Call for papers: Transition from Linear to Circular Economy through Open Innovation

The research topic proposed in the special issue allows advancing knowledge regarding the interrelationship between Circular Economy (CE) and Open Innovation (OI), aiming to promote the green transition. The environmental emergency requires the transition to new models of sustainable development. Consequently, governments worldwide are taking action to develop green policies (i.e., The European Green Deal, the United Nations 2030 Agenda, etc.). Specifically, the UN organization has compiled a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, among which can be found to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns. Underlying this goal is the concept of the CE, which is considered the economic approach to be embraced to reduce the pressure on natural systems.

For this reason, implementing CE principles supports the green transition. This subject particularly appeals to governments, practitioners, and academics, justifying an in-depth study of how organizations can effectively implement CE principles to accomplish a green transition. In this context, OI represents a viable approach to foster and speed up the implementation of circular initiatives. Specifically, the literature (elucidated in the following paragraphs) highlights how the ecosystem approach enabled by OI facilitates this process, thus deserving attention. For the reasons stated here and for relevance to the journal’s scope, the research topic related to the transition from Linear to CE through OI deserves an entire issue.

Guest editors:

Madjid Tavana (Business Systems and Analytics Department, Distinguished Chair of Business Analytics, La Salle University, Philadelphia, United States, tavana@lasalle.edu and Business Information Systems Department, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany)

Serena Strazzullo (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy. serena.strazzullo@unina.it)

Mark Anthony Camilleri (Department of Corporate Communication), University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta, mark.a.camilleri@um.edu.mt)

Moacir Godinho Filho (Department of Industrial Engineering, EM Normandie Business School Metis Lab, France & Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil, moacir@dep.ufscar.br)

Serena Filippelli (Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 181/A, 43124, Parma, Italy. Serena.filippelli@unipr.it )

Benedetta Pini (Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 181/A, 43124, Parma, Italy. benedetta.pini@unipr.it)

Special issue information:

Motivation for Special Issue:

The research topic proposed in the special issue allows advancing knowledge regarding the interrelationship between Circular Economy (CE) and Open Innovation (OI), aiming to promote the green transition. The environmental emergency requires the transition to new models of sustainable development. Consequently, governments worldwide are taking action to develop green policies (i.e., The European Green Deal, the United Nations 2030 Agenda, etc.). Specifically, the UN organization has compiled a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, among which can be found to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns. Underlying this goal is the concept of the CE, which is considered the economic approach to be embraced to reduce the pressure on natural systems.

For this reason, implementing CE principles supports the green transition. This subject particularly appeals to governments, practitioners, and academics, justifying an in-depth study of how organizations can effectively implement CE principles to accomplish a green transition. In this context, OI represents a viable approach to foster and speed up the implementation of circular initiatives. Specifically, the literature (elucidated in the following paragraphs) highlights how the ecosystem approach enabled by OI facilitates this process, thus deserving attention. For the reasons stated here and for relevance to the journal’s scope, the research topic related to the transition from Linear to CE through OI deserves an entire issue.

Background of the Special Issue:

The CE approach departs from the Linear Economy, which is based on the ‘take-make-dispose’ principle, aiming to promote production and consumption systems that exploit existing products and natural resources to extend their life cycle and reduce the derived waste. For this reason, the CE is earning growing interest in sustainable business as an effective strategy to mitigate environmental damage (Lopes et al. 2017; Camilleri 2019; Centobelli et al. 2022). Indeed, the finiteness of natural resources compels organizations to adopt circular principles, although their actual implementation is still embryonic (Köhler et al., 2022). CE represents a big challenge for companies, as many factors can affect their success in sustainable development. Achieving sustainability objectives is no longer just a mere responsibility of the state but is also becoming central for individual companies that acquire a pivotal role (Gjølberg, 2009; Brammer et al., 2012). There are various reasons why CE implementations have not progressed as much as expected. Still, much of the problem can be attributed to the various barriers that stand in the way of CE implementation. Many scholars have studied the barriers hindering CE adoption (De Jesus et al., 2018; Ranta et al., 2018; Kirchherr et al., 2018; Camilleri, 2019). What emerges from this extensive discussion is that most of the studies focus on the analysis of the technical aspects that prevent the construction of circular processes, mainly related to inadequate equipment (Kumar et al. 2019), lack of knowledge, and lack of information concerning the design of environment-friendly products (Jaeger e Upadhyay 2020).

Few studies, on the contrary, analyze the human and organizational aspects that hinder the adoption of a systemic circular approach. Indeed, a paradigm shift as radical as that from Linear Economy to CE requires effort from organizations, which often have to rethink their business models to integrate circular practices. In addition, most CE projects require new knowledge and technologies, making collaboration among various stakeholders essential (Köhler et al., 2022). In this context, the explosion of collaborative systems and OI has opened up many new value-creation opportunities. OI has been defined by Henry Chesbrough (2003, 37) as “a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology.” OI allows for increased knowledge flows, consistently accelerating the innovation process. Thus, it represents a valuable tool for driving the transition to CE. Several contributions in the literature (e.g., Kennedy et al., 2017; Cassetta et al., 2022; Jesus and Jugend, 2023) emphasize the importance of OI in promoting the adoption of CE principles, highlighting how the diversity of partners involved in CE processes coupled with the iterative nature of the development process, benefit from the collaborative approach of OI. This allows for multi-stakeholder dialogue on sustainability issues and enables individuals and organizations to connect through interactive ecosystems to share exchange and capture value. However, building collaborations among a diversified group of stakeholders adds complexity to the network. It gives rise to challenges related to goal alignment and incentives that can facilitate the CE success. The literature briefly introduced above must be expanded and updated to open up further research avenues that shed light on both the OI and CE concepts, better clarifying the results of their interconnectedness.

Objectives and Themes of the Special Issue:

This Special Issue investigates the relationship between CE and OI. Indeed, although the scientific community’s interest in the disjointed themes of CE and OI is high, research regarding their relationship is still in its infancy (Bigliardi and Filippelli, 2021). Specifically, research has mostly focused on the competitive advantage of firms by applying CE principles. At the same time, little attention has been paid to the role of collaborative networks in an OI context in implementing such practices. Below are some research themes that should be explored to advance knowledge on the topic.

First, it is interesting to investigate the difference between a closed and an open approach to innovation in the development of circular initiatives to validate the actual superiority of the OI paradigm in fostering the green transition of enterprises. Most companies are still resorting to closed innovation or, at most, alliances with a single entity to implement circular solutions. However, an emerging strand of research is beginning to examine a more collaborative approach, referred to as Open Circular Innovation (OCI) or Collaborative Circular Oriented Innovation (Brown et al., 2019; Eisenreich et al., 2021). It draws its roots from the concepts of CE and Sustainable OI, combining the traditional elements of the definition of OI with the definition of Sustainable Development given by Brundtland (1987). Based on this formalization, it is possible to understand that innovation management, particularly OI, is a fundamental tool for the concrete pursuit of sustainability and CE objectives (Bogers et al., 2020). In this context, it is interesting to investigate the relational dynamics among the stakeholders involved in the network and how the interaction among them succeeds in fostering the development of CE initiatives.

Another emerging issue concerns the adoption of the OI paradigm to foster the implementation of circular business models by companies. Few contributions are currently in the literature on the topic, warranting further investigation (Bigliardi and Filippelli 2021). Prominent among these is Bocken and Ritala’s (2021) work, which identified three distinct circular business model strategies based on adopting OI. They are based on collaboration among a plurality of actors to reduce the environmental impact of production processes, extend the useful life of products, and reduce waste generation. Some potential research questions and themes are discussed in the following.

Research Topics:

OI to support organizations’ circular transition

• How can OI support private and public organizations adopting CE practices?
• What differences can be found in CE initiatives based on an open rather than closed approach to innovation?
• Which are the performance implications (e.g., organizational, financial, etc.) of leveraging OI for CE practices?
• How to measure the performances of CE initiatives enabled by OI?
• What is the influence of contextual variables (e.g., industry type, industry size, policy, etc.) on OI practices to support CE initiatives?
• How do we theorize the effect of OI on organizations’ circular transition?

Stakeholders’ relevance and institutions’ role in OI-driven CE Initiatives

• How can stakeholders actually relevant to the adoption of CE practices be selected?
• How can different stakeholders be integrated with a circular transition process?
• What is the role of institutions in favoring the adoption of OI-driven CE practices?
• How can knowledge be managed in the integration between OI and CE?

Circular business model enabled by OI

• How can the OI paradigm facilitate circular business model innovation in well-established organizations?
• How does the OI approach support establishing a circular business model?
• What indicators can be designed to measure the circularity of business models enabled by OI?

Manuscript submission information:

The Journal’s submission system will be open for submissions for the Special Issue ‘Transition from Linear to Circular Economy through Open Innovation’. When submitting your manuscript please select the article type “VSI: Open Innovation”. Please submit your manuscript before 31st March 2025.

All submissions deemed suitable to be sent for peer review will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers.

References:

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Bocken, Nancy, and Paavo Ritala. 2021. «Six ways to build circular business models». Journal of Business Strategy. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Bogers, Marcel, Henry Chesbrough, and Robert Strand. 2020. «Sustainable open innovation to address a grand challenge: Lessons from Carlsberg and the Green Fiber Bottle». British Food Journal 122 (5). Emerald Publishing Limited: 1505–17.

Brammer, S., Jackson, G. and Matten, D. 2012. «Corporate Social Responsibility and Institutional Theory: New Perspectives on Private Governance». Socio-Economic Review, 10, 3–28.

Brown, Phil, Nancy Bocken, and Ruud Balkenende. 2019. «Why do companies pursue collaborative circular oriented innovation?» Sustainability 11 (3). MDPI: 635.

Camilleri, Mark Anthony. 2019. «The circular economy’s closed loop and product service systems for sustainable development: A review and appraisal». Sustainable Development 27 (3). Wiley Online Library: 530–36.

Cassetta, Ernesto, Ivano Dileo, and Marco Pini. 2022. «Linking external collaborations, eco-innovation and sustainable growth. An empirical analysis on the Italian manufacturing firms». Industry and Innovation. Taylor & Francis, 1–28.

Centobelli, Piera, Roberto Cerchione, Livio Cricelli, Emilio Esposito, and Serena Strazzullo. 2022. «The future of sustainable supply chains: a novel tertiary-systematic methodology». Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 27 (6). Emerald Publishing Limited: 762–84.

Chesbrough, Henry. 2003. «The logic of open innovation: managing intellectual property». California management review 45 (3). SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: 33–58.

De Jesus, Ana, Paula Antunes, Rui Santos, and Sandro Mendonça. 2018. «Eco-innovation in the transition to a circular economy: An analytical literature review». Journal of cleaner Production 172. Elsevier: 2999–3018.

Eisenreich, Anja, Johann Füller, and Martin Stuchtey. 2021. «Open circular innovation: How companies can develop circular innovations in collaboration with stakeholders». Sustainability 13 (23). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute: 13456.

Gjølberg, M. 2009. «The Origin of Corporate Social Responsibility: Global Forces or National Legacies? ». Socio-Economic Review, 7, 605–637.

Jaeger, Bjoern, and Arvind Upadhyay. 2020. «Understanding barriers to circular economy: cases from the manufacturing industry». Journal of Enterprise Information Management 33 (4). Emerald Publishing Limited: 729–45.

Jesus, Gessica Mina Kim, and Daniel Jugend. 2023. «How can open innovation contribute to circular economy adoption? Insights from a literature review». European Journal of Innovation Management 26 (1). Emerald Publishing Limited: 65–98.

Kennedy, Steve, Gail Whiteman, and Jan van den Ende. 2017. «Radical innovation for sustainability: The power of strategy and open innovation». Long Range Planning 50 (6). Elsevier: 712–25.

Kirchherr, Julian, Laura Piscicelli, Ruben Bour, Erica Kostense-Smit, Jennifer Muller, Anne Huibrechtse-Truijens, and Marko Hekkert. 2018. «Barriers to the circular economy: Evidence from the European Union (EU)». Ecological economics 150. Elsevier: 264–72. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.028.

Köhler, Julia, Sönnich Dahl Sönnichsen, and Philip Beske‐Jansen. 2022. «Towards a collaboration framework for circular economy: The role of dynamic capabilities and open innovation». Business Strategy and the Environment 31 (6). Wiley Online Library: 2700–2713.

Kumar, Vikas, Ihsan Sezersan, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes, Ernesto DRS Gonzalez, and Moh’d Anwer Al-Shboul. 2019. «Circular economy in the manufacturing sector: benefits, opportunities and barriers». Management Decision 57 (4). Emerald Publishing Limited: 1067–86.

Lopes, Cátia Milena, Annibal Scavarda, Luiz Fernando Hofmeister, Antônio Márcio Tavares Thomé, and Guilherme Luís Roehe Vaccaro. 2017. «An analysis of the interplay between organizational sustainability, knowledge management, and open innovation». Journal of cleaner production 142. Elsevier: 476–88.

Ranta, Valtteri, Leena Aarikka-Stenroos, Paavo Ritala, and Saku J. Mäkinen. 2018. «Exploring institutional drivers and barriers of the circular economy: A cross-regional comparison of China, the US, and Europe». Resources, Conservation and Recycling 135 (December 2016). Elsevier: 70–82. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.08.017.

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Keywords:

Circular economy; Open Innovation

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