62 4 Case Description and Within-Case Analysis
4.4.2 Motivation to engage in Circular Economy
At the very beginning of the interview, the partner made clear that the idea to en-
gage the organization in the circular economy did not come from the organization.
It was approached by Prof. Braungart, who asked if the organization was willing
to participate in the first Cradle-to-Cradle initiative in Germany. When asked by
Prof. Braungart, the initiator of the Cradle-to-Cradle concept, the organization
agreed to participate as both a manufacturer and a distributor. However, it was
Prof. Braungart and his team that were responsible for finding suppliers for the
production process. In the following section, the reasons why the organization
chose to participate in the initiative are explained.
The first motivating factor for the organization is that it expected to reinforceits positive brand image as a result of its commitment to the initiative. Being the
first organization to engage in this concept would hopefully draw positive attention
from customers. The organization felt that existing customers especially those who
didn’t know the brand well would now definitely have a positive impression of it.
Furthermore, the interviewer acknowledged the fact that for a certain buyer group,
sustainability and more specifically circularity play an important role in their buying
decision as described here: “It is positive publicity because we have been pioneers in
this area and today the customer is appreciating this” (see Appendix: German Quote 1).
In addition, the competitive advantage gained was another reason to engagein the circular concept. Case Beta is the only organization in Germany to have all
stages of its circular production process take place inside the country. The cost
of production in Germany is far higher than in countries such as China or India
which results in the price of the product being more expensive. This means that
the organization has to offer products that are more innovative than those of its
cheaper competitors. The CEO describes the situation as follows: “I decided that we
need to offer this because I am not able to compete with the prices of my competitors.
Importers who manufacture somewhere in Bangladesh are always cheaper but I have
to offer innovative things” (see Appendix: German Quote 2).
It becomes clear that this organization did not engage in the concept becauseof genuine care and concern for the environment but rather to improve its brand
image and to differentiate its product line from competitors by introducing a unique
characteristic to its products.