New Opportunities for Operations Management Research in Sustainability

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Agrawal, Vishal V.; Atasu, Atalay; Van Wassenhove, Luk N.
• 署名单位: Georgetown University; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; INSEAD Business School
• 刊物名称: M&SOM-MANUFACTURING & SERVICE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1523-4614
• DOI: 10.1287/msom.2017.0699
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1-12
• 关键词: sustainable operations; Circular economy; BUSINESS MODELS; product design

摘要

Operations management (OM) research has made several important contributions to environmental sustainability over the last two decades. In this article, we point to a new opportunity on the horizon-the circular economy movement, which is gaining significant traction in practice. We introduce the concept and highlight the building blocks behind it. We also explain why this trend in practice can provide an opportunity for the OM community. To do so, we describe four companies that have been positioned as prime examples of implementing the circular economy concept and discuss the operational challenges faced by them. We draw on them to identify several promising and open questions for OM research and explain why an operations perspective is critical in this context.