Circular economy adoption by SMEs in the emerging markets: Towards a multilevel conceptual framework

Abstract

Adding to the growing literature on circular economy (CE) and employing the theoretical lens of change management, this research explores SMEs’ challenges in the emerging markets context of India for adopting CE practices. We use a multi-case qualitative design, interviewing senior leaders and owners of Indian SMEs, CE intermediaries and two large firms on the nature and extent of critical barriers and enablers of CE adoption. Including CE market intermediaries, sustainability and CE managers of large organizations, who are required to educate and incentivize CE adoption of their SME value chain members, we analyze the barriers and opportunities from both sides of the coin. We develop a multilevel theoretical framework grounded in CE and change management literature, which presents the nature and extent of CE activities, barriers and contextual enablers of SMEs’ adoption of CE in emerging markets. Implications for policy, theory and practice are also discussed.

This paper uses an extensive review of the safety culture literature to identify three key themes - a) role of new employees, b) absence of a pro-active approach, and c) need for a ‘No-blame’ culture and explores their impact on the occupational health and safety culture (OHS). We use a qualitative study with a constructivist phenomenological approach consisting of 55 in-depth interviews with a diverse range of participants, including business owners, line managers and supervisors, OHS advisors, workers, and union representatives in Western Australia. A workplace vignette was used to elicit cultural norms derived from the participants’ attitudes and beliefs, which were analyzed using NVivo software to conduct a thematic analysis to classify the interview text into specific concepts and phrases. Findings confirm the three themes identified from our literature review and provide useful insights into the challenges faced by the participants in the implementation of safety policies. Besides extending the occupational health and safety literature, these findings have important managerial implications in view of the evolving nature of work and workplaces.