Plenumsvortrag Luk N. Van Wassenhove (INSEAD): The Circular Economy Revisited: From a Romantic to a Pragmatic View

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18:00-19:30     Vortrag sowie Questions & Answers
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Abstract:
The Circular Economy movement has gained a lot of momentum in policy making and business. Its encompassing view of circular processes with maximal reuse and minimal waste is appealing. It is hard to disagree, particularly since it is often unclear what exactly one agrees with. Many reports from consulting firms are woolly about principles, concepts, and expected benefits. Little is said about how to transition from the current state to the circular economy’s promised land.

It is high time to anchor the Circular Economy in science, i.e. to provide policy makers and business executives with solid academic grounding, much of which is already available, in order to build a pragmatic as opposed to romantic/idealistic approach. How does one transform current operations into circular product/service offerings? What is required in terms of legal frameworks, financing models, product/service designs, supply chain management, and above all consumer behavior to make these new circular business models (e.g. leasing, pay-for-use, sharing) sustainable from a business, environmental and social perspective?

This presentation takes a broad academic operations management perspective on some of these questions and outlines avenues for further research.

Short bio:
Professor Van Wassenhove's research and teaching are concerned with operational excellence, supply chain management, continual improvement and learning. His recent research focus is on closed-loop supply chains (product take-back and end-of-life issues) and on disaster management (humanitarian logistics). He is the author of many award-winning teaching cases and regularly consults for major international corporations.

In 2005, Professor Van Wassenhove was elected Fellow of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS). In 2006, he was the recipient of the EURO Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement. In 2009 he was elected Distinguished Fellow of the Manufacturing and Services Operations Management Society (MSOM) and received the Lifetime Achievement Faculty Pioneer Award from the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) and the Aspen Institute. In 2018 he was elected Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).

Professor Van Wassenhove is past president of the Production and Operations Management Society. In 2011 he was elected member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Sciences. At INSEAD he holds the Henry Ford Chair of Manufacturing. He also created the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre and acted as academic director until September 2010. He is currently academic director of INSEAD’s Humanitarian Research Group and its Sustainable Operations Initiative.