Moving Toward a Smart Circular Economy : A Case Study of a Compliance & Innovation Project in a Luxury Fashion Group

Diplôme Master Moving Toward a Smart Circular Economy : A Case Study of a Compliance & Innovation Project in a Luxury Fashion Group eng 2026-01-27 author Yang Qingqing 421723 director Balsiger Jörg 716235 Service enseignement, recherche, administratif et technique (SdS) (SCSPS) In 2020, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan, replacing the first version launched in 2015. As a main building block of Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth, the European Green Deal (2019), this new plan continues to accelerate its step towards industrial green transition through its product-focused legislative framework: the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Came into force in 2024, ESPR introduces standards, rules, and requirements for different product groups across its product life cycle and communicates this through a new initiative: the Digital Product Passport (DPP). This digital platform will disclose product traceability and relevant information to suppliers, consumers, and regulators, thereby promoting circularity and strengthening legal compliance. However, with delegated acts on targeted product categories and detailed information attributes still pending from authorities, most of the broader industry has adopted a wait-and-see position, and limited empirical research has focused on this emerging policy tool. While this thesis shows a great opportunity by drawing on the author’s internship in a luxury group, dedicatedly working on the Group DPP project from July to December 2025. As Textiles and Apparel is one of the primary targeted sectors of DPP, identified by the ESPR with an expected compliance deadline starting from 2027, this case study on 3 Fashion & Accessories Maisons within Richemont proves to be both pertinent and strategic for the compliance journey of the broader industry. Applying Van de Ven and Poole’s (1995) organizational change motor typology to the case analysis, the study finds that implementation maturity depends less on static structural advantages e.g. company size, financial resources, or brand equity. Instead, Van de Ven and Poole emphasize that organizational change is a process, and this thesis examines how multiple motors of change interact across different organizational units within the same DPP project. By identifying distinct patterns of motor interplay, this thesis reveals multiple pathways for circular economy digital transformation. Importantly, while focusing on the luxury sector, the identified patterns offer transferable insights for broader industries, which contribute to the understanding of how European industries can navigate the green transition mandated by EU regulatory frameworks. Digital Product Passport Circular Economy Luxury Fashion Organizational Change ESPR Compliance Business Model Innovation Dewey 354.3 MIHDS Master in Innovation, Human Development and Sustainability 199 Institut de la gouvernance de l'environnement et du développement territorial TF false 51ddc72e-a30d-4395-b302-32b5e599afe9 Master thesis Private 01_-_Yang_Qingqing_Final_Master_MIH.pdf 695549 application/pdf b2f2c779ecb19e95108cad32a06a1eb8b0c0fcc27a7b38f2156c4acf4d2bfbc2 closedAccess Faculté des sciences de la société / Institut de la gouvernance de l'environnement et du développement territorial

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Yang, Qingqing