Circular Business Models and Organisational Networks in the Italian Agri-Food Ecosystem

This study investigates circular business models (CBMs) within the “ECOSISTER: Ecosystem for Sustainable Transition in Emilia-Romagna” project, aligned with and funded by the NextGeneration EU plan. Focusing on the circular economy (CE) sub-area, we explore how CBMs contribute to the circular transition of Emilia-Romagna organisations operating in the agri-food ecosystem. Despite growing interest in CE, the comprehension of the role of organisational networks in new CBMs, remains limited due to limited theoretical grounds and scarce empirical investigations. This study aims to address such a gap by designing and conducting theory-grounded empirical research based on case study analysis, focusing on the representative cases of Parmigiano Reggiano and Mutti. Drawing on extant literature, we design semi-structured interviews, aiming to unfold the characteristics of organisational relationships and the role of organisational networks in innovative CBMs. This preliminary study lays the groundwork for data collection and analysis, proposing a semi-structured interview structure aimed at developing theoretical propositions on the role and characteristics of organisational networks in CBMs. Our findings contribute to the understanding and development of new network-based business models for implementing CE in agri-food industries.