Unpacking the relationship between circular economy and inter-organisational collaboration: An exploratory study and an analytical framework

Collaboration among different organisations could be a vital enabler of a circular economy (CE). However, few studies examine the role of inter-organisational collaboration in CE initiatives. Particularly obscure is the relationship between different types of inter-organisational collaboration and specific CE initiatives. This paper explores such a relationship in the automotive sector through a content analysis of 73 non-financial reports disseminated by the world's largest automakers in 2021 and 2022. This paper shows that focal firms primarily leverage inter-organisational collaboration with suppliers to implement CE initiatives, mainly recycling and reducing initiatives. Focal firms relatively often collaborate with multiple actors and customers to implement CE initiatives, particularly recycling initiatives. Of note, collaboration with universities and research institutes plays a minor role in CE initiatives, assuming only a relatively higher relevance in CE initiatives with the highest degree of circularity. Last, this paper provides a novel analytical framework to examine the relationship between inter-organisational collaboration and CE.