Bio:
Simon joined UTS on April 1 2014 as a PhD student on the Wealth from Waste Cluster, a 3-year research program funded primarily by the CSIRO that aims to identify viable options for the recycling of metals from existing products in Australia. Simon’s PhD research is analysing the role of networks in generating and diffusing innovation across industrial ecology clusters. Of particular interest is how different approaches to industrial ecology may impact the forms of the network and hence the type and rate of innovation across the cluster.
For the past 5 years Simon has been lecturing in sustainability and responsible business to postgraduate students on the UK and Asian campuses of Nottingham University Business School. Simultaneously Simon has been running his own environmental consultancy, Simply Sustainable, working on a broad range of projects with regional businesses and with Government on issues as varied as renewable energy, stormwater harvesting, industrial ecology, sustainability reporting and urban biodiversity. Simon has extensive sustainability expertise in senior management roles with large Australian and multinational companies, as well as an array of general management experience across the Asia Pacific region, and holds a Masters in Sustainability/CSR from Nottingham University and an MA (Hons) from Edinburgh University.
Description of PhD:
Networks for Innovation in Industrial Ecology
Radical innovations in production systems and resource management are emerging globally; waste is now treated as a valuable resource and products, supply chains and business models are being redesigned to harness this opportunity. Firms are more connected and the significance of inter-organisational networks is becoming ever greater.
Industrial ecology projects in particular bring together a broad range of hitherto unconnected actors into new, networked relationships – Kalundborg is oft cited in this regard. Whilst the literature suggests that networks assist in generating innovation in sustainable business management, we do not yet have a good understanding of the characteristics of networks and drivers of innovation across these networks to better inform both our design of business systems and processes for sustainability and the resulting implications for management strategy and practice.
Simon’s PhD will investigate emerging and innovative business models for manufacturing and services involved in recycling (of metals) in the literature. It reviews and evaluates the role that inter-organisational networks have played in driving innovation in waste and the broader industrial ecology arena, particularly through supply chains, and seeks to improve our understanding of how inter-firm networks drive innovation and sustainability.
Contact details:
simon.d.wright@student.uts.edu.au
0411 138 974.
