Companies' circular business models enabled by supply chain collaborations: An empirical-based framework, synthesis, and research agenda

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has been lauded as a path enabling more environmentally sustainable economic growth for diverse industrial companies, requiring them to design and implement circular business models (CBMs). A CE widens a company's perspective to include supply chains when adopting and implementing a CBM; however, the intersection of CBMs and circular supply chain management (CSCM) research has been under-studied. Although considerable CBM research has been carried out, the role of supply chain collaboration in companies' CBMs has been neglected. To address this research gap, in the present study we integrate knowledge from CBM and CSCM literature and conduct a qualitative multiple case study of six Italian and Finnish companies in order to analyze how their supply chain collaborations enable implementation of CBMs. The results allow us to develop a new conceptual framework, a synthesis of how supply chain collaborations support companies' CBM design and implementation, and a research agenda comprising seven thematic management aspects at micro, meso, and macro-levels. The framework, synthesis, and agenda provide conceptual guidance and structure for researchers and pragmatic guidance for managers.