Designing Value Chains for Industry 4.0 and a Circular Economy: A Review of the Literature

Usama Awan, Robert Sroufe and Karoly Bozan
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Usama Awan: Industrial Engineering and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland
Robert Sroufe: Donahue Graduate School of Business, Duquesne University, Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA
Karoly Bozan: Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, Duquesne University, Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: The growth of emerging digital technologies has led to premature and inconsistent conclusions about the relationship between circular economy and value chain activities. A structured, systematic review approach was used to examine the titles and abstracts of 912 papers from the circular economy and digital transformation, strategic management, and operations management literature. We looked at a relevant selection of 79 articles to develop a research agenda. The literature review helped identify strategic initiatives impacting the firm value chain’s redesign involving logistics capabilities, marketing, sales, and service. Outcomes of this study make significant contributions to the field. First, firms must reorganize their business models that align with their value chain activities. Second, the literature review in this study adds to a growing understanding of the field of research by showing that engaging with Industry 4.0 and the circular economy is desirable and necessary for internalizing knowledge flows across different value chain actors. Third, this study is a first step in the right direction in developing and understanding the critical role of value chains and evolving business models in a global economy with calls for more sustainable development.

Keywords: circular economy; digitalization; Industry 4.0; manufacturing; sustainable development; value chain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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