Circular business design process - How business design can be used to foster circular economy value creation?
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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Date
2021
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Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Creative Sustainability
Language
en
Pages
75 + 12
Series
Abstract
Economic development and the contemporary way of living have been achieved by the growing consumption of fossil fuels each year. Researchers agree that the current measures of global warming are dominantly caused by human activities. An alternative to the environmentally burdening present model of extract-produce-use-dump, which wastes materials and energy, circular economy is an incentive to mitigate climate change and provide a possibility for sustainable development. Shifting to an alternative economic system requires organisations to reevaluate their business models and value propositions. This thesis explores and presents a process merging business development, user-centred design and circular economy, enabling organisations to transition to more sustainable operating models. Circular economy and particularly business design are emergent fields from an academic perspective. During the last decade, circular economy has formed a more established definition. It is a restorative and regenerative model where waste is designed out and value retention is maximised. Business design can be grounded on more confirmed methods like design thinking and service design, combining these approaches with a business modelling mindset. The understanding of business design has been gathered through existing research, business design literature and insights from the market, contributing to the theoretical knowledge of the process. The outcome of this thesis, the Circular Business Design process, has been iterated and validated with the circular economy consultancy, Ethica, and interviews were conducted with middle and upper managers of potential corporations. These helped refine the initial set of tools and methods and understand how the process can fit the organisations’ business development processes. This thesis is joining the discussion in which the transition to circular economy is the central issue of this century. The critical factor to that transition is for organisations to understand the business value it can provide. Combining a regenerative model, which is slowing, closing and narrowing material loops with the understanding of people, exploring potential market areas, and the qualifications to formulate discovered ideas into businesses, can potentially lead to environmentally sustainable solutions. Both of the researched theories have a strong focus on value, guiding the process building work.Description
Supervisor
Juntunen, JouniThesis advisor
Sahimaa, OlliKeywords
circular economy, business design, value proposition, user-centred value creation, design process, circular business design