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This conceptual study explores the alignment between servitization—a shift from selling products to offering services—and circularity principles. The study introduces institutional confluence—a configuration of institutional pressures that enhance business model legitimacy to stakeholders and facilitate operational success— which can serve as a driver aligning servitization with circular principles. Institutional confluence has the capacity to trigger novel business models, shape resources and processes, enhance value capture, and inhibit unsustainable business models. The study develops the concept and underscores the role of institutional confluence in promoting this alignment and subsequent environmental sustainability. The article utilizes illustrative case examples from servitization and circular business models to develop the concept of institutional confluence serving sustainable servitization. The study offers strategic insights for managers and policymakers, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach that integrates servitization and circularity from the outset of business model design. It advocates for policies that leverage regulatory, normative, and mimetic pressures to foster sustainable business practices. The article contributes to the servitization literature by delineating the mechanisms through which institutional forces facilitate or hinder the integration of servitization and circularity, offering directions for future research to explore these dynamics across different contexts and industries. • Management scholars have tended to view the uptake of servitized circular business model frameworks through an internal business model lens, with firm-level innovation capabilities. We look beyond the focal company and consider how business model development interacts with wider societal development. • This paper utilizes institutional influences as explanatory drivers for this process. • The paper introduces the concept of institutional 'confluence', a mutually reinforcing process of interactivity between institutional pressures, for servitized circularity. • Policymakers are encouraged to enhance normative socio-cultural pressures for servitized circularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to advance research on sustainability within the fashion industry by explaining the combinations of social, environmental, and economic values that form the basis of sustainable business models in the Nordic fashion industry and to identify the main challenges fashion companies face in developing such models, given the limitations in current literature. Through an industry-focused case study of the Nordic fashion industry, recognized for its homogeneity and sustainability leadership, this study investigates how Nordic fashion companies collectively create value through the lens of the value mapping tool. The study adopts an inductive approach through eleven in-depth interviews with experts, managers, and owners. Additionally, it integrates secondary data derived from published information, enhancing the understanding of what sustainable business models in the Nordic fashion industry entail. The analysis enabled the identification of twenty-six elements related to the durability and longevity of products and gender-neutral and timeless design. The results suggest that a more holistic approach to sustainability is needed to facilitate the companies' move from unsustainable business models to more sustainable ones. This article contributes to the literature by identifying broader patterns of value creation, value delivery, and value capture within the Nordic fashion industry. Furthermore, it enhances knowledge of social and environmental actions surrounding and examines barriers to sustainability activities. The practical contribution arises from the provision of a better understanding of the key elements in sustainable fashion business models of Nordic fashion companies, and thus, it is relevant to academia, practitioners, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global businesses are transforming towards capturing more value from services, a business model transition called servitization. Digital servitization can help create and maintain a competitive advantage, as well as offering opportunities to tackle major challenges related to environmental pressures and rapidly changing market conditions. This study aims to bridge the gap between the theory of digital servitization and its implementation in the maritime shipping sector. This paper presents a multi-case study that explores the status, perceived challenges, and enablers for the adoption of digital servitization. Empirical data were collected from interviews with 13 companies and analyzed using the PESTEL and DPSIR frameworks. The results are presented across three categories based on the PESTEL framework: organizational context, global priorities, and sustainability. This study contributes to theory by providing empirical insights from the status of digital servitization in the maritime shipping industry. Also, it identifies challenges and needs that can support the transition towards digital servitization and the development of more sustainable solutions. Future research avenues are suggested to advance digital servitization in other industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]