Circular Business Models in Textiles and Apparel Sector in Slovakia

Abstract

The circular economy is characterized as regenerative economy that aims to preserve the greatest value of products and materials. Currently, the transition to the circular economy is not only a necessity, but it gradually becomes a social and economic paradigm. The implementation of the circular economy gradually changes and will change the nature and intensity of every sector regardless of its reproductive cycle. For producers, particularly in the rapidly growing sectors, the development of innovative business models will be essential to comply with the principles of the circular economy. The fastest growing sector includes the textiles and clothing industry. The implementation of innovative business models in the field of textile and clothing industry is thus a challenge that the sector is facing. Slovakia as EU member state is facing the same challenge. Bodies operating in the textile and clothing industries must be gradually prepared for changes that brings the legislation and get ready for the trends that determine the changes mentioned. The article presents the results of research that shows the potential of the Slovak textile and clothing producers, coupled with the transition to the aforementioned new economic model, with a focus on implementing new circular business models into their activities, benefits and disadvantages of this procedure and the limits of implementation new business models into the activities of entities operating in the textile clothing industry in Slovakia. Implications for Central European audience: This paper aims to contribute to the development of a topical and beneficial subject-matter related to transition from a linear to a circular economy in Central Europe. This entails knowledge on the imminent obligations of producers in one of the fastest growing sectors of Central European economies, i.e. in the textile and clothing industry. Such knowledge enriches the existing business models with a new business paradigm. In theoretical terms, this knowledge creates a platform for further scientific research potential and economic, business, and management education at universities. In practical terms, this knowledge represents a proactive approach of producers to the creation and implementation of innovative business models.

Transition of business companies to circular economy in Slovakia

“…However, due to need an innovative approach in the both mentioned sectors, we firstly focused on the potential of the producers surveyed with a view to introducing new circular business models into their business activities. We later extended the research into a qualitative research approach aimed at examining the core of the problemcircular business models in relation to the attitudes, motivation and expectations of the companies surveyed towards the anticipated changes (Daňo et al, 2020).…”

Circular economy and innovation: A look from the perspective of organizational capabilities

“…Furthermore, two journals were Next, Table 1 shows the quality of the journals that published the articles analysed in terms of their impact factor and position held in the Association of Business Schools (ABS) ranking. The research analysis focused mainly on studies about business models (Linder & Wiliander, 2017;Pieroni et al, 2019); industrial sustainability (Smart et al, 2017); cause-and-effect relationships of circular eco-innovation (Scarpellini, Marín-Vinuesa, et al, 2020); environmental capabilities of the CE (Scarpellini et al, 2018); impact of circular innovations and available external finance (Demirel & Danisman, 2019); transition to the CE model (Daňo et al, 2020); impact of stakeholders on the CE adopted by the company (Jakhar et al, 2018); influence of the CE on sustainability (Skawi nska & Zalewski, 2018); economic, social and environmental resources and circularity (Skawi nska & Zalewski, 2018). This sample of the studies analysed shows a predominant profile focused on practical, operational, productive and strategic level aspects, as is the case of the organisational capabilities.…”

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Education Contents

“…Problematic is the fact that at present we cannot define what type of job positions will be created, and therefore we cannot define what requirements will be placed on the workforce, we rely only on partial knowledge (Lipkova & Hovorkova, 2018;De Castro et al, 2017). However, Gorlevskaya et al (2018) and Daňo et al (2020) reason that many schools and educational institutions already lack an effective curriculum to prepare people for the needs of labor market. Just as there were no professions such as web application programmer 25 years ago, and today it is a common job, it can be assumed that this trend will continue.…”