AHFE Open AccessMapping Sustainability: Developing a Socio-Technical Matrix for the Classification of Sustainable Business Models
Abstract
Circular business models play a central role in shaping how sustainability-oriented innovations are designed, implemented, and scaled across organizations and markets. While a wide range of sustainable and circular business model frameworks exists, they address socio-technical interactions only implicitly and offer limited support for systematic comparison. This paper develops a socio-technical classification matrix grounded in a qualitative analysis of established business model and circular economy frameworks. Two core dimensions are identified: the primary driver of change (internal versus external) and the orientation of change (technology/operational versus market/user-oriented). The resulting matrix provides a parsimonious analytical tool for comparing sustainable business models by revealing their underlying socio-technical logic, coordination demands, and transformation pathways, thereby supporting human-centered analysis and decision-making in complex sustainability transitions.
Keywords: Sustainable Business Models, Circular Business Models, Socio-technical Systems, Business Model Innovation, Classification Matrix
DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007598
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