Achieving battery circularity is crucial for meeting the targets of net-zero emission vehicles by 2030 and enabling climate-neutral transportation by 2050. To facilitate this transition, firms operating in the electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem must reassess their value creation, capture, and delivery methods. Although EV battery second life presents a promising solution for circularity, many vehicle manufacturers and stakeholders in the battery ecosystem struggle to adapt their organizations internally and externally due to a lack of insights into suitable circular business models. The purpose of this study is to identify viable archetypes of circular business models for EV battery second life and examine their implications on company collaborations within the EV battery ecosystem. Three main archetypes of circular business models are identified (i.e., extending, sharing, and looping business models) and further divided into eight sub-archetypes. These models are elucidated in terms of key business model dimensions, including value proposition, value co-creation, value delivery, and value capture. The paper provides visual representations of the necessary interactions and collaborations among companies in the EV battery ecosystem to effectively implement the proposed business model archetypes. This research contributes to the theory of circular business models in general, with specific relevance to EV battery circularity.
Recent ‘democratic revolutions’ in Islamic countries call for a re-consideration of transitions to and from democracy. Transitions to democracy have often been considered the outcome of socio-economic modernization and therefore slow and incremental processes. But as a recent study has made clear, in the last century, transitions to democracy have mainly occurred through rapid leaps rather than slow and incremental steps. Here, we therefore apply an innovation and systems perspective and consider transitions to democracy as processes of institutional, and therefore systemic, innovation adoption. We show that transitions to democracy starting before 1900 lasted for an average of 50 years and a median of 56 years, while transitions originating later took an average of 4.6 years and a median of 1.7 years. However, our results indicate that the survival time of democratic regimes is longer in cases where the transition periods have also been longer, suggesting that patience paid in previous democratizations. We identify a critical ‘consolidation-preparing’ transition period of 12 years. Our results also show that in cases where the transitions have not been made directly from autocracy to democracy, there are no main institutional paths towards democracy. Instead, democracy seems reachable from a variety of directions. This is in line with the analogy of diffusion of innovations at the nation systems level, for which assumptions are that potential adopter systems may vary in susceptibility over time. The adoption of the institutions of democracy therefore corresponds to the adoption of a new political communications standard for a nation, in this case the innovation of involving in principle all adult citizens on an equal basis.
The circular economy (CE) is growing, and an increasing number of businesses are becoming aware of it. Demand from customers and new regulations from policymakers motivated many practitioners to transform their business models into circular business models. However, academia has not followed the same pace. Considering that the circular economy encloses unique attributes, it is crucially required to re-frame traditional marketing strategy theories. This article rigorously investigates marketing theory and practice in the CE, identifies the challenges of marketing in the CE, and introduces a new definition of marketing and additional stimulus in the marketing mix. Further, the article provides theoretical and managerial implications.
The business landscape has significantly changed in the last few years due to unforeseen incidents such as the recent pandemic and war in Europe. While such incidents have interrupted or even impaired economies and businesses, they have also accelerated digitalization. Parallel to this, many countries have started moving towards sustainability and realized the importance of circularity on a large scale. Thus, international industrial firms must deal with new regulations. Despite the growth of research on digitalization and circular economy, our understanding of international industrial manufacturers and their business models, in particular, is limited. Thus, this research aims to study international industrial manufacturers digitally enabled circular business models. A case study approach covered a case company, six partners, three sister companies, and the parent company. The findings reveal the characteristics of a digitally enabled circular business model and its outcomes, including resource utilization, supply chain, and sustainable efficiency. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practice has grown in scope and complexity in recent years. A challenge for research in logistics and SCM is to create value for both academics and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to introduce interactive research (IR) into the domain of logistics and SCM research and to describe the lessons learned from the implementation of this research approach. Compared to traditional empirical research methods, IR takes place in a context where inferences are co-produced in collaboration with practitioners. Taking an academic–practitioner lens, we draw on the IR framework to develop a deeper understanding of academic and practitioner exchanges in the increasingly complex and multidimensional domain of logistics and supply chain research. In addition to introducing the IR approach, based on four collaborative research projects, we outline and provide potential solutions to challenges arising from IR. Introducing IR to logistics and SCM research could enrich the understanding of collaborative research approaches and could act as a catalyst to its wider adoption in future research.
Sales forecasting is important in production and supply chain management. It affects firms' planning, strategy, marketing, logistics, warehousing and resource management. While traditional time series forecasting methods prevail in research and practice, they have several limitations. Causal forecasting methods are capable of predicting future sales behavior based on relationships between variables and not just past behavior and trends. This research proposes a framework for modeling and forecasting export sales using Genetic Programming, which is an artificial intelligence technique derived from the model of biological evolution. Analyzing an empirical case of an export company, an export sales forecasting model is suggested. Moreover, a sales forecast for a period of six weeks is conducted, the output of which is compared with the real sales data. Finally, a variable sensitivity analysis is presented for the causal forecasting model.
There is to date abundant evidence about the way openness-performance liaisons are shaped, yet parallel streams of research point towards an intricate relationship between appropriability and openness. Accordingly, while openness may reveal ample opportunities, risks of e.g. misappropriation should also be accounted for in open innovation processes, as they might affect performance. Recent research highlights the scarcity of studies investigating openness, appropriability and performance, and suggests a further need to analyze this in different stages of the innovation process. This study therefore aims to investigate the effects of three groups of intellectual property protection mechanisms (formal, semi-formal and informal) and openness (in terms of collaboration depth with eight types of partners) on two types of innovation performance (efficiency and novelty) across innovation phases. The analysis is based on a sample of 340 manufacturing firms from three European countries. Findings show that in early stages of the innovation process, efficiency is positively linked to the use of semi-formal appropriability mechanisms, such as contracts, yet negatively related to the use of formal ones, such as patents. The latter potentially illustrates the high uncertainty and increased risks of imitation or misappropriation in early innovation phases. Informal appropriability mechanisms contribute to novelty in earlier as well as later stages. Results further indicate novelty is explained by university collaboration throughout the innovation process, while competitor collaboration positively associates with novelty in later innovation stages. Vertical collaborations with supplier and customers reveal contrasting effects, which could also have implications linked to imitation risks. Furthermore, the negative effects of formal appropriability mechanisms and supplier collaboration on innovation performance in distinct stages of the innovation process might have implications for the so-called paradox of disclosure.
The world will undergo rapid and profound developments during the coming decades. This is due to a number of global mega trends, such as population growth, poverty alleviation and urbanisation. The result is a future that will be both resource and pollution constrained. Following the development of the past decades, this future also includes increased systems complexity and an interconnected world. To deal with these challenges, the global society must move towards a more collaborative approach that builds on a grand coalition of stakeholders. Building on experiences from global business, international policy advisory positions and research, this opinion-piece discusses items on an agenda to deal with the challenges in creating a sustainable future.
Heterogeneity and complicated processes, risk of information leakage, and higher costs are some of the challenges that stem from third-party involvement in business transactions. This study proposes a novel mechanism to address the shortcomings of third-party-dependent transactions in the context of international trade. Moreover, we provide business process modeling, deployed in a business transaction scenario, to furnish a deeper perspective on the working of the mechanism based on Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 standards and guidelines. By analyzing and identifying blockchain roles and capabilities, this study proposes a blockchain technology-based letter of credit (BTLC), which is a mechanism providing letters of credit (LCs) that incorporate the benefits of blockchain and smart contracts.
Absorptive capacity has received considerable scholarly attention due to its ability to explain heterogeneous degrees of learning from complex and dynamic knowledge environments. Extant absorptive capacity frameworks and models unmistakably take firms as the focal unit and level of analysis. Mounting empirical evidence, in contrast, shows the growing importance of teams in acquiring and utilizing external knowledge. Teams are not just scale models of firms; they have unique attributes and function as an active context of organizational learning. However, previous research does not consider such idiosyncrasies when conceptualizing absorptive capacity. We focus on absorptive capacity within the meso-level context of teams and problematize several entrenched assumptions behind existing models. We then propose a re-conceptualization of absorptive capacity with four new dimensions that collectively address these assumptions and pay systematic attention to the distinctive characteristics of teams as active learning contexts.