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    • DOI: 10.18178/JOEBM
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HOME > Archive > 2025 > Volume 13 Number 1 (2025) >
JOEBM 2025 Vol.13(1): 37-51
DOI: 10.18178/joebm.2025.13.1.844

Identifying Fields of Action for the Design of Circular Platform-based Business Models in the Manufacturing Industry Based on Phenotypes

M. Riesener1, A. Keuper1, S. Schümmelfeder1，*, and G. Schuh1,2
1. Laboratory of Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
2. Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Aachen, Germany
Email: m.riesener@wzl.rwth-aachen.de (M.R.); a.keuper@wzl.rwth-aachen.de (A.K.); s.schuemmelfeder@wzl.rwth-aachen.de (S.S.); g.schuh@wzl.rwth-aachen.de (G.S.)
*Corresponding author

Manuscript received August 30, 2024; revised September 17, 2024; accepted October 20, 2024; published February 12, 2025.

Abstract—Making the transition to sustainability is an important goal for companies. Sustainability has become increasingly critical for organizations to remain relevant and competitive in today’s world. Much like digital transformation, driving sustainability requires organizations to transform every division of their business. Circular economy, in the form of cross-life cycle management of products and the closing of material flows, is the central instrument for manufacturing companies to implement sustainability economically. The complexity and interdependencies of circular economy mean that often no single company can implement it on its own. Ecosystem-wide orchestration beyond traditional company boundaries is necessary. In these circular business ecosystems, technical-economic platforms are the main reference point of value creation. To implement circular value creation on the organizational level, business models are a leverage. In recent years, a new method has been adopted by companies in the manufacturing sector as a means to introduce circular economy in the value chain. This method consists mainly of the adaptation of a circular platform-based business models. However, as there is a lack of a systematic theoretical frame of reference, companies are missing fields of action to reliably derive appropriate design approaches. A systematization based on phenotypes is needed to make relevant design knowledge accessible to companies and research. The following research approach is devoted to a systemization of the research field in question in order to enable further research initiatives and to support companies to develop circular platform-based business models.

Keywords—sustainability, circular economy, circular strategies, business model, business ecosystem, structured literature research, taxonomy

Cite: M. Riesener, A. Keuper, S. Schümmelfeder, and G. Schuh, "Identifying Fields of Action for the Design of Circular Platform-based Business Models in the Manufacturing Industry Based on Phenotypes," Journal of Economics, Business and Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 37-51, 2025.

Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

 


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