Toward resilient organizations after COVID-19: An analysis of circular and less circular companies

Lize Borms; Jan Brusselaers; Karl C Vrancken; Sam Deckmyn; Philip Marynissen

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106681

Toward resilient organizations after COVID-19: An analysis of circular and less circular companies

Resour Conserv Recycl. 2023 Jan:188:106681. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106681. Epub 2022 Sep 21.

Authors

Lize Borms^{1

2

3}, Jan Brusselaers^{1

2

3}, Karl C Vrancken^{2

4}, Sam Deckmyn⁵, Philip Marynissen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, Antwerp, 2000 Belgium.
² Sustainable Materials, VITO, Boeretang 200, Mol, 2400 Belgium.
³ Institute for Environmental Studies, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1111, HV Amsterdam, 1091 Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Bio-Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp, 2020 Belgium.
⁵ Circular Flanders/OVAM, Stationsstraat 110, Mechelen, 2800 Belgium.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had large repercussions for our economy and organizations. Improved resilience can give organizations the ability to withstand crises and build back better and faster. This article assesses resilience of organizations and sole proprietorships in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with eight circular strategies as explanatory variables. Furthermore, these eight circular strategies are also used to assess the organizations' and sole proprietorships' resilience outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis is conducted to explain how circular strategies can help companies and sole proprietorships maintain stability. The analysis was performed by means of a survey conducted between May and June 2020 in Flanders (Belgium), using a sample of 542 respondents. After performing a regression analysis combined with expert opinions collected through interviews, we find that companies and sole proprietorships with a higher circularity score have a significantly higher resilience score during crises and during normal times, compared to less circular companies. Furthermore, we find that the size of the company does not matter during a crisis to adapt and react flexibly, while it is important when there is no crisis. Finally, we argue that it is the combination of different circular strategies which yields to the highest results for the organizations' resilience and we provide policy recommendations based on the most asked support measures.

Keywords: COVID-19; Circularity; Companies; Crisis; Regression; Resilience.