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Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 1
Degrowth-oriented organisational value creation:
A systematic literature review of case studies
Tobias Froese*, Markus Richter, Florian Hofmann, Florian Lüdeke-Freund
*Corresponding author: tfroese@escp.eu
The final version has been published as:
Froese, T., Richter, M., Hofmann, F., Lüdeke-Freund, F., 2023. Degrowth-oriented
organisational value creation: A systematic literature review of case studies. Ecological
Economics 207, 107765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 2
Abstract
The profound socio-economic transformations implied by degrowth concern the way
organisations create value. However, there are conceptual gaps regarding the forms and
meanings of organisational value creation that are aligned with degrowth. Against this
background, an integrative and systematic literature review of case studies of degrowth-
oriented, respectively post-growth-oriented, organisations has been conducted. The identified
literature has been analysed using the new concept of ‘organisational value creation patterns’.
Based on this concept, value is created for (and with) stakeholders when problems are solved
through organisational activities. The result is a compilation of thirty-nine degrowth-oriented
patterns of organisational value creation, structured into seven thematic groups. From these,
seven theoretical propositions on what it means to engage in degrowth-oriented organisational
value creation were derived. Finally, it is discussed how these findings can inspire
organisational transformation and future theory development.
Keywords: degrowth, value theory, organisational value creation, Alexandrian patterns, business
model, sustainability
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 3
1 Introduction
As Mazzucato (2018, p. 23) has pointedly expressed: the “definition of value is always as
much about politics, and about particular views on how society ought to be constructed, as it
is about narrowly defined economics.” Accordingly, prevailing conceptions of value and
value creation are crucial to the continuous and dynamic (re)production of society (Graeber,
2013). In the words of Graeber (2001, p. 105): “Value, after all, is something that mobilizes
the desires of those who recognize it, and moves them to action.” Correspondingly, Bauwens
and Niaros (2017, p. 8) argue that we need societal structures “which allow us to direct
attention and energy to what we commonly value.”
The question arises as to who this societal ‘we’ is and what ‘we’ commonly value. From the
perspective of the degrowth community, a brief answer to this question has been provided at
the "First International Conference on Economic De-growth for Ecological Sustainability and
Social Equity" held in Paris in 2008. Here, degrowth has been defined as a "voluntary
transition to a just, participatory and ecologically sustainable society" (Degrowth & Research,
2010, p. 524).
Yet, there seems to be a discrepancy between the way modern societies ought to be from a
degrowth perspective and the way they actually reproduce themselves. According to degrowth
scholars (e.g., Dengler and Strunk, 2018; Weiss and Cattaneo, 2017), there are inherent
tensions between prevailing forms of value creation oriented towards economic efficiency,
accumulation, and expansion, on the one hand, and degrowth-oriented value creation meant to
realise equality, participation, and ecological sustainability, on the other hand.
In research on business models, for example, the former are typically considered to realise
in and through the provision of additional technologies, products, or services that increase
material and financial wealth for customers and companies (Arend, 2013; DaSilva and
Trkman, 2014). This understanding and practice of value creation is not only shaped by
macro-institutional structures and dynamics, such as commodification and growth, but is also
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 4
a key force in their reproduction (Graeber, 2001; Laasch, 2018; Ocasio and Radoynovska,
2016).
Consequently, the profound socio-economic transformations that the notion of degrowth
implies must relate to how value creation is understood and practiced by organisations
(Demaria et al., 2013; Kallis, 2018; Khmara and Kronenberg, 2020). Yet, it remains an open
question which and how organisational activities and their socio-material implications create
value from a degrowth perspective.
As a guiding research question, we therefore ask: How can organisations engage in
degrowth-oriented organisational value creation? As we depict in Sections 2.2 and 3, based on
the literature on business models (for sustainability), answering this question means delving
into how organisations and other stakeholders implement solutions that are desirable from a
degrowth-oriented perspective.
In degrowth literature, discussions of value and value creation are not entirely new.
However, these are primarily a critique of prevailing understandings of these notions and are
mostly placed at the macro level of economies and societies (e.g., Dengler and Strunk, 2018;
Hornborg, 2019; Kallis, 2018). For example, considering social care work and ecological
regeneration processes, dominant conceptions of value and value creation are criticised as
involving a “subordination of the sphere of reproduction to the sphere of production”
(Leonardi, 2019, p. 85). In addition, there is an increasing number of organisational case
studies that refer to degrowth (e.g., Bloemmen et al., 2015; Hankammer et al., 2021; Robra et
al., 2020). However, these have not yet been analysed integratively to develop a case study-
based and positive understanding of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation.
Hence, we recognise a research gap which is relevant in both practical and theoretical
terms. On the practical side, organisational activity is key to establishing new forms of value
creation in society. Against this background, we intend to develop a structured collection of
patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation. This pattern collection, we hope,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 5
can serve as an inspiring and actionable toolbox for practitioners who want to orient
organisational activity towards degrowth.
Our research is based on a systematically conducted integrative literature review for the
purpose of theory building (Snyder, 2019). Existing case studies of organisations related to
degrowth, respectively post-growth, were selected using Ebsco (Business Source Complete)
and Web of Science (Core Collection). Drawing on Alexander (1979) and Lüdeke-Freund et
al. (2018), the identified literature was analysed using the notion of ‘organisational value
creation patterns’ in a content coding process. This new concept has allowed us to capture
problem-solution combinations recurring in degrowth-oriented organisational activity in a
uniform format. Doing so enabled a bottom-up exploration of degrowth-oriented
organisational value creation.
On the theoretical side, the further elaboration of the theoretical foundations of degrowth
essentially requires the development of a degrowth theory of value and value creation – that
is, a theory to holistically think about and evaluate the organisation and reproduction of socio-
economic systems vis-à-vis core values of degrowth (cf., Lowe and Genovese, 2022; Røpke,
2021). Against this background, we use the developed pattern collection as a theoretical basis
to derive more abstract propositions of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation. This
mid-range theorising, we hope, can complement existing and future elaborations on a more
fundamental degrowth theory of value.
The article is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical background in relation
to degrowth and organisational value creation. Section 3 then depicts our research methods
and the literature base of our systematic literature review. Finally, Sections 4 and 5 present
and discuss the thirty-nine identified patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value
creation, categorised into seven groups, and the corresponding seven theoretical propositions.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 6
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Degrowth and degrowth organisations
The notion of degrowth expresses a critical view on how modern societies can reduce their
material and energy throughput to sustainable levels and achieve a high quality of life (Asara
et al., 2015; Kallis et al., 2018; Weiss and Cattaneo, 2017). Proponents of degrowth therefore
emphasise the importance of deep societal transformations (Buch-Hansen, 2014; Büchs and
Koch, 2019; Demaria et al., 2013).
Degrowth scholars recognise economic activity as a social phenomenon that not only serves
material needs and desires but is – broadly speaking – inherently political (Aiken et al., 2020;
Johanisova et al., 2013; Schmid, 2018). In line with this, specific degrowth proposals include
the sharing and repairing of products, forms of collective ownership, and the redesign of
global trade agreements to overcome exploitative relations – to name but a few (Jarvis, 2019;
Kallis et al., 2018; O'Neill, 2012).
Drawing on Cosme et al. (2017) , we consider three values (i.e., broader notions “of what is
ultimately good, proper, or desirable in human life” (Graeber, 2001, p. 1)), as pivotal to the
political-economic activity of degrowth organisations: (1) ecological sustainability, (2) local
and global equality, and (3) conviviality and participation. Correspondingly, Pansera and
Fressoli (2021, p. 397) note that degrowth organisations provide social and technological
innovations that are (1)“suitable to reduce ecological impact”, (2) “are structurally available
in an egalitarian way”, and (3) “enhance autonomy and conviviality”. We will later use the
three values listed above to characterise what is important to those political-economic actors
aiming to contribute to degrowth, in our case organisations. As such, these three values can
serve as evaluation criteria for assessing how organisations contribute to degrowth.
Still, degrowth-related research (e.g., Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018; Robra et al., 2020;
Schmid, 2018) reveals that only few organisations are fully and explicitly degrowth-oriented.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 7
Rather, degrowth typically refers to individual areas of organisational activity. Moreover, it is
often external observers (e.g., researchers) who retrospectively label organisational efforts as
degrowth-aligned. Hence, in the context of degrowth, we advocate for a differentiated
perspective on the activities of organisations.
2.2 A theoretical understanding of organisational value creation
As our aim is to better understand how organisations can potentially contribute to degrowth
in a value-creating manner, the notion of organisational value creation must be introduced. A
stream of literature that is particularly involved with this notion is that on business models,
which includes both conventional and sustainability-related views (Laasch, 2018; Peric et al.,
2017; Schaltegger et al., 2016; Zott et al., 2011). In rather generic terms, business models
refer to the core logic of how focal organisations and related actors (co-)create value – where
the addressee of value creation can vary from a focal organisation and its customers to
broader notions of their socio-ecological environment (Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, 2010;
Roome and Louche, 2016; Schaltegger et al., 2016).
Speaking to this stream of literature, Dembek et al. (2022) have recently introduced a
relevant differentiation between activities, their implications, and value. An organisation’s
activities bring about implications for both particular stakeholders and broader socio-
economic and ecological systems, such as a country’s education system or forests (Dembek et
al., 2022; Lashitew et al., 2020; Méndez‐León et al., 2022). However, whether organisational
activities and their implications are then perceived as value depends on how they are
evaluated (e.g., as meeting an unmet need) (Dembek et al., 2022). In our case, the relevant
group of evaluators are degrowth-oriented stakeholders.
The approach advocated here thus corresponds to subjective and sociological theories of
value. These assume that the value of activities and/or their implications (e.g., a product)
depends on how they are valued (e.g., appreciated and paid for) in individual or cultural
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 8
practice (Eabrasu, 2011; Graeber, 2001; Røpke, 2021). The value of activities and their
implications then is defined by how important (i.e., on balance good, proper, and desirable)
they are for a person or group (Graeber, 2013; Kallis, 2018). Following this line of thinking,
values (i.e., broader notions of what is good, proper, and desirable (Breuer and Lüdeke-
Freund, 2017a; Graeber, 2001)) are central as to why value is attributed to activities and/or
their implications (Breuer and Lüdeke-Freund, 2017b). However, since values are
incommensurable (e.g., social justice cannot be exchanged for liberty), value is multi-
dimensional and without a unique metric (Kallis, 2018). Correspondingly, Upward and Jones
(2016, p. 105) defined value as “the perception by a human (or non-human) actor of a
‘fundamental need’ (Max-Neff, 1991, p. 8) being met measured in aesthetic, psychological,
physiological, utilitarian, and/or monetary terms.” In contrast, objective theories of value –
which are more commonly used in macro-level (ecological) economics – would assume an
intrinsic and calculable nature of value, e.g., via unique metrics such as labour or energy (see,
e.g., Martinez-Alier, 2002; Patterson, 1998; Pirgmaier, 2021).
In the following, we introduce our perspective on organisational value creation, which is
presented in Fig. 1, in more detail. It builds on the above introduced understanding of values
as the reasons why something is important to someone and value as resulting from a
corresponding evaluation, which can take different forms, including economic and ecological.
2.2.1 The contextual situation always matters
The process and analysis of organisational value creation requires an implicit or explicit
understanding of a contextual situation which frames (e.g., motivates) it. Adopting Dembek et
al. (2022), this framing (indicated by ‘contextual situation’ in Fig. 1) can range from the
individual situation of a stakeholder to macro-level states of socio-economic and ecological
systems.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 9
To start with a simple example, whether one is hungry has a strong influence on how one
perceives the value of a food offer. Correspondingly, already in 1932, Robbins (p. 23) defined
scarcity as the most natural contextual situation and economics as the study of “that aspect of
behaviour which arises from the scarcity of means to achieve given ends”. This contextual
framing has since led mainstream economics, in the name of scarcity, to generally evaluate
efficiency gains and absolute increases in production as value-creating (Kallis, 2019; Mehta
and Harcourt, 2021). To give another example, social entrepreneurship is typically motivated
by the social problems (e.g., poverty) which are neglected by commercial enterprises and
other societal actors (cf. Santos, 2012).
It is hence reasonable to consider the contextual situations since only such a
contextualisation allows for meaningful evaluations of organisational activities as being
value-creating, respectively desirable and aligned with stakeholders’ values, or not. With
regards to degrowth, such a contextualisation and corresponding evaluations can be grounded,
for example, in the three degrowth core values identified above.
2.2.2 Organisational activities and their implications
Organisational value creation is accomplished through organisational activity (Dembek et
al., 2022; Méndez‐León et al., 2022; Zott and Amit, 2010) (indicated by ‘organisational
activities’ in Fig. 1). For example, companies typically translate value that was generated
externally into their business model (e.g., harvesting captures the value of naturally grown
resources) and then generate the potential for customer value through activities such as further
processing and delivery (Dembek et al., 2022; Tsing, 2017). Building on Zott and Amit (2010,
p. 217), each activity serves a certain purpose and requires “capabilities” and “human,
physical and/or capital resources” to be performed. Furthermore, a business model’s activities
are dynamically linked to each other, are conducted by a focal organisation and other
stakeholders (e.g., partners and customers), and, consequently, span the locus of value
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 10
creation across and beyond organisational boundaries (Breuer et al., 2018; Zott and Amit,
2010). This leads to an understanding of organisations’ business models as open activity
systems (Amit and Zott, 2012; Zott and Amit, 2010).
The activities performed in and through such activity systems bring about outputs (e.g., a
certain number of products) as well as outcomes for stakeholders (e.g., improved access to
these products). These outputs and outcomes, in turn, can contribute to system-level impacts
such as climate change or its mitigation (indicated by ‘implications’ in Fig. 1). It is important
to remember that outputs, outcomes, and impacts resulting from organisational activities do
not necessarily lead to value creation, but create the potential for it (Dembek et al., 2022;
Michelini et al., 2020).
2.2.3 Perceiving organisational value creation as problem-solution combinations
Value creation is only completely realised when an organisation’s contextually framed
activities and their implications are perceived (and expressed) by stakeholders – in our case
degrowth-oriented stakeholders – as on balance good, proper, or desirable (e.g., serving a
need) (cf., Dembek et al., 2022; Graeber, 2013, 2001). This evaluation can have diverse
influences, from a person’s physical constitution to her culturally conditioned assessment of
an organisation’s political context.
Despite this actual complexity of evaluations, we emphasise that the perception of value is
inherently normative (Graeber, 2013; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2020). Coffee, for example, can
be produced in ways people consider fair or unfair. Even if the final product is materially
identical, such values-based evaluations impact customers’ willingness to pay (Bürgin and
Wilken, 2021). Correspondingly, Graeber (2013, p. 224) noted that “the fact that we use the
same word to describe the benefits and virtues of a commodity for sale on the market (the
‘value’ of a haircut or a curtain rod) and our ideas about what is ultimately important in life
(‘values’ such as truth, beauty, justice), is not a coincidence.” In a nutshell, values are a key
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 11
reason why people attribute value to activities and/or their implications (e.g., products)
(Breuer and Lüdeke-Freund, 2017b; Gollnhofer et al., 2019).
Furthermore, in the literature on business models for sustainability, the question of who
makes values-based evaluations often has two overlapping perspectives. On the one hand, it is
argued that the individual stakeholders (e.g., customers and community members) of a
respective organisation (e.g., a particular repair workshop) ultimately decide through their
subjective evaluations to what extent, what kind of, and for whom value is being created (e.g.,
Dembek et al., 2018; Dreyer et al., 2017; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2020). On the other hand, the
debate on what constitutes sustainable value creation is flanked by generalising normative
framings – framings that are typically brought to bear on the phenomenon of sustainable value
creation by the researchers themselves. For instance, reference is often made to Elkington’s
(1999) triple bottom line (e.g., Morioka et al., 2018; Täuscher and Abdelkafi, 2018). This,
according to Breuer et al. (2018, p. 271, emphasis added), “require[s] negotiating and
defining normative values, interests and goals related to multiple kinds of social, ecological
and economic outcomes”, as it may well be that the (assumed) implications of an
organisation’s activities are evaluated differently by different stakeholders. Correspondingly,
it is often claimed that the interests of the different stakeholder groups are to be balanced and
ideally aligned with each other (e.g., Freudenreich et al., 2019; Pedersen et al., 2018).
In addition, as indicated above, the framing context always matters in the perception of
organisational value creation. This relationship between a contextual situation and
organisational activities and their implications is often conceptualised as a problem-solution
combination (which we will later refer to as ‘patterns’). Florin and Schmidt (2011, p. 169), for
example, note that social value creation is often described “in terms of impact – the sustained
significant change effects on the root causes of difficult-to-resolve social or environmental
problems”. Wainstein and Bumpus (2016, p. 575) express it similarly: Social value creation is
about “addressing a specific social problem”. Last but not least, in relation to individual
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 12
stakeholder groups, especially customers, it is argued that organisations’ value propositions
consist in the stakeholder problems that their products or services can solve (see, e.g., Linder
and Williander, 2017; Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010; Strupeit and Palm, 2016).
Transferring the above to degrowth-oriented organisational value creation, it refers to
interrelated organisational activities and their implications that are perceived as a (partial)
solution to a problematic contextual situation by degrowth-oriented stakeholders.
Consequently, we adopt a normative framing through the generalising conception of
degrowth-oriented stakeholders who share and apply core values of degrowth. Building on
Section 2.1, these values are (1) ecological sustainability, (2) local and global equality, and
(3) conviviality and participation. Any insights into the ways in which organisations and their
particular stakeholders are involved in and affected by organisational activities naturally play
a key role in applying these values in evaluations (indicated by ‘perceive as a problem’ and
‘perceive as a solution’ in Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Framework of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation
In conclusion, while values such as equality and conviviality are broader notions of the
good, proper, or desirable (Breuer and Lüdeke-Freund, 2017a; Graeber, 2001), organisational
value creation, we argue, is about organisational activities and their implications in and
through which these values (are perceived to) materialise for stakeholders and in particular
contextual situations (cf., Dembek et al., 2022; Gollnhofer et al., 2019; Graeber, 2001; Kallis,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 13
2018). This theoretical understanding, summarised in Fig. 1, sets the ground for a
differentiated examination of the guiding research question: How can organisations engage in
degrowth-oriented organisational value creation?
3 Material and methods: A systematic literature review
This study’s primary objective is to identify patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational
value creation. Hence, we conduct a systematic literature review, focusing on case studies that
are potentially informative for this purpose. As a result, we present thirty-nine patterns,
organised into seven groups (Appendix A). Moreover, the picture thus obtained has formed
the basis for deriving theoretical propositions of degrowth-oriented organisational value
creation.
In a systematic literature review, researchers must use a transparent and replicable process
of literature selection and evaluation (Tranfield et al., 2003). We satisfy this requirement by
documenting our review steps and disclosing our decisions and conclusions in the following
paragraphs as well as in Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4. The five steps of our review process
outlined below were adopted from Denyer and Tranfield (2009), Lüdeke-Freund et al. (2018),
and Torraco (2005).
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 14
Fig. 2. Study sample selection process
Definition of search terms and search strings: As presented in Fig. 2, the scope of the
review was limited to scientific literature that explicitly refers to organisations and degrowth
or post-growth.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 15
Definition of publication types: The relevant literature body included peer-reviewed
scientific journal articles and book chapters limited to publications in English. Due to the
topic’s novelty, no specific timeframe was set. The first database query was conducted in June
2020. We then started our analysis and kept our database updated. The final database query
was carried out in April 2022.
Citation database: The review is based on two major citation databases for peer-reviewed
literature in social sciences: Web of Science (Core Collection) and EBSCO (Business Source
Complete).
Study selection: The literature considered in the review process was selected according to
two key inclusion criteria. Firstly, articles must present and discuss case studies relating to a
minimum of one organisation. We have decided for case studies to ensure that our findings
relate to characteristics of real organisations and thus reflect, at least to some extent, proven
solutions. Secondly, the articles must at least focus on one organisational activity that relates
explicitly to degrowth or post-growth, respectively. After deleting duplicate results from the
initial sample, 220 articles remained, whose titles, keywords, and abstracts were screened.
Finally, we selected thirty-two articles that meet the inclusion criteria. In addition, we
identified three relevant scientific articles and one book chapter by hand. A complete list of
the analysed literature is presented in Appendix B. In addition, an overview of all
organisational cases can be found in Appendix C.
Analysis and synthesis of the selected literature body: To identify forms of organisational
value creation, the concept of (sustainable) business model patterns has been applied by
multiple researchers (e.g., Abdelkafi et al., 2013; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2018; Remane et al.,
2017). This concept is based on the architect and design theorist Alexander (1979) who
understood patterns as recurring problem-solution combinations. Paraphrasing Lüdeke-Freund
et al. (2018), we define that a degrowth-oriented organisational value creation pattern
describes a contextual situation that is perceived as problematic by degrowth-oriented
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 16
stakeholders; and it describes the core activities and implications of a solution to this
contextual problem that can be repeatedly applied in a multitude of ways, situations, contexts,
and domains. For example, sharing may be perceived as a (partial) solution to the inefficient
use of idle resources in affluent societies.
Fig. 3. Pattern template (adapted from, Alexander et al., 1977; Iba, 2016)
Drawing on pattern theory (Alexander, 1979; Leitner, 2015), we analysed and coded the
selected literature sample with a generic pattern template consisting of four elements that are
illustrated in Fig. 3. Each paper was analysed individually and then discussed by at least two
authors. This resulted in descriptions of thirty-nine patterns, listed in Appendix A. For the first
pattern in our list, the corresponding coding process is exemplarily presented in Fig. 4.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 17
Fig. 4. Coding examples for pattern “Real cost pricing” (P1.1)
In a last step, inspired by the methodology presented by Lüdeke-Freund et al. (2018), the 39
patterns were first synthesised into seven pattern groups according to the core themes
reflected in their solution descriptions. Then, all patterns were mapped against a triangle of
the core degrowth values introduced in Section 2.1.
The mapping process resembled a two-step Delphi procedure, where we alternately
assessed the patterns individually and then jointly reviewed our group results. To be precise,
the individual assessments were done by distributing ten points per pattern to the three core
values of degrowth. Here, reliability was supported by a list of topics that relate to each core
value of degrowth provided by Cosme et al. (2017). For example, the value of ‘conviviality
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 18
and participation’ relates to topics such as community building, democratic structures, and
voluntary simplicity (Cosme et al., 2017). Subsequently, it was checked whether there are
patterns in which the individual assessments deviate more than 1.5 points from the group
average and the deviation between two individual assessments is more than 2.5 points.
Considering these fixed maximum deviations, our iterative Delphi procedure ended with a
final result where the individual scores are sufficiently close to each other, and the calculated
averages depicted in Fig. 6 represent a jointly agreed group result.
Still, it is important to emphasise that the result shown in Fig. 6 is not intended to express a
numerical precision that does not in fact exist. Rather, it provides an approximation of the
orientation of the patterns in relation to the three core values of degrowth. In other words,
following the introduced notion of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation, Fig. 6
captures a differentiated view of the degrowth-values orientation of the identified patterns and
pattern groups.
Last but not least, reviewing the seven thematic groups and their respective patterns in light
of the core values of degrowth helped us to derive one theoretical proposition per group.
To conclude and building on the conceptual framework of degrowth-oriented organisational
value creation introduced in Section 2.2, Fig. 5 summarises this study’s material and methods.
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 19
Fig. 5. Summary of the conceptual framework and research material and methods
4 Findings
4.1 Seven pattern groups of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation
Our analyses resulted in seven pattern groups summarised in Table 1, into each of which
three to nine patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation are classified (see
Appendix A for complete descriptions of the patterns).
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 20
Table 1
1
Seven groups of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation patterns
2
Group
Patterns
Potential value creation per group
Problem perspective (-)
Solution perspective (+)
G1:
Overcoming
economic growth
dynamics
P1.1: Real cost pricing
P1.2: Investing in efficiency gains without growth motives
P1.3: Balancing the organisational scale
P1.4: Interlocking multiple parties’ statutes for a purpose
P1.5: Marketing a specialisation in sustainability
P1.6: Building personal customer relationships
P1.7: Using alternative and sustainability-oriented currencies
- Growth drivers and rebound effects
- Dynamics of fierce competition
- Mission-drift
- Profit-orientation
- Division of ownership and purpose
+ Respect for social and ecological limits
+ Reduce competitive pressures
+ High ecological and social standards
+ Economic viability
+ Integration of ownership and purpose
G2:
Engaging consumers
in sufficiency-
oriented prosumption
P2.1: Sharing risks and responsibilities with consumers
P2.2: Supporting co-production and prosumption
P2.3: Engaging consumers in packaging reuse
P2.4: Promoting sustainability-oriented learning and
engagement
P2.5: Communicating for sufficiency
- Consumerism and alienation from
production
- Limited perception of people's potentials
- Fast innovation cycles
+ Hands-on experiences and higher
awareness
+ Involvement and autonomy
+ Needs-based provision, quality, and
sufficiency
G3:
P3.1: Practicing a culture of reciprocal care
- Economic globalisation and competition
+ Trustful, long-term, and caring
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Joining forces in
rewarding and
mutual collaboration
P3.2: Doing business in local actor networks
P3.3: Engaging in values-based business relations
P3.4: Distributing through a cooperative sales network
P3.5: Joining forces in mission-driven networks
- Lacking accountability
- Inequalities, power imbalances, and
individual risks
- Psychological and economic stress
- Growth-drivers and mission drift
relationships
+ Assuming responsibility
+ Collective solidarity and fairness
+ Meaningful and balanced work
+ Experiencing a joint socio-ecological
purpose
G4: Equalising
inequalities
P4.1: Redistributing profits
P4.2: Cross-subsidising
P4.3: Mobilising non-market resources and support
P4.4: Paying uniform, fair, and needs-oriented salaries
P4.5: Tailoring offers for disadvantaged groups
- A 'competition-takes-care' mentality
- Inequalities and power imbalances
- Profit logic and exclusion
- Post-colonial and imperial structures
+ Needs-based access and affordability
+ Reaching out to marginalised people
+ Fairness and inclusivity
+ Local and global redistribution
G5:
Open and decentral
creativity
P5.1: Sharing and developing knowledge openly
P5.2: Utilising commons-based licences
P5.3: Offering convivial products
- Exclusive ownership
- Centralisation
- Obsolescence threat
- Commodification
- Mounting complexity
+ Commons-based access
+ Decentralisation
+ Needs-based development
+ Decommodification
+ Appropriate complexity
G6:
Shrinking, slowing,
and extending
P6.1: Providing demand-reduction services
P6.2: Providing products as a service
P6.3: Providing services for shared product use
- Overproduction, waste, pollution
- Global and anonymous markets
- Linear and sales-based economy
+ Material and energy sufficiency
+ Alignment between supply and demand
+ Closing material cycles
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resource cycles
P6.4: Providing repair services
P6.5: Upcycling
P6.6: Promoting second-hand and reuse
P6.7: Collecting and salvaging used products
P6.8: Creating circular products
P6.9: Utilising traditional and eco-friendly means of
production
- excessive and fast consumption
+ Reduced need to produce new
G7:
Democratic,
purpose-driven, and
transparent
governance
P7.1: Accounting transparently and purpose-oriented
P7.2: Practicing democratic and inclusive governance
P7.3: Governing with stakeholder representatives
P7.4: Purpose-driven funding and co-ownership
P7.5: Setting and communicating a common purpose
- Steep hierarchies
- Power imbalances and injustices
- Lack of transparency
- Tensions between ideals and practice
- Profit first
+ Collective decisions
+ Involvement and inclusivity
+ Transparency and responsibility
+ Continuous learning and development
+ Long-term, multi-stakeholder orientation
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4.1.1 Group 1: Overcoming economic growth dynamics
3
A conscious and constraining approach to organisational growth is often associated with
4
environmental sustainability. However, large-scale organisations are also considered to be at
5
odds with flat hierarchies, a personal atmosphere, and further aspects that relate to degrowth’s
6
other core values of local and global equality as well as conviviality and participation.
7
This pattern group’s central value creation potentials thus lie in preventing undesired
8
commodification and growth while serving customers’ needs, financing high ecological and
9
social standards, and building long-term and trusting relationships (Bocken et al., 2020;
10
Hurlin, 2019; Leonhardt et al., 2017). Accordingly, the problem is seen in how the
11
quantitative growth of organisational activities usually entails, among others, entering
12
financial obligations and competitive market pressures (Leonhardt et al., 2017; Öz and Aksoy,
13
2019). Critically, this can set in motion a growth spiral in which increasing complexity (in
14
terms of risks, infrastructures, obligations, etc.) and growth dependencies (i.e., economic
15
growth is required to sustain the level of complexity) drive each other and lead to phenomena
16
such as ecological rebound effects and social mission drift (Liesen et al., 2015; Wiefek and
17
Heinitz, 2018).
18
The core approach of this group is thus to make strategic decisions and engage in practices
19
that ensure a strong and lasting connection to social and environmental goals. For example,
20
the patterns are not about pricing in a profit but about covering costs (Gerber and Gerber,
21
2017); they are about deliberately staying in a market niche if this allows to finance traditional
22
modes of production (Ertör-Akyazi, 2019; Nesterova, 2021); or they are about distributing
23
ownership among multiple actors to prevent the commodification of housing (Hurlin, 2019).
24
Proposition ①: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that organisations make strategic
25
governance decisions and establish accounting and communication practices that prevent
26
undesired commodification and growth drivers (e.g., competition and debt) but help to
27
identify and serve stakeholders’ needs within social and ecological limits.
28
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4.1.2 Group 2: Engaging consumers in sufficiency-oriented prosumption
29
Patterns of this group are intended to create experiences with and affection for alternative
30
modes of production and consumption, eventually promoting values of conviviality and
31
sufficiency (Bloemmen et al., 2015; Bradley, 2018; Hankammer et al., 2021). Considering the
32
core values of degrowth, this group is primarily about cultural aspects relating to conviviality
33
and participation and secondarily about ecological sustainability.
34
This group’s central potentials for value creation reside in creating capabilities for and first-
35
hand experiences with production processes oriented towards community, sustainability, and
36
quality – especially when this helps people to appreciate the use value of things and
37
experience self-efficacy and community (Bloemmen et al., 2015; Chassagne and Everingham,
38
2019; Kostakis et al., 2018; Schmid, 2018). Accordingly, aspects such as escalating
39
commodification or the alienation of consumers from production conditions (while buying
40
into and depending on powerful market actors to express their social status) are problematised
41
(Chassagne and Everingham, 2019; Ertör-Akyazi, 2019; Renkert, 2019; Schmid, 2018).
42
The core approach linking the different patterns of this group then relates to ‘prosumption’
43
as it is about enabling consumers and involving them in productive activities to promote
44
appreciation, conviviality, and sufficiency. Accordingly, the patterns include activities such as
45
participatory education, collaborative peer production, and providing shared access to
46
manufacturing tools (Bloemmen et al., 2015; Bradley, 2018; Hankammer et al., 2021;
47
Kostakis et al., 2018; Robra et al., 2020; Schmid, 2021).
48
Proposition ②: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that the provision of products
49
and services and communication activities actively involve consumers, thereby conveying a
50
sufficiency-oriented appreciation that everything organisations offer, from food to IT services,
51
is the crystallised form of demanding social and material processes – e.g., of photosynthesis,
52
resource extraction, and discussion.
53
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4.1.3 Group 3: Joining forces in rewarding and mutual collaboration
54
Patterns of this group aim to bring social structures to a human scale that allows and
55
encourages diverse actors to jointly take responsibility for themselves and their socio-
56
ecological environment (Chassagne and Everingham, 2019; Nesterova, 2021; Schmid, 2021).
57
Hence, this group is primarily about conviviality and participation but relevant to all three
58
core values of degrowth.
59
To be precise, this group’s potential for value creation consists in the promotion of power
60
redistribution and decentralisation, solidarity and care, as well as social embeddedness, socio-
61
economic autonomy, and security (Ertör-Akyazi, 2019; Hankammer et al., 2021; Khmara and
62
Kronenberg, 2018; Nesterova, 2021). The community aspect is crucial as this group is
63
concerned with perceiving cooperative relationships as valuable to humans as equal social
64
beings (Manley and Aiken, 2020; Nesterova, 2021). Correspondingly, highly centralised,
65
globalised, and economised social structures are seen as problematic, as they run counter to
66
people’s collective, local, and direct participation in the conditions of social reproduction and
67
coexistence (Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018; Lizarralde and Tyl, 2018; Wells, 2016).
68
Across the patterns of this group, the core approach consists in joining forces to create
69
protected spaces and infrastructures that empower participating actors to respond to external
70
challenges as well as to both realise and spread shared values and more sustainable practices.
71
Thus, actors within and across organisations consistently observe that certain core values are
72
shared, pool their resources, and make use of synergy effects (Aiken et al., 2020; Khmara and
73
Kronenberg, 2018; Lizarralde and Tyl, 2018; Öz and Aksoy, 2019; Schmid, 2018).
74
Proposition ③: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that actors join forces in
75
rewarding and mutual cooperation and (re)distribute resources to create protected spaces and
76
infrastructures that eventually enable the actors involved to tackle social and environmental
77
problems that transcend their core business and individual economic interests.
78
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4.1.4 Group 4: Equalising inequalities
79
Patterns in this group are primarily about how organisations can apply ethical
80
considerations regarding the satisfaction of needs and the social distribution of power, means,
81
and opportunities. The focus is thus on local to global equality.
82
The most important value creation potentials of this group lie in a more equitable
83
distribution of wealth and low-threshold access to needed products or services for
84
underserved and marginalised social groups (Bradley, 2018; Hankammer et al., 2021;
85
Kovanen, 2020). The problem is seen in a polarisation and institutionalised inequity between
86
different social groups, expressed in structures ranging from post-colonialism, to people’s and
87
organisation’s dependence on financial earnings, commodity markets, and an interest-based
88
debt system, to the prevailing power relations between workers, owners, and managers
89
(Bradley, 2018; Lizarralde and Tyl, 2018; Sanna, 2018; Schmid, 2018).
90
The core approach reflected in the patterns of this group is to channel resources and support
91
from public institutions or affluent populations to disadvantaged populations or neglected
92
social causes. Accordingly, degrowth-oriented organisations are likely to target their services
93
at marginalised groups, apply cross-subsidy schemes between different social strata, use
94
public funds and volunteering to support local communities, or fund environmental activism
95
(Houtbeckers, 2018; Kovanen, 2020; Rauner-Lange, 2018; Renkert, 2019).
96
Proposition ④: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that organisations channel (i.e.,
97
source, offer, and (re)distribute) resources and support from public institutions or affluent
98
populations to disadvantaged populations or neglected social causes for a more equitable
99
distribution of wealth, power, and access to needed products or services.
100
4.1.5 Group 5: Open and decentral creativity
101
The patterns of this group are meant to enable diverse individuals and organisations to
102
engage in collective creativity as well as to access, replicate, and adapt solutions according to
103
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their needs and environment (Ertör-Akyazi, 2019; Houtbeckers, 2018; Kostakis et al., 2018;
104
Wells, 2016). This group thus has a focus on conviviality and participation.
105
Promoting open access, simplicity, autonomy, and collective creativity are key potential
106
value contributions of this group (Hankammer et al., 2021; Kostakis et al., 2015; Lizarralde
107
and Tyl, 2018). Market-based competition and access to resources and related aspects such as
108
private ownership and knowledge protection, on the other hand, are associated with negative
109
impacts. To name but a few of these impacts: exclusive access to critical knowledge – as in
110
the case of seed patents, excessive complexity, as well as rapid innovation cycles and the risk
111
of obsolescence (Kostakis et al., 2018; Lizarralde and Tyl, 2018; Schmid, 2018).
112
The core approach is to make social and material technologies accessible to enable their
113
open and generative use (e.g., local adaptations) as well as to advance them through the
114
collective wisdom of a potentially global crowd. Accordingly, sharing material and social
115
technologies via platforms (e.g., open online Wikis) is key (Bradley, 2018; Haucke, 2018;
116
Kostakis et al., 2018; Wells, 2018). Supportive measures include the use of commons-based
117
licences protecting against commercialisation and a focus on frugal innovation and convivial
118
technologies (Hankammer et al., 2021; Kostakis et al., 2018). Convivial technologies are
119
those that are customisable, repairable, and appropriate in complexity and scale to their core
120
function, and as a result enable self-determined and inclusive use (Lizarralde and Tyl, 2018).
121
Proposition ⑤: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that organisations make social
122
and material technologies accessible and advance them through the ‘wisdom of the crowd’
123
(i.e., open provision and development of resources) to decommodify the access to resources
124
and allow for their open, decentral, and generative use.
125
4.1.6 Group 6: Shrinking, slowing, and extending resource cycles
126
The patterns of this group are focused on reducing the environmental impact of human
127
production and consumption. Accordingly, there is an emphasis on ecological sustainability.
128
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To be more precise, crucial value creation potentials are to reduce, in absolute terms,
129
product and waste production as well as energy and materials consumption, and, thereby,
130
enable more resource-effective lifestyles (Bocken et al., 2020; Wells, 2018). The problem
131
addressed is that a market-oriented economic logic sets incentives that all too often promote
132
ecologically harmful practices while the earth's regenerative capacity has already been
133
exceeded (Hankammer et al., 2021; Liesen et al., 2015; Schmid, 2018). For example, in sales-
134
based business models, sourcing low-quality and low-cost materials and not informing
135
customers about ways to extend product lifespans usually facilitates higher revenues (Schmid,
136
2018).
137
The core approach then is to turn this logic on its head and design products and services in
138
such a way that organisations benefit from more effective resource use as well as from the
139
biodegradability, durability, reliability, repairability, and reusability of products.
140
Organisations achieve this, for example, by linking revenue to absolute reductions in energy
141
consumption, offering shared access to products rather than ownership, using full life-cycle
142
analyses in product designs, and offering unlimited repair services (Bocken et al., 2020;
143
Hankammer et al., 2021; Liesen et al., 2015).
144
Proposition ⑥: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that organisations develop,
145
resource, (re)create, and offer products and services that help to reduce, in absolute terms,
146
product and waste production as well as energy and material consumption and enable more
147
resource-effective and sufficiency-oriented lifestyles.
148
4.1.7 Group 7: Democratic, purpose-driven, and transparent governance
149
As this group is about participative approaches to ownership and organisational decision-
150
making, it has a focus on conviviality and participation. Essentially, it is about the insight that
151
economic activities and their impacts are, broadly speaking, political (Aiken et al., 2020;
152
Khmara and Kronenberg, 2018; Kunze and Becker, 2015; Öz and Aksoy, 2019).
153
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Value creation then relates primarily to reopening the possibility for people connected to an
154
organisation to assume responsibility and democratic control for a common socio-ecological
155
purpose (Kostakis et al., 2015; Öz and Aksoy, 2019; Schmid, 2018). Accordingly, the patterns
156
of this group express a critique of profit orientation, competitive dynamics, and hierarchical
157
power relations within or between organisations and other actors - for example, between
158
shareholders and workers or large multinational companies and local family enterprises
159
(Bloemmen et al., 2015; Ertör-Akyazi, 2019; Kunze and Becker, 2015; Wiefek and Heinitz,
160
2018).
161
The core approach linking the patterns of this group resembles a triangle in which
162
transparency-oriented valuation and reporting, participatory decision-making structures, and
163
sharing a common purpose mutually reinforce each other to govern organisations in a
164
democratic as well as socially and ecologically oriented way (Hankammer et al., 2021; Kunze
165
and Becker, 2015; Renkert, 2019). This entails, for example, involving workers in co-
166
ownership and regular assemblies, accounting and reporting on various measures of success,
167
including non-monetary ones, and communicating and adhering to commonly agreed
168
principles (Gabriel et al., 2019; Liesen et al., 2015; Wiefek and Heinitz, 2018).
169
Proposition ⑦: Degrowth-oriented value creation means that – through democratic,
170
purpose-driven, and transparent decision-making, valuation, and communication – people are
171
engaged to recognise economic activities as deeply political, appreciate open discussion and
172
consensus-building, link organisational success to a socio-ecological purpose, and assume
173
responsibility.
174
4.2 The groups’ and patterns’ foci on core values of degrowth
175
In Fig. 6, the pattern groups (Gi) introduced above and the corresponding patterns (Pi.j) are
176
placed according to their individual focus on the core values of degrowth.
177
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178
Fig. 6. Thirty-nine patterns and seven thematic groups of degrowth-oriented organisational value
179
creation mapped against three core values of degrowth (presentation adapted from Lüdeke-Freund et
180
al., 2022)
181
To read Fig. 6, it must be noted that the positioning in the triangle expresses the orientation
182
of a pattern but not its corresponding strength or performance compared to other patterns. If a
183
pattern is particularly focused on one value, the distance to the respective corner of the
184
triangle decreases accordingly. Hence, patterns positioned in the middle of the triangle are
185
perceived to contribute equally to all three values.
186
The conducted analyses suggest some basic observations, which are reflected in Fig. 6.
187
First, there are groups of patterns that do not overlap but reveal synergetic specialisations on
188
particular values. These are ‘Equalising inequalities’ (G4), ‘Open and decentral creativity’
189
(G5), and lastly ‘Shrinking, slowing, and extending resource cycles’ (G6). Furthermore, the
190
value creation of ‘Engaging consumers in sufficiency-oriented prosumption’ (G2) mostly lies
191
in-between ecological sustainability on the one hand and conviviality and participation on the
192
other. Thus, to give an example of a complementary relation: In open and decentralised
193
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design processes (G5), ecological aspects are not guaranteed (Schmid, 2021). Here, the
194
patterns of G2 can complement the patterns of G5.
195
In addition, there are groups that are more integrative and fundamental with regard to the
196
three core values of degrowth. These include ‘Overcoming economic growth dynamics’ (G1),
197
‘Joining forces in rewarding and mutual collaboration’ (G3), and ‘Democratic, purpose-
198
driven, and transparent governance’ (G7). For example, considering G7, the way
199
organisations make decisions affects all their activities and structures and vice versa. Hence,
200
this group is fundamentally linked to all other pattern groups.
201
Finally, an overall inclination towards conviviality and participation stands out. This is in
202
line with the general tenor in the degrowth discourse: The desired transformation is primarily
203
about a change in interpersonal relations and democratic social institutions, which
204
subsequently translates into implications such as lower resource consumption and well-being
205
(Kallis, 2018).
206
5 Concluding discussion
207
5.1 Limitations and avenues for future research
208
The main contributions of our research are the systematic overview of thirty-nine
209
degrowth-oriented patterns of organisational value creation and the theoretical propositions
210
derived from analysing these patterns considering three core values of a degrowth society.
211
While this is an important contribution in terms of better understanding the role of
212
organisations, our contribution is of course incomplete and limited. Hence, it opens up
213
avenues for future research, especially in relation to a degrowth theory of value as well as to
214
degrowth patterns.
215
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5.1.1 Propositions as a potential (but incomplete) basis for a degrowth theory of value
216
The seven theoretical propositions derived relate to core issues commonly touched upon by
217
value theories and, hence, can be an integral part for further developing a degrowth theory of
218
value. To begin with, how the conceptualisation of value (creation) comes to bear in specific
219
theories of value strongly relates to the assumed images of human beings (cf., Dixon and
220
Wilson, 2012; Lowe and Genovese, 2022). Under the banner of anti-utilitarianism, degrowth
221
scholars criticise neoclassical theories of value for their narrow and one-sided view of human
222
nature in terms of a self-interested homo economicus (e.g., Demaria et al., 2013; Muraca,
223
2013; Romano, 2015). In contrast, it is argued that human beings must be understood as social
224
actors or “active citizens” (Bauwens et al., 2020, p. 6) for whom social processes, outcomes,
225
and values (e.g., discursive democracy, public goods, and justice) are essential (Demaria et
226
al., 2013; Demmer and Hummel, 2017; Muraca, 2013; Romano, 2012).
227
The propositions ②, ③, and ⑦ are in line with this degrowth conception of human
228
beings. Proposition ② expresses that degrowth-oriented value creation entails
229
communicating social and ecological values and production conditions to consumers through
230
their active involvement. Looking at proposition ③ in the same light, rewarding and mutual
231
cooperation is not only a means to achieve other ends. Rather, considerate behaviour towards
232
fellow human beings (e.g., colleagues (see P3.1)) is an end in itself. Finally, proposition ⑦
233
most obviously supports a social ontology that views stakeholders as active citizens whose
234
stakes, preferences, perspectives, and choices form in collective socio-cultural processes.
235
Furthermore, the image of human beings as social actors relates to the central issue of
236
valuation (Hornborg, 2022; Mazzucato, 2018; Pitts, 2021). Drawing on Graeber (2001), Pitts
237
(2021), and Røpke (2021), value is eventually a matter of valuation processes and
238
conventions, i.e., social practices, power relations, and instruments involved in identifying
239
and representing value. The most prominent valuation conventions in Western societies
240
certainly relate to money and prices as well as to power and status. In this context, degrowth
241
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scholars are critical of, inter alia, the sole use of ‘general-purpose money’ and the equation of
242
value and price which make everything commensurable (Hornborg, 2019; Leonardi, 2019).
243
Correspondingly, propositions ① and ⑦ specifically mention organisational accounting
244
and valuation practices. What exactly is at stake here is made clear in “Real cost pricing”
245
(P1.1), “Using alternative and sustainability-oriented currencies” (P1.7), and “Accounting
246
transparently and purpose-oriented” (P7.1). In effect, it is about applying those means to
247
recognise, measure, and represent the destruction and production of value that are appropriate
248
in terms of core values of degrowth.
249
In summary, there is still a long way to go before a complete picture of a degrowth theory
250
of value can be presented. For example, there is a need to explicitly discuss how notions of
251
time, power, nature, and technology relate to the practice and understanding of degrowth-
252
oriented value creation. In addition, it seems promising to further explore what can be learned
253
from approaches related to degrowth, such as commons-based peer production, which
254
explicitly address key issues of value theories (see, e.g., Bauwens and Niaros, 2017; Pazaitis
255
et al., 2022). Nevertheless, it can be inferred that the seven theoretical propositions of
256
degrowth-oriented organisational value creation have the potential to be an integral part of the
257
development of a more fundamental degrowth theory of value in future research.
258
For example, based on the above, it is crucial for a degrowth theory of value to view
259
people's subjective conceptions of value as shaped by and shaping their socio-ecological
260
environment – the communities, institutions, and places in which people live and to which
261
they belong. The development of a degrowth theory of value then is challenged to elaborate
262
how the institutional design of money and other socio-cultural features of valuation
263
conventions can align subjective evaluations with core degrowth values such as ecological
264
sustainability and equality. Such a theory would have to be explicit about the roles and images
265
of actors and organisations, we can also say individual and collective agency, and how both
266
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contribute to, and are reflected in, the emergence and application of degrowth-oriented
267
organisational value creation patterns.
268
5.1.2 Patterns as potential (but not guaranteed) supporters of degrowth-oriented value creation
269
To understand limitations but also the potential of the thirty-nine identified patterns of
270
degrowth-oriented organisational value creation, we must ask: What are the patterns we
271
found, and what are they not? To begin with the latter, we can say that the patterns are not
272
standardised and ready-to-use solutions that would bring about a degrowth society if we just
273
applied them.
274
This is the case for at least two reasons. First, patterns are knowledge about problem-
275
solution combinations rooted in experience. Hence, they are valuable and at least partly
276
proven, but they must be actively used and further developed. Individuals and organisations
277
are needed that activate the knowledge contained in the patterns. This in turn requires courage
278
and the will to experiment, often with unforeseeable implications. In addition, local and
279
context-specific knowledge is required since every pattern would function differently under
280
different conditions and in relation to various aspects of socio-cultural practice (e.g., private
281
life, civil society initiatives, new business models, and available competencies).
282
Second, the implications of applying the degrowth patterns are not predictable. What is
283
intended as contributing to conviviality might backfire as it has exclusionary effects for
284
stakeholder groups that have been overlooked, or what is meant to save resources is simply
285
impossible because of political and legal barriers. The patterns cannot guarantee that they will
286
always lead to the positive implications outlined in our pattern descriptions. Their application
287
and, most importantly, the evaluation of their implications are the next challenges that
288
researchers and practitioners should pay attention to, while they criticise, revise, and extend
289
our pattern approach.
290
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We can now try to understand what our patterns are. We see the identified case study-based
291
patterns as indications of the fact that some organisations are indeed working towards
292
realising the core values of a degrowth society. One could say the patterns are examples of
293
how organisations can engage in the politics of value for degrowth by actualising degrowth
294
values in and through organisational practice.
295
In conclusion, our patterns approach can be seen as an instrument, a sensorium and
296
navigation system, to identify attempts of turning degrowth into practice. However, a
297
collection of patterns is never finalised. It invites future research to sharpen and confirm or
298
refute the existing patterns and add new ones. In this way, our pattern approach can contribute
299
to a dynamic process of researching, depicting, and putting into practice a degrowth society,
300
helping it to come to the surface and make a difference.
301
5.2 Conclusion
302
The presented research shows that the notion that degrowth radically challenges the value
303
creation logic of modern capitalistic economies is more than just rhetoric. Our elaboration of
304
thirty-nine organisational value creation patterns provides insights on and inspirations for
305
degrowth-oriented organisational innovation. Moreover, it allowed for developing seven
306
theoretical propositions about the ways and implications of degrowth-oriented organisational
307
value creation.
308
The bottom line of all this, it seems to us, is that degrowth-oriented value creation radiates
309
towards ecological sustainability and local to global equality by embracing opportunities for
310
conviviality and participation. Degrowth-oriented value creation is not primarily about adding
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new material things to the world (especially commodities), but about selectively decluttering
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the social world and engaging (with) others in collective, creative, and political processes to
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actualise the core values of degrowth.
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Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 36
Still, the study of organisations’ degrowth-oriented value creation has proven to be
315
complex. Several of the studies analysed (e.g., Gómez and Prado, 2020; Robra et al., 2020;
316
Schmid, 2018; Wiefek and Heinitz, 2018) indicated that in reality organisations creatively
317
blend degrowth-oriented and, for example, market-oriented value creation patterns. Moreover,
318
there are indications of both complementary and contradictory relationships among the
319
identified patterns. For example, the approach to design globally and manufacture locally,
320
which can be found in Wells (2018) and Kostakis et al. (2015), is a combination of, at least,
321
“Promoting sustainability-oriented learning and engagement” (P2.4), “Doing business in local
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actor networks” (P3.2), and “Sharing and developing knowledge openly” (P5.1). Then again,
323
while some authors point towards a decommodification logic to solve sustainability problems
324
(e.g., Bloemmen et al., 2015; Gerber and Gerber, 2017), others indicate specific extensions of
325
the economic sphere, such as “Providing repair services” (P6.4) (e.g., Bocken et al., 2020).
326
Such cases indicate that degrowth – just as other alternative economy-related concepts (e.g.,
327
corporate social responsibility or stakeholder theory (Miles, 2012; Okoye, 2009)) – is a
328
dynamically emerging and at times contested concept. All the more, our findings indicate the
329
state of development of the degrowth concept at the level of organisations and reveal a variety
330
of relevant starting points for further research.
331
Acknowledgements
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We thank Giacomo D'Alisa (University of Coimbra), Giacomo Buzzao (Università degli
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Studi di Perugia) and Magnus Merkle (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) for their
334
valuable feedback on an earlier draft of the manuscript during a PhD seminar at the
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Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås, Norway.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public,
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commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 37
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Appendix
668
Appendix A: Detailed presentations of organisational value creation patterns for degrowth
669
This appendix contains all thirty-nine patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation, structured into seven groups, which have
670
been identified through the conducted systematic literature review.
671
Table A.1
672
Descriptions of thirty-nine patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation, divided into seven thematic groups
673
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
G1 Overcoming economic growth dynamics
P1.1
Real cost pricing
In the context of economic competition and
consumerism, there is a tendency to offer
products at competitive prices while not
internalising high social and environmental
standards and costs.
Accounting for, pricing in, and making
transparent the genuine costs of high
environmental and social standards (while
refraining from pricing in profit margins) in
order to create and communicate a credible
price-performance ratio and finance high
sustainability standards in production and
supply.
The Artisans Association of Coffee Farmers
of Rio Intag is a coffee association with
around 150-member families in Ecuador. The
association has started to produce and market
hand-made, artisanal products made of high-
quality natural materials. The association is
engaged in communicating that their
premium prices represent no more than their
actual and fair costs.
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Bocken et al., 2020;
Chassagne & Everingham,
2019; Ertör-Akyazi, 2020;
Gerber & Gerber, 2017;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Schmid, 2021
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 52
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
P1.2
Investing in
efficiency gains
without growth
motives
In modern market economies, organisations
usually invest to make their production
processes more efficient. When efficiency
gains are used to increase production and
sales figures, this usually contributes to a
competition-driven growth dynamic and leads
to rebound effects in terms of absolute
resource and energy consumption.
Investing in material, cost, and/or time
efficiency gains while foregoing sales growth
in order to reduce the absolute level of
organisational resource use.
Richard Henkel, a manufacturer of high-
quality furniture, has recognised that focusing
on innovative solutions to improve resource
efficiency and reduce costs in production is
an important way to maintain profitability,
safeguard the company and jobs, and
contribute to climate protection. Still, the
company is not striving to increase sales
figures.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Panzer-Krause, 2019; Wiefek
& Heinitz, 2018; Liesen et
al., 2015
P1.3
Balancing the
organisational
scale
Competitive dynamics and economic
prospects are a driving force for organisations
to focus on short-term goals and growth.
From a sustainability perspective,
organisations are faced with the challenge of
finding and maintaining an optimal size that
is economically viable, within sustainable
limits of local socio-ecological conditions,
and supporting an elevated level of
participation by organisational members.
Organisations limit their size and operations
according to local ecological conditions (e.g.,
they refrain from excessive economic
opportunities) in order to be economically
viable, not exceed the regeneration rates of
local ecosystems, and also support low
hierarchies and high participation among
organisational members.
The farmer of a community-supported farm in
Belgium makes sure that the harvest respects
natural rhythms and metabolisms. This may
well imply foregoing certain crops in certain
years and limiting cultivation overall.
Similarly, new customers who want to join
the community but would exceed the
regenerative production volume are put on a
waiting list. The overall aim is to avoid
overuse of resources and labour overload.
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Leonhardt et al., 2017;
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Nesterova, 2021; Öz &
Aksoy, 2019; Robra et al.,
2020; Schmid, 2018; Wells,
2018
P1.4
Ownership of an asset and its use and
Setting up and interweaving ownership
The MIETSHÄUSER SYNDIKAT GmbH is
Wiefek & Heinitz, 2018;
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 53
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
Interlocking
multiple parties’
statutes for a
purpose
management are often separate. Especially
when there is a change of ownership, the
balance between long-term and short-term
goals may shift, or an original social purpose
may become less important than financial
profitability.
structures and statutes of different parties in
order to decommodify the use and
management of essential goods or
organisations and ensure a social and/or
ecological purpose is maintained in the long-
term.
supporting groups of people who want to buy
or build housing in order to live together.
First, these groups jointly create associations.
MIETSHÄUSER SYNDIKAT GmbH and the
respective associations then both become
shareholders in an individually founded
limited liability company. The association is
positioned as the management of the limited
liability company and can manage itself.
However, both MIETSHÄUSER
SYNDIKAT GmbH and the association have
a veto right when it comes to the sale of the
respective housing, changes to the statutes, or
the extraction of profits.
Hurlin, 2019
P1.5
Marketing a
specialisation in
sustainability
The dynamics of market competition pose a
particular challenge for organisations that
want to remain local and at an optimal size in
terms of their socio-ecological impact.
However, small enterprises usually cannot
compete on price with large enterprises and
Identifying and occupying market niches
through targeted customer communication
measures in order to secure a strong
sustainability positioning, reduce competitive
pressures, and be able to finance high
ecological and social production standards.
Neumarkter Lammsbräu - a producer of
organic drinks - states: “We are aware that
with our strategy we operate in a niche
market. This niche is a precondition for our
survival in a market that is characterised by
merciless competition and seemingly endless
Bocken et al., 2020;
Nesterova, 2021; Schmid,
2018; Liesen et al., 2015;
Wells, 2016,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 54
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
are therefore often forced out of the market.
growth” (Neumarkter Lammsbräu, 2011,
cited in Liesen et al., 2015, p. 16)
P1.6
Building personal
customer
relationships
In a sales-based economic model, companies
easily focus on the quantity of transactions
rather than the quality of their customer
relationships. As a result, companies have
limited knowledge of their customers' needs
and their marketing activities run the risk of
contributing to environmentally damaging
overproduction by tempting consumers to buy
more than they need.
Engaging directly and continuously with
customers in order to establish long-term,
loyal, trustful, and needs-oriented
relationships - which then also reduce growth
pressures and enable sufficiency-oriented
marketing and sales practices.
The IT consultancy BRM intentionally limits
its number of customers in order to be able to
maintain a direct and intensive relationship
with existing and, for that reason, loyally
returning customers.
Bocken et al., 2020;
Chassagne & Everingham,
2019; Khmara &
Kronenberg, 2018;
Nesterova, 2021; Öz &
Aksoy, 2019; Liesen et al.,
2015
P1.7
Using alternative
and
sustainability-
oriented
currencies
Hierarchical monetary systems based on
interest-based credit and money creation
promote economic competition, growth and
unequal power relations between lenders,
wealthy individuals, workers, and credit-
dependent organisations.
Joining and (partially) using an alternative
(local) currency that functions interest-free, is
democratic and decentralised, and whose
operation is resource and energy efficient in
order to strengthen the local economy and the
social ties within it as well as to withdraw
capital from the interest and debt-based
monetary system.
In Catalonia (Spain), regional networks have
introduced self-organised currencies (e.g., the
“Eco”) that are used by local organisations
and citizens. These alternative and
complementary currencies are exchanged
electronically, but only function in a
territorially limited space to contribute to
encounters between local actors. Moreover, to
prevent speculation, there is no interest rate,
Balaguer Rasillo, 2021;
Gómez & Medina Prado,
2020
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 55
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
and the creation of new money is always
linked to the actual provision of a good or
service.
G2 Engaging consumers in sufficiency-oriented prosumption
P2.1
Sharing risks and
responsibilities
with consumers
In global and largely anonymous markets -
usually including several intermediaries -
there is repeatedly a mismatch between
supply and demand and thus a waste of
resources. Moreover, (profit-oriented)
intermediaries are in a powerful and
centralising position, which can lead to risky
competition among producers and a disregard
for social and environmental concerns.
Agreeing on production plans and sharing the
(financial) production risk in a direct
connection between consumers and producers
in order to support decentralisation, avoid
wasteful overproduction, and sustainably
meet the needs of both sides - especially
secured livelihoods and the eco-friendly
supply of quality products.
Farms that practise community-supported
agriculture typically hold regular meetings
where consumers and producers meet to
jointly agree on the vegetables and fruits to be
grown, the expected quantity and quality, and
the production costs for the next year. This
means that the produce is no longer sold at a
market price but distributed to the members,
while the running costs are already covered
by the members' annual or monthly
contributions.
Bloemmen et al., 2015
P2.2
Supporting co-
production and
prosumption
Complex and largely anonymous markets
combined with a tendency towards
"consumerism" and centralised market
structures turn people into mere consumers of
industrially produced goods. This, in turn,
Providing space and means for people to
collectively engage in creative and productive
practices in order to help them make hands-
on experiences of community, creativity, and
autonomy (e.g., of the capability to build and
Open workshops (or "makerspaces")
represent shared spaces in which local
citizens can make use of low-threshold access
to tools and materials and participate in
processes of mutual learning and support to
Aiken et al., 2020;
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Bradley, 2018; Kostakis et
al., 2018; Kostakis et al.,
2015; Lizarralde & Tyl,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 56
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
contributes to a limited perception of people's
(potential) autonomy and the economy's
actual diversity.
repair).
build, tinker with, and/or repair low-tech to
high-tech commodities (e.g., furniture or
electronics) for self-chosen purpose
accomplishment.
2018; Öz & Aksoy, 2019;
Robra et al., 2020; Sanna,
2018; Schmid, 2018; Schmid,
2021
P2.3
Engaging
consumers in
packaging reuse
The prevailing linear and sales-based
economic logic, combined with non-
committal relationships between customers
and sellers, usually leads to environmental
pollution as potentially reusable product parts
are not returned and reused but wasted.
Involving customers in the reuse of items, in
particular the reuse of packaging, in order to
reduce waste and the use of virgin resources
as well as to draw customers’ attention to
issues of waste and give them the opportunity
to be an active part of a more sufficiency-
oriented lifestyle.
In Berlin and other German cities,
unpackaged stores offer products such as
soap, rice, nuts, and spices in bulk so that
customers can fill up containers and bottles
they bring from home.
Bocken et al., 2020;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Schmid, 2018
P2.4
Promoting
sustainability-
oriented learning
and engagement
While the production and consumption,
especially of the Global North, increasingly
impact communities around the world and the
Earth's ecosystem, there are societal trends
for people and businesses to lose practical
knowledge, empathy, and experience
regarding the conditions of production, self-
subsistence, community affairs, other
cultures, and nature. Still, organisations are
Providing resources (e.g., time and social
connections) and guidance (e.g., instructions)
for participatory and hands-on learning
experiences to stakeholders, especially to
employees or customers (as a commercial
offer), in order to promote practical
knowledge and new routines related to
environmental sustainability, as well as
creativity, autonomy, and local socio-cultural
Nea Guinea, a non-profit organisation based
in Greece, offers adult education courses in
which participants learn to make small wind
turbines. The wind turbines are then donated,
among others, to local eco-communities that
use an off-grid renewable energy system.
Skagerak, a high-quality and environmentally
friendly furniture manufacturer, offers its
employees three days a year to volunteer for
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Bradley, 2018; Chassagne &
Everingham, 2019;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2018; Kostakis et al., 2018;
Kovanen, 2020; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Lizarralde &
Tyl, 2018; Panzer-Krause,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 57
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
embedded in and typically benefit from their
regional socio-political and natural systems.
embeddedness, awareness, and development.
their local communities on full pay.
2019; Rauner-Lange, 2018;
Renkert, 2019; Robra et al.,
2020; Schmid, 2018
P2.5
Communicating
for sufficiency
In a market economy and culture where need
satisfaction is primarily equated with material
consumption, companies compete with each
other by offering a wide range of products
and services. Customers, on the other hand,
lack not only the means to consume more
sustainably, but also knowledge about the
social and environmental impacts of and
alternatives to their consumption behaviour.
Adopting a sufficiency-oriented style of
customer communication and marketing in
order to educate customers and trigger them
to re-think (the actual need of) their
consumption decisions.
Somenergia, a Catalan energy cooperative,
sends out monthly energy saving tips along
with its electricity bills. The bills also show
customers the difference between their
individual and average electricity
consumption. This information is intended to
raise awareness and thus motivate people to
improve their individual behaviour.
Bocken et al., 2020;
Chassagne & Everingham,
2019; Hankammer et al.,
2021; Khmara &
Kronenberg, 2018; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Leonhardt et
al., 2017; Panzer-Krause,
2019
G3 Joining forces in rewarding and mutual collaboration
P3.1
Practicing a
culture of
reciprocal care
The management of many organisations
focuses primarily on efficiently dealing with
high and dynamic market demands. Resulting
effects such as uncertainty and fluctuating or
high workloads, however, can lead to
increased psychological stress and high
turnover rates among employees and tend to
Proactively caring for other organisational
members and, correspondingly, building
internal structures around aspects of mutual
support, reward, security, autonomy, dignity,
and trust in order to mitigate the impact of
market pressures on employee well-being and
experience and appreciate each other and
A sustainably-oriented bank in Germany,
such as GLS or Tomorrow, aims to live up to
community values and alleviate economic
stresses for employees. For example,
employees are offered support to openly
address and jointly resolve overload
situations. In addition, there is a solidarity-
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2020; Manley & Aiken,
2020; Nesterova, 2021;
Rauner-Lange, 2018; Liesen
et al., 2015
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 58
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
worsen social relations in general.
collaboration as valuable in itself.
based social fund into which all employees
pay a self-selected part of their salary. The
fund helps individual employees in
emergency situations (e.g., an accident).
P3.2
Doing business in
local actor
networks
Today's complex, global, and largely
anonymous markets usually entail an
imbalance of power, low levels of
accountability for overall social and
environmental impacts, high socio-economic
risks for at least some of the involved actors,
and high levels of environmental damage.
Engaging primarily with local suppliers,
customers, as well as public and private
partners (e.g., local charities and authorities)
and involving local communities in order to
support the regional economy and community
embeddedness in terms of close,
collaborative, and long-term relationships, as
well as to increase accountability as well as
resource and energy efficiency.
The Runa Tupari tourism agency is an eco-
tourism organisation that collaborates with
Indigenous communities of the Cotacachi
Farmers' Association in Ecuador. During
stays with local Indigenous families, tourists
can learn about the culture and participate in
domestic and agricultural work. This acts as a
local counter-movement to extractivist
foreign multinationals.
Aiken et al., 2020;
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Chassagne & Everingham,
2019; Kostakis et al., 2018;
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Nesterova, 2021; Robra et
al., 2020; Schmid, 2021;
Wiefek & Heinitz, 2018;
Wells, 2016
P3.3
Engaging in
values-based
business relations
Doing business requires working with and
sourcing from partners and suppliers.
Particularly in competitive economic
situations, organisations are often faced with
situations where there are incentives to enter
into commercially attractive relationships, but
which involve trade-offs in terms of their
Consistently selecting and collaborating with
suppliers, economic partners, and customers
on the basis of shared social and
environmental values and practices and on an
equal footing in order to realise those values
(e.g., fairness) as well as the long-term
benefits of trustful and loyal cooperation and,
em-faktor describes itself as social profit
communications agency and states its
principle to select B2B-customers
accordingly: "We work for social profit
enterprises. For us, it does not matter whether
they are [legally] non-profit or not, as long as
they follow a social purpose. […]” (em-
Ertör-Akyazi, 2020; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Leonhardt et
al., 2017; Nesterova, 2021;
Öz & Aksoy, 2019; Rauner-
Lange, 2018; Schmid, 2018;
Wiefek & Heinitz, 2018
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 59
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
social or environmental impact.
ultimately, overcome a narrow market logic.
faktor, cited in Schmid, 2018, p. 293).
P3.4
Distributing
through a
cooperative sales
network
Production and consumption are typically
mediated by intermediaries. This means that
many intermediaries, following a competitive
market logic, use their powerful position to
retain a disproportionate share of sales
revenues, while producers inevitably lose
control over how their own products are
promoted and sometimes even rely on credit
from intermediaries.
Distributing produce through a producer-
owned logistics and sales system, which
involves profit sharing, in order to empower
producers, retain a higher share of revenues to
finance high ecological and social production
standards, and potentially shorten value
chains which improves ecological
performance.
Istanbul Birlik is an association of thirty-four
fishing cooperatives with around 2500
fishers. Here, the collection of fish is
organised jointly, and the sale takes place via
the association's own Coop shops. For the
fishers, this has significantly improved sales
prices and payment. Finally, at the end of the
business year, the shops' additional profits are
redistributed among the fishers.
Ertör-Akyazi, 2020
P3.5
Joining forces in
mission-driven
networks
Especially in the context of socio-economic
institutions that are broadly unsustainable and
dominated by large established companies,
strongly sustainability-oriented organisations
face a tension between maintaining an
optimal scale (e.g., in terms of democratic
governance and local sourcing) and the goal
of contributing to a greater socio-ecologically
meaningful transformation.
Engaging in and helping to provide
infrastructures that allow a diverse group of
actors (e.g., including social movement
actors) to support each other and leverage
synergies (e.g., sharing knowledge, space, or
equipment) in order to collectively gain the
strength and capabilities to implement and
disseminate socio-ecologically oriented
practices.
The open workshop ‘Hobbyhimmel’ has
become an important infrastructure for a
variety of sustainability-oriented actors. For
example, the space and equipment are freely
available for regular Repair Café events. Both
sides benefit as the participants make
valuable experiences and are potential future
customers of Hobbyhimmel. Furthermore, for
a foodsharing organisation that fights food
waste Hobbyhimmel provides shelves and a
Aiken et al., 2020;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Houtbeckers, 2018; Khmara
& Kronenberg, 2018;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2020; Kostakis et al., 2018;
Kovanen, 2020; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Manley &
Aiken, 2020; Panzer-Krause,
2019; Schmid, 2018
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 60
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
refrigerator so that customers benefit from
food donations.
G4 Equalising inequalities
P4.1
Redistributing
profits
Typically, the power relations between
workers, owners, and managers are an
important determinant for the distribution of a
company's profits. As a result, profits are
distributed predominantly between the
owners of a company and - to a lesser extent -
between the management of a company,
while workers or external social and
environmental concerns play only a minor
role in the distribution of profits.
Redistributing and/or donating profits in
order to reduce economic inequalities,
balance the interests of the actors involved
(e.g., owners and different employee groups),
as well as to support broader social and
ecological causes.
In Machynlleth in Wales, the ''Renewable
Energy Investment Club'' sold shares to local
citizens to establish a citizen energy
cooperative. The aim of the project is to
provide electricity sustainably and influence
people’s lifestyles in terms of energy
consumption. To this end, at least one third of
the revenue flows into a fund that supports all
households in the region in their efforts to
save energy. Among other things, energy-
saving light bulbs are provided free of charge
and appropriate education is promoted.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2018; Kunze & Becker,
2015; Nesterova, 2021;
Renkert, 2019; Wiefek &
Heinitz, 2018
P4.2
Cross-subsidising
A market-based economy combined with an
unequal distribution of economic wealth
limits inclusive access to products and
services (especially those that meet high
social and environmental standards) and
Differentiating offerings in terms of
product/service features and prices so that
financial returns in the high-price segment
can be used in order to finance affordable
prices for low-income customer segments.
The Bike Kitchen in Malmö offers dedicated
events that appeal to certain groups and for
which the participants pay a profit-generating
price (e.g., a specialised repair course). The
earnings are then used to cover or reduce the
Bradley, 2018; Kostakis et
al., 2018; Lizarralde & Tyl,
2018; Panzer-Krause, 2019;
Schmid, 2018; Schmid, 2021
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 61
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
constrains a broader movement for more
sustainable consumption choices.
costs for those who cannot otherwise afford
access to the organisation's standard value
proposition (e.g., an open workshop).
P4.3
Mobilising non-
market resources
and support
A market-based economy has self-reinforcing
tendencies with regard to the increasingly
unequal provision of and access to (in
particular sustainably produced) products and
services (e.g., due to the need to ensure
economic viability) that constrain a more
equal access to needed offerings.
Accessing and mobilising non-market
resources (e.g., in the form of individual
volunteers, in-kind or monetary donations, or
public-private partnerships) with a non-profit
approach in order to reduce operation costs
and provide a more inclusive and widespread
access to products and/or services for
otherwise excluded groups (potentially
including the volunteers themselves)
BÜKOOP is a university-based consumer
food co-operative in Istanbul. In this
cooperative grocery shop, many customers
are members of the cooperative who
volunteer. Through volunteering, BÜKOOP
contributes to a more inclusive access to
quality food, especially for members but also
for other customers. Besides, interpersonal
exchanges and the appreciation of food are
rewarding for the members.
Aiken et al., 2020; Bradley,
2018; Houtbeckers, 2018;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2020; Kovanen, 2020;
Nesterova, 2021; Öz &
Aksoy, 2019; Schmid, 2021
P4.4
Paying uniform,
fair, and needs-
oriented salaries
In many (non-public) organisations, salary
structures are non-transparent and non-
uniform. This can lead to envy, (suspicion of)
injustice, and recurring individual demands
for salary increases. The latter can turn into
pressure for growth and higher profit margins
for the respective organisations.
Implementing uniform salary structures that
consider the living situation and basic needs
of employees in a democratic and transparent
way in order to realise democratic values as
well as to reduce individual envy, economic
injustice, and undesirable growth pressure on
an organisation.
At Waldviertler Werkstätten GmbH, an
Austrian manufacturer of shoes and other
products, the highest wage may only be twice
the lowest wage. These remuneration
regulations are made transparent and apply to
all employees equally.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Rauner-Lange, 2018; Wiefek
& Heinitz, 2018; Liesen et
al., 2015
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 62
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
P4.5
Tailoring offers
for disadvantaged
groups
A market-based economy has self-reinforcing
tendencies with regard to the increasingly
unequal provision of and access to products
and services (e.g., due to the need to target
lucrative customer segments) that constrain a
more equal access to socially or ecologically
meaningful offerings
Tailoring sustainability-oriented value
propositions and communication activities in
order to reach and encourage marginalised or
otherwise blocked customer groups.
Bicycle manufacturing and repair
organisations, such as Cykelköket in Malmö,
offer small bicycle repair units that are
affordable also for poor customers and offer
queer nights as well as women's repair
workshops to counter dominant gender
norms.
Bradley, 2018; Khmara &
Kronenberg, 2018; Lizarralde
& Tyl, 2018
G5 Open and decentral creativity
P5.1
Sharing and
developing
knowledge
openly
Many economic sectors are characterised by
centralisation, as ever larger and specialised
companies patent their knowledge and seek
monopoly rents. This hinders collective,
continuous, and sustainability-oriented design
processes and, in the worst case, even entails
deliberate investments in planned
obsolescence.
Actively sharing and developing skills,
competencies, and knowledge in open
(online) communities in order to build on the
wisdom of a potentially global crowd and
overcome barriers to the local and decentral
replication of sustainability-oriented software,
hardware, or business approaches by
organisations or individuals.
The Open Source Ecology is an initiative
centred on the collective and open
development of a set of fifty machines needed
in the area of farming - the “Global Village
Construction Set”. Developing the designs by
a globally interconnected community has
created significant cost reductions - both in
terms of R&D costs and in terms of
production costs. People and businesses
around the world can rebuild and further
develop the machines themselves.
Bradley, 2018; Ertör-Akyazi,
2020; Haucke, 2018;
Kostakis et al., 2018;
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Nesterova, 2021; Öz &
Aksoy, 2019; Schmid, 2018;
Schmid, 2021; Wells, 2016,
P5.2
Access to resources is usually organised
Using (and creating) commons-based licences
There are different commons-based licences
Kostakis et al., 2018;
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 63
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
Utilising
commons-based
licences
according to a market-oriented and exclusive
private ownership logic. As a result, even the
sharing of non-competing resources (e.g.,
design knowledge or digital media) is
restricted, which blocks their generative,
equal, and collective use.
in order to prevent exclusive
commercialisation and corresponding
dependencies while allowing for the
collective, creative, and widely accessible
use, development, and (re)creation of
resources.
that organisations can choose from (e.g.,
copyright licences released by the non-profit
organisation Creative Commons (CC)). The
car manufacturer Riversimple has published
the design plans for a car under a CC
Attribution-Non-commercial licence on the
website of the 40 Fires Foundation.
Kostakis et al., 2015; Wells,
2018
P5.3
Offering
convivial
products
Economic organisations compete with each
other in developing and marketing ever new
technological innovations ("tech race") but
lack a strong incentive to design products that
are accessible, adaptable, durable, and
repairable.
Designing and offering long-lasting and
appropriately complex products that can be
repaired, re-used, and customised by non-
expert users in order to enhance user
autonomy and creativity as well as to reduce
the threat of obsolescence and environmental
impacts.
Dr. Bronner's offers a pleasant, simple soap
product that can be used in a self-determined
and versatile way – e.g., for the care of body
and teeth, cleaning cosmetic brushes, and
dishwashing. The products of its three basic
versions differ only in the addition of their
essential oils, are sourced sustainably, and are
designed to last long (high concentration).
Thus, the product is an alternative to owning
a complex set of cleaning products.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Kostakis et al., 2018;
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Wells, 2018
G6 Shrinking, slowing, and extending resource cycles
P6.1
Providing
In a sales-based economic model, there is an
incentive for organisations not to contribute
Offering and providing advisory services that
improve clients' resource and energy
Some Energy Service Companies (ESCOs)
offer their customers services and
Bocken et al., 2020
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 64
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
demand-reduction
services
to the most eco-friendly use of their products
or services. This is because teaching
customers how to use a company's service
offering more efficiently or extend the life of
a product typically reduces revenue.
efficiency and provide financial savings that
exceed the cost of the service in order to
jointly benefit from improvements in
environmental and economic performance.
corresponding contracts based on which these
companies get paid to the degree that they
help to reduce final energy consumption and
energy bills. This turns around economic
incentives related to unsustainable behaviour
(e.g., not switching off idle electronic devices
implies earnings for ESCO).
P6.2
Providing
products as a
service
In a linear economic model based on sales
and customer ownership, companies typically
seek to increase their profits by continuingly
aiming to utilise economies of scale and sell
more. This is problematic because the
expansion of production brings with it an
increasing environmental burden in the form
of energy and material consumption as well
as pollution and waste generation.
Providing customers with access to the
function of products within the framework of
long-term and sustainability-oriented service
contracts in order to benefit economically
from products’ resource-efficiency,
durability, reliability, repairability, and
reusability.
Riversimple offers its cars via the sale of a
long-term service package. Thereby, the
company retains the ownership of its cars.
The service package entails that cars are
returned to Riversimple every three years to
be checked and refreshed and it covers fuel
consumption. While the former creates an
economic incentive to design the cars as
robust, durable, and repairable as possible,
the latter sets an incentive to make the car as
fuel-efficient as possible.
Bocken et al., 2020;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2018; Wells, 2018; Liesen et
al., 2015
P6.3
Providing
In a linear economic model based on sales
and customer ownership, companies typically
Offering platform services and infrastructures
for a locally shared access to company-owned
Wecoop is an organisation that integrates bike
sharing services and open-source software.
Bocken et al., 2020;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 65
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
services for
shared product
use
seek to increase their profits by continuingly
aiming to use economies of scale and sell
more. This is problematic because the
expansion of production brings with it an
increasing environmental burden in the form
of energy and material consumption as well
as pollution and waste generation.
or platform-member-owned products in order
to improve resource effectiveness and
inclusivity in product access - at best as a
substitute for less eco-friendly options.
The organisation provides public and private
customers with an electric bike-sharing
system that improves access to bicycles in
urban spaces. Customers can flexibly adapt
the sharing service to local conditions. An
example of this is the relocation of bicycle
sharing equipment from schools during the
school year to beach areas during the summer
holiday season.
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Schmid, 2021; Wells, 2018
P6.4
Providing repair
services
The prevailing linear and sales-based
economic model often leads to environmental
pollution as potentially repairable items are
mass-produced, consumed, thrown away and,
if needed, re-purchased.
Providing repair services in order to extend
the life of products and reduce the need to
manufacture new products while also
contributing to economic viability.
Waldviertler is a manufacturer of high-quality
shoes that gives its customers care tips and
invites them to send in broken shoes for
repair at a fair price. Waldviertler does this
even though selling new shoes would imply
higher profit margins.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2018; Schmid, 2018; Liesen
et al., 2015
P6.5
Upcycling
In affluent societies aesthetic preferences can
lead to environmental pollution as products
are wasted and replaced even though they are
still fully functional.
Marketing and, if necessary, transforming
goods that do not meet aesthetic standards or
are considered too old in ways that change
consumer perception and purchasing
decisions in order to, ultimately, reduce the
Some supermarkets engage in activities that
turn food waste into novel offers for
customers. For example, ‘ugly’ fruits are
turned into healthy smoothies or, as in the
case of Sainsbury, banana bread is made from
Aiken et al., 2020; Bocken et
al., 2020; Hankammer et al.,
2021
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 66
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
waste of products.
unsold bananas and sold via in-store 'banana
rescue stations'.
P6.6
Promoting
second-hand and
reuse
A linear, sales-oriented, and competitive
economic logic prevalent in affluent societies
leads to environmental pollution through
excessive consumption of newly produced
goods
Marketing and providing used products as
second-hand items in order to increase
products’ intensity of use, prolong their life
cycle, and reduce waste as well as the need to
produce new products while reaching diverse
customer groups.
Second-hand clothing shops are a fitting
example. To name a particular instance,
Patagonia has set up a shop via eBay where
consumers can sell their old Patagonia gear
without being charged a commission.
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg, 2018
P6.7
Collecting and
salvaging used
products
In fast-changing consumer markets,
increasing surpluses of unused products
accumulate in private inventory or are
disposed of. This is resource-intensive and
environmentally damaging.
No-longer used products are collected (e.g.,
through take-back services) and, if
appropriate, salvaged for materials and spare
parts in order to be reused by customers or
(members of) the organisation itself and,
eventually, extend their useful life and reduce
waste.
Bike kitchens (i.e., open bicycle repair shops)
collect and dismantle used and no longer
wanted bicycles so that people can use them
to repair and tinker with their own bicycles.
Aiken et al., 2020; Bradley,
2018; Hankammer et al.,
2021; Houtbeckers, 2018
P6.8
Creating circular
products
In many cases, the prevailing linear, sales-
and competition-oriented economic logic
leads to environmental pollution, as profit-
oriented product designs neglect life-cycle
impacts or even actively aim for planned
Considering full life-cycle impacts (e.g., in
terms of biodegradability, durability,
retrofittability, repairability, and
recyclability) when designing and producing
products in order to support both resource
The company Skagerak aims to produce
durable furniture that fits a "use-and-
preserve" mentality. One of their approaches
is to design their products so that they are
easy to repair and then offer customers
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Schmid, 2018; Wells, 2018;
Wiefek & Heinitz, 2018;
Liesen et al., 2015
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 67
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
obsolescence and rapid consumption.
effectiveness (e.g., product longevity) as well
as efficiency in energy and material
consumption.
additional care products, spare parts, and
advice from their customer service team.
P6.9
Utilising
traditional and
eco-friendly
means of
production
In capitalist markets, companies typically
seek to increase their profits by driving
standardisation, automation, and division of
labour to produce and sell more. Considering
the high ecological costs of today’s dynamic
economy, this is problematic since highly
standardised products convey little artisanship
and individual labour that would signal their
value and encourage preservation.
Using traditional - usually more artisanal -
production methods while considering
environmental impacts (e.g., in terms of
materials used) and, if appropriate, in
combination with more modern technologies
in order to give customers a personal
impression of the origin and individual
quality of products and having the human
factor as a limit to production size and
volume.
In Intag (Ecuador), companies are replacing
traditional materials, such as natural dyes,
with synthetic alternatives fabricated from
by-products of gasoline and oil to mass
produce handicrafts for tourists. Members of
the "Mujer y Medioambiente" (Woman and
Environment) group, on the other hand,
continue to use eco-friendly materials and
artisanal means of production. They convey
their tradition to tourists by selling their
handicraft products at local tourist markets.
Lizarralde & Tyl, 2018;
Chassagne & Everingham,
2019
G7 Democratic, purpose-driven, and transparent governance
P7.1
Accounting
transparently and
purpose-oriented
Many companies are (legally) requested to
report their activities and results primarily
from a financial perspective. However,
organisations are part of and depend on a
complex socio-ecological environment and
Recording, evaluating, and utilising social,
environmental, and economic indicators in
order to create internal and external
transparency, ensure contextual
appropriateness and relevance, and support
The members of a Belgian community-
supported-agriculture organisation agree on
ecological and social goals within the
framework of an 'equilibrium table'. Here the
social, ecological, and economic obligations
Aiken et al., 2020;
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Gabriel et al., 2019;
Hankammer et al., 2021;
Khmara & Kronenberg,
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 68
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
translating socio-ecological factors into
financial figures is not without losses.
purpose-driven decision-making
and expectations of the different members are
defined and recorded. This accounting
expresses that economic success is not an end
in itself but serves to support overarching
socio-ecological projects and goals.
2018; Leonhardt et al., 2017;
Nesterova, 2021; Renkert,
2019; Liesen et al., 2015
P7.2
Practicing
democratic and
inclusive
governance
While organisations must constantly make
decisions that have implications for all actors
involved, there is usually an imbalance of
power between the different actors (e.g.,
shareholders, top managers, and other
employees). This can repeatedly lead to
tensions, for example between an
organisation's sustainability ideals and actual
practices.
Applying democratic and inclusive
management methods in order to promote and
live a shared vision, inclusive decision-
making, reciprocal relationships,
transparency, and continuous (organisational)
learning
In energy cooperatives such as EWS Schönau
or Som Energia, participation and democratic
codetermination are implemented via the one-
member-one-vote principle being applied in
annual general meetings.
Aiken et al., 2020; Ertör-
Akyazi, 2020; Khmara &
Kronenberg, 2018; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Leonhardt et
al., 2017; Manley & Aiken,
2020; Öz & Aksoy, 2019;
Renkert, 2019; Schmid, 2021
P7.3
Governing with
stakeholder
representatives
While the availability and choice of
organisational legal forms is a crucial
contextual factor, it can be stated that in many
organisations, profit-oriented equity owners
have a strong influence on an organisation's
direction and decision-making. In many
Engaging stakeholder representatives in
governing bodies (and choosing an
appropriate legal form (e.g., a cooperative)
from the outset) in order to support balanced,
sustainable, and long-term decision-making.
The car manufacturer Riversimple has
stewards representing different sectors
(including neighbours, environment,
employees, users, investors, and partners) to
equally oversee the wider social,
environmental, and economic impacts of the
Khmara & Kronenberg,
2018; Wells, 2018
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 69
Pattern
Contextual Problem
Solution
Example
Key Sources
cases, this leads to an overemphasis on (short-
term) financial goals, which can conflict with
sustainability goals.
company. The stewards can intervene and
contribute their area-specific expertise and
interests, but they are separate from the
management team that runs the day-to-day
operations.
P7.4
Purpose-driven
funding and co-
ownership
The establishment and development of
organisations usually requires borrowing
from financial market actors. However, this
usually implies binding external expectations
of financial return, which can push
organisations to compromise on their social
and environmental goals.
Choosing a legal form that supports collective
ownership (e.g., a cooperative) from the
outset and organising funding in such a way
that ownership and financial considerations
cannot exert undue external influence in order
to protect an organisation's democratic
governance and social and/or ecological
purpose
Som Energia is a renewable energies
cooperative based in Spain. To become an
energy customer and a voting member of the
cooperative, a small investment must be made
upon conclusion of an energy contract. Still, a
membership can be shared with a total of five
people to enable financially weak households
to obtain energy from the Som Energia.
Bloemmen et al., 2015;
Ertör-Akyazi, 2020; Gerber
& Gerber, 2017; Hankammer
et al., 2021; Kunze & Becker,
2015; Lizarralde & Tyl,
2018; Manley & Aiken,
2020; Schmid, 2018; Wiefek
& Heinitz, 2018
P7.5
Setting and
communicating a
common purpose
Organisations have to make decisions all the
time. However, decisions require guidance to
not lose sight of an organisation's overriding
social or environmental goals - especially
when there are tempting opportunities for
growth and collaboration or when many
different stakeholders are involved.
Defining and embedding core values in
statutes, processes, training, and internal and
external communication in order to sustain a
purpose-oriented community spirit and
structures as well as orientation in word and
deed.
Whether it is a non-profit like BENU Village
Esch building an eco-village or the outdoor
company Patagonia, they define and clearly
and openly communicate their intended
positive impacts on the environment, the
wider society, the local community, and
employees in their legal charter.
Aiken et al., 2020; Gerber &
Gerber, 2017; Khmara &
Kronenberg, 2018; Kunze &
Becker, 2015; Leonhardt et
al., 2017; Panzer-Krause,
2019; Rauner-Lange, 2018;
Schmid, 2018
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 71
Appendix B: List of identified and analysed literature
675
This appendix lists all the literature that was identified as relevant and analysed in this
676
paper’s research process.
677
Table B.1
678
Literature base: thirty-five research articles and one book chapter on degrowth-related case studies of
679
organisations
680
Source
Title
Published in
Hand-selected
Aiken et al. (2020)
The community economies of Esch-sur-Alzette:
rereading the economy of Luxembourg
Voluntary Sector
Review
no
Balaguer Rasillo
(2021)
Alternative economies, digital innovation and
commoning in grassroots organisations:
Analysing degrowth currencies in the Spanish
region of Catalonia
Environmental Policy
and Governance
no
Bloemmen et al.
(2015)
Microeconomic degrowth: The case of
Community Supported Agriculture
Ecological Economics
no
Bocken et al.
(2020)
Sufficiency Business Strategies in the Food
Industry-The Case of Oatly
Sustainability
no
Bradley (2018)
Bike Kitchens - Spaces for convivial tools
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Chassagne and
Everingham (2019)
Buen Vivir: Degrowing extractivism and
growing wellbeing through tourism
Journal of Sustainable
Tourism
no
Ertör-Akyazi
(2019)
Contesting growth in marine capture fisheries:
the case of small-scale fishing cooperatives in
Istanbul
Sustainability Science
no
Gabriel et al.
(2019)
Performance Beyond Economic Growth:
Alternatives from Growth-Averse Enterprises
in the Global South
Alternatives
no
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 72
Gerber and Gerber
(2017)
Decommodification as a foundation for
ecological economics
Ecological Economics
no
Gómez and Prado
(2020)
The Flexible Institutionalization Process of
Puma Currency in Seville, Spain
PArtecipazione e
COnflitto
no
Hankammer et al.
(2021)
Principles for organisations striving for
sustainable degrowth: Framework development
and application to four B Corps
Journal Of Cleaner
Production
no
Haucke (2018)
Smartphone-enabled social change: Evidence
from the Fairphone case?
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Houtbeckers, E.
Framing Social Enterprise as Post-Growth
Organising in the Diverse Economy
Management Revue
no
Hurlin (2019)
Mietshäuser Syndikat: Collective ownership,
the 'housing question' and degrowth
Housing for Degrowth
(edited book)
yes
Khmara and
Kronenberg (2018)
Degrowth in business: An oxymoron or a viable
business model for sustainability?
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Khmara and
Kronenberg (2020)
Degrowth in the context of sustainability
transitions: In search of a common ground
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Kostakis et al.
(2018)
The convergence of digital commons with local
manufacturing from a degrowth perspective:
Two illustrative cases
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Kostakis et al.
(2015)
Design global, manufacture local: Exploring the
contours of an emerging productive model
Futures
no
Kovanen (2020)
Collaborative patterns of long-term
sustainability in community social enterprises:
An international comparative case study
Quaestiones
Geographicae
no
Kunze and Becker
(2015)
Collective ownership in renewable energy and
opportunities for sustainable degrowth
Sustainability Science
no
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 73
Leonhardt et al.
(2017)
To Grow or Not to Grow? That Is the Question
Lessons for Social Ecological Transformation
from Small-Medium Enterprises
Gaia-Ecological
Perspectives For
Science And Society
no
Liesen et al. (2015)
Successful Non-Growing Companies
Humanistic
Management Network
yes
Lizarralde and Tyl
(2018)
A framework for the integration of the
conviviality concept in the design process
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Manley and Aiken
(2020)
A socio-economic system for affect: dreaming
of cooperative relationships and affect in
Bermuda, Preston, and Mondragon
Organisational And
Social Dynamics
no
Nesterova (2021)
Small firms as agents of sustainable change
Futures
no
Öz and Aksoy
(2019)
Challenges of building alternatives: the
experience of a consumer food co-operative in
Istanbul
Food Culture &
Society
no
Panzer-Krause
(2019)
Networking towards sustainable tourism:
innovations between green growth and
degrowth strategies
Regional Studies
no
Rauner-Lange
(2018)
Post-growth Organisations as Resonant and
Reciprocal Social Systems: A Matter of
Gratification?
Management Revue
no
Renkert (2019)
Community-owned tourism and degrowth: a
case study in the Kichwa Anangu community
Journal of Sustainable
Tourism
no
Robra et al. (2020)
Commons-based peer production for degrowth?
- The case for eco-sufficiency in economic
organisations
Sustainable Futures
yes
Sanna (2018)
Grassroots Initiatives for Sustainability
Transitions: Community-wide Impacts and
Economic Functioning
Management Revue
no
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 74
Schmid (2018)
Structured Diversity: A Practice Theory
Approach to Post-Growth Organisations
Management Revue
no
Schmid (2021)
Hybrid infrastructures: The role of strategy and
compromise in grassroot governance
Environmental Policy
And Governance
no
Wells (2016)
Economies of Scale Versus Small Is Beautiful
Organisation &
Environment
yes
Wells (2018)
Degrowth and techno-business model
innovation: The case of Riversimple
Journal of Cleaner
Production
no
Wiefek and Heinitz
(2018)
Common Good-Oriented Companies:
Exploring Corporate Values, Characteristics
and Practices That Could Support a
Development Towards Degrowth
Management Revue
no
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 75
Appendix C: List of organisational cases studied in the analysed literature
681
This appendix lists all organisations that have been studied in the literature which has been systematically identified and analysed as part of this
682
paper’s research process. It is important to note that we do not consider these organisations to be fully degrowth-oriented by default, but that some
683
of their activities realise problem-solution combinations that are desirable from a degrowth-oriented perspective. We capture those activities and
684
their implications in our collection of thirty-nine patterns of degrowth-oriented organisational value creation (Appendix A).
685
Table C.1
686
Organizational cases studied in the identified and analysed degrowth case-study literature
687
Organisation(s)
Industry / core activity
Country of origin
Source
Transition Minett (and its sub-
organisations MESA, REconomy,
Facilitec)
Civic engagement in diverse areas (food
and beverage, start-up support, cultural
events)
Luxembourg
Aiken et al. (2020)
BENU Restaurant
Gastronomy
BENU Couture
Apparel (upcycling)
CIC (Cooperativa Integral Catalana)
Provision of alternative economic
networks, in particular through
alternative social currencies (e.g.,
FairCoin)
Spain
Balaguer Rasillo (2021)
Ecoxarxes
FairCoop
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 76
Organisation(s)
Industry / core activity
Country of origin
Source
Community-supported farm (name not
disclosed)
Agriculture (community-supported and
self-harvesting)
Belgium
Bloemmen et al. (2015)
Oatly
Food and beverage
Sweden
Bocken et al. (2020)
Cykelköket (eng., Bike Kitchens)
Bicycle sector (do-it-yourself repair
workshop)
Sweden
Bradley (2018)
AACRI (La Asociacion Agroartesanal de
Caficultores Rio Intag)
Agriculture (coffee cultivation)
Ecuador
Chassagne and Everingham (2019)
Runa Tupari
Tourism
Small-scale fishing cooperatives (names
not disclosed)
Fishing
Turkey
Ertör-Akyazi (2019)
Thirty renewable energy enterprises
(names not disclosed)
Energy
Global South (Barbados, Cambodia,
Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Ethiopia,
Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia,
Kenya, Lao PDR, Nigeria, Papua New
Guinea, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia,
South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand,
Trinidad, and Tobago, and
Uganda)
Gabriel et al. (2019)
Froese et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107765 77
Organisation(s)
Industry / core activity
Country of origin
Source
Housing cooperatives (names not
disclosed)
Housing
Switzerland
Gerber and Gerber (2017)
NADPP (Neighbours’ Association in
Defence of the Pumarejo Palace) / Casa
Pumarejo Association
Provision of alternative economic
network, in particular through PUMA (a
community currency system)
Spain
Gómez and Prado (2020)
Dr. Bronner’s
Soap and personal care
USA (California)
Hankammer et al. (2021)
Skagerak
Furniture manufacturing
Denmark
Jelt
Apparel
USA (Montana)
BWF (Better World Fashion)
Apparel
Denmark
Fairphone
Telecommunications equipment
manufacturing
Netherlands
</