INSEAD · Fontainebleau, France

Atalay Atasu

Bianca and James Pitt Endowed Chair in Environmental Sustainability
Academic Director, INSEAD Hoffmann Institute · PhD INSEAD, 2007

Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD. Research spanning circular economy, extended producer responsibility, carbon management, and sustainable supply chains.

Publications Practitioner Content Cases and Simulations Business Sustainability Teaching Studio
INSEAD Faculty Page ↗
The Ultimate Disruption book cover
Atalay Atasu
Biography

About

Atalay Atasu (PhD INSEAD, 2007) is Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD, where he holds the Bianca and James Pitt Endowed Chair in Environmental Sustainability. He currently serves as Academic Director of the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute.

Before returning to INSEAD, he was the Dunn Family Endowed Professor and Full Professor at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business (2007–2021). His research focuses on sustainable operations management — including circular economy design, extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation, carbon management, and sustainable supply chains.

His publications have appeared in Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Journal of Industrial Ecology.

He served as President of the MSOM Society (2020–21) and has held Department Editor and Associate Editor roles at POM, MSOM, and Management Science. He is fluent in Turkish (native), English, French, and has working knowledge of German.

Publications

Recent & highlighted publications

All publications →
HBR
Atasu, Dumas, Van Wassenhove · HBR's 10 Must Reads 2023; McKinsey Best Paper Award Finalist 2022
2021
Mgmt. Sci. 2021
MSOM
Zhang, Atasu, Ayer, Toktay · 2021 MSOM Best Paper Award; 2019 MSOM Responsible Research Award
2020
Mgmt. Sci.
Atasu, Sarvary, Van Wassenhove
2008
Leadership

Institutes & programmes

Academic Director · 2026 –

INSEAD Hoffmann Institute

Overseeing grants, research strategy, and stakeholder engagement at INSEAD’s flagship sustainability research institute.

Institute website
Founder & Academic Director · 2023 – 2026

Sustainable Business Initiative

Translates faculty sustainability research into practitioner-facing insights on the INSEAD Knowledge platform.

INSEAD Knowledge
Programme Founder & Co-Director

Business Sustainability Programme

INSEAD Executive Education open programme equipping senior executives with sustainability strategy tools.

Programme details
Home / Research

Research

Academic keynote
Closing the research loop: From the field to the case, case to the journal, journal to the book, and from the book back to the field
Open full screen ↗ Click the slides or use ← → to move through the talk; press R for the research behind each slide, ? for all controls.
Research homes
Institutes

INSEAD Hoffmann Institute

Founded in 2018 through a gift from André and Rosalie Hoffmann, the Institute supports INSEAD’s practical research on business sustainability and brings together faculty, students, alumni and partners. Academic Director since 2026.

INSEAD Sustainable Business Initiative

A formal way for INSEAD faculty to come together on emerging sustainability research and new opportunities, building on the school’s long record in the field.

Working papers & papers under review
Current work
Business Model Choice under Right-to-Repair Laws

Gulserliler, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · Under revision for MSOM (first round major revision) · Runner-up, POMS Sustainable Operations 2023 Student Paper Competition

Urban Mining, Material Scarcity and the Renewable Energy Transition

Carrera, Duran, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · Under revision for MSOM (first round major revision)

Material Scarcity, Diffusion Control and Circularity

Uzunlar, Nadar, Atasu · Under revision

Operational Transparency in Zero Waste Management

Ertekin, Atasu, Chattopadhyay, Van Wassenhove · Under review

Consumers' Role in Circularity Execution

Steele, Kesavan, Atasu · Under review

Sustainability Ratings in the Supply Chain

Lei, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · Under review

Technology Competition in the Supply Chain

Gui, Atasu, Sarvary · Under review

Bigger and Further: An Operational Perspective of Windfarm Design

Aflaki, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · Under revision

Labor Cost in Circular Operations

Pinçe, Atasu

Funding Delegation in Humanitarian Operations

Urlu, Désir, Atasu, Van Wassenhove

Work in progress includes: "Network Effects in Supplier Sustainability Ratings" (Ustundag, Liang, Atasu, Van Wassenhove); "Network Revenue Management under Emission Reduction Commitments" (Atasu, Ciocan, Désir, Goranovic); "Ecosystem Learning in Supplier Sustainability Ratings" (Dogan, Atasu, Van Wassenhove); "An Operational Perspective on Zero-Waste Initiatives" (Dogan, Lei, Atasu, Van Wassenhove).
Refereed publications
Journal publications
POM
The Implications of Retail Trade-ins on Sales, Returns, and Profitability
Ertekin, Agrawal, Atasu · forthcoming
2025
MSOM
Toscani, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · forthcoming
2024
Mgmt. Sci.
Atasu, Ciocan, Desir · forthcoming
2023
MSOM
Huang, Atasu, Toktay, Tereyagoglu
2023
MSOM
Zhang, Atasu, Ramachandran
2022
IJPR
Duran, Atasu, Van Wassenhove
2022
HBR
The Circular Business Model · HBR's 10 Must Reads 2023 · McKinsey Best Article Award Finalist 2022
Atasu, Dumas, Van Wassenhove
2021
Mgmt. Sci.
Agrawal, Atasu, Ulku
2021
MSOM
Truthful Mechanism Design for Medical Surplus Product Allocation · 2021 MSOM Best Paper · 2019 MSOM Responsible Research Award
Zhang, Atasu, Ayer, Toktay
2020
IISE Trans.
Esenduran, Atasu, Van Wassenhove
2019
MSOM
Agrawal, Atasu, Van Wassenhove
2019
POM
Kovach, Atasu, Banerjee
2017
POM
Atasu, Toktay, Yeo, Zhang
2016
J. Ind. Ecol.
Agrawal, Atasu, Ulku
2016
Eur. Energy Law
Kalimo, Lifset, Van Rossem, Van Wassenhove, Atasu, Mayers
2012
Cal. Mgmt. Rev.
Atasu, Guide, Van Wassenhove
2010
POM
Efficient Take-Back Legislation · Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award 2007
Atasu, Van Wassenhove, Sarvary
2009
POM
Atasu, Guide, Van Wassenhove
2008
Mgmt. Sci.
Atasu, Sarvary, Van Wassenhove
2008
View on Google Scholar →
Book
Edited volume
Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains

Atasu, A. (Editor) · Springer-Verlag US · 2016

View book →
Home / Awards

Awards & Honours

Research awards
Research recognition
2025
POMS Excellence in Industry Engagement Award

Production and Operations Management Society

Winner
2024
POM Top-10 Article of 30 Years

"Product Reuse Economics in Closed-Loop Supply-Chain Research" · voted by POMS members

Top-10
2022
HBR McKinsey Best Article Award

Finalist — "The Circular Business Model" · Harvard Business Review

Finalist
2021
MSOM Journal Best OM Paper Award

"Truthful Mechanism Design for Medical Surplus Product Allocation" · MSOM Society

Winner
2019
MSOM Society Award for Responsible Research

"Truthful Mechanism Design for Medical Surplus Product Allocation" · Winner

Winner
2019
MSOM Society Award for Responsible Research

"Efficient Implementation of Collective EPR Legislation" · Finalist

Finalist
2016
Linda and Lloyd Byars Award for Faculty Research Excellence

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

Winner
2015
Sustainability Fellow, Brook Byers Institute

Georgia Tech Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems · 2015–

Fellow
2014
INFORMS Behavioral OM Best Paper — Honorable Mention

"Remanufacturing, Third Party Competition, and the Perceived Value of New Products"

Hon. Mention
2014
Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award — Runner-up

"Stakeholder Perspectives under E-Waste Take-Back Legislation" · POM Society

Runner-up
2013
Kleindorfer Award in Sustainability

Production & Operations Management Society

Winner
2012
Wickham Skinner Early-Career Research Accomplishments Award

Production & Operations Management Society

Winner
2011
Linda and Lloyd Byars Award for Faculty Research Excellence

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

Winner
2007
Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award

"Efficient Take-Back Legislation" · Production & Operations Management Society

Winner
Teaching & service awards
Teaching recognition
2025
Dean's Commendation for Excellence in MBA Teaching

INSEAD · 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

2024
Outstanding Teacher of INSEAD Executive Education

INSEAD · 2022, 2023, 2024

2025
Best Practical (Runner-up), INSEAD MiM Program

INSEAD · 2023, 2024, 2025

2023
Dean's Commendation for Excellent Collegial Mentoring

INSEAD

2019
Elective MBA Professor of the Year

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

2019
Outstanding Department Editor Award

Production and Operations Management Society

2018
Outstanding EMBA Professor & Outstanding Doctoral Advisor

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

2013
Class of 1940 Teaching Effectiveness Award

Georgia Tech · also Class of 1934 Award (2012)

Home / Teaching

Teaching

Current courses
Degree programmes
Elective · GEMBA · MBA · MiM

Business Sustainability Thinking

When is sustainability a central business problem, and how do firms build the capabilities to act on it while the rules keep shifting?

Salmon Rush simulationStakeholder frameworkLobbying GameCircular business modelsNPV+Sustainability Compass
Book link: stakeholder pressures, NPV+ and circularity, in The Ultimate Disruption.
MiM · Practical

Sustainability and Business Model Innovation

Practical course linking sustainability to business model redesign and circular economy strategy.

Circular business modelsAccess and process limitsValue capturePartners and ecosystems
Book link: reinventing the business, in The Ultimate Disruption.
PhD

Operations Strategy

Doctoral seminar on research methods and frontiers in operations management.

Research methodsFrontiers in OM
Executive education
Executive education · Co-Director

INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme (IBSP)

Open programme equipping senior leaders with sustainability strategy frameworks, co-directed with Karel Cool. Participants work on their own company’s challenge.

Building the caseStrategic opportunityExecutionMeasurement, reporting and financingSustainability Compass
Book link: the stakeholder lens, NPV+ and circular business models of The Ultimate Disruption.
Executive course · INSEAD Hoffmann Institute

The Ultimate Disruption (TUD)

What the sustainability transition demands of business leaders: short instructor-led videos, embedded live case simulations, knowledge checks and AI-coached reflection.

Salmon RushAlpha/Zing live caseNPV+Ecosystem live caseElectives: Paris 2024 · Tilos · LCA
Book link: the course companion to The Ultimate Disruption.
Online · 6 months · Programme Director

Sustainability Leadership and Strategy Programme

Online and live virtual programme, delivered with Emeritus, for senior leaders turning sustainability into a source of competitive advantage.

Business caseStrategic opportunityCircular economyRegulation and governanceImpactful leadership
Book link: from the business case to the circular economy and regulation in The Ultimate Disruption.
Interactive tools & simulations
Teaching tools

Web-based tools developed to support in-class and executive education sessions on business sustainability strategy.

Simulation

SalmonRush

Participants manage competing open-sea fishing businesses amid shifting markets and rival strategies, and feel the tension between short-term profit and long-run sustainability.

Multi-roundShared resourceCompetition
Launch simulation →Powered by Acpit!
AI-powered app

Sustainability Strategy Compass

Maps a firm’s sustainability challenges across societal, economic, regulatory and investor-driven dimensions and identifies the most appropriate strategic response.

AI coachConsulting modeAI-generated reports
Launch compass →Powered by Acpit!
Simulation

The Lobbying Game

Five producer groups lobby a regulator on how to share the cost of recycling e-waste: they take positions, form pacts and place lobbying points; the instructor decides.

Phone or laptopLive projector boardProducer responsibility
Book link: regulation, the channel that swings most, in The Ultimate Disruption.
AI-powered app

VAP Circularity Assessment

AI-assisted circularity assessment of a firm’s product portfolio, built on the Value–Access–Process framework of “The Circular Business Model” (HBR): how much value remains in used products, how easily they come back, and how hard they are to reprocess.

Product portfolioValue · Access · ProcessCircular business models
Book link: reinventing the business, in The Ultimate Disruption.
Cases & materials
Teaching cases
Alfonso meets Maria: Life Cycle Assessment for Circularity

INSEAD Case Study · 2026 (with Antonio Cavallin Toscani)

View →
Georgina Grenon & Paris 2024 (A): The Leader and the Journey

INSEAD Case Study · 2026 (with Ludo Van der Heyden)

Georgina Grenon & Paris 2024 (B): Fair Process Leadership

INSEAD Case Study · 2026 (with Ludo Van der Heyden)

Georgina Grenon & Apsys: Sustainability in the Board Room

INSEAD Case Study · 2026

Home / Service

Academic Service

Editorial roles
Journal & editorial service

Management Science

  • Associate Editor · 2024 –

MSOM · Mfg & Service Operations Mgmt

  • Department Editor · Environment, Health & Society · 2025 –
  • Associate Editor · 2016 – 2024

Production and Operations Management

  • Department Editor · Sustainable Operations · 2018 – 2021
  • Senior Editor · Sustainable Operations · 2009 – 2018; 2021 – 2026
  • Senior Editor · Industry Studies & Public Policy · 2014 – 2018

Journal of Industrial Ecology

  • Guest Editor · Special Issue on EPR · 2010 – 2013

Reviewer service

  • Decision Sciences · IIE Transactions · J. Ind. Ecology · Mgmt. Science · MSOM · Marketing Science · Naval Research Logistics · Operations Research · POM

Outstanding recognition

  • Outstanding Department Editor · POMS (2019)
  • Outstanding Senior Editor · POMS (2015)
  • Meritorious Service Award · MSOM Society (2009, 2010)
Society leadership
Professional society roles
2021
President, MSOM Society

2020/21 (President-Elect 2019/20)

2019
Chair, MSOM Sustainable Operations SIG

2018–2019

2014
Program Chair, 2014 POMS Conference

Atlanta, GA

2015
Founder, Early-Career Sustainable OM Workshop

Steering Committee 2015–2022

2022
Judge/Committee — MSOM Distinguished Service Award

Chair 2020 · Committee Member 2022

2011
Conference Co-Chair, POMS Sustainable Operations

Mini Conferences 2010, 2011 · Georgia Tech CLSC Workshop 2008

2011
Track/Cluster Chair

POMS 2009 Sustainable Operations · INFORMS 2011 MSOM Sustainable Operations

INSEAD institutional service
Institute & campus roles

Hoffmann Institute

  • Academic Director · 2026 –

Sustainable Business Initiative

  • Founder & Academic Director · 2023 – 2026
  • Academic Director, Sustainable Operations Initiative · 2021 – 2023

Campus & committee roles

  • Chair, INSEAD Carbon Reduction Commitment Faculty Advisory Group · 2021 – 2022
  • Member, INSEAD Carbon Reduction Steering Committee · 2020 – 2023
  • Member, INSEAD Sustainability Curriculum Revision Commitee. 2022 – 2023
  • TOM Area PhD Coordinator · 2021 – 2022
  • Fontainebleau Campus Research Seminar Coordinator · 2019 – 2021
Graduate advising
PhD students advised
VA

Vishal Agrawal

Georgia Tech · PhD Committee Member

Now Chaired Full Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown

LG

Luyi Gui

Georgia Tech · Co-advisor

Now Tenured Associate Professor, Merage School of Business, UC Irvine

IA

Işıl Alev

Georgia Tech · Advisor

Now Associate Professor of the Practice, Carroll School of Business, Boston College

NH

Ximin (Natalie) Huang

Georgia Tech · Co-Advisor

Assistant Professor, Carlson School of Business, University of Minnesota

CZ

Can Zhang

Georgia Tech · PhD Committee Member

Now tenured at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

JK

Jeremy Kovach

Georgia Tech · Co-advisor

Assistant Professor, University of North Texas

WF

Wayne Fu

Georgia Tech · Co-advisor

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Dearborn

EG

Ece Gulserliler

INSEAD · Co-advisor

Assistant Professor, Tilburg University

CC

Clara Carrera

INSEAD · Co-advisor

Assistant Professor, IESE

UU

Ufuk Ustundag

INSEAD · Co-advisor

Ongoing

Home / Book

The Ultimate Disruption

The Ultimate Disruption book cover
Harvard Business Review Press
Rethinking Business in a World Transformed by Climate Change
HBR Press Early 2027 Atalay Atasu & Luk Van Wassenhove

Climate change is the ultimate disruption to business — not just an environmental challenge but a fundamental transformation of the competitive landscape. In this book, Atalay Atasu and Luk Van Wassenhove draw on decades of research in sustainable operations, circular economy, and environmental regulation to offer a rigorous, practice-grounded framework for how companies can respond.

Rather than treating sustainability as a compliance obligation or a cost to minimise, The Ultimate Disruption argues that the businesses that will thrive are those that treat the transition as a strategic opportunity — redesigning their operations, supply chains, and business models for a world in which carbon, waste, and resource constraints are permanent features of competition.

Written for business leaders, executives, and students of strategy, the book combines analytical rigour with real-world cases drawn from INSEAD's global research network.

Keynote
The Ultimate Disruption — the talk
Open full screen ↗ Click the slides or use ← → to move through the talk; press ? for all controls.
Home / Media & Insights

Media, Videos & Talks

Talks · Videos · Podcasts
Videos & Talks
2024 – 2026
Recent publications & coverage
BCG
Delivering the Energy Transformation: Powered by Competitiveness, Paced by Trust

BCG–INSEAD collaboration · Contributor: Atasu · 2026

BCG
Norway: Powered by Competitiveness, Paced by Trust

BCG–INSEAD collaboration · Contributor: Atasu · 2026 · Summary

INSEAD
Be An Owl: Turn Sustainability Regulations Into Advantage

Atasu, Van Wassenhove · INSEAD Knowledge · May 2026

INSEAD
Can AI Align Sustainability and Profits?

Cool, Atasu · INSEAD Knowledge · March 2026

MIT Sloan
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability

Cool, Atasu, Furr · MIT Sloan Management Review · Fall 2024

HBR
The Long-Term Costs of Wind Turbines

Aflaki, Atasu, Van Wassenhove · Harvard Business Review digital · February 2024

INSEAD
Paris 2024: A Model for Greener Games

Atasu, Van Wassenhove · INSEAD Knowledge · July 2024 · Reprinted in Business Times Singapore, La Tribune, France24

MIT Sloan
How the 2024 Paris Olympics Fast-Tracked Decarbonization

Atasu, Van Wassenhove · MIT Sloan Management Review · June 2024

2021 – 2023
HBR
The Circular Business Model

Atasu, Dumas, Van Wassenhove · Harvard Business Review · July–August 2021 · HBR's 10 Must Reads 2023 · McKinsey Best Article Finalist 2022 · Translated into Italian, Korean, Taiwanese, Turkish, French

HBR
The Dark Side of Solar Power

Atasu, Duran, Van Wassenhove · Harvard Business Review digital · July 2021

HBR
How NGOs Can Help More People with DIY Solutions

Atasu, Ramachandran, Zhang · Harvard Business Review digital · August 2021

2018 – 2020
HBR
Rethinking Sustainability in the Light of the EU's New Circular Economy Policy

Atasu, Agrawal, Rinaldi, Herb, Ulku · Harvard Business Review · July 2018

Home / Contact

Contact

Direct contact
Get in touch

Atalay Atasu

Professor of Technology and Operations Management
Bianca & James Pitt Endowed Chair in Environmental Sustainability
Academic Director, INSEAD Hoffmann Institute

atalay.atasu [at] insead.edu INSEAD faculty page → Google Scholar profile →
Address
INSEAD Fontainebleau

INSEAD Europe Campus

Boulevard de Constance
77305 Fontainebleau
France

insead.edu →