BUSINESS MODELS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY ECOSYSTEMS: A MANAGERIAL FRAMEWORK OF FLOW CONFIGURATIONS AND EQUIFINAL PATHWAYS TO ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Abstract

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.