Institutional re-configuration and value co-creation in circular product development: A service ecosystem perspective in the textile and apparel industry

Abstract

Research on circular product development has gained popularity in recent years. While such approaches focus on the product's design phase to create environmental and economic value, they lack in understanding the co-created and dynamic nature of a multifaceted system of actors important for the transition to circularity. The purpose is to explore how multi-level institutional re-configuration patterns influence resource integration and its associated value co-creation during circular product development in a service ecosystem. Responding to the need to address the applicability of Service-Dominant Logic to managerial practice, the paper relies on a single case study of circular product development involving B2B actors in a supply chain for workwear garments in healthcare. Data was collected using participant observation during an innovation project lasting 1,5 years. The data, which was supplemented by semi-structured interviews and online queries, was analysed through coding, condensation and interpretation. The findings demonstrate the importance of interdependencies between institutional re-configuration patterns and the interrelatedness of the micro, meso and macro levels in a service ecosystem as these enable value co-creation opportunities during circular product development. For practitioners, the paper provides an understanding of how to manage enablers and barriers arising during circular product development through institutional work.