A successful combination of innovation with sustainability issues has occupied science and practice for decades. In particular, the adaptation of innovation processes to new requirements and the redesign of product development activities are becoming increasingly important and offer great potential for a long-term competitive advantage.

Building on the previous work on Green Innovation at TIM, this research field has been further developed. In particular, the topics of Circular Economy and Cradle to Cradle are considered in our research and practice projects.

The research group currently consists of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.. Cornelius Herstatt, Dr. Vytaute Dlugoborskyte, Luise Degen, Johanna Zeller, Julia Pantel and Matthias Schneider.

Dr. Vytaute Dlugoborskyte is a Senior Research Fellow (Habilitandin) at the TIM Institute.

Luise M. Degen is a research assistant and doctoral student at the TIM institute. The research focus of her dissertation is on sustainable innovation, circular economy, circular innovation, paradox theory and organisational culture. More specifically, her research focuses on the paradoxical tensions that arise within organisations when they innovate and shift towards circular models.

Johanna Zeller works as a research assistant and doctoral student at the TIM institute. Her research combines the topics of Circular Economy, Stakeholder Theory, and Collaborative as well as Circular Oriented Innovation. Using the construction industry as an example, she is conducting research on how innovations and collaboration can facilitate the Circular Economy in the sector. Furthermore, Johanna is part of the research team of the project “New Strategies and Structures for a Cradle to Cradle C2C Model Region in Northeast Lower Saxony” which aims to develop a regional innovation, transfer and sustainability strategy for the implementation of C2C in a less developed rural region.

Matthias Schneider is an external PhD student at the TIM institute. He holds an M.Sc. in Finance from Esade Business and Law School, Barcelona. In his dissertation, Matthias is focusing on the topic of Circular Economy implementation with a focus on the manufacturing and construction industries. More specifically, Matthias is examining how innovation and business analytics capabilities in firms can support the implementation of CE initiatives. Currently, Matthias works on the state-funded project “New Strategies and Structures for a Cradle to Cradle C2C Model Region in Northeast Lower Saxony”.

Julia Pantel is an external doctoral student at the TIM institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of Sustainability, Circular Economy and Innovation Management, exploring how companies can better understand customer acceptance and involve consumers/users in experimentation to achieve sustainable circular oriented innovation beyond the niche.

Selection of relevant publications and conference presentations of the research group:

2024
Saari, U. A., Damberg, S., Schneider, M., Aarikka-Stenroos, L., Herstatt, C., Lanz, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2024). Capabilities for circular economy innovation: Factors leading to product/service innovations in the construction and manufacturing industries. Journal of cleaner production, 434, 140295.

2023
Achtelik, T., Herstatt, C. and Tiwari, R. (2023). System Orientation as an Enabler for Sustainable Frugal Engineering: Insights from Automotive Material Development, Procedia CIRP 116: 119–124, 30th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference, New Brunswick, USA.

Damberg, S., Dlugoborskyte, V., & Herstatt, C. (2023). The influence of companies' sustainability measures on employees' sustainable behavior. XXXIV ISPIM INNOVATION CONFERENCE: Innovation and Circular Economy, Ljubljana, Slovenia, June 4-7, 2023.

Degen, L. M. and Herstatt, C. (2023), Transforming to a Circular Economy: A Review on Paradoxical Tensions, in: ISPIM Conference, 2023.

Schneider, M., Damberg, S., Saari, U. S., Herstatt, C. (2023). Examining the relationship between circular economy implementation and four dimensions of firm performance. European Academy of Management: Transforming Business for Good, Dublin, Ireland, June 14-15, 2023.

Uusikartano, J., & Damberg, S. (2023). Conceptualising inter-organisational collaboration for circular economy. XXXIV ISPIM INNOVATION CONFERENCE: Innovation and Circular Economy, Ljubljana, Slovenia, June 4-7, 2023.

Zeller, J., Damberg, S., & Herstatt, C. (2023). Perspectives on stakeholder involvement in regional circular economy projects. XXXIV ISPIM INNOVATION CONFERENCE: Innovation and Circular Economy, Ljubljana, Slovenia, June 4-7, 2023.

2022

Bücker, C., Pantel, J., Geissdoerfer, M. and Kumar, M. (2022), Supply Chain Management in the Circular Economy: Empirical evidence of industry 4.0 enabled applications, in: R&D Management Conference "Innovation for People and Territories", July 9-13, Trento, Italy.

Damberg, S. (2022). Strategies for circular economy implementation. XXXIII ISPIM INNOVATION CONFERENCE: Innovating in a Digital World, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 5-8, 2022.

Damberg, S., Fritz, M., Bozic, K., & Saari, U.A. (2022). Consumers’ purchasing behavior of Cradle-to-Cradle™ products – The role of trust and supply chain perceptions. 29th IPDMC Innovation and Product Development Management Conference, Hamburg, Germany, July 17-19, 2022.

Damberg, S., Fritz, M., & Saari, U.A. (2022). Born-sustainable companies leading the way in sustainable business model innovation – The core values and drivers for building future businesses. 28th ISDRS Conference: Sustainable Development and Courage: Culture, Art and Human Rights, Stockholm, Sweden, June 15-17, 2022.

Pantel, J., Bücker, C. and Herstatt, C. (2022), Customer Involvement in Experimentation for Sustainable Circular Oriented Innovation, in: R&D Management Conference "Innovation for People and Territories", July 9-13, Trento, Italy.

Saari, U. A., Damberg, S., Frömbling, L., & Ringle, C. M. (2021). Sustainable Consumption Behavior of Europeans: The Influence of Environmental Knowledge and Risk Perception on Environmental Concern and Behavioral Intention, Ecological Economics, 189(107155), 1-14.

Saari, U.A., Schneider, M., Damberg, S., Aarikka-Stenroos, L., Lanz, M., Herstatt, C., & Ringle, C.M. (2022). The influence of circular economy implementation on competitiveness in manufacturing companies. 28th IEEE ICE/ITMC & 31st IAMOT Conference IEEE, Nancy, France, June 19-23, 2022.

Thiesen, J., Degen, L. M., Herstatt, C. (2022), Moving Towards Circularity - An Explorative Study of the Frond End of Circular Product Innovation in the Battery and Energy Storage Sectors, in: Innovation and Product Development Management Conference, 2022.

Zeller, J. & Damberg, S. (2022). Implementing circular economy in rural regions: Key stakeholders as drivers for sustainable transformation. 29th IPDMC Innovation and Product Development Management Conference, Hamburg, Germany, July 17-19, 2022.

2021 or earlier

Degen, L., Pantel, J., Dlugoborskyte, V., and Herstatt, C. (2021), Deciphering the Complexity of Circular Oriented Innovation: A Holistic Framework, in: ISPIM Conference Proceedings, Manchester 2021.

Drabe, V., & Herstatt, C. (2016). Why and how companies implement circular economy concepts–The case of cradle to cradle innovations. In R&D Management Conference.

Mackenbach, S., Zeller, J. C., and Osebold, R. (2020), A Roadmap towards Circularity-Modular Construction as a Tool for Circular Economy in the Built Environment, In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 588, No. 5, p. 052027). IOP Publishing.

Pantel, J., Degen,L., Zeller, J., and Herstatt, C. (2021), Deciphering the Complexity of Circular Oriented Innovation: Introduction of a holistic framework for Circular Oriented Innovation (COI), in: R&D-Management Conference, 2021.

Saari, U., Herstatt, C., & Dlugoborskyte, V. (2020). Cradle-to-Cradle Front-End Innovation: Management of the Design Process. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

Smits, A., Drabe, V., & Herstatt, C. (2020). Beyond motives to adopt: Implementation configurations and implementation extensiveness of a voluntary sustainability standard. Journal of cleaner production, 251, 119541.