Resilience capability for the circular economy: a conceptual framework

Companies are facing challenges in implementing Circular Economy (CE), which necessitates the development of resilience. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that outlines resilience factors characterizing resilience as a Dynamic Capability (DC) and connects them to the phases of anticipation, coping, and adaptation. It begins with a systematic literature review, analyzing 57 articles to provide an overview of the topic and to identify resilience factors concerning these phases. Then, it was possible to connect the resilience factors with CE practices, leading to the initial framework proposition. Following, the framework was refined through expert opinion, using the content validity index to evaluate their contributions. Initially, 17 resilience factors were identified, but only 14 were retained. The conceptual framework is the main contribution and illustrates the relationships between the resilience factors and how they can enhance CE. This framework also facilitates the creation of tools to empirically assess the resilience capabilities of companies transitioning to CE.