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To be successfully implemented, circular economy requires the design of innovative business models that can enable multiple value creation mechanisms. One way to achieve this is by means of product/service-systems. Nevertheless, there is still limited consideration in the literature regarding the effect of applying different circular strategies – or resource productivity or resource efficiency strategies - in the development of alternative business models for different product/service-system types. By means of retrospective case studies, this article discusses how different types of product/service-systems and their business models are related to or enable different circular strategies. Insights and future research opportunities are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful transition to Circular Economy requires systemic changes in the way companies understand and do business, with sustainability as a strong foundation. Sustainable business model innovation has become fundamental for companies’ competitiveness. The design of innovative business models is challenging, especially considering that in some cases the new circular systems may not be more sustainable than the previous ones (e.g.: due to rebound effects). Many different approaches have been proposed for designing either circular or sustainable business models, however there is no consensus of an integrated vision of both concepts. A comprehensive review was performed to identify sustainability characteristics of business models. These were analyzed and translated into sustainable qualifying criteria to be applied when designing circular business models. The aim of the qualifying criteria is serving as a checklist that can inspire the development of circular business models based on best practices for social, environmental and economic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable growth demands focus not only on the product and production processes, but also in promoting shifts in consumption patterns and lifestyles towards a circular economy. The adoption of Product-Service Systems (PSS) strategies appears as a promising solution. However, practical application of PSS sustainable approaches is still limited. This may be associated to the fact that a PSS does not guarantee environmental improvements if it is not specifically designed with this purpose. PSS design process models can play a relevant role in supporting companies in designing sustainable PSS when they incorporate activities, methods and tools to approach the sustainability dimensions. Not only the process models, but also the intentions of practitioners and their awareness towards sustainability during the design of a PSS influence the dissemination of sustainable PSS. The objective of this work is to investigate whether the existent PSS design process models support the design of sustainable PSS and whether practitioners employ sustainability-related activities when designing PSS. Nine process models were analyzed and the perspective of practitioners about considering sustainability issues when designing PSS were captured. The collected data shows that only few of the analyzed process models actually propose activities, methods or tools to support a sustainable PSS design. This suggests an existing gap between literature and the practitioners’ expectations of PSS design process models. Moreover, those activities, methods and tools are mainly focused on eco-efficiency and the social dimension is generally not covered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, companies have shifted from traditional business models based on selling products to product-service systems (PSS). Despite this tendency, there is a paucity of complete methodologies and tools to guide companies on how the transition should occur. To address this issue, the goal of this research is to present a complete framework to support manufacturing companies in the servitization journey. This novel proposal involves the application of design thinking to define the value proposition integrated with a PSS oriented business model creation, that goes beyond generic methods normally applied; and the specification of business process architecture to support PSS implementation. This research followed a prescriptive approach by means of action research technique. Key findings of the framework application are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]