To repair or not to repair – that, is the question: a multiple-case study of circular strategy-as-practice in the office furniture and household appliance sectors

Abstract

Circular economy is widely advocated as the ‘golden path’ to a more environmentally and economically viable economic system, which national economies and economic unions as the EU should pressingly move towards. While business models supporting circular economy are often thought of as focusing on recycling, extending product lifecycles through reuse, a means to reduce waste in the first place, is also a potent form and implementation of circular economy strategy. Yet practical case studies of business models enabling product reuse are still limited, and so is examining business strategizing from the lens of circularity.

This study contributes to fill these gaps in analyzing circular strategy enactment in two organizational entities: Martela Oyj, a Finnish office furniture company with a Workplace as a Service model, and Simple, Very Simple ApS, a Danish company selling remanufactured household appliances with the support of private and public sector partner organizations working within an emerging network.

An exploratory multiple case study research design is used to investigate circular strategy enactment. The strategy-as-practice perspective from the strategic management field, based on the three tenets of strategy praxis, practices, and practitioners, guides the analysis, together with two key circular business model innovation theoretical frameworks. Interviews and secondary empirical evidence are analyzed by means of thematic analysis to decipher circular strategy-as-practice; the work activity streams, practices, and individuals shaping it.

This study visualizes the activity streams making up circular strategy enactment at Martela and around Simple, Very Simple, and delves into the everyday work of employees working in different functions within the two companies and partner organizations. Core activities making up circular strategy praxis include applying individual judgement and making product decisions based on assessing specific factors, homogenizing product heterogeneity, and simplifying task complexity. The practices of dialogue and information-sharing, collaboration, and design for user-centricity, are engaged in and drawn upon by this study’s interview participants in support of their situated activities. Finally, four circular strategy practitioner roles are identified, each bridging two or more levels of circular strategy-as-practice: individual, team, organizational, network, and institutional.

It is found that while circular models of production and consumption for reuse strive to break from take-make-dispose models, operational scale is similarly a prerequisite to reduce production and transportation costs and propose a competitive business model, as in the generic linear economy. Building scale when working with reuse products as inputs requires developing robust supply chains and consumer-user trust in reuse products. Finally, this research’s two case studies highlight the need for, and emergence of, new professional roles for the circular economy.