Research assistant internship CBMs 3rd

Research assistant internship CBMs 3^rd  

Hi everyone,

In the last entry, I stated about the sustainability and the importance of Circular Business Models (CBMs) to achieve it. In this entry, first I am discussing why certification is important for CBMs. Then the tool and the certifications exist, to cater the business needs, mentioned in the previous entry.

Certification helps to reduce the transaction cost in the supply chain by having standards. Standards simplify, routinize and legitimize the incorporation of the environmental elements throughout the supplier management process. This also reduces the costs involved in developing specifications for each and every supplier, work related to the cord of conducts for each company and monitoring work for compliance. Certifications generally are done by third parties, which increase the credibility and the competitive advantage for the firm/product certified.

I have selected to study three standards namely, “Cradle to Cradle certificate”, “Global Sustainable Enterprise System GSES® measures” and “Higg Index”, which evaluate the circularity in different aspects and levels. The analysis is done to find out how these standards fulfill the needs of CBMs mentioned in the previous blog entry. Since the design of the certifications itself differs to one another, during the final stage of the study the design differences of the selected tool and the standards are investigated. Effective implementation of circularity and sustainability depend on the design of the standard. This study enables organizations to select the most suitable certification or tool to present the circularity of their business or product openly. The general public can understand simply, what is meant by the stated certification when they make the purchase.

Throughout my internship period, I realized that the circular economy is essential to have a better future. This topic had made strong interest within me to study it more. I believe I will be able to do more research in this area in future.

Finally, I would like to thank the supervisor for the support and guidance extended toward the internship.

Hoping a better future!

Varuna