• circular economy
• construction
• knowledge management
• organizational learning
• small and medium enterprises
• sustainability

The dissertation focuses on the analysis of organizational learning (OL) dynamics and contextual factors supporting the transition of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) towards organizational sustainability. Organizational sustainability is a multidimensional concept that emphasizes how activities taking place within and beyond organizational boundaries, - i.e., at the intraorganizational and interorganizational level, - should have “a simultaneous focus on economic, social, and environmental performance” (Colbert & Kurucz, 2007:21). Scholars and practitioners have paid increasing attention to the circular economy (CE) as a practical declination of organizational sustainability: CE represents, in fact, an alternative to linear production oriented to develop environmental, social, and economic value through the “closure of the loop” (Ghisellini et al., 2016; Lieder & Rashid, 2016; Pearce & Turner, 1989). Especially, this managerial approach foresees a more appropriate and balanced use of environmental resources (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015), with a precise attention to waste reduction and sustainable material use across supply chains (European Environment Agency, 2020).
Recently, CE studies have focused on understanding how organizations (Lieder & Rashid, 2016; Ünal et al., 2019), and especially SMEs (Dey et al., 2020; Rizos et al., 2016) could holistically address the transition toward this innovative economic approach, as common conceptualizations, and implementing processes are not yet available (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017, 2018, 2020). In this context, I answer the call for an exploration of organizational processes, and contextual factors influencing the CE introduction within SMEs (Hossain et al., 2020; Pieroni et al., 2019). Organizational learning identifies an appropriate theory to investigate complex innovations; OL, in fact, is a multidimensional theoretical approach which frames individual, group, organizational, and interorganizational changes in cognition, and behaviours. Thus, OL helps the identification of organizational dynamics, and influencing factors involved in the change (Bapuji & Crossan, 2004; Easterby-Smith, 1997; Easterby-Smith et al., 2009; Fiol & Lyles, 1985). In addition, the analysis of contextualized OL dynamics, and contextual factors’ influence contributes to the advancement of OL theory, in the perspective of an OL multi-level theory development, actually missing (Crossan et al., 2011; Kozlowski & Klein, 2000). I specifically focus on SMEs, which present specific structural and cultural barriers that need to be addressed in relation to the sustainable evolution (Rizos et al., 2016; Ünal et al., 2019). Considering the large presence of SMEs at a European (EU) level, as well as the EU legislators’ attention toward CE introduction within this kind of firms, it is relevant to investigate specific implementation processes, and influencing factors that might impact on the circular transition (European Commission, 2016, 2020; European Commission et al., 2021). In this study, I explore the construction sector, as an inherently traditional sector, yet “undergoing important transformation processes, driven by the introduction of new technologies, greater attention to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency” (European Observatory for Clusters and Industrial Change, 2019:7), and, specifically, the Italian construction sector, which is totally composed by SMEs. The investigation of a specific sector, within an advanced country for CE transition, answers the mentioned research questions, enabling the development of in-depth reasoning on implementing solutions related to organizational sustainability.