| dc.description.abstract | The Circular Economy is seen by many governments and businesses as key to promoting sustainability. Value chains are also integral to the success of the Circular Economy transition. While there are tools that businesses can use to strategize their approach towards a circular business model, there is a gap in tools that address transitioning itself for value chain actors. Therefore, this thesis’s main research aim was to propose how value chains can improve their ability to collectively transitions towards a more sustainable and circular configuration by developing and validating a tool prototype. To achieve this, first, a brief non-systematic literature review of impact assessment, followed by a brief structured literature review on conditions for transitioning, was executed. This was done to identify relevant inputs for the tool. Then, tool development was driven through feedback sessions with TNO employees. Lastly, the final tool prototype was evaluated in a final feedback round with TNO employees. As a result, the thesis identified the concept of dynamic capabilities as useful in categorizing conditions that actors can directly influence and improve, potentially bettering their transition. Furthermore, sustainability could practically be implemented by integrating it into capabilities and the tool structure, rather than having an impact assessment integrated into the tool. The concept of design thinking and a sprint workshop format was effective in orienting tool development towards value chain collaboration. The final tool prototype – the Capabilities Sprint Worksop – was judged by TNO employees to be a potentially useful tool: If the Capabilities Workshop would connect capabilities to business model impacts, definitely position itself as ideational, evaluative or both, and test its assumption in a practical setting, it could be potentially a useful tool. The author judged these caveats, given sufficient time, as resolvable. Overall, the thesis identifies suitable inputs, orientation, structure, and future developments for a tool aimed at helping value chain actors in transitioning towards a more sustainable and circular configuration. Therefore, the tool proposed contributes towards the field of circular business model innovation and circular value chain transitioning. | |
