“Operational Transparency in Zero Waste Management”
by Atalay Atasu
INSEAD
Place: MA-330
Abstract
This seminar will focus on an applied research project involving an entrepreneurial novel circular business model, referred to as zero-waste management. We will provide the details of a field experiment that took place in a Greek island in the Aegean, where the onus of waste management was shared between the entrepreneurial firm and island residents and led to exceptional waste management outcomes. The field experiment has leveraged a Virtual Reality (VR) based intervention to identify conditions leading to higher resident engagement in zero waste initiatives and allowed the authors (Ertekin, Atasu, Chattopadhyay and Van Wassenhove) to obtain critical insights as to how extreme levels of circularity can be achieved by adopting an ecosystem perspective.
Bio
Bianca and James Pitt Chair and Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD, Atalay Atasu (PhD INSEAD, 2007) focuses on sustainable operations management in his research. His publications appeared in Management Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management and Journal of Industrial Ecology. He also publishes in practitioner outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review and California Management Review. Atalay’s research has received several research awards, including the Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award (winner 2007, runner up 2014), Wickham Skinner Early Career Research Award (2012), Paul Kleindorfer Award in Sustainability (2013), MSOM Responsible Research Award (2019) and MSOM Best OM Paper Award (2021). His research on circularity has been recognized by Harvard Business Review as a McKinsey Best Article Award finalist in 2022. Atalay served as president of the Manufacturing and Service Operations Society and as Department Editor for POMS. He is currently an Associate/Senior Editor for Management Science and POMS and a department editor at MSOM. Atalay co-founded and co-directs the INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme and the INSEAD Sustainable Business Initiative.
