IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i6p2728-2740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Value creation in circular economy business for sustainability: A stakeholder relationship perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Riikka Tapaninaho
  • Anna Heikkinen

Abstract

A circular economy (CE) requires companies to rethink their value creation and stakeholder relationships. While value creation in a CE business is typically understood from a company‐centric perspective, this article utilises stakeholder theory to conceptualise value creation as a relational, systemic activity involving multiple stakeholder relationships. We conduct a case study of the CE business development of a Finnish energy company and offer novel insights by identifying five joint value creation activities: sharing the CE story, co‐constructing knowledge for political decision‐making, developing the industry, creating local CE ecosystems and refining the business model. Additionally, we define the concept of multidimensional value, which acknowledges multifaceted, subjective stakeholder value expectations and enables the engagement of stakeholders in joint value creation activities. We conclude that the stakeholder relationship perspective on CE business value creation allows for the creation of the synergy necessary to advance CE business and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Riikka Tapaninaho & Anna Heikkinen, 2022. "Value creation in circular economy business for sustainability: A stakeholder relationship perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 2728-2740, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:6:p:2728-2740
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3002
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Päivi Myllykangas & Johanna Kujala & Hanna Lehtimäki, 2010. "Analyzing the Essence of Stakeholder Relationships: What do we Need in Addition to Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 65-72, August.
    2. Florian Lüdeke‐Freund & Stefan Gold & Nancy M. P. Bocken, 2019. "A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 36-61, February.
    3. Catherine Welch & Rebecca Piekkari & Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki & Eriikka Paavilainen-Mantymaki, 2011. "Theorising from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(5), pages 740-762, June.
    4. Rajat Panwar & Eva Niesten, 2020. "Advancing Circular Economy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2890-2892, September.
    5. Maili Marjamaa & Hanna Salminen & Johanna Kujala & Riikka Tapaninaho & Anna Heikkinen, 2021. "A Sustainable Circular Economy: Exploring Stakeholder Interests in Finland," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 10(1), pages 50-62, April.
    6. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    7. Jeffrey S. Harrison & Douglas A. Bosse & Robert A. Phillips, 2010. "Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 58-74, January.
    8. Birte Freudenreich & Florian Lüdeke-Freund & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on Business Models: Value Creation for Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 3-18, September.
    9. Elisabet Garriga, 2014. "Beyond Stakeholder Utility Function: Stakeholder Capability in the Value Creation Process," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(4), pages 489-507, April.
    10. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    11. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    12. Harrison, Jeffrey S. & Wicks, Andrew C., 2013. "Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 97-124, January.
    13. Maria Barreiro‐Gen & Rodrigo Lozano, 2020. "How circular is the circular economy? Analysing the implementation of circular economy in organisations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3484-3494, December.
    14. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    15. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Davide Chiaroni & Pasquale Del Vecchio & Andrea Urbinati, 2020. "Designing business models in circular economy: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1734-1749, May.
    16. Caterina Tantalo & Richard L. Priem, 2016. "Value creation through stakeholder synergy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 314-329, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Zagonari, 2024. "Sustainable business models and conflict indices for sustainable decision‐making: An application to decommissioning versus reusing offshore gas platforms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 180-196, February.
    2. Xingwei Li & Jiachi Dai & Xiaowen Zhu & Jinrong He & Jingru Li & Xiang Liu & Yicheng Huang & Qiong Shen, 2022. "What Is the Mechanism of Government Green Development Behavior Considering Multi-Agent Interaction? A Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Thanh Tiep Le & Abhishek Behl & Gary Graham, 2023. "The Role of Entrepreneurship in Successfully Achieving Circular Supply Chain Management," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 24(4), pages 537-561, December.
    4. Tran Thi Van Trang & Mai Ngoc Khuong, 2023. "The role of risk factors, partner compatibility, organizational creativity and co-creation value on firm performance: evidence from SMEs in Vietnam," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 41(2), pages 449-475.
    5. Cabral, Natália Gomes Cavalcante & Gohr, Cláudia Fabiana, 2023. "Sustainable value creation in sharing economy: Conceptual framework proposition and application in Brazilian offline communities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    6. Manish Mohan Baral & Subhodeep Mukherjee & Rajesh Kr Singh & Venkataiah Chittipaka & Yigit Kazancoglu, 2023. "Exploring antecedents for the circular economy capability of micro, small and medium enterprises: An empirical study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5785-5806, December.
    7. Rajat Panwar & Eva Niesten, 2022. "Jump‐starting, diffusing, and sustaining the circular economy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 2637-2640, September.
    8. Navid Zarbakhshnia & Kannan Govindan & Devika Kannan & Mark Goh, 2023. "Outsourcing logistics operations in circular economy towards to sustainable development goals," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 134-162, January.
    9. Gabriela Almeida Marcon Nora & Anete Alberton & Diego Hernando Florez Ayala, 2023. "Stakeholder theory and actor‐network theory: The stakeholder engagement in energy transitions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 673-685, January.
    10. Albérico Travassos Rosário & Paula Lopes & Filipe Sales Rosário, 2024. "Sustainability and the Circular Economy Business Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-24, July.
    11. Yasanur Kayikci & Yigit Kazancoglu & Nazlican Gozacan‐Chase & Cisem Lafci, 2022. "Analyzing the drivers of smart sustainable circular supply chain for sustainable development goals through stakeholder theory," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3335-3353, November.
    12. Chamari Pamoshika Jayarathna & Duzgun Agdas & Les Dawes, 2023. "Exploring sustainable logistics practices toward a circular economy: A value creation perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 704-720, January.
    13. Schultz, Felix Carl & Valentinov, Vladislav & Kirchherr, Julian & Reinhardt, Robert Jaroslav & Pies, Ingo, 2024. "Stakeholder governance to facilitate collaboration for a systemic circular economy transition: A qualitative study in the European chemicals and plastics industry," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 2173-2192.
    14. Subhalaxmi Mohapatra & Subhadip Roy & Arvind Upadhyay & Anil Kumar, 2024. "Circular value creation through environmental entrepreneurship initiatives: A case‐based exploration," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 3811-3831, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luca Marrucci & Fabio Iannone & Tiberio Daddi & Fabio Iraldo, 2022. "Antecedents of absorptive capacity in the development of circular economy business models of small and medium enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 532-544, January.
    2. Mechthild Donner & Hugo de Vries, 2021. "How to innovate business models for a circular bio‐economy?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1932-1947, May.
    3. Maryam Hina & Chetna Chauhan & Rajat Sharma & Amandeep Dhir, 2023. "Circular economy business models as pillars of sustainability: Where are we now, and where are we heading?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 6182-6209, December.
    4. Patricia van Loon & Luk N. Van Wassenhove & Ales Mihelic, 2022. "Designing a circular business strategy: 7 years of evolution at a large washing machine manufacturer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1030-1041, March.
    5. Ahmad, Farhan & Bask, Anu & Laari, Sini & Robinson, Craig V., 2023. "Business management perspectives on the circular economy: Present state and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    6. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    7. Gilbert Silvius & Aydan Ismayilova & Vicente Sales-Vivó & Micol Costi, 2021. "Exploring Barriers for Circularity in the EU Furniture Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-25, October.
    8. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    9. Luca Marrucci & Tiberio Daddi & Fabio Iraldo, 2022. "Do dynamic capabilities matter? A study on environmental performance and the circular economy in European certified organisations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 2641-2657, September.
    10. Thomas Tsalis & Alexandros I. Stefanakis & Ioannis Nikolaou, 2022. "A Framework to Evaluate the Social Life Cycle Impact of Products under the Circular Economy Thinking," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Animesh Ghosh & Prabha Bhola & Uthayasankar Sivarajah, 2022. "Emerging Associates of the Circular Economy: Analysing Interactions and Trends by a Mixed Methods Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-41, August.
    12. Simon Norris & Julia Hagenbeck & Stefan Schaltegger, 2021. "Linking sustainable business models and supply chains — Toward an integrated value creation framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3960-3974, December.
    13. Roberta De Angelis, 2022. "Circular economy business models as resilient complex adaptive systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2245-2255, July.
    14. Ioannis E. Nikolaou & Nikoleta Jones & Alexandros Stefanakis, 2021. "Circular Economy and Sustainability: the Past, the Present and the Future Directions," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-20, June.
    15. Pereira, Vijay & Nandakumar, M.K. & Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Bamel, Umesh & Malik, Ashish & Temouri, Yama, 2022. "An exploratory study into emerging market SMEs’ involvement in the circular Economy: Evidence from India’s indigenous Ayurveda industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 188-199.
    16. Cabral, Natália Gomes Cavalcante & Gohr, Cláudia Fabiana, 2023. "Sustainable value creation in sharing economy: Conceptual framework proposition and application in Brazilian offline communities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    17. Alisha Tuladhar & Konstantinos Iatridis & Dimo Dimov, 2024. "Collaboration among circular start‐ups and incumbents in the circular economy context," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3317-3330, May.
    18. Kerem Toker & Ali Görener, 2023. "Evaluation of circular economy business models for SMEs using spherical fuzzy TOPSIS: an application from a developing countries’ perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 1700-1741, February.
    19. Omar Alhawari & Usama Awan & M. Khurrum S. Bhutta & M. Ali Ülkü, 2021. "Insights from Circular Economy Literature: A Review of Extant Definitions and Unravelling Paths to Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    20. Ishrat Ali & Griffin W. Cottle, 2021. "Reconceptualizing Entrepreneurial Performance: The Creation and Destruction of Value from a Stakeholder Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 781-796, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:6:p:2728-2740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.