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the competition but that we’re trying to use the safest and most sustainable materials we can”

Again, the environmental specialist described how different topics are interconnected, such as sharing information, collaborating with the competitors, and working closely with the strategic partners, as mentioned in the previous sections.

61 Learning and Development

One very consistent theme within learning and development was the education of both the employees and the suppliers by conducting workshops or providing educational documents.

Although these educational initiatives all focused on providing knowledge related to how to work with the circular standards, the workshops had various points of departure; teaching the sales team how to talk to the clients about C2C, incorporating circularity in the R&D and product design, setting standards for how the manufacturers could work, etc. When describing these initiatives, the interviewees would sometimes stress that it had taken a while for the different stakeholders – employees, suppliers, and customers – to understand the value of the new standards or what circularity was. One interviewee mentioned: “When we talked about it five years ago, it was kind of a bit hard to grasp for some”. In some cases, a CEO said, it had taken years for the employees to accept the prioritization fully:

“There were employees, who sometimes didn’t understand why we couldn’t just cut corners; ‘if there’s a business opportunity, then let’s do it and then make some money!’ […] so, I think that after a 2/3-year period, then we gradually started to see that in our employees […]”

Other interviewees reported that it was a continuous process of teaching the employees to embrace the circular standards, and continuously adapting the change and best practices, also when changing positions internally. The importance of educating the stakeholders was one of the most consistent themes in all of the interviews and was mentioned by 10 out of 12 interviewees.

Similarly, two thirds of the interviewees stressed transparency and open communication to ensure that the relevant stakeholders embrace the new standards. The interviewees emphasized the importance of communicating the new strategy to all of their stakeholders, including the clients, suppliers, as well as their employees, to convince them of the sincerity related to the circular commitment. This perceived sincerity reportedly both helped with the reputation of the company, opened doors related to investments, as well as it guided the employees and suppliers.

Transparency and open communication were enacted via regular group meetings, making relevant documents accessible for external stakeholders, and frequently communicating the strategy to all the stakeholders.

Another aspect of learning and development pertained to best practice sharing. Given the nature of the case selection, all of the companies had partnered with C2C, and they described using this

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external stakeholder to set standards for their implementation of their circular strategies and benefitting from their material libraries. Just over half of the interviewees recounted that additional best practice sharing had been imperative for their process. These interviewees described being members of advisory boards, engaging in partnerships with NGOs or otherwise competing companies to split the cost of material developments, as well as sharing the best practices internally among the different departments. In these instances, the interviewees highlighted the high costs of product development and the issues related to communicating the circular strategy to their consumers as reasons for why they had benefited from the best practice sharing.

Lastly, 9 out of 12 interviewees brought up the importance of teamwork and collaboration to ensure that the new standards were both embraced and understood, and they described how this was crucial for the strategy to be all-encompassing. As a sustainability expert put it: “So, all in all, it has been challenging but it has been a very positive team work internally and externally”.

Similarly, a director of strategy and innovation summarized: “It does take a lot of coordination with the company; you are bringing in different plants or different departments and, for instance, you mentioned the take-back program”.

Culture Embracing Change

When the interviewees described the process of implementing the circular strategy, they would often highlight their organizational culture as a mediating factor driving the change. Three fourths of the interviewees recounted that their organizational DNA and the employees’ way of thinking had been essential for the successful implementation. While some presented their culture as innovative and embracive of sustainability, all the interviewees who mentioned culture – despite the fact that culture was not included in the interview guide – emphasized the importance of incorporating circularity and sustainability in the work processes and culture. Often this was related to being transparent and communicating openly. For instance, a researcher and product developer described how their organization’s “purpose is to promote change and transition in the circular economy, so, that’s our purpose in life, so to say. I think that’s very noble”, while an environmental specialist suggested, “I think it is part of the culture of the company, which means I think that people are more open to ideas that maybe are not the norm”.

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Correspondingly, about half of the interviewees mentioned employees appreciating the purpose of the organization, some even said that the sustainable profile of the company was part of the attraction for new talent. For instance, when a CCO was describing the process and motivation for going circular, which had initially been kickstarted by a need to differentiate themselves during tough times in a cramped market, they concluded: “I have also heard from a lot of people today that they are proud that we have this profile that we do, that we have this strategy that we do”.

Appreciating the purpose was also associated with employees taking on additional initiatives, such as in voluntary working groups. Several interviewees recounted such instances, exemplified by an environmental specialist:

“[…] the success of these groups is about the passion and the energy of the people who are involved and I think that’s about them being able to bring their own ideas and test out their own theories, rather than them being told okay, you’re gonna work on this […]”

Thus, when the employees got inspired by the new direction and took the initiative to further the development, internal ripple effects would occur. Moreover, the interviewees described that sharing experiences across different departments and continuously improving their practices, made their circular strategy expand. This could be ascribed to various motivations other than employee engagement, such as wanting to scale the processes, wanting to have a greater impact, or wanting to live up to C2C requirements. Some interviewees also described that after initially embarking on the circular strategy due to strategic calculations, they would grow increasingly motivated to ‘do good’. Consequently, 9 out of 12 interviewees described experiencing ripple effects as a driving factor for implementing the circular strategy.

The employee engagement was a recurring theme in the interviews, and some of the interviewees even described their employees as ambassadors for the change to an extent where they accredited them as essential drivers for the implementation. For instance, when asked what was required of a company to implement circularity, an environmental specialist stated that within the company they looked “for people who are passionate about sustainability and have positive suggestions on how we can use or implement solutions and this is a way that we can engage with people and harvest people’s energy in terms of sustainability”. These ambassadors were both employees working with sustainability as well as regular employees, who did not necessarily have

sustainability as part of their daily work; what was essential was showing interest in having an active role in the process. Furthermore, our interviewees described employees in leadership

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positions as taking on the role of change ambassadors, which is elaborated on in the leaders as a banner-carrier and role model description.

Opportunities Through Collaboration

Almost all of the employees described how new and close strategic partnerships had been essential mediating drivers for implementing the circular strategy. These partners were of a wide variety, including both competing companies within the same field, NGOs, or external assessors, but the most common partner that the interviewees highlighted was their suppliers. The vast majority of the interviewees stated that engaging in the circular strategy had changed their relationship with their suppliers, creating an interdependent relationship with them, where switching suppliers would be costly and difficult:

“Most of our suppliers we started to work with 10 years ago and we grew our businesses together. Having these long-standing relationships goes beyond having just a supplier, they are actually our partners” (Sustainability Expert)

“[…] you have to have a good relationship with the supplier and the supplier has to be just as invested in getting the certificate upfront as we do. I mean it’s something that they have to understand in why it is important and understand that it is an investment on their part before we can even begin the process” (Product Manager)

While the interviewees described close relationships with the suppliers, some did say it was important that the suppliers not take advantage of the situation and drive up the prices.

As seen in the latter example, the collaboration was often framed as a new business opportunity for the suppliers. This was described as a potential business model for the suppliers, either because it would be cost-saving or because the suppliers would become indispensable for the focal company. A commercial director summed up the motivation for the suppliers to become indispensable: “Of course, suppliers always are eager to do something that nobody else can because they will be likely to supply you for a long time”.

Finally, all of the cases had collaborated with C2C in their process to become circular, which constituted one of the driving opportunities for them vis-à-vis this collaborative partnership. Half of the interviewees – despite questions on the C2C not being included in the interview guide – explicitly expressed appreciation for C2C’s structure and tools. This appreciation was based on appreciating the C2C material library, the frame of reference for defining what sustainability or

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circularity entailed, providing tools for working with circularity, or the trusted brand-name certification facilitating trust for the suppliers and consumers.

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