Circular Economy Approaches as Support for Business Transformation Towards Excellence

The article explores the current state of circular economy adoption in Romanian small and medium-sized companies and their conceptualization of organizational excellence through the lens of environmental concerns. A survey of 52 companies from diverse sectors was conducted by means of a questionnaire, and the results obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation analysis, ANOVA, and variance testing). The results indicate a growing body of knowledge and best practices that, at the company level, are evolving beyond a focus on material and process efficiency and toward an emerging understanding of environmental excellence, with positive interest ranging between 40% and 86%. Also, respondents recognize strong complementarities between circularity, sustainability, and organizational excellence. The need for an advanced systemic strategy, support policies, resource management, and stakeholder engagement is highlighted as the path toward achieving sustainability goals in conjunction with market success and not in spite of it.