The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish companies
As the human ecological footprint is increasing and human consumption is disrupting thenatural ecosystem, the need for change towards sustainable development has never been more pressing. Due to globalisation, the impacts of consumption are not limited to a country’s border but rather an issue that...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2019
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14933/ |
| _version_ | 1855572493536854016 |
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| author | Bernselius, Johanna Rietz, Mathilda |
| author_browse | Bernselius, Johanna Rietz, Mathilda |
| author_facet | Bernselius, Johanna Rietz, Mathilda |
| author_sort | Bernselius, Johanna |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | As the human ecological footprint is increasing and human consumption is disrupting thenatural ecosystem, the need for change towards sustainable development has never been more pressing. Due to globalisation, the impacts of consumption are not limited to a country’s border
but rather an issue that influences the whole world. Historically have companies moved much of their production to countries with more financially beneficial conditions where China has been one of the main destinations. This has led to China becoming a major global player, where much of the world’s unsustainable manufacturing is happening. The companies that are
contributing to this unsustainable development are now demanded by their stakeholders to take more responsibility for their impacts. A way to do this is to leave the traditional linear economy and work towards a circular economy instead. Circular economy has developed differently, depending on geographic location. It can be seen that within Europe, the concept has developed
through a bottom-up approach where the market has been the main impeller for change. In China, circular economy has developed from a governmental direction, a top-down approach, where policies and regulations are the main drivers. Within this context, there are Swedish
companies active in both the Chinese and European circular economy context and this could influence their work towards circular economy.
Research on circular economy in China has mainly focused on macro and meso level, leaving the micro level less explored. Therefore, this study is conducted through a micro perspective and with the aim to gain a better understanding of how China’s approach towards circular
economy is influencing Swedish companies in China and Hong Kong. This aim is met by conducting a qualitative, multiple case study on Swedish companies that are active in China and Hong Kong. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and is analysed with the guidance of the theoretical framework based on perational drivers and barriers for companies to work with sustainability and circular economy. The study’s key findings are that sustainability and circular economy is complex and that the external factors; government,
customer demand and public awareness seem to be more influential than the internal factors.
The government is seen to be both a driver and a barrier, which can indicate that the government has an important role in the context of circular economy in China. The government has, through regulations, increased access to information and improved industries environmental
performance. However, the government is not viewing circular economy through a holistic perspective which is seen to become a barrier for the companies’ sustainability work. The customer demand & public awareness are also external factors, identified by all companies to be influencing both their work but also the internal drivers and barriers to work with circular
economy. The customer demand is mainly coming from the European market, whereas it is the low public awareness in China that still poses as a barrier for the companies. This further emphasis that these external factors importance when analysing the influences of Chinas
circular economy approach on these companies.
Furthermore, the study confirms the view that the concept circular economy is adaptive and changes depending on what context it is applied to. This is because it is seen that the companies are influenced by both the European and the Chinese context within their business practices
and that the work towards circular economy differs between each company. Based on this, it can be seen that circular economy is a complex issue influenced by its context and in order for it to be further implemented, complex solutions are needed. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU14933 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU149332020-06-04T12:17:41Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14933/ The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish companies Bernselius, Johanna Rietz, Mathilda Agricultural economics and policies As the human ecological footprint is increasing and human consumption is disrupting thenatural ecosystem, the need for change towards sustainable development has never been more pressing. Due to globalisation, the impacts of consumption are not limited to a country’s border but rather an issue that influences the whole world. Historically have companies moved much of their production to countries with more financially beneficial conditions where China has been one of the main destinations. This has led to China becoming a major global player, where much of the world’s unsustainable manufacturing is happening. The companies that are contributing to this unsustainable development are now demanded by their stakeholders to take more responsibility for their impacts. A way to do this is to leave the traditional linear economy and work towards a circular economy instead. Circular economy has developed differently, depending on geographic location. It can be seen that within Europe, the concept has developed through a bottom-up approach where the market has been the main impeller for change. In China, circular economy has developed from a governmental direction, a top-down approach, where policies and regulations are the main drivers. Within this context, there are Swedish companies active in both the Chinese and European circular economy context and this could influence their work towards circular economy. Research on circular economy in China has mainly focused on macro and meso level, leaving the micro level less explored. Therefore, this study is conducted through a micro perspective and with the aim to gain a better understanding of how China’s approach towards circular economy is influencing Swedish companies in China and Hong Kong. This aim is met by conducting a qualitative, multiple case study on Swedish companies that are active in China and Hong Kong. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and is analysed with the guidance of the theoretical framework based on perational drivers and barriers for companies to work with sustainability and circular economy. The study’s key findings are that sustainability and circular economy is complex and that the external factors; government, customer demand and public awareness seem to be more influential than the internal factors. The government is seen to be both a driver and a barrier, which can indicate that the government has an important role in the context of circular economy in China. The government has, through regulations, increased access to information and improved industries environmental performance. However, the government is not viewing circular economy through a holistic perspective which is seen to become a barrier for the companies’ sustainability work. The customer demand & public awareness are also external factors, identified by all companies to be influencing both their work but also the internal drivers and barriers to work with circular economy. The customer demand is mainly coming from the European market, whereas it is the low public awareness in China that still poses as a barrier for the companies. This further emphasis that these external factors importance when analysing the influences of Chinas circular economy approach on these companies. Furthermore, the study confirms the view that the concept circular economy is adaptive and changes depending on what context it is applied to. This is because it is seen that the companies are influenced by both the European and the Chinese context within their business practices and that the work towards circular economy differs between each company. Based on this, it can be seen that circular economy is a complex issue influenced by its context and in order for it to be further implemented, complex solutions are needed. I och med att det mänskliga ekologiska fotavtrycket ökar och att dagens konsumtionsmönster stör de naturliga ekosystemen, har behovet av förändring för en hållbar utveckling aldrig varit mer brådskande. Den globalisering som skett har lett till att effekterna av överkonsumtionen inte bara har nationella effekter utan även globala. Historiskt sett har företag valt att flytta sin produktion utomlands, till länder med mer fördelaktiga villkor, där Kina har varit en utav huvuddestinationerna. Denna utveckling har gjort Kina till en betydande global marknadsaktör, som påverkar internationella företag och deras arbete på den kinesiska marknaden. Dessa företag har allt eftersom medvetenheten ökar, fått högre krav på sitt hållbarhetsarbete från sina intressenter och är därmed en viktig aktör för att driva en hållbar utveckling framåt. Ett sätt för företag att arbete med detta i praktiken är attställa om till cirkulär ekonomi från den traditionella linjära ekonomin. Cirkulär ekonomi som koncept har utvecklats på olika håll i världen men med grundtanken att förändra resursflödet till cirkulära processer som minimerar uppkomsten av avfall. I Europa har utveckling främst skett utifrån marknads- och företagsinitiativ, samtidigt som i Kina har utvecklingen skett genom statliga initiativ och lagkrav. Internationella företag som är aktiva både i Europa och Kina kan därmed bli påverkade av båda dessa kontexter och även influera hur de väljer att ta sig an cirkulär ekonomi. Studier på cirkulär ekonomi i Kina har huvudsakligen fokuserat på makro- och meso-nivå, vilket har lett till att mikro-nivån är ett relativt outforskat område. Denna studie ämnar till att ur ett företagsperspektiv analysera hur svenska företag aktiva på den kinesiska marknaden påverkas av att arbeta i en multinationell kontext i deras arbete med cirkulär ekonomi. Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse av hur den kinesiska cirkulär ekonomi-kontexten påverkar arbetet för cirkulär ekonomi för svenska företag aktiva i Kina och Hong Kong. Syftet uppfylls genom en kvalitativ, flerfallstudie av fem svenska företag i Kina och Hong Kong. Informationen samlas in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyseras med hjälp utav ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på operativa faktorer - drivkrafter och barriärer – för företag att arbete med hållbarhet och cirkulär ekonomi. Det påvisas i studien att de externa faktorerna; staten, kundefterfrågan och allmänna medvetenheten är de faktorer med störst inflytande på företagens arbete med cirkulär ekonomi. Detta baseras på att flest företag identifierade dem som drivkrafter eller barriärer samt att de externa faktorerna även påverkade de interna drivkrafterna och barriärerna. Staten är identifierad som både en drivkraft och en barriär, vilket antyder att den kan ha en stor påverkan på hur företag arbetar med cirkulär ekonomi. Kundefterfrågan och den allmänna medvetenheten visade sig enligt studien inte bara påverka företagens hållbarhetsarbete i sig, men även hur de interna faktorerna influerade företagens arbete. Resultatet av denna studie indikerar även att cirkulär ekonomi och hållbarhet är komplexa koncept som både är adaptiva och dynamiska beroende på vart och vem som använder dem. Detta är på grund av att företagens arbete med cirkulär ekonomi varierar beroende på vilket företag och att företagen influeras av både den europeiska och den kinesiska kontexten. Därmed går det inte att dra slutsatsen att företag är influerade enbart av den ena eller den andra kontexten, utan formas och anpassas utefter företagets unika situation. Slutligen visar studien på att företag aktiva i multinationella kontexter påverkas av sin omgivning men även att för att arbeta med cirkulär ekonomi krävs komplexa tillvägagångssätt. 2019-08-23 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14933/1/bernselius_j_rietz_m_190812.pdf Bernselius, Johanna and Rietz, Mathilda, 2019. The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish companies : a multiple case study of Swedish companies’ work towards circular economy in China and Hong Kong. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Economics <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-510.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-10855 eng |
| spellingShingle | Agricultural economics and policies Bernselius, Johanna Rietz, Mathilda The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish companies |
| title | The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish
companies |
| title_full | The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish
companies |
| title_fullStr | The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish
companies |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish
companies |
| title_short | The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish
companies |
| title_sort | influences of china’s circular economy on swedish
companies |
| topic | Agricultural economics and policies |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14933/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14933/ |