Jul 2026· Business Strategy and the Environment· 0 citations· 129 references
Abstract
Drawing on multilevel and complexity theories, this research identifies new and reframed core principles of circular business ecosystems (CBEs), thereby clarifying what makes a business ecosystem circular. Although CBEs are increasingly recognised as adaptive systems shaped by interdependencies and non‐linear interactions, how circularity operates across ecosystem levels remains underexplained. Multilevel and complexity theories provide the analytical basis for distinguishing and connecting the CBEs' dimensions and dynamics through which circularity emerges. A systematic literature review was conducted using Coleman's boat model to explore how circular economy principles are integrated into ecosystem configurations. It examines (i) specific dimensions of CBEs related to ecosystem actors (including orchestrators, participants and complementors) and the relational dynamics among them; (ii) the value creation processes and the impacts generated by CBEs; and (iii) contextual factors influencing these systems. Overall, this work advances CBE research by explaining how circularity emerges from the interaction between macro‐ and micro‐level elements, showing how macro‐level association, situational, relational and transformational mechanisms shape these ecosystems.
This paper aims to explore how interaction patterns enable resilience in business ecosystems facing turbulent environments. While organisational-level resilience has been extensively studied, how resilience emerges at the ecosystem level through relational mechanisms has received little systematic attention. This study addresses that gap using the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) perspective as a theoretical lens. The theoretical contribution is directed at ecosystem resilience research.
The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 30 peer-reviewed articles from three journals, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing and Journal of Business Research. The IMP perspective served as the guiding analytical lens for interpreting the final sample.
Their analysis reveals three distinct research streams: Resilient Innovation Ecosystems, Resilient Service Ecosystems and Resilient Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, each demonstrating recurring interaction patterns enabling resilience through distinct value logics. They introduce the Circle of Resilience framework, showing that ecosystem resilience emerges through bidirectional processes across four interconnected levels, enacted through four recurring interaction patterns: multi-level coordination, coevolutionary adaptation, resource mobilisation and knowledge sharing.
Insights are provided for managers, policymakers and ecosystem orchestrators on enhancing resilience through relational investment, cross-boundary coordination and ecosystem-specific interaction pattern management. Policymakers are recognised not merely as external facilitators but as direct participants in the interaction patterns through which ecosystem resilience is developed and sustained.
This study adopts a theory adaptation approach, using the IMP perspective to illuminate what has not yet been specified in ecosystem resilience research. It identifies interaction patterns as the primary relational mechanisms through which ecosystem-level resilience is enacted, introduces three ecosystem-specific value logics and presents the Circle of Resilience framework as a conceptual foundation for future empirical work.
Elisabete Barbosa Parodi, João F. Proença, Helen McGrath· Journal of Business & In...· 0 citations
The paper systematises managerial approaches to designing business models of circular-economy ecosystems based on industrial symbiosis. The business model is treated as a mechanism describing how a given exchange configuration generates shared value and how that value is subsequently distributed among the actors involved. The study identifies five dimensions of resource flow intensity – material, energy, water, logistical and knowledge flows – that jointly define the structural profile of a symbiotic ecosystem. On this basis, a typology of business models is constructed, differentiating material-exchange, energy-cascading, water-integrated, logistics-platform and knowledge-adaptive configurations, each characterised by a distinct value logic, coordination and appropriation mechanism, and source of environmental outcome. Every business model, irrespective of its dominant flow, is further decomposed into three interdependent components – value proposition, value architecture and value-appropriation mechanism. Рarticular attention is paid to free-rider mitigation as a central managerial challenge. The principle of equifinality is elaborated to demonstrate that structurally distinct exchange configurations can achieve comparable environmental performance through different pathways, which undermines the search for a single universal bestpractice model and instead calls for context-sensitive managerial choice. Building on these findings, a four-link managerial framework is proposed – diagnosis of the flow profile, selection of a business-model architecture, design of a coordination and appropriation mechanism, and management of the environmental outcome – supplemented by a diagnostic feedback loop enabling equifinal reconfiguration without abandoning the target state. The applied potential of the framework is examined for Ukrainian industrial systems. Large-scale infrastructure reconstruction offers a rare opportunity to embed symbiotic configurations at the design stage, rather than retrofitting inherited linear supply chains. This aligns the proposed approach with the priorities of green recovery and sustainable development.
Sustainable business models (SBMs) describe how organizations create, deliver, and capture value while simultaneously generating economic, environmental, and social benefits for a broad set of stakeholders. Although the field has expanded rapidly since the late 2000s, the literature remains conceptually dispersed: definitions proliferate, design tools and archetypes coexist without integration, and findings on the link between sustainability practices and firm performance remain inconsistent. To address this fragmentation, this study conducts a PRISMA 2020-guided systematic literature review of foundational and recent contributions published between 2008 and 2025. Of 300 records identified through database searching, 30 studies met the eligibility criteria and were synthesized qualitatively; these are interpreted together with complementary theoretical and methodological literature. Rather than reporting bibliometric indicators, the review synthesizes the field across three dimensions: the evolution of the SBM concept, its dominant design logics and archetypes, and its contemporary thematic landscape. The findings trace a progression from foundational triple-bottom-line conceptualization, through archetype- and tool-based design approaches such as the Triple-Layered Business Model Canvas and pattern taxonomies, toward digitally enabled, circular, and resilience-oriented models. These patterns are interpreted through complementary theoretical lenses—the resource-based and natural-resource-based views, dynamic capabilities, information-processing theory, and stakeholder theory. The review consolidates these insights into an integrative conceptual framework that links theoretical foundations, value-design dimensions, enabling capabilities, and triple-bottom-line outcomes. It further discusses implications for managers and outlines a research agenda emphasizing digital and circular enablers, longitudinal designs, and the under-examined context of emerging markets, with an applied emphasis on Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
T. Kogabayev, Bakytzhan Akan, Assel Akan et al.· World· 0 citations
The circular economy has gained prominence among academics, practitioners, and policymakers, yet existing research largely adopts a firm-centric view, emphasizing business models and strategies, with limited attention to ecosystem-level dynamics. In particular, the role of customers within circular economy ecosystems (CEEs) remains underexplored; while many studies have considered CEEs’ structural aspects, few have examined underlying cognitive processes. Our study focuses on the managerial construction of ecosystems, and specifically on how managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) interpret customer engagement signals. While existing literature recommends an ecosystem-level approach, we propose that ecosystem dynamics initially emerge through individual sensemaking. Through interviewing several SME managers in Finland, we suggest a typology comprising four approaches: co-creative sensemaking, opportunity-harvesting, engagement-delegating, and linear legacy firms. By applying the theoretical lens of the supply-side interpretation of demand-side signals, our findings show why firms exhibiting the same ecosystem context tend to diverge in terms of circularity.
A. M. Tabas, M. Rehman, Khalid Mehmood et al.· Business & Society· 0 citations
This article synthesizes literature at the intersection of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) and the internationalization of small firms. We integrate insights from International Business (IB) and EE research domains to harmonize the conceptual differences between the two domains and develop an integrative model.
We perform a systematic literature review (SLR) of 43 peer-reviewed articles on EE and small firm internationalization. Our analysis employs the Gioia methodology to develop thematic codes that help synthesize knowledge on the subject.
Our analysis highlights several key microfoundational mechanisms, i.e. opportunity recognition, resource mobilization, network activation and learning, that mediate the translation of ecosystem-level structures into firm-level internationalization outcomes. We further unveil contextual moderators, i.e. EE maturity, institutional quality, digital embeddedness, industry characteristics and prior international experience, that shape these mechanisms' effectiveness. The review addresses five key issues: harmonizing conceptual differences between IB and EE, integrating born global and early internationalizing firm concepts, aligning multi-level perspectives, clarifying institutional roles and reconciling network conceptualizations.
Our analysis demonstrates the integration and complementarity of IB and EE literature in explaining firm internationalization behavior. By synthesizing the IB and EE literature, we create an integrated model that illustrates the complex connections inherent in EE and firm-level internationalization behavior.
The paper provides new perspectives to enhance the comprehension of how EE and IB disciplines might synergize rather than contradict each other in explaining the behavior of small firms in IB.
M. Marobhe, A. Wald· Journal of Small Business an...· 0 citations
Sustainability‐oriented business research increasingly treats circular economy, ESG governance, and net‐zero transitions as complementary pillars of systemic transformation. However, prior bibliometric reviews have largely examined these domains separately, leaving unresolved the question of whether they are becoming integrated within a shared knowledge architecture or developing as parallel research streams. This study examines 472 peer‐reviewed journal articles and review papers published between 1995 and 2026 to assess how three transition lenses are coordinated: system design through the circular economy; governance and accountability through ESG/SDGs; and transition targets through net‐zero and decarbonization. Its novelty lies not in observing fragmentation, which is partly expected in a growing interdisciplinary field, but in formalizing that fragmentation as a quantifiable, statistically benchmarked coordination problem. The central finding is that cross‐lens coupling has declined steadily over time and remains lower than degree‐preserving null‐model expectations. This indicates nonrandom differentiation across the knowledge streams, despite rhetorical convergence in policy and managerial discourse. The study does not treat bibliometric fragmentation as direct evidence of firm‐level, policy‐level, or transition failure. Rather, it identifies a knowledge‐architecture gap that may limit the availability of integrated conceptual guidance for circular business‐model redesign, ESG accountability, supplier governance, capital allocation, and decarbonization strategy. By reframing fragmentation in this way, the study offers a diagnostic framework for assessing whether sustainability‐oriented business knowledge supports integrated strategic action across circularity, ESG accountability, and net‐zero transformation.
Ajay Chandel, Rohail Hassan, Anurag Pahuja· Business Strategy and the En...· 0 citations
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