Degrowth-based business models – Exploring the sharp boundary between true sustainability transformation and loss of existence
(A2025-125788)

AUTHORS

Niklas Sprungmann, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management; Anna-Karina Schmitz, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management

ABSTRACT

The global capitalist focus on growth conflicts with finite planetary resources, emphasizing the need for sustainability (Marquis, 2024). Corporates face the challenge of transforming practices to align with sustainable principles (Cabral & Dhar, 2020). Degrowth, a framework advocating reduced production and consumption, addresses the physical limits of expansion but often conflicts with profitability goals (Plaza‐Úbeda, Pérez‐Valls, Céspedes‐Lorente, & Payán‐Sánchez, 2020). To adapt, corporates must redesign business models within planetary boundaries (Berntsen, Aas, & Hunnes, 2023). This study, based on 30 interviews with chemical industry leaders, explores pathways for implementing degrowth-based business models while tackling paradoxical contradictions within a reimagined framework.