A Transformational Change Framework for Developing Ecologically Embedded Manufacturing

The aim of this research is to develop a framework for ecologically embedded strategy in terms of corporate, business and functional strategies in manufacturing. The objectives of this research were to analyse the deficiencies in current frameworks and identify the causal characteristics of ecologically embedded products. Successful implementation of the proposed framework will rely on organisational flexibility to specify the relationship between strategy and subsystems (Morabito et al. 2009).

The dominant Brundtland-based definitions of sustainability have struggled to stimulate more than incremental anthropocentric benefits. Ecocentric approaches to corporate, business, or marketing strategy, as opposed to incremental anthropocentric sustainability, are infrequently considered in the literature. An exceptional example is the plastic electronics industry in the United Kingdom (UK) which recommends that managers and policymakers support and encourage ecocentric rather than anthropocentric approaches to eco-innovations (Borland et al. 2019). However, business models have yet to fully engage with sustainability as they are found to exclude natural and social aspects of organisational environment and neglect interrelationships between economic and non-economic actors as well as intertemporal trade-offs (Biloslavo et al. 2018). Notwithstanding, there is recognition that moving towards a more ecocentric corporate social responsibility (CSR) is necessary to improve maturity levels of corporate sustainability worldviews (Landrum and Ohsowski 2018).

Increasing energy costs, detrimental pollution levels, depletion of natural resources, stricter regulations, pressure from stakeholders and population growth are forcing industry to consider sustainable manufacturing fundamentals which balance environmental, economic and social objectives (Elkington 1998; Anbarasan and Sushil 2018). To preserve the environment and improve the quality of human life, Garetti and Taisch (2011) propose that innovative technologies, sustainable business models and lifestyle changes will be necessary. The associated sustainability discourse centres on practical relevance with ‘pragmatic’ strategies such as interorganisational collaboration to solve environmental problems (Bae and Grant 2018) and corporate stewardship (Luxmore et al. 2018). At systems level, a potential outcome of overrating the speed and effectiveness of current sustainability efforts is an uninhabitable planet.

Over the next 50 years, usage and waste by the manufacturing sector are expected to increase tenfold (Rashid et al. 2013). Consequently, the manufacturing sector engagement in sustainable development should be proportional to its impacts. The sustainability of future manufacturing firms will depend on the sustainability of their environment (Florida 1996; Sarkis 2001). Thus, the economic value generated by firms at high social and environmental costs would undermine their existence in future. A potential outcome of inadequate environmental response by the manufacturing sector is premature extinction of industrial activity. Consequently, many industries seek strategy for the creation of blue oceans (Khanmohammadi et al. 2019).

The most widely accepted framework for sustainability in general, and sustainable manufacturing in particular (Seuring and Müller 2008; Adams and Frost 2008; Jain and Kibira 2010), is the triple-bottom-line (TBL) approach introduced by Elkington (1997). This framework positions sustainable manufacturing at the intersection of environmental stewardship, economic growth and social well-being.

The TBL framework has been adopted in strategy research (Placet et al. 2005; Baumgartner and Ebner 2010; Kashmanian et al. 2011; Danciu 2013). Conceptual frameworks based on the TBL approach may be summarised as:

However, the TBL has not yielded sufficient environmental and social change to decelerate continuing detrimental trends in these areas.

There is limited examination of traditional business strategies and their compatibility with sustainability (Sarka and Bouvrain 2015). Managerial paradoxes exist towards flexibility (Shukla et al. 2019). A recent review of strategic tools and frameworks available to organisations failed to identify any which substantially engaged with actual strategy development (Grainger-Brown and Malekpour 2019). The TBL approach is neither ecocentric nor is it a tool for strategy development. The transition from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric perspective is configured in the circular economy (CE); however, there is no specific guidance for assessing CE implementation at the level of individual companies (Prieto-Sandoval et al. 2018). There is also no shared framework on the application of CE to operations (Murray et al. 2017) or on adapting business models to the CE paradigm (Urbinati et al. 2017).

Switching from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric perspective is the key to achieving real sustainability, where humans use nature as inspiration to solve societal and environmental needs (Cohen-Rosenthal 2000; Hofstra and Huisingh 2014). This change of paradigm that is configured in the circular economy is visible through eco-innovations, which are the tangible results of the CE system. CE business strategies have two categories: closing loops and slowing resource loops (Bocken et al. 2016), but a recent review identified that only 39.82% of research papers could be categorised based on these proposed strategies, and only 16% explored two or more business models at the same time (Merli et al. 2018). Few researches investigate how CE principles may be captured into business practices (Lieder and Rashid 2016; Manninen et al. 2017). CE initiatives addressing consumers are considered critical for the CE transition; however, they are generally not present (Stewart and Niero 2018).

Studies that have taken an ecocentric approach to production outside of manufacturing include those examining ecological embeddedness. The focus of these studies has been on agricultural production, e.g. (Penker 2006; Morris and Kirwan 2011; Baritaux et al. 2016). Morris and Kirwan (2011) proposed a four-dimensional framework for the empirical investigation of ecological embeddedness—understanding, realising, utilising and negotiating. Negotiating is about consumer perceptions and patterns of response to ecological information. The other three dimensions focus upstream to producer perceptions of the link between their practices and the environment and how this link is used to promote their products. Because this framework captures critical ecocentric relationships, a deeper understanding of its characteristics may serve as a stepping stone towards ecologically embedded manufacturing. Investigating ecologically embedded manufacturing is supported by both literature and the need to accelerate meaningful progress towards stable human existence within planetary boundaries.

Consequently, the purpose of this research is to answer the research question: ‘How can ecological embeddedness be extended to strategy formulation in manufacturing’? where the word ‘strategy’ represents manufacturer corporate, business and functional strategies. More specifically, the following subquestions need to be addressed:

Hence, this research attempts to identify key steps towards ecocentric manufacturing whilst relating them to strategy formulation for practical implementation. Landrum and Ohsowski (2018) advocate an extension of ecological embeddedness to enable ecological sensemaking in our highly industrialised society and as a means to aid corporations in adopting strong sustainability worldviews.

The sampling units of this research are individual products in the context of sustainable, green and/or circular manufactured products sold in the UK from July to October 2019 which are compared and contrasted with ecologically embedded products available at UK farmers’ markets in the same time period. The units of analysis are the manufacturers/producers of these products.

In order to answer the research questions, initially extant literature relevant to ecological embeddedness is reviewed to address the first and second subquestions regarding current knowledge and the inadequacy of existing frameworks. This leads to identification of the functions that a framework for ecologically embedded manufacturing should fulfil (subquestion 3). Next research methodology is presented which describes how the characteristics of ecologically embedded products will be identified (subquestion 4) leading to validation of the proposed framework (subquestion 5). This is followed by the identification of two cases of ecologically embedded manufacturing so that benefits of ecologically embedded manufacturing are described (subquestion 6). Finally, an overview of achievements and limitations in the extension of ecological embeddedness to strategy formulation in manufacturing is discussed with the conclusion suggesting directions for future research.

The literature review begins with a brief outline of the foundations of ecological embeddedness. Current knowledge related to ecologically embedded products and strategy is then presented. This leads to the identification of the shortcomings of existing frameworks in describing ecologically embedded manufacturing and the proposal of an extended framework which addresses these shortcomings.

Having proposed a framework for ecologically embedded strategy in manufacturing, the next step is to verify that the framework is feasible. This is accomplished through a two-stage process. The first stage investigates farmers’ market products to identify causal characteristics of ecologically embedded products to address subquestion 4. These causal characteristics are then utilised in the second stage to identify manufactured products that could support the framework in response to subquestion 5.

The aim of this research was neither verification of the information provided to consumers nor was it to establish consumer response, but rather an exploration of the information provided and how the information relates the strategy of the manufacturer/producer and their understanding and actions related to ecological embeddedness. The underlying motivation for this approach is that if certain information is absent, the consumer decision to purchase cannot be based on that missing information indicating a potential relational failure with respect to ecological embeddedness.

The UK is suitable for investigations related to ecological embeddedness for five major reasons: (1) the UK has developed the first practical framework and guidance for organisations to implement circular economy principles in BS 8001: 2017 (British Standards 2017) indicating that the UK is adopting a progressive approach to CE; (2) famers’ markets have the longest history in the UK where they were conceived in 1997 (Kirwan 2004); (3) the UK is still part of the European Union and so is bound by the strict rules and regulations related to protecting the environment; (4) producers at the Loughborough Farmers’ Market are subject to vetting by the local council which represents the operating structure (Klimek et al. 2018); and (5) consumers are well-educated, technologically savvy and increasingly concerned with environmental issues (Walley et al. 2000; Gatersleben et al. 2019; Wood et al. 2019).

The units of analysis used in this research are manufacturers/producers. The sampling units are the products of these manufacturers/producers with respect to the information provided to consumers at the point of sale. The sampling frame for the initial data set is farmers’ markets in England. Validation of the initial data set is achieved by expanding the cases under consideration to similar store products to achieve the required heterogeneity for analysis. The sampling frame for the final data set is manufacturers whose sustainable, green and/or circular products are sold in the UK.

Data collection took place at the Loughborough Farmers’ Market and retailers in and surrounding Loughborough in the East Midlands of the UK in the latter half of 2019 (July–October). Loughborough is the largest town in the county of Leicestershire with a population of over 55,000. Socio-economic statistics are comparable to those of England with about 5% higher home ownership and lower claiming of benefits than the national average, indicating that the area is relatively affluent. Consequently, the selection of Loughborough, on average, obviates significant financial barriers to green purchasing. The Loughborough Farmers’ Market is frequented by producers that participate in farmers’ markets throughout England, so that in addition to being a convenience sample, the Loughborough Farmers’ Market also comprises a representative sample of products available at farmers’ markets in England.

Data were also collected from the websites of retailers/manufacturers that sell sustainable, green and/or circular products in the UK. These retailers/manufacturers were identified using the Sainsbury’s online shopping website feature for the selection of eco-friendly products. Sainsbury’s was the only online grocery chain retailer located in Loughborough to provide such a search feature. Circular products were also identified from the websites of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation under ‘partners’ and ‘case studies’ and Circular Economy Club member organisations in the UK.

Sustainable products were labelled ‘eco-friendly’, sustainable and/or green. Circular products were those which the manufacturer self-identified as circular. Data were collected about the information available to consumers about the products at the point of sale which included data online on the manufacturer/producer website due to the ability of many people to access this information through their mobile phones at the point of sale. For some products, the point of sale was online.

Data collection at the Loughborough Farmers’ Market employing observation and participant observation included notes about conditions at the site including weather and time of day, layout of the market, and conversations between vendors and consumers and between vendors and the researcher. Products and their associated information were noted including text on signs and banners, business cards were collected, and associated websites were investigated where available.

Data collection for sustainable, green and/or circular products employed observation and participant observation at retail points of sale, information available online and information available at online points of sale. Notes were made of the products including retailer information applying to the general product type, photographs of the product and/or information available, product-specific information located on, around or affixed to the product, conversations between the sales' representatives and the researcher and any available product-related pamphlets or similar information was collected. This was supplemented with information available about the product on the manufacturer and/or retailer website.

The decision-making process of consumers may be used to understand purchases. This process includes five stages which precede the actual purchase: need recognition and problem awareness, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation (Kotler 2002). The motivation for the approach to data collection was to comprehensively include manufacturer-/producer-based information search stage avenues accessible to consumers. Examples of data not included for being consumer-based are internet reviews and experiential information conveyed by friends and family.

Although all five of the decision-making stages are employed when the consumer is confronted with a new and complex purchase situation, a few steps may be skipped for routine purchases (Kotler and Armstrong 2010). This implies that habitual buying behaviour may be problematic for marketing in trying to change consumer purchasing (Solomon 2004) (p. 295). Figure 2 shows the four types of buying behaviour. The purpose of this research was not to analyse consumer decision-making, but as the type of buying behaviour is related to the product, buying behaviour is relevant in determining whether ecological embeddedness is more or less present in the corresponding product types, e.g. high-involvement decisions would tend to imply that marketing needs to provide more information. For this reason, manufactured products were selected to represent each of the four types of buying behaviour.

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is context sensitive and can lay the groundwork for more demanding types of analyses. QCA rejects any form of permanent causality and equifinality supports multiple conjunctural causation. This moves the approach taken in this research away from simplistic, probabilistic causal reasoning. The maturity and robustness of generalisation are strongly dependent on the quality of the empirical data set constructed by the researcher. Nothing is supportive of conditions not included in the analysis not affecting the results. QCA is compatible with a more modest view on generalisation than statistical inference which allows very broad generalisations.

Although engineering researchers have not made substantial use of QCA, it provides a useful middle ground between statistical large-N studies and case study analysis and helps to determine causal relationships (Jordan et al. 2011). Crisp set QCA (csQCA) is the method utilised to uncover causal relationships leading to ecologically embedded products.

The output of csQCA is causal characteristics of ecologically embedded products which may then be utilised to identify suitable products for process tracing (PT) in support of the proposed framework for ecologically embedded strategy. Equifinality indicates that the proposed framework may not be the only path to ecologically embedded strategy; however, it is sufficient for this research to identify a feasible path (Walker et al. 2013). The identification of a feasible path is important due to the dearth of frameworks and tools that substantially engage with actual strategy development (Satyro et al. 2017; Grainger-Brown and Malekpour 2019).

Of the three types of PT, theory-testing PT is used as the proposed framework (Fig. 1) represents the theory to be tested based on the literature. PT for theory-testing consists of the following steps (Beach and Pedersen 2013):

Case selection guidance for PT is based on the engagement of an analytical ideal type (Saylor 2018). If the case has contextual features that make it relatable to the ideal type, that case may be viably studied in relation to the ideal type, regardless of other characteristics (Saylor 2018). The identification of cases for PT was based on similarity with the results of csQCA of farmers’ market products representing the ideal type.

The results and assessment for stage 1 are presented in A-F below.

The Loughborough Farmers’ Market is held on the second Wednesday of each month between 9 am and 3 pm. A basic stall/gazebo costs £18 per day. Traders need public liability with a minimum of £5 m cover. The Loughborough Farmers’ Market is described by Charnwood Borough Council as

“Producers from across the Midlands come to Loughborough’s Farmers’ market to sell a range of interesting, organic and healthy food and drink. Traders attending sell a wide range of excellent local produce such as meat, bread, fruit and vegetables, cheeses, honey, eggs, homemade sauces and preserves.” (Charnwood 2019)

As noted by Figueroa-Rodríguez et al. (2019), there is no single type of farmers’ market, and participant sellers such as food processors may be present. The Loughborough Farmers’ Market was visited from July to October 2019. The late summer dates were intended to capture agricultural harvest, and the date in October was to determine whether there was any change to how information was presented with the corresponding influx of university students. Both habitual and variety-seeking buying behaviour were observed. Observation was discontinued when it appeared that a point of saturation had been reached as no new information was being obtained. Vendors present at the Market during this time period are listed in Table 3. Products listed under ‘Other’ include dry felting, craft items and patisserie/baked goods. Products were initially all considered ecologically embedded.

Information was collected about the products being sold using observation and participant observation of market stalls and corresponding websites where available. It has been proposed that consumer purchasing behaviour is rooted in the information exchange between consumers and vendors (Carson et al. 2016). Consumer information-seeking preferences have been investigated at a university farmers’ market, indicating that information related to food quality, environmental and social impacts and animal welfare is desired (Fehrenback and Wharton 2012), but this was not a direct study of what information is actually available at the market. Similarly, Svenfelt and Carlsson-Kanyama (2010) use interviews (31 in total plus 10 semi-structured interviews) and find few examples of contributions to the ecological knowledge of shoppers at a farmers’ market in Stockholm. More recently, the ethnographic approach of Garner (2018) to farmers’ markets in the Midwestern USA found that explicit discussions of sustainability were rare during sales exchange and that explicit examples of sustainability marketing that did occur were on signs and pamphlets. This was corroborated at the Loughborough Farmers’ Market and extended to the finding that sustainability information was located on websites which were referenced in signs and banners at the farmers’ market stalls. Sustainability information was also provided verbally when it was requested.

Garner (2018) found that concepts such as environmentally conscious, local, organic and chemical free served as proxies for the word ‘sustainability’ as sustainability may be seen as too complex a set of ideas that guide production philosophy and practices as opposed to a marketing concept. ‘Sustainability’ was also not a term that appeared in the data collected for products at the Loughborough Farmers’ Market.

Open, axial and selective coding (Charmaz 2006) and thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) were used to code the data. Open coding of the data resulted in the following subcategories: provenance, quality, wholesome, community, price, services, recognition and conservation. The subcategories reflect relationships of the data with ecological embeddedness which are conceptually easier to identify than with sustainability. The descriptions of these subcategories reflect the viewpoint presented in the literature review that ecological embeddedness concerns the relationships between economic actors and the underlying ecology of production such that a benefit is produced to both. The subcategories and their descriptions are as follows:

Axial coding related each of the subcategories to a stage of the product lifecycle: beginning of life (BOL), middle of life (MOL) and end of life (EOL) reflecting a ‘theoretical’ thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) under the selective code ‘ecologically embedded products’ as shown in Fig. 3.

Having identified causal characteristics of ecologically embedded products (Formula 1), these may now be used for the identification of appropriate cases of manufactured products that could verify the framework for ecologically embedded strategy formulation in manufacturing. Initially, cases to which PT may be applied need to be identified in an inclusive and unbiased manner. Following this, PT may be applied to the selected cases to answer subquestion 5—whether or not it is feasible to extend the framework for ecological embeddedness to strategy formulation in manufacturing. Success of the application of PT will identify the benefits of ecologically embedded manufacturing in answer to subquestion 6.

The results and assessment for stage 2 are presented in A–E below.

As broad a range of products as possible was identified in an unbiased manner based on manufacturer self-identification as selling sustainable, green, and/or circular products in the UK. The products were located through the Sainsbury’s online shopping website feature for the selection of eco-friendly products, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website and Circular Economy Club member organisations in the UK. Table 7 identifies the set of manufactured products from which appropriate cases for PT could be selected.

Buying behaviour classification was based on literature (Michaelidou and Dibb 2009; Munthu 2009; Sharma 2014; Sevanandee and Damar-Ladkoo 2018; Kunamaneni et al. 2019). High consumer involvement was assumed if the product price exceeded the average monthly salary (£2921.50) determined from average advertised UK salaries (Scott 2019).

The information in Table 7 may be used to construct a Truth Table similar to that of farmers’ market products but using only the causal characteristics identified in Formula 1 together with reclamation. The corresponding Truth Table is presented in Table 8 in which ecological embeddedness is considered in terms of provenance, quality, wholesomeness and reclamation, where reclamation represents return of the product to the manufacturer at the end of life.

From Table 8, the products (cases) identified for PT are jeans and mobile phone for the reasons that they present the hypothesised reclamation and satisfy causal conditions for being ecologically embedded. MUD jeans demonstrates both causal paths in Formula 1, whereas Fairphone satisfies only the ‘provenance’ causal path.

The next step is to substantiate the presence of the mechanism (Fig. 1) through gathered data which supports the proposed observable implications for all steps in the mechanism. Evaluating evidence involved three steps: (1) predicting the empirical fingerprints, (2) collecting and assessing whether the predicted evidence was found and (3) evaluating whether the evidence is trustworthy.

Table 9 presents evidence for MUD jeans and Fairphone. The circularity of MUD jeans is apparent in the evidence; however, it is unclear if or how the products that Fairphone recycles are subsequently incorporated into their own supply chain or what happens to phones that can be reused. Whereas MUD jeans exhibits production innovation, Fairphone is focused on material sourcing and employee well-being throughout its supply chain.

Trustworthiness is established by four ‘tests’: straw-in-the-wind, hoop, smoking gun and doubly decisive (Van Evera 1997; Bennett 2010; Collier 2011). Applying these tests to the evidence indicates a high level of trustworthiness as the evidence is doubly decisive (high certainty, high uniqueness). Consequently, together with the fact that it was possible to identify suitable cases, the feasibility of extending the framework for ecological embeddedness to strategy formulation in manufacturing is confirmed in answer to subquestion 5.

Certain benefits of ecologically embedded manufacturing are evident in Table 9. Production tends towards minimal environmental impact, workers are treated responsibly, customers are engaged and materials are retained in a closed loop for manufacturers to utilise. Both MUD jeans and Fairphone evidence commercial success (growth in sales, ‘sold out’ of product). The manufacturer benefits all have wider societal benefits through reduced cumulative global planetary impacts, local economic stimulus, informed consumer response through greater awareness of ecological issues, and reduced global reliance on raw and critical materials. Hence, the answer to subquestion 6 is that not only are there benefits to ecologically embedded manufacturing, but that these benefits have broader implications for the sustainability of the planet and society.

This research introduces ecological embeddedness as an ecocentric approach to manufacturing production and identifies causal paths to both ecological embeddedness and ecological disembeddedness. The main purpose of this research was to identify how the concept of ecological embeddedness could be extended from agricultural production to manufacturers in industry.

The overarching research question concerned strategy formulation in manufacturing with respect to ecological embeddedness was addressed through six subquestions. The literature review found that current definitions associated with sustainability, circularity and green products are complex and lack comprehensive or agreed characteristics and that ecologically embedded strategy remains unrealised with various concepts capturing only certain elements of ecocentric manufacturing. The literature review also determined that existing frameworks are inadequate for ecologically embedded manufacturing as there is a general omission of relational aspects. Consequently, a framework was proposed that addressed the missing functionality through holistic consideration of ecological relations at all lifecycle stages. In this way, subquestions 1–3 were addressed.

The purpose of subquestions 4–6 was justification and validation of the proposed framework. The two-stage process first identified the causal characteristics of ecologically embedded products, which were used to select appropriate cases for validation. The two selected cases were used to open up the ‘black box’ to establish viability of the proposed framework for strategy formulation (Beach 2016). These cases indicate a number of benefits to ecologically embedded manufacturing for both the individual manufacturer and globally from a systems perspective.

The proposed framework for ecologically embedded strategy formulation is fundamentally different from traditional and existing frameworks for sustainability strategies in that business strategy does not inform the manufacturing strategy (Skinner 1969; Ocampo and Ocampo 2015; Opresnik and Taisch 2015). Ecologically embedded strategy formulation is instead ecocentric with ecological operations informing the business strategy.

The framework for ecologically embedded strategy formulation is presented as an iterative process for continuous improvement which is confirmed by the two cases substantiating the mechanism. This indicates that manufacturers could utilise this framework to transform their practices in an iterative manner. Consumers play an important role in such a transformation. Although this research indicates that the framework is consistent with products reflecting variety-seeking buying behaviour, additional research is necessary before any limiting conclusions might be drawn.

Even in the elite category of green and sustainable products, followers have a lot to learn from leaders. For the products in the habitual buying behaviour category in which MOL and EOL considerations are largely irrelevant, packaging remains a concern and a differentiator. For dissonance-reducing and complex buying behaviour where MOL and EOL are a concern, cases indicate that compliance with legislation has driven manufacturer response with respect to consumer disclosure of resource consumption and recycling at EOL via third parties. Policymakers should reflect on actions that would encourage the formation of ecologically embedded relations between consumers and manufacturers. Similarly, manufacturers and investors may use this framework as an aid to future-proofing their decision-making due to the rising importance and benefits of being ecocentric.

This research has contributed to a greater understanding of ecological embeddedness in manufacturing. The application of ecocentric approaches to manufacturing is important to maintaining global biophysical ecosystems (Borland et al. 2016).

The results of stage 2 using PT are limited in that the framework is confirmed as a possible route to ecologically embeddedness, but it is not necessarily optimal or unique. Future work should focus on investigating the applicability of the framework to specific industries.

csQCA is a tool to enhance comparative knowledge about cases in small- and intermediate-N research designs. The dichotomisation of data is a limitation in general. For example, the cases revealed a diverse range of interpretations for circularity including packaging, process and product which become indistinguishable as only the product was considered in coding reclamation. The effect of such thresholds could be investigated in future work.

Another limitation is that QCA does not allow for analysis of temporal processes so that the conditions in the minimal formula are not chronologically specified. The minimal formulas with multiple terms developed in this research have not been dynamically interpreted. This may be a useful extension for manufacturers not able to pursue ecological embeddedness through provenance.

The major limitation of the framework is human decision-making. The decision-making by individuals in positions of power is prone to being limited in imagination, wedded to convention, ignorant, risk-averse, insensitive, clumsy, self-serving, and/or very easily affected by some form of socio-pathology. The framework does not mitigate these pitfalls. Similarly, the quality and quantity of information underlying the decision-making process will affect the outcome at each step of the framework. Consequently, implementation of the framework does not guarantee the intended outcome of ecological embeddedness will be achieved, but successive iterations may bring the manufacturer closer to that goal.

Future research could also attempt to replicate these findings in other countries with different economic, socio-cultural, and political settings. For instance, China is a leader in the top-down approach to circularity, whereas the EU and UK are adopting bottom-up approaches (Merli et al. 2018).