Transition to the circular economy under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic and stakeholders: application in international firms toward sustainable development goals

Figures & data

Table 1. The circular economy’s implementation of sustainability aspects.

Sustainability dimensions	Circular business models
	Value proposition	Value creation and delivery system	Value capture
Economic	Providing (goods and services) to increase profits	Incentives for supply chain participants to prolong product usage and bring waste back under control	Profit for each stakeholder, or at the very least a positive outcome
Environmental	Providing (goods and services) intended to reduce the loss of natural resources	Environmentally friendly production and logistics	Reduced environmental effect via increased value from decreased usage of natural resources
Social	Optimize the value of products and services for the benefit of society	Proactive engagement with stakeholders in closed loops	Increase the impact of environmental concern on product pricing

Source: Geissdoerfer et al. (2018).

Table 2. Measurement variables.

Variables	Items	Measurement	Sources
Pressure from COVID-19 pandemic (PC)^a	6	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Borrero-Viguera, 2021; Ibn-Mohammed et al., 2021; The authors, 2022))
Stakeholders pressure: Barriers and Challenges (BC)	7	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Jabbour et al., 2020)
Stakeholders pressure: Advantages and Oppoturnities (OP)	7	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Govindan & Hasanagic, 2018; Jabbour et al., 2020; Jakhar et al., 2018)
Transition to circular economy (CE)	7	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Garcés-Ayerbe et al., 2019; Ghisellini et al., 2016; Jabbour et al., 2020)
Sustainable economy (SC)	6	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Geissdoerfer et al., 2018; Jabbour et al., 2020; Lorek & Spangenberg, 2013)
Sustainable environment (SE)	7	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Geissdoerfer et al., 2018; Jabbour et al., 2020)
Sustainable social (SS)	7	Rating (Likert Scale)	(Geissdoerfer et al., 2018; Jabbour et al., 2020; Korhonen, Nuur et al., 2018)

^a The abbreviated names of variables in the model are included in brackets.

Source: The authors (2022).

Figure 1. Research model. Source: The authors (2022).

Table 3. Demographic statistics.

		Frequency	%
Country	Vietnam	88	24.6%
	United Kingdom	57	15.9%
	China	42	11.7%
	Australia	35	9.8%
	Canada	29	8.1%
	Japan	27	7.5%
	Germany	17	4.7%
	New Zealand	12	3.4%
	Korea	8	2.2%
	Singapore	6	1.7%
	Italy	5	1.4%
	France	5	1.4%
	Czech Republic	5	1.4%
	Malaysia	5	1.4%
	Indonesia	5	1.4%
	Poland	4	1.1%
	Thailand	4	1.1%
	Laos	4	1.1%
Industry	Manufacturing	110	30.7%
	Fashion	82	22.9%
	Construction	78	21.8%
	Food & Beverages	44	12.3%
	Technological	15	4.2%
	Electronic	11	3.1%
	Transport service	7	2.0%
	Tourism	4	1.1%
	Medical	4	1.1%
	Finance	2	0.6%
	Media	1	0.2%
Working position	Employee	195	54.5%
	Manager	78	21.8%
	Analyst and Coordinator	42	11.7%
	Supervisor	27	7.5%
	Leader	8	2.2%
	Internship	5	1.4%
	CEO	3	0.8%

Source: The authors (2022).

Figure 2. Model examing the linkage between the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholder pressure, and the transition to a circular economy for sustainable development. Source: The authors (2022).

Table 4. Construct reliability and convergent validity.

Variables	Items	Outer Loadings	Cronbach’s Alpha	Composite reliability	AVE
BC	BC1	0.784	0.892	0.915	0.607
	BC2	0.902
	BC3	0.851
	BC4	0.786
	BC5	0.755
	BC6	0.767
	BC7	0.798
CE	CE1	0.726	0.890	0.912	0.602
	CE2	0.794
	CE3	0.790
	CE4	0.801
	CE5	0.728
	CE6	0.802
	CE7	0.810
OP	OP1	0.743	0.886	0.911	0.594
	OP2	0.784
	OP3	0.764
	OP4	0.805
	OP5	0.778
	OP6	0.724
	OP7	0.757
PC	PC1	0.737	0.865	0.898	0.596
	PC2	0.766
	PC3	0.771
	PC4	0.804
	PC5	0.751
	PC6	0.802
SC	SC1	0.832	0.884	0.912	0.633
	SC2	0.751
	SC3	0.855
	SC4	0.781
	SC5	0.788
	SC6	0.760
SE	SE1	0.781	0.837	0.884	0.605
	SE2	0.786
	SE3	0.768
	SE4	0.756
	SE5	0.797
SS	SS1	0.851	0.934	0.946	0.716
	SS2	0.859
	SS3	0.826
	SS4	0.803
	SS5	0.846
	SS6	0.877
	SS7	0.859

Source: The authors (2022).

Table 5. HTMT for discriminant validity.

	BC	CE	OP	PC	SC	SE	SS
BC
CE	0.796
OP	0.820	0.86
PC	0.747	0.8	0.79
SC	0.672	0.8	0.73	0.9
SE	0.734	0.8	0.82	0.7	0.73
SS	0.401	0.3	0.23	0.2	0.2	0.2

Source: The authors (2022).

Table 6. Path coefficient.

	Original Sample	Sample Mean	STDEV	T Statistics	P-values
(PC) -> (CE)	0.186	0.188	0.069	2.690	0.000
(BC) -> (CE)	−0.262	0.263	0.073	3.583	0.000
(OP) -> (CE)	0.454	0.450	0.070	6.470	0.000
(CE) -> (SC)	0.672	0.670	0.047	14.331	0.000
(CE) -> (SE)	0.704	0.703	0.038	18.524	0.000
(CE) -> (SS)	0.298	0.302	0.058	5.151	0.007

Source: The authors (2022).

Table 7. SEM-multi-group analysis (MGA).

	Path coefficient			P-values
	European, American, and Oceanic countries	Asian countries	Difference
(PC) -> (CE)	0.199	0.167	0.032	0.323
(BC) -> (CE)	−0.135	−0.413	0.278	0.011
(OP) -> (CE)	0.618	0.334	0.284	0.023
(CE) -> (SC)	0.721	0.628	0.093	0.109
(CE) -> (SE)	0.808	0.585	0.233	0.045
(CE) -> (SS)	0.369	0.188	0.181	0.067

Source: The authors (2022).

Table 8. Hypothesis testing results.

Hypothesis	Relationships	ß	p Values	Result
H1	Pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic (PC) -> Circular economy (CE)	0.186	0.000	Supported
H2	Barriers and Challenges (BC) -> Circular economy (CE)	−0.262	0.000	Supported
H3	Advantages and Opportunities (OP) -> Circular economy (CE)	0.454	0.000	Supported
H4	Circular economy (CE) -> Sustainable economy (SC)	0.672	0.000	Supported
H5	Circular economy (CE) -> Sustainable environment (SE)	0.704	0.000	Supported
H6	Circular economy (CE) -> Sustainable society (SS)	0.298	0.007	Supported

Source: The authors (2022).

Table A1. Using the following scale, please select only one answer that best reflects your opinion about the statement. 5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 2 = Disagree, 1 = Strongly Disagree.

Constructs	Code	Items
Stakeholders pressure: Barriers and Challenges (BC)	BC1	Your organization faces financial barriers (can not predict exactly the financial benefits and profitability of the circular economy to raise funds).
	BC2	Your organization faces structural barriers (lack of information and clarity on the responsibilities of each member of the supply chain to adopt the circular economy).
	BC3	Your organization faces operational barriers (lack of infrastructure and operational capacity in the supply chain and production systems to adopt the circular economy)
	BC4	Your organization faces behavioral barriers (people do not perceive sustainability as important and are against change).
	BC5	Your organization faces technological barriers (lack of clarity on how to integrate the circular economy in product development).
	BC6	Your organization has difficulty complying with the law of Government when applying circular economy.
	BC7	Your organization has difficulty in convincing consumers to change their shopping habits.
Stakeholders pressure: Advantages and Oppoturnities (OP)	OP1	Government creates an external environment favorable and removing regulatory obstacles.
	OP2	Government secure smore marketing about remanufacturing products and green public procurement through television.
	OP3	Government brings out tax breaks for reused and recycled products at the end-of-life.
	OP4	Government implements pilot projects to become role models for others follow.
	OP5	Most stakeholders approve organization’s responsiveness to environmental concerns.
	OP6	The organization from stakeholder perspectives has the highest rates of environmental orientation in the industry.
	OP7	Your organization from stakeholder perspectives follows government regulations for green operating procedures in the industry.
Pressure from COVID-19 pandemic (PC)	PC1	COVID-19 makes your organization change its strategy in production and business activities.
	PC2	COVID-19 makes your organization to change its product marketing strategy.
	PC3	COVID-19 makes your organization extra costs for technology equipment (online software, online working equipment, etc).
	PC4	COVID-19 reduces employee productivity, adversely affecting organizational performance).
	PC5	Your organization faces a drop in revenue during the pandemic.
	PC6	COVID-19 makes it difficult for your organization to access raw materials.
The transition of the circular economy (CE)	CE1	The principles of the circular economy should be considered business ethics.
	CE2	Your organization has the willingness to generate wastes, recycle wastes or minimize resource consumption and waste production.
	CE3	Your organization establish a special management department of the circular economy.
	CE4	Your organization cooperate with other organizations to establish eco-industrial chains.
	CE5	Your organization disposes of waste properly.
	CE6	Your organization replaces the use of non-renewable raw materials by renewable raw materials.
	CE7	Your organization replaces current equipment and technologies with more modern and efficient ones.
Sustainable economy (SC)	SC1	Your organization makes more profit and revenue.
	SC2	Your organization can reduce electricity usage in operation.
	SC3	Your organization can reduce the number of materials in production.
	SC4	Your organization can reduce the water usage in operation.
	SC5	Your organization improves the number of investments and seeks for more potential investors.
	SC6	Your organization improves its brand image and reputation by achieving business prizes each year.
Sustainable environment (SE)	SE1	Your organization always complies with environmental protection laws, has regulations related to environmental issues and committed to environmental protection in the manufacturing process.
	SE2	Your organization has measures to reduce emissions of polluting gases to the environment during the manufacturing process.
	SE3	Your organization always separates waste and has an efficient waste treatment system to treat waste before discharging it into the environment.
	SE4	Your organization does not consume hazardous, non-environmentally friendly production materials.
	SE5	Your organization is always trying to find ways to reduce the frequency of environmental accidents.
	SE6	Your organization has legally exploited and used natural resources efficiently, including both renewable resources (wind power, light, tides, heat in the ground, water resources, forest resources, aquatic resources…) and nonrenewable resources (fossil fuels, metals and minerals…).
	SE7	Your organization always conducts an environmental impact assessment or makes an environmental protection plan before implementing a project, business plan, or service.
Sustainable social (SS)	SS1	Your organization proactively manages and defines how your business works for employees and workers.
	SS2	Your organization ensures safety measures to protect the health of workers and the community.
	SS3	Your organization offers safe working conditions, guaranteed wages, and job opportunities.
	SS4	Your organization provides transparent information about the supply chain to consumers.
	SS5	Your organization cooperates with social sustainability organizations to become more transparent, making operations or supply chains more ethical.
	SS6	Your organization ensures fair treatment of all employees in the organization.
	SS7	Your organization has policies in improving capabilities, train and develop skills for specific target groups.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Manh Hung Pham], upon reasonable request.