Applicability and Limitations of Change Management for Circular Economy in Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

In the context of corporate transformation from a previously linear operating model to circularity, manufacturing companies are confronted with challenges in many respects. Among others, these may include necessary changes with regard to product design and production system, logistics or strategy, but also to corporate culture as an underlying dimension. In this sense, this contribution aims to understand how and to what extent change management can be applied to circular economy transformation processes in manufacturing companies and what differentiates the path to circularity from other change processes. Translating theory from extant literature and by means of expert interviews, a change management model for Circular Economy is proposed.