Event Details

Professor Melanie Kreye from University of York will present a seminar to the Management Science Department

Abstract: This research investigates how service offerings enable manufacturers of consumer products to implement circular practices in their supply chains. Through an empirical investigation, this research aims to elaborate existing theory through combining insights from service provision (servitization) and circular economy. Building on a conceptual framing based on panarchy theory and insights from the servitization and circular supply chain literature, this study presents evidence from five cases in the global household appliances industry. The case studies present in-depth insights based on secondary sources of each case organisation, including sustainability reports, annual reports, websites and quoted external materials, such as white papers and environmental reports. The findings suggest three key insights. First, services of various complexity levels are deployed by manufacturers to extend product use phases. Second, result-oriented services enable a focal firm to implement a wide range of circular practices and hence enables value retention on product, component, and material levels. Third, the cases suggest that circularity efforts around value retention on material level (i.e. recycling) is independent from services. First, this research contributes nuanced insights into the connections between services and circular practices operationalised in terms of value retention based on the three key insights. Second, this research contributes to the application of panarchy theory in supply chain management by showing the slow and considered transformation process required to achieve the benefits of circular supply chains through services.

Bio: Melanie Kreye is a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the School for Business and Society, University of York, UK, where she is also the Associate Dean of the School for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Staff Development. She joined the School from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Her research focuses on topics related to sustainable supply chain management and service operations within the manufacturing industry including service delivery and development, circular economy, and the management of uncertainty. She is an Associate Editor with the International Journal of Operations and Production Management and a Board member of EurOMA.