Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practices that start-ups in emerging economies can implement to design circular economy business models and how they can create and capture value from a circular economy business model.

The paper adopts a qualitative case method approach with semi-structured interviews with start-up founder promoters, its employees, its beneficiaries and its customers, conducted in two local Indian start-ups engaged in the manufacture of products and providing services that promote adoption of circular economy principles.

Analysis of the two business models reveals common patterns in building value proposition. The findings suggest that start-up ventures adopt an iterative approach to produce reusable and interlinked products and co-create with customers, vendors and local communities. They adopt mechanisms that can create, deliver and capture value while maintaining economic viability, and thus contribute towards micro- and macro-level benefits.

This study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging case study methodology. Future research opportunities could be found in quantitative studies to increase the generalizability of the findings of this paper.

The paper presents a theoretical model linking the circular business model design and deployment mechanisms that can be used by start-up entrepreneurs desirous of embracing circular economy principles and thus contribute towards environmental, economic and developmental goals in emerging economies.

To accelerate the transition of adoption of circularity principles in emerging markets, start-up ventures could adopt circular business models that contribute towards achieving positive behavioural change. This can be achieved by integrating with different stakeholders in the value network such that they play a vital role in the process of value creation and delivery and benefit from the value captured.

An interdisciplinary approach that integrates the research streams of circular economy, and business model design has been pursued to identify the design and deployment mechanisms adopted in the circular business models of start-ups in real-world emerging economies’ context.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed academic institutions to rapidly transition from tradition classroom teaching to online teaching methods globally, leading to huge disruption in the academic world. Online teaching makes education accessible to people who may have struggled to attend the traditional classes. This transition is facilitated by advancement in technology, fuelled by tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Higher education institutions are leveraging on these tools to enhance student learning process and student engagement. However, stakeholders are raising genuine concerns about ethical issues surrounding these platforms like plagiarism, reduced attention span of students. Reliance on these tools may limit the creativity of faculty and students. Usage of tools for regular administrative and academic tasks like grading and marking attendance can increase the process effectiveness at the same time. This will help in identifying strengths and areas for improvement of every student and offers feedback also based on those observations. Though concerns about the usage of AI tools in the classroom persist, the benefits offered by these tools cannot be undermined. It is important to study various ways of integrating these tools in the teaching pedagogy by being conscious of the ethical aspects. The study focuses on detailed analysis of AI tools applicable in education and research domain and the innovative methods of integrating the same in the classroom teaching. The study is based on qualitative data collected from secondary sources. Findings can be used by high education institutions for leveraging technology for better student engagement and improving performance.