Circular Economy and Beyond : How Sustainable Business Practice Enables Transformation

• The aim of this conceptual article is to explain how sustainable business practices enable transformation from a circular economy to a circular society. A sustainability business practice, which has a broader mission than just being firm-centric, implies a regenerative, but also a more societal meaning in interaction with transformation and innovation. The article uses multidisciplinary theory to suggest a conceptual model. The explanatory power is shown in an empirical investigation, through a qualitative approach, of three values-based enterprises: IKEA, Löfbergs, and Eataly. These three enterprises use circular thinking and innovation as proactive tools for identifying challenges and developing a transformation agenda in implementing the SDGs.  This article contributes to the ongoing discussions on sustainability and service research by focusing on sustainability, innovation, and transformation by explicitly linking the adoption of sustainability to a circular economy using sustainable business-societal practices transformation to give an impact to the society to become more circular.  As a conceptual study, the article has also identified previously unexplored connections between sustainability and service research and introduced new constructs on linking the adoption of sustainability to a circular economy. Keywords: circular economy; circular society; sustainability; transformation; service.  

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

circular economy; circular society; sustainability; transformation; service.

Business Administration

Företagsekonomi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)