The REGENERATIVE TURN
GENERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AS VECTORS OF RESILIENCE IN COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONAL ECOSYSTEMS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51923/repae.v12i01.412Keywords:
Regenerative economy, Generative governance, Sustainable innovation, Digital technologies, Organizational resilienceAbstract
The article analyzes how the articulation between regenerative economy, generative governance, and emerging digital technologies can enable organizations to transition to operating models that produce a net positive socio-environmental impact in polycrisis contexts. Starting from the diagnosis of functional exhaustion of traditional sustainability, the study proposes that regeneration requires, simultaneously, the decoupling between economic growth and environmental degradation and the deliberate recoupling between corporate strategy and biological cycles. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research that combines a recent review of the international literature (2023+) with multiple case studies of large corporations and a benchmark regulatory arrangement (Nestlé, Siemens, Unilever, and the European Green Deal ecosystem), based on documentary and thematic content analysis structured according to Gioia's protocol. The results identify four central mechanisms by which these paradigms reinforce each other: (i) regenerative innovation supported by digital technologies that function as the sensory infrastructure of the ecosystem (IoT, digital twins, AI); (ii) an internal culture of experimentation and learning, enabled by generative governance arrangements; (iii) multistakeholder orchestration that repositions the firm as nodal in regenerative collaborative networks; and (iv) strengthening organizational resilience and sustainable competitive advantage. Additionally, the paradox of scale is discussed, highlighting risks of “green colonialism” and rebound effects associated with the expansion of resource-intensive clean technologies. Theoretically, the article offers an integrated framework for studying sustainable innovation, uniting fundamentals of ecological economics and organizational theory and suggesting “regenerative capacity” as an extension of the Resource-Based View. From a practical standpoint, it presents guidelines for managers and policymakers seeking to align governance, technology, and business strategy with systemic regeneration.
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