Abstract
Circular business model (CBM) innovation in firms involve practices that minimise resource inputs while capturing waste and end-of-life products as inputs for new products, services, or revenue streams. In this study, we investigate whether firm capabilities (FC), including dynamic capabilities (DC), organisational routines (OR) and eco-innovation capabilities (EC), enable the coupling of project and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and how this coupling supports CBM innovation. Expanding the theoretical conception of resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities (DC), we develop and test first- and second-order models using structural equation modelling and survey data from managers in circular economy (CE)-based firms. We show that the combined FC directly enable the coupling of project and AI capabilities. This coupling, in turn, directly supports both upstream and downstream CBM innovation. The coupling of project and AI capabilities also fully mediates the relationship between FC and CBM innovation. The control path analysis reveals that upstream circular innovation is more constrained by contextual rigidities. The study makes important theoretical and managerial contributions by deepening understanding of how the coupling of project and AI capabilities can be purposefully mobilised to enable and scale CBM innovation in firms.