1. Functional Economy: A New Way for a
« Sustainable Degrowth ? »
Jacques Lauriol.
Professor Rouen Business School.
2nd Conference on Economic Degrowth.
Barcelona: 26th-29th March 2010.

2. Sustainable Development
• How to deal with strong critics?
(environmental damage, social and economic inequalities,…)
• New directions for a development that
« takes care » // creating value?
Functional economy : An Economic Model
 New strategies and Challenges

3. Functional Economy
Manufacturing
Res urces
o  Base  
Utilization Waste
Materials
Repair
Re
-use

Recycling
: Functional Economy: a “Double loop” operation (Stahel. 2003)
 Optimize the use of assets and services
 Create a usage value
 Minimize ressources and energy required

4. An example : The Michelin Case
A new offer: « Tyre solutions » for kms coverage
Michelin Fleet Solution
Preventive management: First « loop »: Second « loop »
• Reduce tyre wear • Re-treating Recycling « ALIAPUR »
• Fuel saving by technical • Remoulding • A worldwide Company with
Innovation (« Energy ») competitors
• Increased life (X‟one) (Collect wastes and valorisation)
• Wear Management (Safety)
- Fuel Saving : 12% - Increase life (2-5) 24 tyres // 64
- Safety

5. A New Economic Model
(How to Create Value and Revenue)
Resources / Skills
Supply of products Organisation of
and services Value Chain and
network
Revenues Charges
Margin
Service Economy // Industrial
(intangibility, inseparability, « perishable », co-production and the
question of property rights)
 New challenges

6. New Challenges
• Strategic Level (Business Model)
 Which offer? Solution
 How to organize the production
(Value Chain and Value Network)
 Management of Change = How to develop
an organization « services oriented »

7. New Challenges
• Marketing level : A new transaction (relational)
- Service : co-conception? Co-production
- A social link (?) vs Commercial transaction
- Towards New Communities??
- How to Educate the Client (Sustainable use // cession)?

8. • The main question : Organisation
Functional Economy:
 Cooperative strategies to develop and produce a proposal
 Heightened localisation or multi-localisation
= proximities with client (geographic, relational)
And a network or a Service Ecosystem
To design the offer, to sell it
Through the coordination of partners (suppliers,
complementers) to produce and to distribute

9. Clients /
Users
Regulatory Competitors /
authorities Partners
Reference Complementers
Prescribers offer
(Provider)
Stakeholders Infrastructure
Suppliers
• A provider « Keystone » (Michelin)
• Partners to mobilize skills and resources
• Competitors (Aliapur) and stakeholders

10. A Service Ecosystem
„A system that contains a large number of loosely coupled (interconnected)
actors who depend on each other to ensure the overall effectiveness of the
system‟ (Iansiti and al. 2003)
Collective strategies (coopetition)
A „keystone‟
Interdependent elements „loosely coupled‟ (Orton-Weick 1990)
 Geographic and organizational proximities
 Interdependencies contents (identity, learnings,…)
 A coordination device

11. Towards New Institutional Challenges
(Degrowth Field )
Functional economy: A « New » Economy?
- Double loop. A Relational Offer
- Economic Model and « New » Forms of Organization
and the question: How to Educate the client?
 A New Institutional Space?(Degrowth Practices ??)
- „Consumption conventions ‟ (property // use and care)
- Strategy and Sustainable Development
- New regulations (Public Policies? New Incentives?...)
A Great Potential for Innovations for a “Sustainable Degrowth”