Managerial Energy in Sustainable Enterprises: Organizational Wisdom Approach

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) as an idea involves applying the concept of sustainable development that has been gaining worldwide support. This shift in perception of energy and resource-use from its linear to circular forms creates a specific business environment, which constitutes the subject of this research. This article aims to analyze the impact of a manager’s energy on organizational wisdom, focusing on its circular business model activity. In the beginning, the article focuses on presenting ideas of the circular economy, emphasizing the manager’s activity in implementing strategic and operational tasks. These activities are identified as energy to launch mechanisms for developing organizational wisdom for sustainable enterprise. Assuming that organizational wisdom consists of two dimensions, organizational learning, and absorptive capacity, the research identifies relationships between them. The study was conducted at VIVE Textile Recycling Ltd., (Kielce, Poland). Empirical data were collected from 138 managers using the PAPI technique. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to test the research hypotheses. Main results: Managerial energy (ME) is understood as the active attitude of managers who use knowledge from their environments to achieve goals both in the operational and strategic areas. Being an activating force for sustainable enterprise, ME is viewed as the antecedent to the development of enterprises operating in the CE model. ME directly activates the process of developing organizational wisdom in the area of absorptive capacity (AC) at the stages of assimilation, transformation, and exploitation. The transfer of knowledge from the individual to the organizational level (acquisition) requires a mediator, which is in this case the process of organizational learning (OL).