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The Performance Economy
The economy needs new business models to be both performing and sustainable, as well as new metrics. This book considers why and how to achieve this.
- GenresSustainability
230 pages, Hardcover
First published August 18, 2006
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August 24, 2025
A classic in the circular-economy / sustainable-development canon. Dense and wide-ranging, this older work refreshed my understanding of the manufacturing → service transition and, most fundamentally, the strategic importance of people and repair/refurbishment in a low-material future.
Core premise
The book’s central problem framing is crisp: sustainable development must decouple rising welfare from rising material throughput. The world cannot have everyone consume like the richest economies; if we want more people to live well, we must learn to meet needs with far less additional material extraction. To do that, the author argues, we must reposition human labor and skill as a primary input across production and circular cycles—especially in maintenance, repair and refurbishment—to extend product lifetimes and serve more people with less stuff.
What changed for me (two major cognitive shifts)
1. Maintenance & repair are strategic, local jobs.
Repair and refurbishment are not low-value leftovers: they are labour-intensive, inherently local, and therefore critical employment opportunities for regions that do not want to simply compete on low-cost manufacture. If China continues to produce globally at top efficiency with minimal material input, other countries still need local people to maintain and refurbish those products—creating sustainable, place-based jobs without driving further resource depletion.
2. A refurbished product can rival new.
Well-maintained and properly refurbished goods need not be inferior to first-hand items. The book’s case studies show that extending durability and designing for repair can deliver comparable quality while dramatically lowering lifetime resource use.
Operational ideas I took away
• Design for longevity: instead of 5-year product lifespans, design for 10 years; with proper maintenance, aim for 20–30 years.
• Use better materials and better design up front so that the total material use per unit of service over time falls.
• Shift value chains: manufacture at Chinese scale and efficiency, then export services (maintenance, spare parts, refurbishment know-how) to local markets worldwide. This creates local employment abroad while keeping material consumption in check—a potential win-win for global sustainability and Chinese industry.
Why this matters
Two systemic facts make this approach powerful. First, product durability across the market has dropped compared to decades ago, fueling consumerism and waste. Second, firms often dislike durable products because reduced repurchase frequency lowers short-term sales—yet the ecological cost is unacceptable. A systemic push to longer lifetimes and repairability tackles both the environmental imperative and creates new service sector opportunities.
Critiques and limitations
1. Dense, sometimes opaque academic framing.
The book occasionally buries practical insights in heavy academic jargon—terms like “production performance,” “management performance,” and “sales performance” swirl without always linking cleanly to the central thesis. It feels overly academic in places.
2. Dated examples and concepts.
This is a 10–15 year old book; the circular economy discourse has moved quickly. Some case studies and terminology feel old; a few firms cited have since faded, making parts of the narrative feel stale.
3. Euro-centric lens.
The author is Swiss, and much of the evidence and case work is European (with notable US and Japanese examples). The global view feels underdeveloped—there’s less direct engagement with Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, etc.
Bottom line
Despite its flaws, this book is a useful strategic primer if you want to rethink manufacturing in a sustainability frame. Its most valuable insight is practical and geopolitical: treat repair and refurbishment not as marginal activities but as central levers for decoupling welfare from material throughput—and see them as localized job engines that can complement highly efficient manufacturing hubs. For Chinese industrial strategists and sustainability planners, that combination is a compelling, win-win route to lead the next era of global production and services.
Core premise
The book’s central problem framing is crisp: sustainable development must decouple rising welfare from rising material throughput. The world cannot have everyone consume like the richest economies; if we want more people to live well, we must learn to meet needs with far less additional material extraction. To do that, the author argues, we must reposition human labor and skill as a primary input across production and circular cycles—especially in maintenance, repair and refurbishment—to extend product lifetimes and serve more people with less stuff.
What changed for me (two major cognitive shifts)
1. Maintenance & repair are strategic, local jobs.
Repair and refurbishment are not low-value leftovers: they are labour-intensive, inherently local, and therefore critical employment opportunities for regions that do not want to simply compete on low-cost manufacture. If China continues to produce globally at top efficiency with minimal material input, other countries still need local people to maintain and refurbish those products—creating sustainable, place-based jobs without driving further resource depletion.
2. A refurbished product can rival new.
Well-maintained and properly refurbished goods need not be inferior to first-hand items. The book’s case studies show that extending durability and designing for repair can deliver comparable quality while dramatically lowering lifetime resource use.
Operational ideas I took away
• Design for longevity: instead of 5-year product lifespans, design for 10 years; with proper maintenance, aim for 20–30 years.
• Use better materials and better design up front so that the total material use per unit of service over time falls.
• Shift value chains: manufacture at Chinese scale and efficiency, then export services (maintenance, spare parts, refurbishment know-how) to local markets worldwide. This creates local employment abroad while keeping material consumption in check—a potential win-win for global sustainability and Chinese industry.
Why this matters
Two systemic facts make this approach powerful. First, product durability across the market has dropped compared to decades ago, fueling consumerism and waste. Second, firms often dislike durable products because reduced repurchase frequency lowers short-term sales—yet the ecological cost is unacceptable. A systemic push to longer lifetimes and repairability tackles both the environmental imperative and creates new service sector opportunities.
Critiques and limitations
1. Dense, sometimes opaque academic framing.
The book occasionally buries practical insights in heavy academic jargon—terms like “production performance,” “management performance,” and “sales performance” swirl without always linking cleanly to the central thesis. It feels overly academic in places.
2. Dated examples and concepts.
This is a 10–15 year old book; the circular economy discourse has moved quickly. Some case studies and terminology feel old; a few firms cited have since faded, making parts of the narrative feel stale.
3. Euro-centric lens.
The author is Swiss, and much of the evidence and case work is European (with notable US and Japanese examples). The global view feels underdeveloped—there’s less direct engagement with Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, etc.
Bottom line
Despite its flaws, this book is a useful strategic primer if you want to rethink manufacturing in a sustainability frame. Its most valuable insight is practical and geopolitical: treat repair and refurbishment not as marginal activities but as central levers for decoupling welfare from material throughput—and see them as localized job engines that can complement highly efficient manufacturing hubs. For Chinese industrial strategists and sustainability planners, that combination is a compelling, win-win route to lead the next era of global production and services.
Displaying 1 of 1 review