HOW COMPANIES INNOVATE BUSINESS MODELS AND SUPPLY CHAINS FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY: A MULTIPLE-CASE STUDY AND FRAMEWORK

Jenni Kaipainen, Andrea Urbinati, Davide Chiaroni and Leena Aarikka-Stenroos
Additional contact information
Jenni Kaipainen: Tampere University, Hervanta Campus, Faculty of Business and Management, Unit of Industrial Engineering and Management, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, 33720 Tampere, Finland
Andrea Urbinati: ��LIUC Università Cattaneo, School of Industrial Engineering, Corso G. Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy
Davide Chiaroni: ��Politechnico di Milano, School of Management, Via R. Lambruschini 4/b, 20156 Milano (MI), Italy
Leena Aarikka-Stenroos: Tampere University, Hervanta Campus, Faculty of Business and Management, Unit of Industrial Engineering and Management, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, 33720 Tampere, Finland

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2022, vol. 26, issue 09, 1-24

Abstract: To implement a circular economy (CE), companies are pushed to innovate, respectively, their business models, from a micro-perspective, and their supply chains, from a meso-perspective. Despite the increasing research on both these perspectives, there is still a knowledge gap on how companies innovate business models and supply chains for circularity. In this study, we build on innovation management, circular business model (CBM), and circular supply chain (CSC) literatures and develop a theory-based framework where circularity leads to product/process/service innovation from a micro-perspective, and to possible innovation in companies’ supply chains (retaining existing chains/renewing them) from a meso-perspective. Through a multiple-case study of Finnish and Italian CE pioneer companies, we validate this framework, find evidence on interplay between CBM and CSC innovation, and identify innovation strategy variants. The framework contributes to innovation management, CBM, and CSC literature works, and encourages managers willing to adopt circularity to consider innovating simultaneously both their business models and supply chains.

Keywords: Business model innovation; supply chain innovation; circular innovation; circular business models; circular supply chains; circular economy; sustainable business; multiple-case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919622400242

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