Circular Operational Excellence: Systems, Metrics, and Governance for Regenerative Value Chains

Submit your paper here

Introduction

Manufacturing and supply chains are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, with manufacturing responsible for roughly one-fifth of global CO₂ emissions. Scope 3 value-chain emissions often make up over 70% of a company's carbon footprint (McKinsey, 2016). Moving from the linear “take-make-waste” model to regenerative cycles is crucial for staying within planetary limits (Munonye, 2025; EU, 2020). However, the idea of operational excellence remains vague when it comes to sustainability and digital transformation (Powell et al., 2022). Current maturity frameworks for circularity mainly focus on material flows, ignoring systemic factors like resource lifecycles, equity, and resilience (Munonye, 2025), while policy efforts still lack comprehensive economic and governance metrics (Niero & Kalbar, 2021).

This special issue explores the underdeveloped integration of circular economy principles and operational excellence within regenerative value chains. While some studies have looked at the combined effects of the circular economy and Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a comprehensive, practice-based framework is still missing. This issue advances the field by clearly connecting LSS methods with governance mechanisms, metrics, and systems essential for regeneration, linking theory with the real-world challenges of value chain management. By providing a complete framework for implementing a circular and regenerative approach, it addresses a vital knowledge gap that the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma is uniquely qualified to fill.

To this end, this special issue aims to create a new, integrated model of circular operational excellence by moving beyond traditional efficiency to include regenerative value chains. These systems are designed not only to reduce environmental and social harm but also to restore and actively enhance ecological and social capital. It seeks to deepen theoretical understanding and offer practitioners practical, evidence-based insights.

These aims will be achieved by soliciting high-quality contributions that: 1) develop innovative conceptual frameworks combining operational excellence with circular economy principles; 2) propose and validate robust metrics for measuring circularity and regenerative impact; and 3) examine effective governance and system-level strategies for implementation. By integrating cross-disciplinary research from operations management, sustainability science, and industrial ecology, this issue aims to bridge the critical gap between regenerative theory and practical application, thereby fostering systems that are both economically competitive and ecologically restorative.

List of Topic Areas

1. Conceptual Frameworks for Circular Operational Excellence: Developing new theories or frameworks that integrate circular economy principles with operational excellence methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, etc.) to improve sustainability and promote regeneration.
2. Performance Metrics for Regenerative Systems: Developing and validating novel, multidimensional indicators that measure metrics to assess the performance of circular and regenerative value chains, including environmental, social, and economic indicators.
3. Governance Mechanisms for Circularity and Regeneration: Analysing the policy frameworks, collaboration models between firms, organizational structures, and multi-stakeholder engagement strategies necessary to achieve circular operational excellence. This also involves examining managerial practices that promote regenerative outcomes throughout entire value chains.
4. Digital Enablers for Circular Operational Excellence: Examining the role of Industry 4.0 technologies (e.g., IoT, AI, Blockchain, Digital Twins) in promoting circular operational excellence. Submissions are also encouraged to investigate the potential challenges, limitations, and unintended effects of these technologies, such as rebound effects, data governance issues, and the digital divide.
5. Empirical Applications and Case Studies: Quantitative empirical research and qualitative case studies demonstrating successful implementation of circular operational excellence strategies in various industries, highlighting best practices, challenges, and actionable lessons learned in achieving regenerative value chains.

Guest Editors 

Younès El Manzani, ISM-IAE, Versailles SQY University & Paris-Saclay University, France, younes.el-manzani@uvsq.fr

Emanuele Gabriel Margherita, Link Campus University, Italy, e.margherita@unilink.it

Mostapha El Idrissi, FSJES-KS, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco, m.elidrissi@uca.ac.ma

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

Submit via ScholarOne

Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1st November 2025

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 1st May 2026