Designing business models in circular economy: A systematic literature review and research agenda
Open accessAbstract
The concept of circular economy is increasingly receiving attention in different domains, including strategic management, operations management, and technology management. It requires companies to design their business model (i.e., the value network, the relationships with the supply chain partners, and the value propositions towards customers) around a new concept of sustainable development that reduces consumption of natural resources and preserves the environment. However, extant research falls short in terms of explaining how companies design their business model according to the circular economy principles. Starting from this premise, the present paper provides a systematic review of the literature on the design of business models in the context of circular economy, aiming to offer an overview of the state of research and outline a promising research agenda.
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There is a need for integrated assessment frameworks combining environmental, economic and potentially social dimensions, supported by robust, standardised metrics.
“Consequently, there is an urgent need for integrated assessment frameworks combining environmental, economic and potentially social dimensions, supported by robust, standardised metrics (Corona et al. 2019;Centobelli et al. 2020;van Loon et al. 2021;Jerome et al. 2022).”
From Integrating Life Cycle Assessment, Monetised Externalities and Value Alignment for Strategic Reconfiguration of Circular Business Models: The Case of Smartphones (2026) · cites this paper as Centobelli et al. 2020
Service-oriented offerings transform value propositions from static ownership to dynamic access, guaranteeing performance and evolving functionality.
“Service-oriented offerings transform value propositions from static ownership to dynamic access, guaranteeing performance and evolving functionality (Poppelaars et al. 2018;Centobelli et al. 2020).”
From Integrating Life Cycle Assessment, Monetised Externalities and Value Alignment for Strategic Reconfiguration of Circular Business Models: The Case of Smartphones (2026) · cites this paper as Centobelli et al. 2020
Innovating the value proposition for a circular economy involves not just new service layers or product features but also transparently demonstrating compelling economic and experiential value that can successfully compete with, and ultimately reshape, the prevailing linear consumption paradigm.
“Therefore, innovating the value proposition for a CE involves not just new service layers or product features but also transparently demonstrating compelling economic and experiential value that can successfully compete with, and ultimately reshape, the prevailing linear consumption paradigm (Centobelli et al. 2020;Geissdoerfer et al. 2023).”
From Integrating Life Cycle Assessment, Monetised Externalities and Value Alignment for Strategic Reconfiguration of Circular Business Models: The Case of Smartphones (2026) · cites this paper as Centobelli et al. 2020
Ensuring multi-stakeholder value capture, especially for the implementing original equipment manufacturer, is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of circular business models.
“Ensuring multi-stakeholder value capture, especially for the implementing OEM, is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of CBMs (Centobelli et al. 2020).”
From Integrating Life Cycle Assessment, Monetised Externalities and Value Alignment for Strategic Reconfiguration of Circular Business Models: The Case of Smartphones (2026) · cites this paper as Centobelli et al. 2020
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A review of the literature on citation impact indicators
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Circular economy strategies for combating climate change and other environmental issues
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Digital technologies catalyzing business model innovation for circular economy—Multiple case study
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Circular Economy: A Review of Review Articles
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- Authors
- Centobelli, P., Cerchione, R., Chiaroni, D., Del Vecchio, P., & Urbinati, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
- Parthenope University of Naples (IT)
- Politecnico di Milano (IT)
- Department of Engineering for Innovation University of Salento Lecce Italy
- University Carlo Cattaneo (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Urbinati, Andrea
- Venue
- Business Strategy and the Environment
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-01-20
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1734-1749
- ISSN
- 0964-4733 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0836
- OpenAlex
- W3002813302
- Cited by
- 672
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 94 · 2025: 116 · 2024: 131 · 2023: 131 · 2022: 85 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 36
- FWCI
- 12.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Business Strategy and the Environment (publishedVersion)
- AIRUS (submittedVersion)
- Virtual Community of Pathological Anatomy (University of Castilla La Mancha) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (Parthenope University of Naples) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategies and Innovation
- Keywords
- circular economy, business model design, sustainable development, resource consumption reduction, value networks, supply chain relationships, value proposition, research agenda
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