Comparison of Attitudes in Slovenia and Serbia Towards Circular Economy in Textile Industry

Aila Civić; Milan Jovanović; Ivan Todorović; Miha Marič

doi:10.7595/management.fon.2023.0019

Aila Civić University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Slovenia
Milan Jovanović University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia
Ivan Todorović University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3792-582X
Miha Marič University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Slovenia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7595/management.fon.2023.0019

Abstract

Research Question: The study explores differences in the attitudes of youngsters in Slovenia and Serbia towards the sustainable use of clothing. Motivation: The concept of circular economy has received the attention of the world public in recent years. The prosperity of economies and companies is manifested by the safe and efficient use of resources. The circular economy should also be introduced in the textile industry, as waste continues to accumulate year after year. After the oil industry, the textile industry is the second largest polluter of the environment. We will describe the purchase and disposal of textile products and the development of the circular economy concept. Idea: The idea of this paper was to find out how people in Slovenia and Serbia treat clothes, especially waste from clothes, and what their perception towards reusing old clothes redesigned by an app is. Data: The research was conducted in two separate surveys. One was conducted among respondents in Slovenia on the sample that counts 66 people, mostly youngsters, and the same survey was conducted later, on the respondents from Serbia, on the same sample of 66 youngsters. Tools: SPSS was used to apply descriptive statistics techniques on the samples. Findings: The results of the survey show differences in perception between Slovenian and Serbian youngsters towards sustainable use of clothing. There are differences in how they are equipped with knowledge about the circular economy. In the two countries they have different main reasons for buying clothes and throwing away old clothes, but they agree that they should contribute to the reduction of waste generation in similar ways. Contribution: This research contributes to better understanding of perception that people have in Slovenia and Serbia towards a sustainable use of clothing and the circular economy concept.

Author Biographies

Aila Civić, University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Slovenia

Aila Civić is a graduate organizer of HR and educational systems. She upgrades her education at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, on the Master's study program Organization and Management of Personnel and Educational Systems. She is the author of several papers at international scientific conferences. The area of research she wants to focus on in the future is human resources and teamwork.

Milan Jovanović, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia

Milan Jovanović is an associate at the Department of Business Systems Organization, at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Belgrade, where he is doing his PhD research in the field of management and organization. His research findings have been published several times in the proceedings of international and domestic conferences. His main areas of interest are consulting, organizational restructuring, business process management and entrepreneurship. As a project team member, he has participated in the realization of more than 10 management consulting projects on the topic of organizational structure redesign and business process optimization, in various industries. He was also involved in several research studies.

Ivan Todorović, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia

Ivan Todorović works at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. His field of expertise includes organizational design, restructuring, management consulting, business model development and entrepreneurship. As a business consultant he has been hired by more than 50 companies that execute their business activities in Serbia and the region. He has participated in numerous research projects financed by the Republic of Serbia or international institutions like EBRD, UNIDO and USAID. He is a co-author of more than 75 publications in international and domestic monographs, journals and conference proceedings, and he serves as a reviewer for several international scientific journals and conferences. He was a visiting lecturer in Slovenia, at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. As an advisor for business model development, he has supported several startup companies. His student teams have won prizes at international startup and case study competitions, while he himself was a member of the winning teams at HULT Global Case Challenge 2012 in London and at the Balkan Case Challenge 2010 in Vienna. He also coaches academic mentors to work with student startups.

Miha Marič, University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Slovenia

Miha Marič, PhD, is a researcher in the field of leadership, management and organizational sciences. He holds a PhD from the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana. He is currently employed as an associate professor at the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Organizational Sciences. His research interests are power, leadership, organizational behaviour, human resource management, organization and management. He is the author of numerous original scientific articles, professional articles, papers at scientific conferences, scientific monographs, and was an editor and reviewer. He also participates in research projects and consulting work.

Comparison of Attitudes in Slovenia and Serbia Towards Circular Economy in Textile Industry

Abstract

Author Biographies

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