Towards the Coopetitive Circular Business Model: Theoretical foundations, conceptual envisioning, and future research imperatives

Coopetition has become an inter-organizational engagement norm for firms seeking to achieve their strategic goals. Research in this domain has been well-established but has reached a point of conceptual ‘shakeout’. Signs of the next stage of development being theoretical fragmentation are apparent in ‘network coopetition’, which has stimulated burgeoning research opportunities. However, there is a dearth of research on the sustainability and ecological premises of coopetition at this network level. In this study, we build on the theoretical workbench established by business model innovation scholars to integrate coopetitive research insights with circular economy theorizing. In our endeavor to understand the Coopetitive Circular Business Model (CCBM), we are guided by three questions: (i) how can the literature on coopetition inform circular economy research and how can this knowledge synthesis inform the development of the CCBM; (ii) what theoretical lenses can be employed to understand the interfaces, dynamics, and outcomes of the CCBMs; and (iii) what are the future research imperatives underlying CCBM research? We address these questions, which form the basis of our contributions, and draw implications of our insights for future research on the: conceptualization of CCBMs; antecedents and consequences of CCBMs; innovation and execution practices underlying CCBMs; measurement and performance of CCBMs; research methods, design and empirics that can be employed to examine CCBMs; and future public policies related to CCBMs.