Circular Economy, Digitalization and Inter-Organizational Collaboration: The Marvelous Trio

Abstract

The idea of supporting the transition toward a circular economy increasingly attracts managers for many good reasons, such as the institutional pressures from governments and society, the desire to imitate the industry leaders that increasingly disseminate their circular economy initiatives, the growing space sustainability and circular economy have in education and training programs, and the challenges associated with raw materials. This keynote speech will discuss how the quest to make a firm’s products and processes ‘more circular’ needs a team effort with other organizations and a fair dose of digitalization. The audience will be left with some thought-provoking questions about how inter-organizational collaboration, digitalization, and circular economy innovation intertwine.