PHD Position Pathways Towards Sustainable Circular Business Models at Utrecht University and VITO (1.0 FTE)

The transition to a circular economy is widely regarded as a solution to address the environmental and economic externalities of resource use and waste management in the current economic system. There is a large body of academic research that conceptualizes circular business models and aims to classify them into different typologies according to certain characteristics, such as the type of circular strategy they apply, the phase of the product life cycle they innovate, or the systemic boundaries they take into account.

While this body of work is very useful for academics to try to grasp what the circular economy is about, at the level of individual firms or clusters of firms it presents little insights into the dynamic transition and innovation process these firms are going through. Also, while the theoretical body of knowledge on Circular Business Model Innovation (CBMI) is growing, there is a need for more empirical insights, and a translation of these insights into recommendations and guidelines for strategic and operational business decisions. What firms need to know to make a successful transition is not “what is circularity about?”, but rather “how do we get there?”.

As a PhD researcher, you will contribute to create a better understanding of transition pathways towards effective, scalable and resilient circular business models, by analysing the past and current trajectories of firms that have been attempting to implement circularity in their business. Investigating the origin and evolution of circular entrepreneurial endeavours allows to identify the main driving and shaping factors as well as (solutions to) barriers from the perspective of the firm or entrepreneur in relation to external actors and trends. Analysing a sufficient number of cases in different sectors and contexts in a structured way will enable to identify change trajectories, fruitful combinations of circularity strategies, pitfall mitigation tactics, and success factors to aspire and protect. This will allow us to investigate circular business models in the broader context of internal and external influencing factors for entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial decision making.