Bente M. Flygansvær is an associate professor in Supply Chain Management at BI Norwegian Business School. She is educated Master in Business Economics (MBE - Siviløkonom) from BI Norwegian Business School, and Cand.Merc. and Dr.Oecon. from NHH Norwegian School of Economics.
Her research and teaching interests are in supply chain management (SCM), interorganizational relationships, resource management, and the circular economy with a focus on reverse logistics, waste collection systems and recycling networks. Her main field of interest is the circular economy. Her recent work includes eco-design, urban handling of waste mass, end-consumer role in collection systems, and extended producer responsibility (EPR).
She is the academic coordinator for MSc in Business, Major in Supply Chain and Operations Management, since 2018. She teaches mainly on the MSc level (siviløkonomstudiet), but has also course responsibility for Supply Chain Management courses at the bachelor level. Additionally, she is involved in executive teaching with a focus on the circular economy. She has extensive experience in thesis supervision on the master and bachelor level.
She has served on the board of LOGMA, an association for supply chain professionals, since 2011. She founded Persson Seminar in 2013, as a cooperation with LOGMA and BI, which is a yearly event for the Norwegian SCM community. She also founded the NOFOMA Best Paper Relevance award in cooperation with NOFOMA and LOGMA 2023.
She also has industry experience from the public and private sector, as a logistics manager and project manager.
Publications
Huemer, Lars & Flygansvær, Bente Merete (2025)
Increasing circularity: The importance of resource interactions when adapting from waste management to resource management
The circular economy, which entails a fundamental transition from waste management to resource management, involves waste minimization and prolonged resource utility. Resources should arguably be managed in a manner reducing the likelihood that they turn into waste. Correspondingly, waste should be managed in a way increasing the likelihood that it becomes a useful resource. To achieve such ends, this research highlights the bundled nature of resources (including waste). The study is based on an abductive research process and it de-bundles the resource categories portrayed in the 4R model. The de-bundled framework is applied to a longitudinal case study focusing on a recycling company's participation in the circular economy. This application results in distinctions between endogenous and exogenous adaptation strategies. Endogenous adaptations involve an explicit bundle awareness and attention to interaction processes within 4R resource categories, exogenous adaptations include interaction processes between 4R categories. It is proposed that adaptations involving deliberate tradeoffs between endogenous and exogenous strategies may lead to more circular business models and sustainable resource management.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete & Dahlstrøm, Robert (2024)
Enhancing circular supply chains via ecological packaging: An empirical investigation of an extended producer responsibility network
Many industries have established producer responsibility networks, but the affiliated firms are not required to modify their packaging. This research examines conditions that influence the likelihood that firms will develop packaging with an ecological design. This study uses a resource dependency perspective to illustrate how facets of the perceived corporate environment influence packaging decisions. Data collected from 188 firms in a producer responsibility network indicate that financial resources, recycling resources, regulation, internal integration, and customer demand influence the ecological design of plastic packaging. Competitive intensity moderates the effects of customer demand on ecological packaging design. The study concludes by outlining its implications for sustainable packaging practice and research.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete; Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth & Harrison, Debbie (2021)
Bærekraft er et ord som favner bredt. Faglitteraturen kaller det den tredelte bunnlinjen, der bærekraft skal gi positive gevinster på samfunns-, bedrifts- og individnivå. For bedrifter innebærer det at man skal realisere gevinster for bedriften selv, men også for miljøet og samfunnet. Denne kompleksiteten gjør det krevende å konkretisere og gjennomføre nye løsninger, og resultatet blir at bærekraft er noe det er lett å snakke om, men vanskelig å gjøre. I denne artikkelen tar vi utgangspunkt i et samarbeid mellom tre aktører om en ny løsning for bærekraftig massehåndtering[1] til og fra bygg- og anleggsprosjekter (BA) i Oslo. Gjennom å mobilisere sine respektive ressurser har aktørene utviklet en løsning som involverer gjenvinning av slike masser og mindre CO2-utslipp knyttet til transport av disse. Men aktørene har støtt på utfordringer i økosystemet rundt, og løsningen er enda ikke realisert. Vi diskuterer dette eksempelet i lys av et industrielt nettverksperspektiv og argumenterer for at mobilisering av ressurser på det vi kan kalle bedriftsnivå, ikke er tilstrekkelig for å realisere bærekraftige løsninger – det må også skje i det omliggende økosystemet. Mobilisering på bedriftsnivå kan imidlertid skape ny dynamikk og gi utviklingsmuligheter som på lengre sikt kan bidra til å realisere slike bærekraftige løsninger.
Purpose Research shows a recycling behavior gap where end consumers are positive towards recycling but do not act in accordance with their intentions. Such a gap creates challenges for reverse logistics systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how adaptations in reverse logistics systems towards end consumers-turned-suppliers can improve recycling behavior. Design/methodology/approach A framework with three propositions is developed and evaluated empirically using a two-group dependent post-test quasi-experimental design. The empirical setting is recycling of household waste. Three interventions are evaluated as: (1) the social norms nudge, (2) the distance nudge and (3) the availability nudge. Findings The results show that nudging improved recycling action behavior for the experimental group. Control group behavior remained constant. Research limitations/implications This paper suggests that the end-consumer’s role as suppliers needs to be included more actively into reverse logistics systems for products to enter the preferred loops of recycling in the circular economy. Originality/value A new field of climate psychology is used to explain challenges in reverse logistics systems and nudging is demonstrated as a tool with which to deal with them. The study also shows how quasi-experiments can be applied in logistics research.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete; Dahlstrøm, Robert & Nygaard, Arne (2019)
Green innovation in recycling - A preliminary analysis of reversed logistics in Norway
There has been an exponential growth of new electronic products in the global consumer market. New electronic consumer products generate a growing need for new methods, processes and entrepreneurship in recycling. In this study, we examine how entrepreneurs involved in the recycling of electronic products innovate to create a more sustainable circular economy. The recycling system must take care of electronics that contains hazardous materials. Also, a recycling system should prevent the waste of potentially useful materials. Thus, entrepreneurship is crucial to improve the handling of toxic material and processing technology to reuse valuable elements. Innovation therefore is essential to facilitate a sustainable recycling process. In this study, we analyse entrepreneurial innovation in the light of the organisational structure of the recycling system. Following a study of 108 recycling entrepreneurs, competition and specific investments are found to be important factors that drive the sustainable innovation that make Norway one of the countries with the highest recycling rates of electronic and electric waste.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete; Dahlstrøm, Robert & Nygaard, Arne (2018)
Exploring the Pursuit of Sustainability in Reverse Supply Chains for Electronics
Abstract: This study examines reverse supply chains in the electronics industry. The analysis characterizes the flow of resources among firms in a reverse supply chain in the Norwegian electronics industry. The study subsequently examines influences of governance mechanisms and culture on the social, ecological, and economic performance in the supply chain. Based on principal-agency theory, the authors implicate collaboration, monitoring, and specific assets as determinants of the interfirm culture operating in the reverse supply chain. The interfirm culture and collaboration serve as antecedents to triple bottom line performance. Data collected with Norwegian electronics collectors indicate that collaboration and interfirm culture influence ecological, economic, and relational components of sustainable performance.
Sharifyazdi, Mehdi & Flygansvær, Bente M. (2015)
Dynamic routing in reverse logistics : the effect of sensors in waste containers on uncertainty
Jæger, Bjørn (red.). NOFOMA 2015 : Post Conference Proceedings, Molde, 3-5 June 2015, Nordic Logistics Research Network
Reverse logistics systems are characterized with inherent uncertainties from supply and demand. Therefore, tools and planning methods must be developed to cope with these uncertainties and at the same time reduce cost and increase service and predictability. This paper develop a dynamic method for vehicle routing in waste collection. In particular, we evaluate the effect of availability of fill-rate data provided by sensors in waste containers. Keywords: Reverse logistics, Uncertainty, Vehicle Routing, Dynamic routing, Waste containers.
Boosting green public procurement through introduction of environmental criteria in supplier selection process in Norway
[Academic lecture]. IMP Conference 2024.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete & Sjøvaag, Marit (2023)
Boosting green public procurement through introduction of environmental criteria in supplier selection process
[Academic lecture]. Ipsera workshop on Sourcing and Innovation Ecosystems for Circularity.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete & Sharifyazdi, Mehdi (2022)
Exploring service as a mechanism to close the loop in supply chains: An ABC classification approach
[Academic lecture]. The 34th ANNUAL NOFOMA CONFERENCE.
Flygansvær, Bente Merete; Laari, Sini, Mikkelsen, Ole Stegmann, Tamssaouet, Karim, Gillström, Henrik & Stefánsson, Gunnar (2021)
Book of Abstracts - The 33rd Annual NOFOMA Conference
[Report]. Nordic Logistics Research Network.
Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth; Flygansvær, Bente Merete & Harrison, Debbie (2021)
RESOURCE INTERACTION AS THE MISSING LENS IN COLLECTIVE ACTION FOR GRAND CHALLENGES
[Academic lecture]. EGOS 2022.
Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth; Flygansvær, Bente Merete, Harrison, Debbie & Soldal, Olav B. (2021)
Hvordan få til sirkulær massehåndtering for bygg- og anleggsprosjekter i Oslo-området?
[Report]. BI Norwegian Business School.
Dette forprosjektet har hatt som formål å identifisere interessante aspekter og problemstillinger knyttet til spørsmålet: Hvordan kan man få til sirkulær massehåndtering til og fra bygg- og anleggsprosjekter i Oslo-området? For å svare på spørsmålet, har vi ved Handelshøyskolen BI gjennomført en casestudie av et konsept for massehåndtering på Grønlia i Oslo havn i regi Skanska Industrial Solutions (SIS) i samarbeid med Oslo Havn KF og AF Decom. Konseptet er fortsatt ikke realisert, og ligger til politisk klagebehandling etter avslag i plan- og bygningsetaten i Oslo kommune, men caset representerer et interessant eksempel på hva som skal til for å utvikle og implementere sirkulære løsninger for massehåndtering. I tillegg til Grønlia-konseptet, er det flere andre pågående initiativer som er satt i gang i løpet av de siste årene med tanke på å håndtere utfordringen med masser i Oslo-området. Dette vitner om at problemstillingen har blitt satt på agendaen, både på politisk- og næringsnivå samt blant ulike interessegrupper. Grønlia-caset må dermed sees på som en del av et større økosystem for massehåndtering i Oslo og omegn.
