David Flore, Corinna Vera Hedwig Schmidt, Steffen Strese
Environmentally oriented ventures pursue a dual mission: to create both environmental and financial value. This dual mission adds complexity and can influence ventures' funding prospects, as investors mostly pursue financial motivations. However, the environmental entrepreneurship literature is undecided on whether this relationship is positive or negative, with the latter view prevailing. We draw on signaling theory and analyze our model using a large dataset comprising 5020 unique ventures based in the United States and Europe, along with information on their investors. We find support for the minority view showing a positive relationship between venture‐initiated signals of environmental orientation and venture funding. Two contextual factors, investor environmental orientation and country‐level emissions, enhance this positive relationship. We contribute to signaling theory and environmental entrepreneurship literature.
{"title":"Venture Funding: Signals of Environmental Orientation and Their Interplay With Investor‐ and Country‐Level Characteristics","authors":"David Flore, Corinna Vera Hedwig Schmidt, Steffen Strese","doi":"10.1002/bse.70529","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70529","url":null,"abstract":"Environmentally oriented ventures pursue a dual mission: to create both environmental and financial value. This dual mission adds complexity and can influence ventures' funding prospects, as investors mostly pursue financial motivations. However, the environmental entrepreneurship literature is undecided on whether this relationship is positive or negative, with the latter view prevailing. We draw on signaling theory and analyze our model using a large dataset comprising 5020 unique ventures based in the United States and Europe, along with information on their investors. We find support for the minority view showing a positive relationship between venture‐initiated signals of environmental orientation and venture funding. Two contextual factors, investor environmental orientation and country‐level emissions, enhance this positive relationship. We contribute to signaling theory and environmental entrepreneurship literature.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145908090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julia Martínez‐Cabrera, Merlin Schirmer, Francisco López‐del‐Pino
This study addresses circular solution business model patterns (CSBMPs) as vital elements for transitioning businesses to a circular economy ( CE ), providing a systematic classification of CSBMPs and contextualising them through start‐up cases. Twenty‐one CSBMPs are consolidated via a systematic literature review. Subsequently, a qualitative analysis of 692 circular start‐up cases confirms the previously identified CSBMPs and reveals four additional and underexplored CSBMPs: excess inventory management , material composition transparency , incentivising circular consumer behaviour and responsible offsetting . These 25 CSBMPs are presented in the Alexandrian form to clearly define the problem–solution pair of each pattern. The findings contribute to the understanding of dynamic capabilities and their microfoundations in the context of CE , shedding light on the potential of CSBMPs to contribute to sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities. By mapping CSBMPs to the business model canvas and to circular start‐up archetypes, the research provides practical insights for companies to leverage these patterns in CBMI processes.
{"title":"Bridging Theory and Practice: Circular Solution Business Model Patterns From Literature and Start‐Up Cases","authors":"Julia Martínez‐Cabrera, Merlin Schirmer, Francisco López‐del‐Pino","doi":"10.1002/bse.70424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70424","url":null,"abstract":"This study addresses circular solution business model patterns (CSBMPs) as vital elements for transitioning businesses to a circular economy ( <jats:sc>CE</jats:sc> ), providing a systematic classification of CSBMPs and contextualising them through start‐up cases. Twenty‐one CSBMPs are consolidated via a systematic literature review. Subsequently, a qualitative analysis of 692 circular start‐up cases confirms the previously identified CSBMPs and reveals four additional and underexplored CSBMPs: <jats:italic>excess inventory management</jats:italic> , <jats:italic>material composition transparency</jats:italic> , <jats:italic>incentivising circular consumer behaviour</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>responsible offsetting</jats:italic> . These 25 CSBMPs are presented in the Alexandrian form to clearly define the problem–solution pair of each pattern. The findings contribute to the understanding of dynamic capabilities and their microfoundations in the context of <jats:sc>CE</jats:sc> , shedding light on the potential of CSBMPs to contribute to sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities. By mapping CSBMPs to the business model canvas and to circular start‐up archetypes, the research provides practical insights for companies to leverage these patterns in CBMI processes.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"125 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145908093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fabio Rizzato, Simona Fiandrino, Alberto Tonelli, Giorgia La Barbera
This study assesses the degree of alignment with and eligibility to the EU Taxonomy of non‐financial firms and investigates its relationship with their Cost of Debt (CoD). The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 306 non‐financial firms listed on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index across 15 European countries. Taxonomy‐related data were manually collected from firms' 2023 annual reports to develop novel EU Taxonomy‐weighted indices capturing both alignment and eligibility across Turnover, capital expenditure (CapEx), and operational expenditure (OpEx). Results reveal that, on average, firms align only a limited portion of their economic activities with the EU Taxonomy's requirements. Initiatives implementing the EU Taxonomy have primarily concentrated on climate change mitigation, while progress on adaptation and other environmental objectives has remained considerably limited. The findings also show that firms with a higher proportion of the EU Taxonomy‐aligned Turnover benefit from lower borrowing costs, suggesting that financial markets perceive these firms as less risky and more transition‐ready.
{"title":"Climate Change Mitigation Takes the Lead: EU Taxonomy‐Aligned and Eligible Activities in Relation to Debt Financing","authors":"Fabio Rizzato, Simona Fiandrino, Alberto Tonelli, Giorgia La Barbera","doi":"10.1002/bse.70493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70493","url":null,"abstract":"This study assesses the degree of alignment with and eligibility to the EU Taxonomy of non‐financial firms and investigates its relationship with their Cost of Debt (CoD). The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 306 non‐financial firms listed on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index across 15 European countries. Taxonomy‐related data were manually collected from firms' 2023 annual reports to develop novel EU Taxonomy‐weighted indices capturing both alignment and eligibility across Turnover, capital expenditure (CapEx), and operational expenditure (OpEx). Results reveal that, on average, firms align only a limited portion of their economic activities with the EU Taxonomy's requirements. Initiatives implementing the EU Taxonomy have primarily concentrated on climate change mitigation, while progress on adaptation and other environmental objectives has remained considerably limited. The findings also show that firms with a higher proportion of the EU Taxonomy‐aligned Turnover benefit from lower borrowing costs, suggesting that financial markets perceive these firms as less risky and more transition‐ready.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145908091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Michelini, Elena Rinallo, Massimiliano Scopelliti, Alessia Pisoni
Food‐sharing platforms are nowadays recognised as a powerful tool to increase food saving. However, little is known about the key determinants fostering its usage. We propose testing the psychosocial determinants of food‐sharing app usage and its impact on post consumption behaviour by combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A survey was conducted involving 1077 participants from Gen Z. By adopting covariance‐based structural equation modeling, the findings support all the hypotheses proposed within TPB. Contrary to our prediction, we found that food‐sharing app usage is positively associated with food waste behaviours. This unexpected result suggests a rebound effect, whereby the more frequently the app is used, the greater the amount of food wasted. This paradoxical dynamic opens up important theoretical implications, which challenge the assumption that food‐sharing platforms and prosocial behaviours always lead to desirable environmental outcomes. It calls for a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between app usage and negative spillovers, particularly in the context of sustainability‐oriented digital platforms, which may ultimately result in a rebound effect. From a managerial perspective, the study provides insights for improving the design of food‐sharing platforms, emphasising the importance of not only facilitating access to surplus food but also fostering responsible consumption behaviours.
{"title":"Reducing Food Waste Through Sharing Platforms: Unveiling the Rebound Effect","authors":"Laura Michelini, Elena Rinallo, Massimiliano Scopelliti, Alessia Pisoni","doi":"10.1002/bse.70501","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70501","url":null,"abstract":"Food‐sharing platforms are nowadays recognised as a powerful tool to increase food saving. However, little is known about the key determinants fostering its usage. We propose testing the psychosocial determinants of food‐sharing app usage and its impact on post consumption behaviour by combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A survey was conducted involving 1077 participants from Gen Z. By adopting covariance‐based structural equation modeling, the findings support all the hypotheses proposed within TPB. Contrary to our prediction, we found that food‐sharing app usage is positively associated with food waste behaviours. This unexpected result suggests a rebound effect, whereby the more frequently the app is used, the greater the amount of food wasted. This paradoxical dynamic opens up important theoretical implications, which challenge the assumption that food‐sharing platforms and prosocial behaviours always lead to desirable environmental outcomes. It calls for a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between app usage and negative spillovers, particularly in the context of sustainability‐oriented digital platforms, which may ultimately result in a rebound effect. From a managerial perspective, the study provides insights for improving the design of food‐sharing platforms, emphasising the importance of not only facilitating access to surplus food but also fostering responsible consumption behaviours.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145908092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shamaila Ishaq, Umair Tanveer, Thinh Gia Hoang, Stefan Seuring
The transition to a circular economy (CE) remains hindered by the lack of practical strategies that simultaneously secure competitiveness and deliver sustainability outcomes for manufacturing organisations. While circular design is often cited as a cornerstone of CE, its concrete role in driving competitive advantage and organisational transformation remains underexplored. This research examines the crucial role of circular design strategies in enhancing competitiveness and facilitating the transition to a CE within manufacturing organisations. Drawing on 42 in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews across eight leading sustainability‐focused manufacturing enterprises, this study sheds light on the practical implications and theoretical underpinnings of circular design strategies. The findings emphasise the potential of circular design strategies, including reconditioning, modularity, adaptability, standardisation and commonality, to disrupt markets, drive continuous innovation, enhance risk management and prioritise customer‐centric approaches, ultimately enhancing business competitiveness. Simultaneously, these strategies contribute to the circular transition by promoting resource efficiency, cost savings, circular supply chain transformation and waste reduction. This research contributes to practice by highlighting the practical relevance of circular design strategies in achieving sustainability, resilience and competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, it enriches the theoretical landscape by elucidating the intricate interplay between circular design strategies, circularity and competitive advantage, offering comprehensive insights into their mutual influence. Ultimately, this study highlights the transformative potential of circular design strategies in shaping sustainable business futures.
{"title":"Circular Design Strategies Unleashed: Competitiveness and the Journey Towards Circular Manufacturing Businesses","authors":"Shamaila Ishaq, Umair Tanveer, Thinh Gia Hoang, Stefan Seuring","doi":"10.1002/bse.70512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70512","url":null,"abstract":"The transition to a circular economy (CE) remains hindered by the lack of practical strategies that simultaneously secure competitiveness and deliver sustainability outcomes for manufacturing organisations. While circular design is often cited as a cornerstone of CE, its concrete role in driving competitive advantage and organisational transformation remains underexplored. This research examines the crucial role of circular design strategies in enhancing competitiveness and facilitating the transition to a CE within manufacturing organisations. Drawing on 42 in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews across eight leading sustainability‐focused manufacturing enterprises, this study sheds light on the practical implications and theoretical underpinnings of circular design strategies. The findings emphasise the potential of circular design strategies, including reconditioning, modularity, adaptability, standardisation and commonality, to disrupt markets, drive continuous innovation, enhance risk management and prioritise customer‐centric approaches, ultimately enhancing business competitiveness. Simultaneously, these strategies contribute to the circular transition by promoting resource efficiency, cost savings, circular supply chain transformation and waste reduction. This research contributes to practice by highlighting the practical relevance of circular design strategies in achieving sustainability, resilience and competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, it enriches the theoretical landscape by elucidating the intricate interplay between circular design strategies, circularity and competitive advantage, offering comprehensive insights into their mutual influence. Ultimately, this study highlights the transformative potential of circular design strategies in shaping sustainable business futures.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"125 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145908089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amid growing calls for sustainability in the healthcare sector, this study examines how and under what conditions environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance influences research and development (R&D) output. Although existing studies suggest that ESG performance enhances R&D output, the financial mechanisms that enable or constrain this relationship remain underexplored. We address this gap by theorizing and testing the dual role of debt financing as both a mediator and a moderator in the ESG performance and R&D output relationship within the healthcare sector, where innovation is highly capital‐intensive and socially consequential. Integrating stakeholder theory and agency theory, we argue that ESG performance promotes R&D output through improved access to reputational and financial resources, whereas high debt levels weaken this effect due to agency conflicts. Using panel data from 2016 to 2022 on healthcare firms in Europe and the United States, we estimate our main models using OLS and applying instrumental variable and system GMM techniques as robustness checks to address endogeneity. Our findings show that debt financing partially mediates the ESG–R&D link and negatively moderates it, revealing its ambivalent role. Compared to existing studies, our findings indicate that the effects of ESG performance on R&D output are conditional and context specific, with stronger impacts observed in Europe than in the United States, reflecting institutional conditions such as stricter European Union sustainability reporting frameworks, notably the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), along with robust policy incentives and longer term investment horizons. We also find pronounced effects in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical subsectors. This study contributes to theory by bridging competing views on ESG performance and offering a more nuanced understanding of how debt financing shapes the ESG–R&D output relationship.
{"title":"ESG Performance, Debt Financing, and R&D Output: Evidence From the Healthcare Sector","authors":"Sarmad Ali, Oriana Ciani, Simone Ghislandi","doi":"10.1002/bse.70522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70522","url":null,"abstract":"Amid growing calls for sustainability in the healthcare sector, this study examines how and under what conditions environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance influences research and development (R&D) output. Although existing studies suggest that ESG performance enhances R&D output, the financial mechanisms that enable or constrain this relationship remain underexplored. We address this gap by theorizing and testing the dual role of debt financing as both a mediator and a moderator in the ESG performance and R&D output relationship within the healthcare sector, where innovation is highly capital‐intensive and socially consequential. Integrating stakeholder theory and agency theory, we argue that ESG performance promotes R&D output through improved access to reputational and financial resources, whereas high debt levels weaken this effect due to agency conflicts. Using panel data from 2016 to 2022 on healthcare firms in Europe and the United States, we estimate our main models using OLS and applying instrumental variable and system GMM techniques as robustness checks to address endogeneity. Our findings show that debt financing partially mediates the ESG–R&D link and negatively moderates it, revealing its ambivalent role. Compared to existing studies, our findings indicate that the effects of ESG performance on R&D output are conditional and context specific, with stronger impacts observed in Europe than in the United States, reflecting institutional conditions such as stricter European Union sustainability reporting frameworks, notably the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), along with robust policy incentives and longer term investment horizons. We also find pronounced effects in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical subsectors. This study contributes to theory by bridging competing views on ESG performance and offering a more nuanced understanding of how debt financing shapes the ESG–R&D output relationship.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Min‐Jae Lee, Anna Pak, Donghwi (Josh) Seo, Taewoo Roh
As firms increasingly incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns into their strategic agendas, stakeholder legitimacy—an audience‐conferred judgment of organizational appropriateness—has become pivotal. We theorize legitimacy as expanding a hybrid response portfolio in which firms may pursue substantive change (business model innovation [BMI]) alongside symbolic communication that can become ESG washing when disproportionate to operations. Integrating legitimacy, institutional, and signaling perspectives, we argue that institutional pressures allocate effort across these responses rather than forcing an either–or choice. Using a two‐wave survey of South Korean firms ( N = 478), we find that legitimacy generally promotes BMI and deters ESG washing. Regulatory pressure strengthens the legitimacy—BMI link and amplifies the deterrent effect of legitimacy on washing, while normative pressure attenuates both relationships, consistent with a shift toward symbolic compliance. These findings highlight the ethical ambivalence of legitimacy and demonstrate how institutional context shapes ESG behavior. The study contributes to corporate responsibility literature by clarifying when legitimacy drives innovation versus deception and by bridging signaling, legitimacy, and institutional perspectives. We also offer implications for managers balancing ethical responsibility with signaling and for policymakers designing regulations to curb ESG washing.
{"title":"Navigating the ESG Paradox: Strategic Pathways Between Innovation and Washing Under Stakeholder Scrutiny","authors":"Min‐Jae Lee, Anna Pak, Donghwi (Josh) Seo, Taewoo Roh","doi":"10.1002/bse.70525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70525","url":null,"abstract":"As firms increasingly incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns into their strategic agendas, stakeholder legitimacy—an audience‐conferred judgment of organizational appropriateness—has become pivotal. We theorize legitimacy as expanding a hybrid response portfolio in which firms may pursue substantive change (business model innovation [BMI]) alongside symbolic communication that can become ESG washing when disproportionate to operations. Integrating legitimacy, institutional, and signaling perspectives, we argue that institutional pressures allocate effort across these responses rather than forcing an either–or choice. Using a two‐wave survey of South Korean firms ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 478), we find that legitimacy generally promotes BMI and deters ESG washing. Regulatory pressure strengthens the legitimacy—BMI link and amplifies the deterrent effect of legitimacy on washing, while normative pressure attenuates both relationships, consistent with a shift toward symbolic compliance. These findings highlight the ethical ambivalence of legitimacy and demonstrate how institutional context shapes ESG behavior. The study contributes to corporate responsibility literature by clarifying when legitimacy drives innovation versus deception and by bridging signaling, legitimacy, and institutional perspectives. We also offer implications for managers balancing ethical responsibility with signaling and for policymakers designing regulations to curb ESG washing.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"381 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jan‐Friedrich Kulp, Konstantin Remke, Yacine Cherraoui, Jill Richard Kickul
Firms continue to rely on unsustainable practices and linear business models that push planetary boundaries to their limits. While the concept of the regenerative business model (RBM) has emerged to restore and enhance social–ecological systems, it remains conceptual and requires guidance on how to transform existing business models to prioritize planetary health and societal well‐being. This study aims to develop a practical approach for firms to transform existing business models toward regeneration. Using a Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), we designed and evaluated a three‐step process template supported by transformative questions based on six design requirements (DRs) that guide a RBM transformation. Our findings show that regenerative transformation unfolds through three interconnected phases: re‐grounding, re‐wiring, and re‐seizing business models. We advance theory by identifying the mechanisms of regenerative transformation, inform practice by offering a structured and actionable process, and contribute methodologically by demonstrating how design science can generate design knowledge for regeneration.
{"title":"How to Transform Resource‐Intensive Industries Toward Regenerative Business Models: A Design Science Study","authors":"Jan‐Friedrich Kulp, Konstantin Remke, Yacine Cherraoui, Jill Richard Kickul","doi":"10.1002/bse.70502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70502","url":null,"abstract":"Firms continue to rely on unsustainable practices and linear business models that push planetary boundaries to their limits. While the concept of the regenerative business model (RBM) has emerged to restore and enhance social–ecological systems, it remains conceptual and requires guidance on how to transform existing business models to prioritize planetary health and societal well‐being. This study aims to develop a practical approach for firms to transform existing business models toward regeneration. Using a Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), we designed and evaluated a three‐step process template supported by transformative questions based on six design requirements (DRs) that guide a RBM transformation. Our findings show that regenerative transformation unfolds through three interconnected phases: re‐grounding, re‐wiring, and re‐seizing business models. We advance theory by identifying the mechanisms of regenerative transformation, inform practice by offering a structured and actionable process, and contribute methodologically by demonstrating how design science can generate design knowledge for regeneration.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"516 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrea Rizzuni, Daniel Lundgaard, Maria Alejandra Torres‐Cuello, Steen Vallentin
Collaborations with nonprofits can enhance firms' legitimacy, yet the relationship between their communication and corporate environmental legitimacy remains poorly understood. Furthermore, research lacks an analysis of the communication of business‐nonprofit collaborations through multiple actors' perspectives. Employing a mixed‐methods content analysis, we analyze 440 firm, nonprofit and media communications on 91 business‐nonprofit collaborations involving Italian firms in environmentally sensitive industries. Our exploratory results indicate that firms' communication is influenced by their environmental legitimacy—firms with stronger environmental legitimacy tend to frame collaborations as substantive rather than symbolic efforts. Furthermore, the media, unlike nonprofit partners, emphasize the symbolic nature of corporate involvement and adopt a negative tone when covering collaborations by firms with weaker environmental legitimacy. Interpreting our findings, we propose that less legitimate firms prioritize pragmatic rather than moral forms of legitimacy in their communication, and vice versa. Our results contribute to research and inform practice by deepening the empirical and conceptual understanding of the relationship between corporate environmental legitimacy, strategic legitimation objectives, and the framing of sustainability communication.
{"title":"Communication of Business‐Nonprofit Collaborations and Environmental Legitimacy: Exploratory Insights From Italian Firms","authors":"Andrea Rizzuni, Daniel Lundgaard, Maria Alejandra Torres‐Cuello, Steen Vallentin","doi":"10.1002/bse.70519","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70519","url":null,"abstract":"Collaborations with nonprofits can enhance firms' legitimacy, yet the relationship between their communication and corporate environmental legitimacy remains poorly understood. Furthermore, research lacks an analysis of the communication of business‐nonprofit collaborations through multiple actors' perspectives. Employing a mixed‐methods content analysis, we analyze 440 firm, nonprofit and media communications on 91 business‐nonprofit collaborations involving Italian firms in environmentally sensitive industries. Our exploratory results indicate that firms' communication is influenced by their environmental legitimacy—firms with stronger environmental legitimacy tend to frame collaborations as substantive rather than symbolic efforts. Furthermore, the media, unlike nonprofit partners, emphasize the symbolic nature of corporate involvement and adopt a negative tone when covering collaborations by firms with weaker environmental legitimacy. Interpreting our findings, we propose that less legitimate firms prioritize pragmatic rather than moral forms of legitimacy in their communication, and vice versa. Our results contribute to research and inform practice by deepening the empirical and conceptual understanding of the relationship between corporate environmental legitimacy, strategic legitimation objectives, and the framing of sustainability communication.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"94 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
South Korea faces a persistent tension between export‐led industrial growth and rapid decarbonization, making an integrated view of institutional, financial, technological, and governance levers essential. This study quantifies how business‐environment quality and related mechanisms shape environmental sustainability. Annual national data for 1998–2023 are used, including regulatory efficiency, green finance, energy transition, digitalization, corporate environmental disclosure, and green technology innovation. An autoregressive distributed lag model with bounds testing and an error‐correction term identifies short‐run dynamics and long‐run equilibrium; Kernel‐based Regularized Least Squares provides nonlinear robustness. Results show significant long‐run reductions in CO 2 per capita across all factors, with the largest effect from energy transition, followed by regulatory efficiency, green innovation, green finance, digitalization, and disclosure. Cointegration is confirmed; diagnostics indicate well‐specified, stable estimates; the error‐correction coefficient implies gradual but steady adjustment toward equilibrium. Robustness checks reproduce sign and magnitude patterns. The evidence indicates that streamlined regulation, credible disclosure, green intermediation, digital capabilities, and renewable substitution operate as complementary channels. Policy design should therefore combine enforcement reforms, scalable green finance, accelerated renewable integration, and firm‐level digital and innovation investment. These steps are suited to bank‐mediated, supply‐chain‐dense economies and offer a practical path to durable abatement.
{"title":"Unlocking Green Growth: The Role of Business Environment in Enhancing Environmental Sustainability","authors":"Yugang He","doi":"10.1002/bse.70528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70528","url":null,"abstract":"South Korea faces a persistent tension between export‐led industrial growth and rapid decarbonization, making an integrated view of institutional, financial, technological, and governance levers essential. This study quantifies how business‐environment quality and related mechanisms shape environmental sustainability. Annual national data for 1998–2023 are used, including regulatory efficiency, green finance, energy transition, digitalization, corporate environmental disclosure, and green technology innovation. An autoregressive distributed lag model with bounds testing and an error‐correction term identifies short‐run dynamics and long‐run equilibrium; Kernel‐based Regularized Least Squares provides nonlinear robustness. Results show significant long‐run reductions in CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> per capita across all factors, with the largest effect from energy transition, followed by regulatory efficiency, green innovation, green finance, digitalization, and disclosure. Cointegration is confirmed; diagnostics indicate well‐specified, stable estimates; the error‐correction coefficient implies gradual but steady adjustment toward equilibrium. Robustness checks reproduce sign and magnitude patterns. The evidence indicates that streamlined regulation, credible disclosure, green intermediation, digital capabilities, and renewable substitution operate as complementary channels. Policy design should therefore combine enforcement reforms, scalable green finance, accelerated renewable integration, and firm‐level digital and innovation investment. These steps are suited to bank‐mediated, supply‐chain‐dense economies and offer a practical path to durable abatement.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145893712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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