https://www.mdu.se/

Preface

The concept of circular relationships emerged as the result of a few years of work between 2018 and 2024 where I, Senior Lecturer at Örebro University, Hervé Corvellec, Professor at the Department of Service Studies, Lund University and Herman Stål, Associate Professor at Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics have been working collaboratively on investigating and understanding the transition from linear to circular ways of doing business. The three researchers have a background within subfields of Business Administration. With an initial interest in business models, our background and competencies within climate change and human induced environmental effects from a social science perspective, waste management, institutional theory, individuals in organizational contexts and cross-boundary ethics led us to focus instead on material and material flows in practice. This focus was extended to include an interest in different business actors and how their relationships to one another are or need to be challenged to shift from linear to circular material flows.

The work has in part been carried out within the researchers’ respective positions at different universities but has also received funding in connection with the Formas financed project titled, Relationships within Circular Business Models with project number 2019-00520.

While the initial plan for collection of empirical cases involved more site-visits and testing the role-playing sessions with different actors, the possibilities for physical gathering in the project were severely limited due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, while some cases are based on site visits and accompanying interviews, several of the cases are based on information provided on official webpages complemented with interviews with firm representatives. Nonetheless, we deem the cases to be relevant for learning about both opportunities and challenges associated with a transition from linear to circular material flows.

While the original plan was to create a role-playing game for practitioners, this pamphlet is suitable for both university students as well as practitioners.