Evaluation of Circular Srategies and their Effectiveness in Fashion SMEs in Ghana

Abstract

Circular economy strategies may appear practical for business but are complex in application. Country-specific situations, taking into consideration the cultural dimensions, aid the practicality of such strategies. As part of a longitudinal research, this study sought to identify and evaluate circular strategies that could be integrated into selected fashion SMEs in Ghana. An in-depth qualitative case study was adopted to engage nineteen owner-designers of SMEs through interviews and observations. The owner-designers must have formal businesses, have been running their retail stores during the last decade and operate within the two major cities in Ghana where population growth supports economic activities. Life extension strategies were adopted for the study. The indications were that the majority of owner-designers of fashion SMEs, although practicing some circular strategies unknowingly, were not motivated to formally integrate the practice into their businesses. Cost, time, labour and consumer attitudes and behaviour were factors considered to undermine the effectiveness of adopting and implementing circular strategies in these firms. Creation of awareness of circular strategies and models for their implementation are needed to enable practitioners to imbibe circular economy principles in fashion SMEs in Ghana.

Keywords

• fashion
• circular strategies
• evaluation
• small-medium scale enterprises
• cultural environment