Should we encourage organizational learning to become circular? 

PhD student Hadi Zarea, under the supervision of Guillaume Pain from Université Laval and Chedrak Chembessi from Université de l’Ontario français, surveyed SMEs to understand their learning process in their circular economy approach. Discover the summary of their work. 

Summary

Every year, humanity consumes the equivalent of 1.75 planets’ worth of renewable resources, to such an extent that several essential resources are now at a critical level of availability. If the trend continues, global use of material resources will double between 2015 and 2050. This situation requires a transition to less resource-intensive economic models, such as the circular economy. The circular economy is a regenerative economic system that replaces the concept of “end of life” for products and materials with reduction, reuse, recycling, and recovery of materials. The goal of the circular economy is environmental, social, and economic sustainability.  

Although the concept of the circular economy has been around for more than 50 years, its practices are spreading slowly. In 2024, Quebec’s economy was 3.5% circular and the global economy was 7.2% circular. It is therefore important to understand how the circular transition is taking place in organizations, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent more than 99% of businesses in Quebec, Canada, and many other countries. More specifically, what role do organizational learning and trial and error play in the transition to a circular economy for SMEs? 

The strengths of organizational learning

The literature review conducted as part of this project indicates that organizational learning improves organizations’ ability to design circular products and services, promotes knowledge sharing, and encourages the circularization of business processes. In addition, organizational learning encourages the adoption of sustainable business models and practices, as well as their advancement. The same is true for trial-and-error approaches that support the implementation and improvement of circular practices. 

Learning synergies  

Learning within companies is correlated with learning between companies, particularly with regard to the adoption of sustainable practices, as well as the organizational capacities to implement sustainable practices and develop sustainable products. Conversely, learning between companies stimulates learning within companies, particularly the capacity to develop sustainable products and disseminate sustainable technologies and processes.  

Inconclusive research findings 

The links between organizational learning, trial and error, and sustainable performance are far from clear. Some studies show a relationship between organizational learning and sustainable performance. Others fail to demonstrate a relationship between organizational learning and circular performance. Research seems to have placed more emphasis on circular transition processes than on issues of circular or sustainable performance. In particular, it would be desirable to examine the possible relationships between organizational capabilities, knowledge sharing, business models, and circular production processes on the one hand, and circular and sustainable performance on the other. To this end, clearer conceptual and operational definitions of environmental performance would also be useful. 

Finally, research has paid relatively little attention to barriers to circular organizational learning and trial-and-error approaches. By focusing on these topics, the scientific community could make a useful contribution to knowledge about circular transition in companies.