept is a novel economic model aiming to foster sustainable economic growth, boost global competitiveness, and generate new jobs. In order to make the circular economy mainstream, radical and systemic innovation is needed. Currently, a majority of the business modelling tools and methods lack at least some of the identified and needed elements for innovating business models in a circular economy. In this article, we build a framework for sustainable circular business model innovation by adding important perspectives: recognizing trends and drivers at the ecosystem level; understanding value to partners and stakeholders within a business; and evaluating the impact of sustainability and circularity. We present the results of a case study with a startup company, which was designed to test the framework and provide a concrete example of its usage and future development needs. Sustainability is not a luxury; it is a basic human right.

A Framework for Sustainable Circular Business Model Innovation

A Framework for Sustainable Circular Business Model Innovation