Sustainable Business & Circular Economy Research Opportunities 2026

Sustainable Business and Circular Economy Research: Emerging Opportunities for Management Scholars

Sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern for modern organisations. It is increasingly influencing strategy, investment, operations, supply chains, product design, innovation, consumer behaviour and long-term competitiveness. At the same time, the concept of the circular economy is encouraging businesses to reconsider the traditional linear model of taking resources, manufacturing products, selling them and eventually discarding them. Instead, organisations are exploring ways to reduce waste, extend product life, recover materials, redesign supply chains, develop reuse and repair systems and create business models capable of retaining economic value for longer periods. This transition creates a substantial research agenda for management scholars. In 2026, circularity is increasingly being discussed not simply as an environmental initiative but as an economic and industrial strategy linked to resilience, competitiveness and value creation. Current research also shows that the field is moving beyond waste management towards business-model innovation, digital technologies, governance, consumer behaviour and measurable organisational performance. For the ISB&M Journal of Business Issues & Research (ISBMJBIR), these developments create important opportunities for research across strategic management, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, operations, supply chains, innovation, organisational behaviour and corporate governance. Management scholars can contribute by examining a fundamental question: How can organisations achieve environmental and social sustainability while also remaining economically viable, competitive and resilient?

Why Sustainable Business Research Matters in 2026

For many organisations, sustainability was once approached primarily through corporate social responsibility programmes or compliance activities. That perspective is changing. Businesses increasingly face pressure from customers, investors, regulators, employees, supply-chain partners and communities to demonstrate how they manage environmental and social impacts. At the same time, managers need to ensure that sustainability initiatives remain financially realistic. A company cannot become genuinely sustainable if environmental improvements consistently weaken its ability to survive economically. This creates a major management research challenge. Scholars need to investigate how companies balance:

Environmental responsibility and profitability
Long-term sustainability and short-term financial pressure
Innovation and implementation cost
Resource efficiency and customer expectations
Regulatory requirements and strategic flexibility
Sustainability commitments and measurable outcomes

Recent 2026 research on circular business transitions highlights this exact tension. Companies can potentially gain cost reductions, risk benefits and new revenue opportunities from circular models, but implementation may also require substantial initial investment, new capabilities and specialised financing. The strongest management studies will therefore move beyond asking whether sustainability is desirable. They will investigate how sustainable strategies actually work, what they cost, which capabilities they require and under what conditions they improve organisational performance.

From Linear Business Models to a Circular Economy

The conventional linear economic model is often described as: Take → Make → Use → Dispose Raw materials are extracted, transformed into products, sold, consumed and ultimately discarded. Circular economy thinking attempts to redesign this process so that products, materials and resources remain useful for longer. A simplified circular model might involve: Design → Produce → Use → Reuse → Repair → Refurbish → Remanufacture → Recycle → Recover Value The objective is not simply recycling. Recycling is only one possible circular strategy. A more sophisticated circular economy may involve designing durable products, offering repair services, sharing assets, recovering components, creating product-as-a-service models or developing systems in which materials remain within productive use. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes circular economy thinking around eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials at their highest value and regenerating nature. Its 2026 policy work also places significant emphasis on designing circularity into systems from the beginning rather than attempting to manage waste only at the end. For management researchers, this means circularity should be studied as a question of business model design, organisational transformation and value creation, not only environmental management.

Research Opportunity 1: Circular Business Model Innovation

Circular business models represent one of the most significant areas for management research. Traditional business models frequently depend on selling greater quantities of products. Circular models may create value differently. Examples can include:

Product-as-a-service models
Repair and maintenance services
Product life-extension strategies
Rental and sharing systems
Take-back programmes
Refurbishment
Remanufacturing
Material recovery
Reuse platforms
Industrial symbiosis

Researchers can investigate whether these models create competitive advantage, reduce costs or generate new revenue streams. Potential research questions include:

Which circular business models are financially sustainable?
How should firms transition from linear to circular models?
What capabilities are required for circular business-model innovation?
How do circular models affect customer relationships?
Which industries are most suitable for product-as-a-service strategies?
What prevents organisations from implementing circular models?
How should companies measure circular business performance?

Recent systematic research indicates that circular and sustainable business-model research is expanding rapidly, while conceptual fragmentation remains and important gaps persist around metrics, digital technologies, governance and human factors. These gaps provide management scholars with considerable room for theoretical and empirical contributions.

Research Opportunity 2: Economic Viability of Circular Business

One of the most important management questions concerns financial viability. A circular strategy may appear environmentally attractive but still fail if its implementation costs exceed its economic benefits. Managers need evidence regarding:

Capital requirements
Payback periods
Operating costs
Revenue opportunities
Customer willingness to pay
Financing availability
Resource savings
Risk reduction

This makes circular economy research highly relevant to finance, accounting and strategic management scholars. Potential research topics include:

Return on investment from circular initiatives
Cost-benefit analysis of circular business models
Financing circular transitions
Circularity and firm profitability
Working-capital implications of reverse logistics
Circular economy investment decisions
Financial performance of sustainable firms
Risk and resilience benefits of resource efficiency

Research published in 2026 specifically notes that a lack of integrated tools for evaluating both circular and financial performance can limit managerial decision-making. This creates an important opportunity for scholars to develop more rigorous measurement frameworks.

Research Opportunity 3: Sustainable Supply Chains

A company cannot usually become genuinely sustainable by focusing only on its internal operations. Modern organisations depend on complex networks of suppliers, logistics providers, manufacturers, distributors and customers. This makes supply-chain management central to sustainability research. Researchers may examine:

Sustainable supplier selection
Green procurement
Reverse logistics
Closed-loop supply chains
Supplier environmental performance
Low-carbon logistics
Supply-chain traceability
Material recovery systems
Waste reduction across value chains
Circular procurement
Supply-chain resilience
Supplier collaboration

Circular supply chains are particularly interesting because they require organisations to manage flows in both directions. Products may move from manufacturer to customer and later return for repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing or material recovery. Managing these reverse flows creates new operational challenges involving logistics, inventory, forecasting and customer participation.

Research Opportunity 4: Circular Economy and Industry 4.0

Digital transformation and sustainability are increasingly interconnected. Technologies associated with Industry 4.0 can potentially help organisations monitor resources, improve traceability and optimise production processes. Relevant technologies include:

Artificial intelligence
Internet of Things
Blockchain
Big data analytics
Cloud computing
Digital twins
Smart manufacturing
Automation

Researchers can explore how these technologies enable circular strategies. For example, IoT sensors may help firms monitor the condition of equipment and determine when maintenance is needed. Blockchain systems may improve supply-chain traceability. Artificial intelligence may support demand forecasting or material optimisation. Digital twins may allow manufacturers to evaluate product performance before making physical changes. Recent research involving Indian SMEs has examined the relationship between stakeholder commitment, Industry 4.0 practices and circular-economy implementation, highlighting a particularly promising research intersection for scholars in emerging economies. Potential research questions include:

Does digital transformation accelerate circular-economy adoption?
Which Industry 4.0 technologies create the greatest sustainability benefits?
How do SMEs finance digital-circular transformation?
Can AI improve resource efficiency?
Does blockchain meaningfully improve circular supply-chain transparency?

Research Opportunity 5: Sustainable Business and SMEs

Small and medium enterprises are particularly important to sustainability research. SMEs may have greater flexibility than large corporations, allowing them to experiment with innovative business models. However, they may also face substantial constraints involving capital, technology, expertise and access to sustainability data. Potential research topics include:

Sustainability adoption among SMEs
Circular economy readiness
Management commitment
Employee sustainability capabilities
Financing barriers
Digital transformation and circularity
Green innovation
Sustainable entrepreneurship
Government support
Supplier pressure
Customer expectations

Leadership may be especially important in smaller organisations. Recent research suggests that leadership characteristics, knowledge, skills, attitudes and organisational culture can influence sustainability, circular-economy and eco-innovation transitions among SMEs. Management scholars can therefore examine not simply whether an SME adopts circular practices, but why some leaders successfully drive the transition while others do not.

Research Opportunity 6: Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs can play an important role in developing new business models around resource efficiency, repair, reuse, sharing, low-carbon technologies and environmentally responsible products. Potential research areas include:

Circular start-ups
Green entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship
Sustainable venture creation
Circular business-model development
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Financing sustainable start-ups
Consumer acceptance of circular ventures
Scaling circular enterprises
Sustainability-oriented innovation

Research published in 2026 has proposed co-creative circular business-model frameworks specifically for entrepreneurs, demonstrating continuing interest in understanding how entrepreneurs make strategic choices within circular systems. A particularly important question is whether sustainability-driven start-ups can scale without weakening the environmental principles on which they were established.

Research Opportunity 7: Consumer Behaviour and Circular Consumption

A circular economy cannot function effectively without consumer participation. A technically excellent reusable or repairable product may fail if customers still prefer disposable alternatives. This creates important research opportunities in marketing and consumer behaviour. Researchers might examine:

Consumer willingness to purchase refurbished products
Acceptance of rental and sharing models
Attitudes towards repair
Green purchase intentions
Trust in sustainability claims
Product durability perceptions
Consumer participation in take-back schemes
Environmental labelling
Sustainable branding
Willingness to pay for circular products

Researchers should also distinguish between stated environmental intentions and actual purchasing behaviour. Consumers may express strong support for sustainability while continuing to choose products based primarily on price, convenience or familiarity. Understanding this gap between attitudes and behaviour is an important marketing research opportunity.

Research Opportunity 8: Green Marketing and the Risk of Greenwashing

As sustainability becomes commercially valuable, businesses increasingly communicate environmental claims. This creates opportunities for genuine differentiation but also the possibility of greenwashing. Management and marketing scholars can investigate:

Consumer trust in green claims
Green brand positioning
Environmental certification
Sustainability communication
Greenwashing perceptions
Impact of sustainability labels
Corporate reputation
Social media sustainability communication
Authenticity in green marketing

A critical research question is whether sustainability communication accurately reflects organisational performance. Researchers can examine whether companies that communicate aggressively about sustainability actually demonstrate stronger environmental outcomes than firms that communicate less.

Research Opportunity 9: ESG and Corporate Strategy

Environmental, social and governance considerations have become increasingly important in strategic and financial discussions. However, ESG should not automatically be treated as synonymous with sustainability. Researchers should carefully define what they are measuring and avoid treating broad sustainability terminology as interchangeable. Potential research themes include:

ESG and financial performance
ESG disclosure quality
Corporate governance and sustainability
Board oversight of sustainability
ESG risk management
Sustainability reporting
Stakeholder pressure
ESG integration into corporate strategy
Executive incentives and sustainability
ESG controversies

Research may also investigate whether ESG metrics meaningfully influence managerial decisions or whether they are primarily reporting tools.

Research Opportunity 10: Green Finance and Sustainable Investment

Transitioning to more sustainable and circular systems often requires capital. Companies may need to redesign manufacturing facilities, modify supply chains, invest in clean technology or create reverse-logistics systems. This creates an important connection between sustainability and finance. Research areas include:

Green bonds
Sustainable investment
ESG investing
Climate finance
Financing circular business models
Green banking
Sustainable venture capital
Impact investing
Sustainability-linked finance
Financial risk from environmental transition

Researchers can examine whether sustainable finance instruments actually accelerate environmental improvements and how financial institutions assess the credibility of sustainability-linked investments.

Research Opportunity 11: Measuring Circular and Sustainable Performance

Measurement remains one of the most challenging aspects of sustainability management. A company may report that it has reduced waste, but managers and researchers still need to ask: By how much? Compared with what baseline? Did the improvement reduce environmental impact overall? Did it create unintended effects elsewhere? Was financial performance improved or weakened? Can the result be sustained? Circular economy researchers therefore need robust indicators covering multiple dimensions. Possible measures include:

Material efficiency
Waste reduction
Product-life extension
Recycled material utilisation
Resource productivity
Carbon reduction
Financial performance
Customer participation
Supply-chain circularity
Innovation outcomes

Recent scholarship continues to identify the need for clearer strategies and metrics for sustainable circularity. Developing reliable measurement systems is therefore an important research opportunity for management, accounting and operations scholars.

Research Opportunity 12: Corporate Leadership and the Sustainability Transition

Sustainability transformation is ultimately an organisational change process. Technology and regulation can influence companies, but managers still make decisions regarding investment, priorities, incentives and organisational culture. Researchers may investigate:

Sustainable leadership
CEO environmental orientation
Board sustainability expertise
Middle-management involvement
Employee participation
Organisational culture
Change management
Leadership communication
Sustainability competencies
Management resistance to circular transformation

This research may be especially valuable in SMEs, family-owned firms and emerging-market organisations where leadership decisions can directly shape organisational priorities.

Research Opportunity 13: Circular Economy in Retail and Manufacturing

Different industries face different circularity challenges. Manufacturing organisations may focus on resource efficiency, remanufacturing, material recovery and durable product design. Retail businesses may need to address overproduction, excess inventory, product returns, packaging and changing consumer expectations. Recent research has highlighted substantial waste and inefficiency across retail and manufacturing supply chains, including issues related to overproduction, overstocking and high rates of returns. Research topics may include:

Reverse logistics in retail
Circular manufacturing
Remanufacturing strategies
Product return management
Inventory optimisation
Packaging reduction
Closed-loop manufacturing
Recommerce models
Second-hand marketplaces
Industrial waste recovery

Sector-specific research can help identify where circular practices produce genuine operational and economic benefits.

Research Opportunity 14: Sustainability Policy and Business Response

Businesses do not operate independently of public policy. Governments can influence circular transitions through regulation, incentives, procurement, waste policy, product standards and investment support. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's 2026 policy work emphasises the role of policy mixes in accelerating competitive and resilient circular economies. Management scholars can investigate:

Corporate response to environmental regulation
Government incentives and circular investment
Extended producer responsibility
Sustainable public procurement
Policy uncertainty and business decisions
Industry-specific circular regulation
Environmental standards and innovation

Such work can connect management research with economics, policy studies and corporate strategy.

Research Opportunity 15: Circular Economy and Business Resilience

Circularity can also be studied as a resilience strategy. Organisations dependent on scarce raw materials or long global supply chains may face risks from price volatility, disruptions or geopolitical uncertainty. Keeping products and materials in use for longer could potentially reduce some of this exposure. Research can examine:

Circularity and supply security
Resource dependence
Supply-chain resilience
Material price volatility
Local sourcing
Resource recovery
Risk management

The World Economic Forum's 2026 discussion of circularity increasingly frames it as part of industrial competitiveness and resilience rather than solely environmental responsibility. This creates a valuable strategic-management research agenda.

Opportunities for Indian Management Scholars

India provides a particularly rich environment for sustainable business and circular economy research. The country's scale, manufacturing base, MSME sector, rapid digitalisation, urbanisation and diverse consumer markets create numerous opportunities for empirical research. Researchers may examine:

Circular economy adoption among Indian MSMEs
Sustainable manufacturing
Automobile-sector circularity
Textile and apparel sustainability
E-waste management
Green supply chains
Sustainable retail
Indian consumer attitudes towards refurbished products
Circular entrepreneurship
Digital technologies and resource efficiency
Green finance
Regional sustainability ecosystems

Recent 2026 research has already examined both Industry 4.0-supported circularity in Indian SMEs and the relationship between circular-economy adoption and sustainable business performance in Indian automobile manufacturing. This demonstrates that India is becoming an increasingly valuable context for advancing broader circular-economy and management theory. Researchers should nevertheless avoid using India merely as a geographical setting. The strongest studies will explain how institutional structures, resource constraints, consumer behaviour, policy environments or organisational characteristics change the way sustainability strategies work.

Moving Beyond Descriptive Sustainability Research

One challenge in sustainability scholarship is the temptation to describe practices without explaining outcomes. A study may report that companies are implementing recycling programmes, sustainability reporting or renewable energy initiatives. That information can be useful, but management research should ideally go further. Researchers can ask: Does the initiative improve performance? What caused adoption? What prevents implementation? Which organisational capabilities matter? How does the practice influence competitive advantage? What are the financial consequences? How do employees and consumers respond? Does the sustainability benefit remain after considering the entire value chain? These questions can help move the field from descriptive sustainability reporting towards stronger explanatory and predictive research.

Methodological Opportunities for Sustainable Business Researchers

Researchers can approach sustainability and circular economy questions using diverse methodologies. Approaches may include:

Large-scale surveys
Structural equation modelling
Case-study research
Longitudinal studies
Interviews
Mixed-method designs
Experimental research
Secondary financial data
Panel-data analysis
Supply-chain network analysis
Life-cycle assessment combined with management analysis
Bibliometric studies
Systematic literature reviews

However, researchers should select methodologies based on the research question rather than simply using methods because they are currently popular.

What Makes a Strong Sustainable Business Research Paper?

A strong paper should move beyond broad statements such as “sustainability is important”. Instead, authors should define exactly what aspect of sustainability or circularity they are examining. A strong manuscript may include:

A clearly defined management problem
A specific research gap
Strong theoretical grounding
Clearly defined sustainability constructs
Appropriate methodology
Reliable measurement
Transparent results
Managerial implications
Critical discussion of limitations
Future research directions

Researchers should also avoid automatically assuming that every circular practice produces environmental benefits. Outcomes should be measured rather than presumed.

ISBMJBIR as a Platform for Sustainable Business Research

The ISB&M Journal of Business Issues & Research provides a scholarly platform for research addressing contemporary challenges affecting organisations, managers and markets. Sustainable business and circular economy research fit naturally within this broader management research agenda because they connect strategic decision-making with finance, marketing, innovation, supply chains, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Researchers working on topics such as sustainable business models, circular economy, ESG, green finance, responsible marketing, sustainable supply chains, eco-innovation or circular entrepreneurship are encouraged to consider how their findings advance both management theory and organisational practice. Authors should review the journal's latest Aims & Scope, Call for Papers, Author Guidelines and manuscript submission requirements before submitting their work.

How Modern Journal Infrastructure Supports Emerging Research Fields

Rapidly developing areas such as sustainability and circular-economy research require scholarly journals to maintain organised publication processes. Researchers expect clear online submission procedures, editorial tracking, peer review, publication ethics and structured access to published work. ISB&M Journal of Business Issues & Research is powered by ScholarJMS, supporting journal website, manuscript submission and editorial workflow infrastructure. ScholarJMS: https://www.scholarjms.com Universities, management institutes and scholarly organisations planning to establish journals in sustainability, business, management or related fields can also benefit from modern journal infrastructure. For organisations using Open Journal Systems, OJSCloud provides OJS hosting, migration support, journal launch consulting and ISSN consulting. OJSCloud: https://www.ojscloud.com For journals developing persistent article-identification workflows, GetDOI supports Crossref DOI setup, sponsorship routes and DOI workflow guidance. GetDOI: https://www.getdoi.com For publishers interested in transparent peer review and stronger research-trust infrastructure, Scholar9 provides a research trust ecosystem focused on transparent scholarly evaluation. Scholar9: https://www.scholar9.com

A Note for Institutions Planning a Sustainability or Management Journal

Sustainability is an attractive subject for new academic journals, but institutions should avoid launching journals without a clearly defined editorial strategy. A sustainable publishing operation requires:

Clear aims and scope
Qualified editorial leadership
A credible editorial board
Publication ethics policies
Peer-review procedures
Author guidelines
A professional journal website
Online manuscript submission
ISSN readiness
Crossref DOI planning
Metadata management
Regular publication scheduling
Long-term indexing readiness

Digital infrastructure and publishing identifiers should be considered early rather than after articles have already been published. Need help launching or upgrading an academic journal? We can assist institutions with:

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is sustainable business research? Sustainable business research examines how organisations can create economic value while managing environmental and social impacts. It may include sustainability strategy, resource efficiency, sustainable innovation, ESG, green finance, responsible marketing and sustainable supply chains. What is the circular economy? The circular economy is an approach that aims to reduce waste and retain the value of products and materials for longer through strategies such as reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, sharing and recycling. Is circular economy research suitable for management scholars? Yes. Circular economy research involves strategy, operations, supply chains, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, innovation and organisational change, making it highly relevant to management scholarship. What are circular business models? Circular business models are approaches to creating and capturing value that reduce reliance on linear consumption. Examples include rental, product-as-a-service, reuse, repair, refurbishment, take-back schemes and remanufacturing. What are important circular economy research topics in 2026? Major opportunities include circular business-model innovation, economic viability, digital technologies, Industry 4.0, sustainable supply chains, circular SMEs, green finance, measurement frameworks, consumer behaviour, policy and organisational leadership. What is the relationship between ESG and sustainability? ESG refers to environmental, social and governance factors used in corporate management, disclosure and investment analysis. Sustainability is a broader concept. Researchers should define these terms carefully rather than treating them as automatically interchangeable. Can researchers study circular economy among Indian SMEs? Yes. Indian MSMEs provide an important research setting because they combine economic importance with distinct constraints relating to technology, financing, capabilities and sustainability implementation. How does Industry 4.0 support the circular economy? Technologies such as IoT, AI, blockchain, big data and digital twins can support resource monitoring, traceability, predictive maintenance, supply-chain visibility and process optimisation. Researchers should test whether these technologies create measurable sustainability improvements. What is sustainable entrepreneurship? Sustainable entrepreneurship involves building ventures that seek economic value while addressing environmental or social challenges. Circular start-ups, green technology firms and reuse platforms are examples of possible research contexts. What is greenwashing? Greenwashing occurs when environmental communication creates a misleading impression about the sustainability of a product, service or organisation. It is an important topic in marketing, corporate communication and consumer trust research. Can doctoral scholars submit sustainable business research to ISBMJBIR? Doctoral and early-career researchers can consider submitting manuscripts aligned with the journal's scope and publication requirements. Authors should review the latest submission guidelines before submitting. How can an institution start a sustainability or management journal? Institutions should establish clear aims and scope, editorial governance, peer-review procedures, publication ethics, technical infrastructure and a regular publication plan. ISSN readiness, DOI workflows, metadata management and indexing preparation should also be considered.

Conclusion: From Sustainability Commitments to Sustainable Business Models

Sustainability research is moving into a more demanding stage. It is no longer sufficient for organisations to state that environmental responsibility matters. Managers increasingly need evidence showing how sustainable practices can be implemented, measured and integrated into business strategy. Circular economy research is particularly valuable because it challenges organisations to reconsider how products are designed, how resources are used, how supply chains operate and how economic value can be retained for longer. For management scholars, this creates a broad research agenda. Researchers can investigate circular business models, sustainable supply chains, green finance, ESG, entrepreneurship, digitalisation, consumer behaviour, innovation, leadership and organisational performance. The strongest studies will avoid assuming that sustainability automatically creates value. Instead, they will examine when it creates value, how that value is created, what trade-offs emerge and what capabilities organisations need to make the transition successfully. Recent 2026 research increasingly supports this direction, emphasising the financial viability of circular transitions, the importance of leadership and digital technologies, and the need for clearer metrics linking circular practices to organisational performance. The ISB&M Journal of Business Issues & Research encourages researchers, academicians, doctoral scholars and practitioners to contribute rigorous scholarship that deepens understanding of these emerging business challenges. Researchers working on sustainability, circular economy, ESG, sustainable finance, green marketing, supply-chain management, entrepreneurship, innovation and related interdisciplinary fields are encouraged to review the journal's latest Call for Papers and Author Guidelines. For universities, institutions and journal publishers Support is available for: