Investigating the Impact of Circular Economy Strategies on Financial Performance with the Mediating Role of Human-Centric Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Industry 5.0 has shifted attention from automation alone to the human conditions under which Circular Economy Strategies (CES) create financial value. This study examines whether Human-Centric Sustainable Supply Chain Management (HC-SSCM) mediates the relationship between CES and Financial Performance (FP) in Saudi manufacturing firms. Data were gathered through a structured questionnaire from 240 firms and analyzed with a two-stage design that combined Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis. The results show that CES has a positive direct association with competitor-relative FP and a strong positive association with HC-SSCM, while HC-SSCM is also positively associated with Financial Performance. The indirect association from CES to FP through HC-SSCM is significant, with a Variance Accounted For of 47.9%, indicating complementary partial mediation. ANN results further show that cognitive ergonomic support and human-robot collaboration are stronger predictors of self-reported FP than the technical circular variables alone. These findings suggest that circular strategies are more strongly associated with favorable financial outcomes when reverse-logistics and recovery activities are supported by worker-centered decision support, collaborative technologies, and adaptive problem solving.