Browsing by Person "Schlaile, Michael P."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Navigating the biocosmos: Cornerstones of a bioeconomic utopia
(2023) Onyeali, Wolfgang; Schlaile, Michael P.; Winkler, Bastian
One important insight from complexity science is that the future is open, and that this openness is an opportunity for us to participate in its shaping. The bioeconomy has been part of this process of “future-making”. But instead of a fertile ecosystem of imagined futures, a dry monoculture of ideas seems to dominate the landscape, promising salvation through technology. With this article, weintend to contribute to regenerating the ecological foundations of the bioeconomy. What would it entail if we were to merge with the biosphere instead of machines? To lay the cornerstones of a bioeconomic utopia, we explore the basic principles of self-organization that underlie biological, ecological, social, and psychological processes alike. All these are self-assembling and self-regulating elastic structures that exist at the edge of chaos and order. We then revisit the Promethean problem that lies at the foundation of bioeconomic thought and discuss how, during industrialization, the principles of spontaneous self-organization were replaced by the linear processes of the assembly line. We ultimately propose a bioeconomy based on human needs with the household as the basic unit: the biocosmos. The biocosmos is an agroecological habitat system of irreducible complexity, a newhumanniche embedded into the local ecosystem.
Quo vadis, bioeconomy? the necessity of normative considerations in the transition
(2021) Urmetzer, Sophie; Schlaile, Michael P.; Blok, Vincent; Pyka, Andreas
This collection of papers builds on the idea that the bioeconomy provides a framework for potentially effective solutions addressing the grand global challenges by a turn towards an increased use of biological resources, towards renewability and circularity. Consequently, it cannot be perceived as an end in itself. Thus, innovative endeavors within this bioeconomy framework require a serious examination of their normative premises and implications. From different perspectives, the five contributions to the collection demonstrate that for a bioeconomy that is to contribute to the transformation towards sustainability, inquiries into norms, values, and paradigms of innovators and other stakeholders are indispensable. Originating in the spirit of an interdisciplinary workshop on the “The Normative Dimension of Transformations towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy”, the collection at hand provides an attempt to facilitate an increased commitment of social sciences into bioeconomy discourses. We learn: the bioeconomy is on the rise as it is, but whether it will guide us the way towards an equitable, environmentally sound, and future-proof economy, heavily depends on the normative guardrails imposed by science, society, and business.
The role of consumers in business model innovations for a sustainable circular bioeconomy
(2023) Lang, Stephanie; Minnucci, Giulia; Mueller, Matthias; Schlaile, Michael P.
Over the last decade, various governments and supranational bodies have promoted the development of a circular bioeconomy (CBE) as a response to sustainability challenges. The transition towards a CBE requires the collaboration of different actors in the innovation (eco)system. With this conceptual paper, we apply a circular business model lens to address the research question: “What are the archetypical roles of consumers in business model innovations for a sustainable CBE?” We use a combination of complementary theories from the circular economy and bioeconomy literature, evolutionary innovation economics, sustainability transitions research, the business model literature, and the work on active consumers. Considering consumers’ agency as a continuum between the manufacturer-active paradigm and the consumer-active paradigm, we propose: (i) consumers in the manufacturer-active paradigm can actively influence circular business models with their purchase decision; (ii) consumers can act as lobbyists and influencers for circular business model innovation; (iii) in their different roles as customer, user, repairer, and reseller, consumers can incentivize organizations to adapt their business models to their needs; (iv) consumers can become key partners in the process of defining the normative orientation of the innovation paradigm for a CBE; (v) consumers can actively co-create value by means of co-ownership (e.g., through platform cooperatives).
Systems entrepreneurship: a conceptual substantiation of a novel entrepreneurial “species”
(2021) Schlaile, Michael P.; Urmetzer, Sophie; Ehrenberger, Marcus B.; Brewer, Joe
In this paper, we explore the notion of systems entrepreneurship in the context of innovation systems (IS) dedicated to transformations towards sustainability. To this end, our paper draws primarily but not exclusively on the leverage points concept, which was originally proposed by Donella H. Meadows and recently refined by sustainability scientists. More precisely, we flesh out four general propositions about the systems entrepreneurial process that serve as a starting point for illuminating how systems entrepreneurs can intervene at deep leverage points to introduce a dedication to sustainability in IS. The paper touches the important issues of directionality, formal institutions, as well as information flows and network structure that have received insufficient attention from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners aiming at transformations towards sustainability (e.g., funders and other support organizations). Taken as a whole, the paper serves as a conceptual basis for further theoretical and empirical work on systems entrepreneurs and dedicated IS. It should be read as a reminder that the fundamentally uncertain processes of systemic change call for collaborative efforts that transcend mental and organizational boundaries.
Time to say ‘good buy’ to the passive consumer? A conceptual review of the consumer in the bioeconomy
(2021) Wilke, Ulrich; Schlaile, Michael P.; Urmetzer, Sophie; Mueller, Matthias; Bogner, Kristina; Pyka, Andreas
Successful transitions to a sustainable bioeconomy require novel technologies, processes, and practices as well as a general agreement about the overarching normative direction of innovation. Both requirements necessarily involve collective action by those individuals who purchase, use, and co-produce novelties: the consumers. Based on theoretical considerations borrowed from evolutionary innovation economics and consumer social responsibility, we explore to what extent consumers’ scope of action is addressed in the scientific bioeconomy literature. We do so by systematically reviewing bioeconomy-related publications according to (i) the extent to which consumers are regarded as passive vs. active, and (ii) different domains of consumer responsibility (depending on their power to influence economic processes). We find all aspects of active consumption considered to varying degrees but observe little interconnection between domains. In sum, our paper contributes to the bioeconomy literature by developing a novel coding scheme that allows us to pinpoint different aspects of consumer activity, which have been considered in a rather isolated and undifferentiated manner. Combined with our theoretical considerations, the results of our review reveal a central research gap which should be taken up in future empirical and conceptual bioeconomy research. The system-spanning nature of a sustainable bioeconomy demands an equally holistic exploration of the consumers’ prospective and shared responsibility for contributing to its coming of age, ranging from the procurement of information on bio-based products and services to their disposal.