Circular economy is a rapidly evolving economic system designed to benefit society, business and environment. However, the current circular economy policies and resulting business models are more or less universal, meaning they largely neglect the organisational specifics. Therefore, research that seeks to enhance the circular economy mindset and, at the same time, the innovativeness of firms needs to include more analyses of firm-specific characteristics and issues with a view to more quickly making the modern sustainable reality. As a response, the current study contributes to a better understanding of the role of circular economy practices at different stages of the firms’ evolution. Using crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis we upgrade the organisational life cycle theory by developing 13 circular economy configuration indicators, 10 for the innovative (In1-In10) and 3 for the conservative (Co1-Co3) stage of the organisational life cycle. The various circular economy practices and (non–) financial mechanisms at work throughout the organisational life cycle reveal that a holistic approach to examining the field should be a priority.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16670979
Attempts to understand how firms view environmentally-friendly operations and conscious consumerism are easy to find in the resource efficiency literature. Although scholars consider various resource efficiency business models, opportunities to seize the benefits of the organizational life cycle theory remain underresearched. In the current study, we analyze resource efficiency actions undertaken by close to 1,200 firms in the innovative and conservative stages of a firm’s evolution from four European Union member states: Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. Logistic regression results show that firms in the conservative stage are more likely to undertake resource efficiency actions related to the saving of water, energy, and materials than firms in the innovative stage which are expected to be implementing actions associated with the design of sustainable product. Surprisingly, our findings also suggest that firms in the conservative stage perform more resource efficiency actions than firms in the innovative one. Various actions are applied by firms in different stages among member states that share similar economic conditions. Moreover, support mechanisms are also considered in this study. The findings allow us to contribute by expanding how the resource efficiency field is conceived in the terms of firm-specific characteristics, their needs and limitations while providing insights and recommendations for researchers and policymakers to accelerate the transition to a sustainable society.
COBISS.SI-ID: 27223811
Marketers and policymakers strive to attain potential customers who are confronted with price premiums, conflicting information, and low awareness of the biocapacity of the organic food sector. Since existing research on the psychosocial factors affecting organic food behavior is fragmented, perplexing, and paradoxical, the authors rely on large cross-national data to fully describe the process which underpins the organic food purchase decision from psychosocial perspective. They apply the theory of planned behavior, extending it with Schwartz’s value concept and the feedback loop between an individual’s behavior and social norms. By applying mixed methods, the authors are able to provide a complete framework that includes significant psychosocial antecedents of organic food purchasing behavior like values, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions. Building on this framework, the study elaborates and demonstrates that the feedback loop, a dynamic component of the decision-making process, is important for shaping consumer behavior. The model’s theoretical and marketing implications help transform the individual’s process of deciding whether to purchase organic food.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16272387