Organisational identity and circular economy: Are inter and intra organisational learning, lean management and zero waste practices worth pursuing?

Abstract

The call for organisational sustainability has stimulated the adoption of circular economy practices among firms as a solution to the increasing negative societal and environmental impact of their operations. Firms may rely on organisational learning to acquire knowledge to drive the implementation of circular economy practices to achieve organisational sustainability and improve performance. Drawing on the resource orchestration, knowledge based view and the natural resource based view theories, we develop and propose a model that explores the role of intra and inter-organisational learning, lean product development, lean manufacturing practices and zero waste practices in advancing circular economy target performance and organisational identity among small and medium enterprises in an emerging economy. The study employs a quantitative research approach where the survey data is gathered from managers of manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Ghana to test the validity of the hypotheses using partial least square structural equation modelling. The results suggest that intra organisational learning require effective implementation of inter-organisational learning, whiles both intra and inter organisational learning positively impact lean product development, zero waste practices and lean manufacturing practices and zero waste practices. The results also indicate that circular economy target performance and organisational identity can be driven through the adoption of intra organisational learning, lean product development, lean manufacturing practices and zero waste practices. Thus, there is the need to promote inter and intra organisational learning processes to acquire knowledge from diverse sources to support the implementation of circular economy practices such as zero waste practices, lean product development and lean manufacturing practices to advance circular economy target performance and organisational identity.