Michael P Schlaile

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 ...

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, we intend 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 princ...

"“What is the driving force behind economic development and change?” This question has bothered a vast number of economists who have developed various concepts and theories often classified as evolutionary economics. Previous approaches to this topic have frequently drawn upon the works of Joseph Schumpeter who focused on economic change through innovation and entrepreneurship. In contrast, other scholars have tried to explain and predict economic processes by means of analytical or statistical models based on theories ranging from evolutionary biology to complex networks. This paper aims to contribute to this broad field by providing new insights and explanations for various economic aspects by drawing upon implications from cultural evolution and, particularly, the neo-Darwinian theory of memetics. Additionally, this investigation is supplemented with recent findings from behavioral and social sciences in a way that facilitates looking at economic development from a new angle. Starting from a synopsis of memetic terminology, it is argued that memes should be considered a key element of economic development. This hypothesis is set forth by reviewing concepts including utility maximization, innovation and the learning economy, leadership and entrepreneurship, and finally, the theory of the firm. The elucidation shows that memes and learning by imitation can indeed be seen as key elements of economic development and should thus be integrated more extensively into the construction of evolutionary economic theories."

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....

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 fu...

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 lit...

Vor dem Hintergrund einer zunehmenden weltweiten Verflechtung wachst auch der Bedarf an Fuhrungspersonen, welche die Heterogenitat kulturell begrundeter Moral- und Wertvorstellungen adaquat berucksichtigen konnen. Im Rahmen der Global Leadership Forschung setzt sich daher auch die Wissenschaft mit der gesteigerten Komplexitat von effektiver und effizienter Fuhrung im globalen Kontext auseinander. Das vorliegende Working Paper liefert zu diesem Forschungsgebiet einen Beitrag, indem theoretische und empirische Erkenntnisse anhand relevanter Literatur mit besonderem Fokus auf Fuhrung in wirtschaftlichen Organisationen verknupft werden. Das Kernstuck stellt dabei eine detaillierte Analyse der drei Lander China, Turkei und Deutschland hinsichtlich (moral-)kultureller Pragung und Fuhrungsverhalten dar. Auf Basis der empirischen Ergebnisse GEERT HOFSTEDEs und des Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness GLOBE) Forschungsprogramms wird dabei zunachst der grundsatzliche Zu...

Eine Strategie zur Umsetzung einer nachhaltigen Bioökonomie muss neben disziplinären und technischen Zielvorstellungen auch den gesellschaftlichen Wandel einplanen und vorbereiten. Eine zukunftsfähige politische Strategie muss also neben dem techno-ökonomischen Wissen ebenso solches Wissen fördern, welches es Produzenten und Konsumenten ermöglicht, nicht-nachhaltige Verfahren und Verhaltensweisen nicht nur zu reduzieren, sondern radikal zu verändern. Dazu gehören neben den technologischen Fertigkeiten auch ein interdisziplinäres Verständnis systemischer Zusammenhänge, demokratisch legitimierte Zielvorstellungen sowie die notwendigen Fähigkeiten, um diese Ziele partizipativ umzusetzen. Nur durch die Anerkennung und gezielte Förderung dieses als dediziert bezeichneten Wissens können nachhaltige Veränderungen erwachsen. Der Beitrag ergänzt das evolutionsökonomische Konzept des wissensbasierten Wandels durch Ansätze aus den Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften. Konkret werden die besonderen Ei...

While organizational and business researchers have fruitfully applied evolutionary theory at various levels of analysis, few utilize organizational memetics to capture the complexity of organizational culture. This article contributes to bridging the gap between theorizing and empirical research on organizational memetics by raising
and addressing the question if and how the diversity and interdependence of organizational memes can be captured. To tackle this exploratory question, the authors present a comprehensive literature review on organizational memetics and demonstrate how meme mapping can be used to highlight interdependencies among
organizational memes based on the case of a German consulting firm. Besides revealing the most prominent memes in the complex memetic system of the organization, the meme map illustrates connections of varying strength among the organizational memes, thereby supporting the argument that organizational memetics can help to expose attractive memes that are important for both the stability and change of organizational cultures.

Corporate social responsibility has been intensively discussed in business ethics literature, whereas the social responsibility of private consumers appears to be less researched. However, there is also a growing interest from business ethicists and other scholars in the field of consumer social responsibility (ConSR). Nevertheless, previous discussions of ConSR reveal the need for a viable conceptual basis for understanding the social responsibility of consumers in an increasingly globalized market economy. Moreover, evolutionary aspects of human morality seem to have been neglected despite the fact that private consumers are undoubtedly human beings. In addition to that, empirical studies suggest that many consumers believe themselves to be responsible but do not act according to their alleged values or attitudes. This raises the question of what deters them from doing so. Therefore, the contribution of this conceptual paper is threefold: we (i) (re-)conceptualize ConSR in terms of a combination of a Max Weber-inspired approach (social action and the ethic of responsibility) with the social connection approach to shared responsibility proposed by Iris Marion Young; (ii) shed light on the previously neglected implications of an evolutionarily induced bounded morality for ConSR, and (iii) identify potential obstacles to socially responsible consumption, particularly against the backdrop of shared social responsibility and bounded morality. In this latter respect, the paper focuses specifically on the obstacles of low moral intensity, moral stupefaction, informational complexity, and the lack of perceived consumer effectiveness. In sum, the paper advances knowledge in the field of ConSR by using a transdisciplinary, literature-based approach.

English Abstract: Against the background of increasing global integration and interdependence it is no surprise that there is also an increase in demand for leaders which are able to appropriately consider the heterogeneity of culturally induced moral values. Thus, scientific research also seeks to understand and explain the impact of growing complexity on leadership efficiency and effectiveness within the field of Global Leadership. This working paper intends to make a contribution to this field by combining theoretical and empirical findings with its focus being on leadership in business organizations. A detailed analysis of China, Turkey, and Germany with respect to cultural context and leadership behavior thereby constitutes the central part of this paper. In the course of the analysis empirical findings from Geert Hofstede and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program (GLOBE) are used to investigate the basic relationship between Moral Culture and leadership. Building on those insights, the possibilities of identifying universally endorsed leadership traits as well as cultural trends towards globalization are examined. Based on a critical appraisal of social-scientific research results, it can be reasoned that the reciprocity of the interrelation between Moral Culture and leadership is often rather inadequately taken into account by both researchers and practitioners: It can not only be argued that (Moral)Cultures matter, but also that Global Leadership matters!
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German Abstract: Vor dem Hintergrund einer zunehmenden weltweiten Verflechtung wächst auch der Bedarf an Führungspersonen, welche die Heterogenität kulturell begründeter Moral- und Wertvorstellungen adäquat berücksichtigen können. Im Rahmen der Global Leadership Forschung setzt sich daher auch die Wissenschaft mit der gesteigerten Komplexität von effektiver und effizienter Führung im globalen Kontext auseinander. Das vorliegende Working Paper liefert zu diesem Forschungsgebiet einen Beitrag, indem theoretische und empirische Erkenntnisse anhand relevanter Literatur mit besonderem Fokus auf Führung in wirtschaftlichen Organisationen verknüpft werden. Das Kernstück stellt dabei eine detaillierte Analyse der drei Länder China, Türkei und Deutschland hinsichtlich (moral-)kultureller Prägung und Führungsverhalten dar. Auf Basis der empirischen Ergebnisse Geert Hofstedes und des Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Forschungsprogramms wird dabei zunächst der grundsätzliche Zusammenhang zwischen Moralkultur und Führung untersucht. Darauf aufbauend wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich auf diese Weise auch universelle Führungsmerkmale und außerdem kulturelle Globalisierungstendenzen feststellen lassen. Unter kritischer Berücksichtigung sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschungsergebnisse kann dabei auch geschlussfolgert werden, dass die gegenseitige Wechselwirkung zwischen Moralkul-tur und Führung sowohl in der Theorie als auch in der Praxis oftmals eher unzu-reichend beachtet wird: Nicht nur (Moral) Cultures matter, sondern auch Global Leadership matters!

"“What is the driving force behind economic development and change?” This question has bothered a vast number of economists who have developed various concepts and theories often classified as evolutionary economics. Previous approaches to this topic have frequently drawn upon the works of Joseph Schumpeter who focused on economic change through innovation and entrepreneurship. In contrast, other scholars have tried to explain and predict economic processes by means of analytical or statistical models based on theories ranging from evolutionary biology to complex networks. This paper aims to contribute to this broad field by providing new insights and explanations for various economic aspects by drawing upon implications from cultural evolution and, particularly, the neo-Darwinian theory of memetics. Additionally, this investigation is supplemented with recent findings from behavioral and social sciences in a way that facilitates looking at economic development from a new angle. Starting from a synopsis of memetic terminology, it is argued that memes should be considered a key element of economic development. This hypothesis is set forth by reviewing concepts including utility maximization, innovation and the learning economy, leadership and entrepreneurship, and finally, the theory of the firm. The elucidation shows that memes and learning by imitation can indeed be seen as key elements of economic development and should thus be integrated more extensively into the construction of evolutionary economic theories."

This book explores the question of whether and how meme theory or “memetics” can be fruitfully utilized in evolutionary economics and proposes an approach known as “economemetics” which is a combination of meme theory and complexity theory that has the potential to combat the fragmentation of evolutionary economics while re-connecting the field with cultural evolutionary theory. By studying the intersection of cultural and economic evolution, complexity economics, computational economics, and network science, the authors establish a connection between memetics and evolutionary economics at different levels of investigation.

The book first demonstrates how a memetic approach to economic evolution can help to reveal links and build bridges between different but complementary concepts in evolutionary economics. Secondly, it shows how organizational memetics can help to capture the complexity of organizational culture using meme mapping. Thirdly, it presents an agent-based simulation model of knowledge diffusion and assimilation in innovation networks from a memetic perspective. The authors then use agent-based modeling and social network analysis to evaluate the diffusion pattern of the Ice Bucket Challenge as an example of a “viral meme.” Lastly, the book discusses the central issues of agency, creativity, and normativity in the context of economemetics and suggests promising avenues for further research.