PhD Grant Proposal

Circularity and digitalization in B2B, a qualitative/quantitative approach

The Circular Economy is often described with reference to the works of the Ellen McArthur Foundation. The most recent definition states that CE is: “a system where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, and composting” (EMAF, 2025).

The circular economy has been identified as a key element of sustainable development (The European Commission, 2020; Bocken et al., 2017). Geissdoerfer et al. (2017) consider it “a condition”, or a “beneficial relation” or “a trade-off” for sustainability (p. 767). The circular economy has been variously described as an economy (Knight et al., 2025), a logic (Parida et al., 2019), a paradigm (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017), a concept (Mathews & Tan, 2011), a practice (Frishammar & Parida, 2019; Fanzo et al., 2023; Korhonen et al., 2018), an approach (Fanzo et al., 2023), or a system (Sairanen et al., 2024). 

The circular economy has been encapsulated in various frameworks, including the 3R (reduce - reuse – recycle ), 4R (reduce - reuse – recycle - recover) ; 5R (rethink – recover – repair - reuse - recycle) as well as more extensive frameworks (refuse – rethink – reduce – reuse -  repair – refurbish – remanufacture – repurpose – recycle – recover)  (Sihvonen and Ritola, 2015 ; van Buren et al., 2016; King et al., 2006; Brennan et al., 2015; Ghisellini et al., 2016). These different "R" frameworks are considered core principles of the circular economy.

Circular economy practices have been analyzed in relation to consumer behaviors, such as intentions to purchase circular products (Coderoni & Perito, 2020), behaviors required in a circular economy (Hazen et al., 2016; Machado et al., 2019), and factors influencing the acceptance and adoption of circular products and services (Camacho-Otero et al., 2020; Calvo-Porral & Lévy-Mangin, 2020). In the B2B context, research has primarily focused on supplier companies' behaviors, such as circular business models (Fehrer & Wieland, 2021), circular supply chains (Aarikka-Stenroos et al., 2022), value propositions (Frishammar & Parida, 2019; Ranta et al., 2020), and the nature of circular offerings (Spring & Araujo, 2017). More recently, a customer-oriented perspective on circularity has been studied by Sairanen et al. (2024), who investigated the value perceived by business customers in circular offerings.

The role of digital technologies in the circular economy within a B2B context is an emerging area of interest (Kio et al., 2022; Okorie et al., 2018). Research has shown that CE leverages digital technologies to enhance knowledge of resource “location, condition, and availability” (Antikainen et al., 2018, p. 45), to support more efficient processes within companies (Kerin et al., 2019), and to facilitate inter-company collaboration in servitization business models. For example, Ertz et al. (2022) examine how various digital technologies contribute to product life extension. Huang et al. (2022) explore blockchain applications in circular supply chains. Karuppiah et al. (2024) analyze the role of emerging digital technologies in establishing circular supply chains. Kristoffersen et al. (2020) advocate for the concept of a "smart circular economy" and present a framework for integrating digital technologies to support circular economy adoption in companies.

Building on this background, the purpose of this doctoral work is to investigate circularity (as a subset of sustainable practices) in the business-to-business context, with a specific focus on how digital technologies are associated with circular practices of business companies and the types of narratives (Lazarevic & Valve, 2017; Leipold et al., 2021; Schoggl et al., 2020) that develop to support the cohabitation of circularity and digitalization.

The methodology of this research will involve both qualitative and quantitative methods. The PhD candidate will be responsible for:

• Conducting a literature review on circularity and identifying key theoretical perspectives on how sustainable practices develop in businesses
• Justifying the need to collect various sources of (big) data on circularity in B2B
• Defining a mixed-method research design to analyze these data;
• Identifying the main strategic orientations of B2B companies concerning circularity practices
• Analyzing the role of digital technologies in the development and support of circularity practices within B2B firms
• Identifying the different narratives that sustain these roles.

 The candidate is expected to hold a Master of Science in business and management studies, to master qualitative research and to be also motivated by quantitative methods. An expertise in data science is a plus for this job – candidates without data science know-how should be interested in collaboration with data scientists and in learning the basics of quantitative data analysis.

The PhD candidate will work under the co-supervision of Prof. Catherine Pardo ([email protected]) , Professor of Marketing, and Prof. Jean Savinien ([email protected] ), Associate Professor of Data Science and of Mathematics, at emlyon business school within the graduate school in management studies at the University of Lyon.

ABOUT EMLYON

emlyon business school trains "makers", in other words people able to explore alternative futures, by placing the hybridization of skills and social & environmental responsibility at the core of its training programs. 

Scientific research is at the very heart of emlyon business school's strategy to contribute to business and society. It is the innovative cornerstone of the school's past and present success and shall remain so in the future. It is a key aspect of the school's added value, providing the foundation for its international credibility and reputation. Research expands the curiosity, skills and knowledge of our faculty members and, in turn, benefits our program participants. Our research strengthens the Faculty's ability to achieve its mission. Moreover, our research enables the school to provide its partners with a critical and systematic thinking combined with the very latest knowledge and real-world impact.

REFERENCES

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Antikainen, M., Uusitalo, T., & Kivikytö-Reponen, P. (2018). Digitalisation as an enabler of circular economy. Procedia Cirp, 73, 45-49.

Bocken, N. M., Olivetti, E. A., Cullen, J. M., Potting, J., & Lifset, R. (2017). Taking the circularity to the next level: a special issue on the circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 476-482.

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Calvo-Porral, C., & Lévy-Mangin, J. P. (2020). The circular economy business model: Examining consumers’ acceptance of recycled goods. Administrative Sciences, 10(2), 28.

Camacho‐Otero, J., Pettersen, I. N., & Boks, C. (2020). Consumer engagement in the circular economy: Exploring clothes swapping in emerging economies from a social practice perspective. Sustainable development, 28(1), 279-293.

Coderoni, S., & Perito, M. A. (2020). Sustainable consumption in the circular economy. An analysis of consumers’ purchase intentions for waste-to-value food. Journal of Cleaner Production, 252, 119870.

Ellen Macarthur Foundation (EMAF) (2025). What is circular economy. Retrieved from: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview

Ertz, M., Sun, S., Boily, E., Kubiat, P., & Quenum, G. G. Y. (2022). How transitioning to Industry 4.0 promotes circular product lifetimes. Industrial Marketing Management, 101, 125-140.

Fehrer, J. A., & Wieland, H. (2021). A systemic logic for circular business models. Journal of Business Research, 125, 609-620.

Franzò, S., & Urbinati, A. (2023). Managing resource loops in circular supply chains: A taxonomy of multi-sided platforms in the B2B setting. Industrial Marketing Management, 115, 185-197.

Frishammar, J., & Parida, V. (2019). Circular business model transformation: A roadmap for incumbent firms. California Management Review, 61(2), 5-29.

Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The Circular Economy–A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of cleaner production, 143, 757-768.Ghisellini et al., 2016

Ghisellini, P., Cialani, C., & Ulgiati, S. (2016). A review on circular economy: the expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. Journal of Cleaner production, 114, 11-32.

Hazen, B. T., Mollenkopf, D. A., & Wang, Y. (2017). Remanufacturing for the circular economy: An examination of consumer switching behavior. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(4), 451-464.

Huang, L., Zhen, L., Wang, J., & Zhang, X. (2022). Blockchain implementation for circular supply chain management: Evaluating critical success factors. Industrial Marketing Management, 102, 451-464.

Karuppiah, K., Virmani, N., & Sindhwani, R. (2024). Toward a sustainable future: integrating circular economy in the digitally advanced supply chain. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 39(12), 2605-2619.

Kerin, M., & Pham, D. T. (2019). A review of emerging industry 4.0 technologies in remanufacturing. Journal of cleaner production, 237, 117805.

King, A. M., Burgess, S. C., Ijomah, W., & McMahon, C. A. (2006). Reducing waste: repair, recondition, remanufacture or recycle?. Sustainable development, 14(4), 257-267.

Kio, P. N., Anumba, C. J., & Ali, A. K. (2022, November). Circular economy trends–potential role of emerging technologies. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 1101, No. 6, p. 062005). IOP Publishing.

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Kristoffersen, E., Blomsma, F., Mikalef, P., & Li, J. (2020). The smart circular economy: A digital-enabled circular strategies framework for manufacturing companies. Journal of business research, 120, 241-261.

Lazarevic, D., & Valve, H. (2017). Narrating expectations for the circular economy: Towards a common and contested European transition. Energy research & social science, 31, 60-69.Leipold, S., Weldner, K., & Hohl, M. (2021). Do we need a ‘circular society’? Competing narratives of the circular economy in the French food sector. Ecological Economics, 187, 107086.

Machado, M. A. D., Almeida, S. O. D., Bollick, L. C., & Bragagnolo, G. (2019). Second-hand fashion market: consumer role in circular economy. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 23(3), 382-395.

Mathews, J. A., & Tan, H. (2011). Progress toward a circular economy in China: The drivers (and inhibitors) of eco‐industrial initiative. Journal of industrial ecology, 15(3), 435-457.

Okorie, O., Turner, C. J., Charnley, F., Moreno, M., & Tiwari, A. (2018). A review of data driven approaches for Circular Economy in manufacturing.commeunication to the 18 ERSCP, Greece 

Parida, V., Burström, T., Visnjic, I., & Wincent, J. (2019). Orchestrating industrial ecosystem in circular economy: A two-stage transformation model for large manufacturing companies. Journal of business research, 101, 715-725.

Ranta, V., Keränen, J., & Aarikka-Stenroos, L. (2020). How B2B suppliers articulate customer value propositions in the circular economy: Four innovation-driven value creation logics. Industrial Marketing Management, 87, 291-305.

Sairanen, M., Aarikka-Stenroos, L., & Kaipainen, J. (2024). Customer-perceived value in the circular economy: A multidimensional framework. Industrial Marketing Management, 117, 321-343.

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The European Commission (2020). A new Circular Economy Action Plan
For a cleaner and more competitive Europe. Retrieved from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2020:98:FIN