Towards Strong Sustainability : Exploring Reconfigurations of Sufficiency-Oriented and Regenerative Business Models
(2026) In Business Strategy and the Environment- Abstract
Despite increasing adoption of sustainable business models, environmental decline and social disparities continue to accelerate. Strong sustainable business models offer an alternative by prioritizing ecological limits and systemic change. Drawing on an integrative literature review and business model modularization, this study examines how sufficiency-oriented business models and regenerative business models can be reconfigured to advance sustainability. Both share common elements such as longevity, stakeholder collaboration and reinvestment of profits for sustainable value creation, which indicates that they are compatible with different value logics. The study proposes a modular framework enabling businesses to reconfigure components... (More)
Despite increasing adoption of sustainable business models, environmental decline and social disparities continue to accelerate. Strong sustainable business models offer an alternative by prioritizing ecological limits and systemic change. Drawing on an integrative literature review and business model modularization, this study examines how sufficiency-oriented business models and regenerative business models can be reconfigured to advance sustainability. Both share common elements such as longevity, stakeholder collaboration and reinvestment of profits for sustainable value creation, which indicates that they are compatible with different value logics. The study proposes a modular framework enabling businesses to reconfigure components from both models, while maintaining coherence of the dominant value logic by applying modularity principles. From a systemic perspective, three feedback dynamics—growth-dependent logics, legitimacy erosion and socio-ecological misalignment—are identified as critical conditions shaping viable configurations. The study also explores what makes strong sustainable business models difficult to realize in practice.
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- author
- Gossen, Maike ; Pakizer, Katrin ; Kropfeld, Maren and Bocken, Nancy LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- in press
- subject
- keywords
- business model innovation, literature review, modularization, regeneration, sufficiency, sustainable business models
- in
- Business Strategy and the Environment
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105038676635
- ISSN
- 0964-4733
- DOI
- 10.1002/bse.70973
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d2dfdbd8-b062-451c-aa58-a43f65a40e19
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-11 10:53:42
- date last changed
- 2026-08-11 10:54:21
@article{d2dfdbd8-b062-451c-aa58-a43f65a40e19,
abstract = {{<p>Despite increasing adoption of sustainable business models, environmental decline and social disparities continue to accelerate. Strong sustainable business models offer an alternative by prioritizing ecological limits and systemic change. Drawing on an integrative literature review and business model modularization, this study examines how sufficiency-oriented business models and regenerative business models can be reconfigured to advance sustainability. Both share common elements such as longevity, stakeholder collaboration and reinvestment of profits for sustainable value creation, which indicates that they are compatible with different value logics. The study proposes a modular framework enabling businesses to reconfigure components from both models, while maintaining coherence of the dominant value logic by applying modularity principles. From a systemic perspective, three feedback dynamics—growth-dependent logics, legitimacy erosion and socio-ecological misalignment—are identified as critical conditions shaping viable configurations. The study also explores what makes strong sustainable business models difficult to realize in practice.</p>}},
author = {{Gossen, Maike and Pakizer, Katrin and Kropfeld, Maren and Bocken, Nancy}},
issn = {{0964-4733}},
keywords = {{business model innovation; literature review; modularization; regeneration; sufficiency; sustainable business models}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Business Strategy and the Environment}},
title = {{Towards Strong Sustainability : Exploring Reconfigurations of Sufficiency-Oriented and Regenerative Business Models}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bse.70973}},
doi = {{10.1002/bse.70973}},
year = {{2026}},
}