Purpose

Circular economy advocates innovations that upcycle wastes in the food supply chain to generate high added-value materials. These innovations are not only disruptive and green but also they are often initiated by startups, leading to the emergence of novel open-loop supply chains connecting actors in food and non-food sectors. While earlier research has highlighted the need to seek legitimacy for disruptive innovations to survive and grow, little is known about how these innovations occur and evolve across sectors. This paper aims to elaborate on this mechanism by exploring the function of the circular economy as a boundary object to facilitate legitimacy-seeking strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory multiple-case research design is adopted and features food waste innovation projects with multi-tier supply chains consisting of a food producer, a startup and a buying firm. The study is investigated from the legitimacy and boundary object lenses.

Findings

The findings proposed a framework for the role of a boundary object in enabling legitimacy-seeking strategies for novel food waste innovations. First, the interpretative flexibility of the circular economy affords actors symbolic resources to conduct manipulation strategy to achieve cognitive legitimacy. Second, small-scale work arrangements enable creation strategy for the new supply chain to harness moral legitimacy. Finally, pragmatic legitimacy is granted via diffusion strategy enabled by scalable work arrangements.

Originality/value

This paper provides novel insights into the emergence of food waste innovation from a multi-tier supply chain perspective. It also highlights the key role of the boundary object in the legitimacy-seeking process.

中文翻译：

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边界对象在食物垃圾创新合法性制定策略中的作用：新兴循环供应链的视角

目的

循环经济倡导创新，对食品供应链中的废物进行升级改造，以产生高附加值材料。这些创新不仅具有颠覆性和绿色性，而且通常是由初创公司发起的，从而导致连接食品和非食品行业参与者的新型开环供应链的出现。虽然早期的研究强调需要寻求颠覆性创新的合法性才能生存和发展，但人们对这些创新如何在各个领域发生和发展却知之甚少。本文旨在通过探讨循环经济作为边界对象的功能来阐述这一机制，以促进合法性寻求策略。

设计/方法论/途径

采用探索性多案例研究设计，以食物垃圾创新项目为特色，该项目具有多层供应链，包括食品生产商、初创公司和购买公司。该研究从合法性和边界物镜两个方面进行考察。

发现

研究结果提出了一个框架，说明边界对象在为新颖的食物垃圾创新寻求合法性策略方面的作用。首先，循环经济的解释灵活性为行动者提供了符号资源来实施操纵策略以实现认知合法性。其次，小规模的工作安排使新供应链的创建策略能够利用道德合法性。最后，通过可扩展的工作安排实现的扩散策略赋予了务实的合法性。

原创性/价值

本文从多层供应链的角度对食物垃圾创新的出现提供了新颖的见解。它还凸显了边界客体在合法性寻求过程中的关键作用。