Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

This study investigates how the circular economy and business models are related in the current business and management literature Based on bibliometric analytical procedures, 253 articles were retrieved from the Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect scientific databases The articles were analyzed according to network analysis principles, and key terms were mapped into a network We used VOSviewer to build the network, explore the most‐researched terms and their relationships, and identify less‐explored terms and research gaps We furthermore conducted a qualitative review of selected publications to provide an illustration of quantitative results and delve deeper into the research topics The main findings revealed the networks of current topics as they appear in the publications such as business models, the circular economy, circular business models, value, supply chain, transition, resource, waste, and reuse, and their most prevalent relationships The results also highlighted several emerging topics such as those connected with managerial, supply‐side, demand‐side, networking, performance, and contextual considerations of circular business models

Circular economy business models: the state of research and avenues ahead

A literature review on circular economy adoption in the manufacturing sector

Circular economy in manufacturing companies: A review of case study literature

Determinants of the transition towards circular economy in SMEs: A sustainable supply chain management perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to advance the knowledge of Circular Business Models (BMs) over linear models by focusing on new dynamics which are unique to developing countries and have mostly been overlooked by contemporary literature; and second, to bring to the fore aspects of human-sphere which are currently under-researched in the circular economy (CE) domain. Therefore, the research explores how collaboration can facilitate the transition of a developing country’s economy through the creation of value from circular BMs and human-sphere.



Design/methodology/approach

To fulfill the research objectives, the authors apply natural resource-based view (NRBV) theory to an in-depth case study. The authors draw the data from semi-structured interviews and observations in North African manufacturing companies.



Findings

It was found that multi-stakeholder collaboration is pertinent in implementing CE, especially in developing countries. Collaboration between companies, focusing on CE BMs, with other companies/SMEs could lead to technology transfer and organizational learning necessary for resource efficiency (RE) and clean technology (CT) – the basis for CE. The authors propose a model for collaboration as an enabler for CE.



Research limitations/implications

The analysis found multi-stakeholder collaboration to be an important antecedent to CE implementation in a developing country context. Furthermore, the authors found multinational companies who implement CE BMs generate a beneficial symbiotic relationship with local businesses. These benefits mainly revolve around technology transfer and organizational learning which is necessary for RE and CT – the basis for CE. Therefore, to advance knowledge and practice in this area, the authors propose a model for collaboration as an enabler for CE.



Practical implications

The authors argue for the importance of collaboration in advancing CE practices which can yield tangible benefits for developing economies.



Originality/value

This paper helps address the lack of theory driven research in CE. The paper is a pioneer in this research field as it proposes a theoretical framework for collaboration in CE drawing on from NRBV.

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Collaboration as an enabler for circular economy: a case study of a developing country

Humanitarian supply chain (HSC) research is still in its infancy and remains an enigma, due to its profound differences with the much-researched field of global supply chains. Thus, humanitarian op...

Kudzai Dominic Chiwenga

Papers

Collaboration as an enabler for circular economy: a case study of a developing country

Extending dynamic capabilities towards lean thinking in humanitarian supply chains