The Circular Economy: A Transformative Service Perspective

Abstract

The rising awareness of climate challenges and resource constraints has strengthened interest in the circular economy (CE), characterized as an economic system aimed to minimize the depletion of the world’s natural resources through processes of value retention and value regeneration. Because CE research originated in the engineering field, studies to date have mostly focused on technical and management-related topics. However, due to increasing demands from customers, investors, governmental institutions, and regulatory bodies, companies are increasingly considering how to effectively implement the CE. Despite its increasing importance, the CE is yet an uncharted area of transformative service research (TSR), and little is known about how the CE can support change for greater well-being among individuals and collectives. To fill this research gap, we integrate notions of the CE with TSR and research on value co-creation. The purpose of this paper is to expand research on CE and services by taking a TSR perspective to delineate how value retention and regeneration processes for different levels and spheres in services can effect change for greater individual and collective well-being.