Product-service system business model archetypes and sustainability

Yang, Miying; Evans, Steve

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.067

Cited by 109 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In general, especially performance-based PSS are considered very difficult to implement due to the difficulty of establishing indicators and requirement of continuous feedback loops with customers (Pereira Pesoa, Jauregui Becker, 2017). Furthermore, the biological cycle is dominant among the CSUs, and PSSs are strongly associated with manufacturing companies in the technical cycle (Augusto de Jesus Pacheco et al, 2019;Copani, Behnam, 2018;Neely, 2008;Yang, Evans, 2019) e 11 out of 12 service-based start-ups operate in the technical cycle, which supports the literature perspective.…”

Section: Service-based Start-upssupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Despite many scholars considering PSSs as one key driver of circularity in business models and they belong to the most cited practical application methods of the latter (Antikainen and Valkokari, 2016;Bocken et al, 2017;Kühl et al, 2018;Lieder, Rashid, 2016;Stahel, 2010;Tukker, 2015;Yang, Evans, 2019) e only 9% of start-ups pursue this innovation category of moving from customer ownership to performance-and service-based revenue models. The most significant reason for this is that the application of typically asset-heavy PSS business models is often more problematic for small-and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) than large corporates due to lack of (financial) resources and lack of formalised planning (Augusto de Jesus Pacheco et al, 2019;Besch, 2004;Neely, 2008).…”

Section: Service-based Start-upsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Henry

Bauwens

Hekkert

et al. 2020

Journal of Cleaner Production

265

252

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The circular economy (CE) concept is much-heralded among policy-makers, scholars and industry professionals as an accelerated pathway towards sustainability. This move away from the dominant linear system where products are discarded at the end of product lifecycle is deemed necessary since it is the main cause of an accelerated resource consumption. Business models are considered as a key enabler for the shift from a linear to a CE. However, research on circular business models has mainly focused on circular approaches adopted by incumbent firms, while the contributions of newly established firms (the authors call these 'circular start-ups') have been largely overlooked. This article scrutinises the business models of circular start-ups and how they may differ from those of incumbent firms embracing CE. For this, it analyses the circular business model strategies and innovations adopted by circular start-ups, relying on a novel data sample of 128 circular start-ups identified in three major CE ecosystems in Europe: the Randstad region in the Netherlands, Berlin and London. Based on this data, a novel typology of circular start-ups is proposed, distinguishing between five circular start-up archetypes: design-based, waste-based, platform-based, service-based and nature-based start-ups. The results also show that circular start-ups tend to embrace strategies corresponding to higher levels of circularity than those of incumbents. This preliminarily suggests that circular start-ups can indeed make major contributions to transitioning towards CE.

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Section: Service-based Start-upssupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Service-based Start-upsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Henry

Bauwens

Hekkert

et al. 2020

Journal of Cleaner Production

265

252

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ever since the concept of product-service systems-describing integrated offerings of products and services, designed and provided to satisfy user needs with a lifecycle focus [1]-was proposed two decades ago, a central focus of the research and the related discussion lay on improved environmental performance based on increased resource efficiency and effectiveness [2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unintended Circularity?—Assessing a Product-Service System for its Potential Contribution to a Circular Economy

Matschewsky

2019

Sustainability

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Product-service systems (PSSs) are seen as valuable facilitators of a circular economy (CE) on a business level. However, that PSSs contribute to a CE is not a given and is determined by the chosen PSS business model and strategy applied throughout the entire lifecycle. Thus, in order to support companies in implementing circular business models such as PSSs, an increasing number of frameworks and methods have been proposed in prior research. This article hypothesizes that many industrial companies are expanding to become PSS providers with neither such support nor a strong sustainability focus. There is a gap in the literature regarding the potential contribution of such PSSs to a CE. Thus, the research reported aims to provide initial insight regarding whether unintended circularity, i.e., an unintended contribution to a CE, may occur when becoming a PSS provider. Applying and adapting an existing framework for the assessment of PSSs’ potential contribution to a CE, the use-oriented PSS of an industrial company was assessed in-depth. Results regarding the relative resource reduction and the prospect of achieving absolute resource decoupling are reported and discussed. While relative improvements over product sales are identified, e.g., resulting from end-of-life efforts on reuse and remanufacturing, opportunities for additional enhancement are found, e.g., in adjustments of the PSS design process. Concerning absolute resource decoupling, a fundamental challenge lies in the use-oriented PSS’s dependency on an increasing number of physical components as the company’s business expands. This article advances the discussion on PSSs’ potential contributions to a CE with an in-depth empirical study. For practitioners, the results reported expand on important aspects of efficient and effective PSS provision throughout the lifecycle.

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“…Another interesting discussion point is represented by the possible impacts of productization in the utilities sector on the three main dimensions of sustainability. While the impacts on sustainability of PSSs in general, dematerialization, and servitization have been often analyzed in literature, discussing benefits and criticalities [1,3,4,10,31], a similar analysis on productization is still missing. The main objective of productization is identified in the possibility to improve the value offered to customers [11], but other possible environmental, social, and economic outcomes are not clear yet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Benefits of Productization in the Utilities Sector

2019

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The adoption of Product–Service Systems (PSS) in a business strategy is often mainly associated with the servitization process, where a service component is added to the product component in order to improve the value proposition of the company and better satisfy the customer’s needs. The productization phenomenon is far less studied in literature, but growingly prominent in today’s market. In particular, companies in the utilities sector have been exploring the potentialities of productization and proposing new business models for improving their offer to the customers, in order to be more and more competitive on the market. In this paper, we provide a first analysis and classification of productization strategies in the utilities sector, starting from experiences in the Italian market, with the aim of understanding which can be the main benefits of a PSS approach in this field, considering the effects on the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social).

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Product-service system business model archetypes and sustainability

Cited by 109 publications

References 51 publications

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Unintended Circularity?—Assessing a Product-Service System for its Potential Contribution to a Circular Economy

Exploring the Benefits of Productization in the Utilities Sector

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