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Sustainable innovation: Case studies from product development
Abstract
Attempts to implement sustainable development in industry are hampered by the fact that production processes are often not environmentally sound. Therefore, there is a need for innovation processes that are sustainable. This means that they need to be durable on the one hand, but also with reduced materials consumption and a low carbon footprint, on the other. Current trends suggest that much could be gained, by undertaking research that may lead to more sustainable industrial production and processes. Against this background, this paper describes the characteristics of sustainable innovation, discusses what makes innovation sustainable, and introduces a set of case studies where different types of innovation in product development are described, drawing the lessons learned. The paper concludes by describing the items, which need to be considered in the future, to make a greater use of sustainable innovation principles in product development, as part of a systemic transformation.
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Purpose
Resources efficiency and consumption footprint have already been used to assess the impacts of higher education institutions’ (HEI) activities. However, most research has concentrated efforts only on environmental aspects while neglecting the social life cycle perspective. Moreover, there is a lack of studies that consider the context of COVID-19. This paper evaluated the environmental and social impacts associated with consumption patterns in face-to-face vs. remote classes in a Brazilian HEI before and during the pandemic.
Methods
The methodological approach consisted of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and social LCA organized with a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach based on the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Rank (SMARTER) method.
Results and discussion
The results revealed that 9/13 of the environmental impact categories indicated the remote class with lower impact results, whereas the results for the direct social impacts were equivalents for the two systems. In terms of indirect social impacts, however, face-to-face classes were more effective, owing to the downstream effects of fuel supply on human rights and community infrastructure. The best-performing system scenario can improve the multicriteria score for the face-to-face system by 25% and for the remote classes by 10%. Mobility was the main area of consumption affecting face-to-face classes, while food was the main priority consumption area for the remote class system. Therefore, improvements in consumption patterns in the HEIs should take these factors into account.
Conclusions
The hybrid class system performance ranked right in the middle of the face-to-face and remote scores, indicating that it should be used to improve environmental and social performance. The context of COVID-19 highlighted the importance of integrating environmental and social aspects into the LCA. The methodological approach developed can be used in future research to advance the knowledge on the implementation of environmental and social LCA in HEIs.
The market is experiencing an expanding range of products, prompting manufacturing companies to differentiate themselves from competitors by moving away from conventional concepts. However, these innovations often fail to meet consumer expectations, leading to product failure, and consequently, an unsustainable evolution of the market and the business. This unsustainability requires designers to adapt innovations to align with consumer needs and desires. Understanding and validating these adaptations can be achieved by examining users’ emotional responses to innovative products. The objective of this study is to assess the influence of innovation in the development of new successful products, sales performance, and, therefore, business sustainability. This evaluation is based on the perceptions of potential consumers through the analysis of users’ emotional responses to various new product concepts at different design stages. A case study presents the evaluation of 48 new interactive lamp concepts categorized into relaxation, study, and leisure topics. The target audience for these concepts is consumers aged 18 to 24. The designs were developed by 12 teams of final-year industrial design students using insights from a prior psychographic study involving over 800 potential consumers. The findings highlight differences in users’ perceptions of innovative and traditional products across topics. These differences relate to users’ interest, intuitiveness, and desirability toward a product. Generally, traditional product concepts are perceived as more intuitive, but users show greater interest and desire for innovative concepts, with some variations among the analyzed topics. The business environment is encouraged to share these data with new product-development teams to achieve sustainable market and business growth.
Lightweight design is a common approach to reduce energy demand in the use stage of vehicles. The production of lightweight materials is usually associated with an increase in energy demand, so the environmental impacts of lightweight structures need to be assessed holistically using a life cycle assessment. To estimate the life cycle environmental impacts of a product in its developmental stage, for example, by life cycle engineering, future changes in relevant influencing factors must be considered. Prospective life cycle assessment provides methods for integrating future scenarios into life cycle assessment studies. However, approaches for integrating prospective life cycle assessment into product development are limited. The objective of this work is to provide the methodological foundation for integrating future scenarios of relevant influencing factors in the development of lightweight structures. The applicability of the novel methodology is demonstrated by a case study of a structural component in a steel, aluminium, and hybrid design. The results show that appropriate decarbonisation measures can reduce the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 percent until 2050. We also found that shifts in the environmentally optimal design are possible in future scenarios. Therefore, the methodology and data provided contribute to improved decision-making in product development.
Organisations are consistently becoming more and more conscious about sustainability issues that are being raised on various platforms by regulatory bodies and other social activists. Digitisation of supply chains and other technologies like recycling has emerged as one solution that helps achieve sustainability goals by bringing more transparency into the system regarding emissions. Adopting these sustainability and digitisation-related technologies in the supply chain is a major issue, and there are many social issues related to their implementation and adoption. This study aims to identify social barriers to sustainable innovations and digitisation in the supply chain. A total of eight barriers are identified and analysed using BWM and DEMATEL methodologies. The results indicate that work-related circumstances and employment disruptions are the most prominent social barriers, which also influence other barriers. Organisations need to hire and train manpower in skills related to sustainable and digitisation technologies to secure their jobs and facilitate the adoption of these technologies in the supply chain.
Co-creation in healthcare, especially in developing digital health solutions, has been widely identified as a fundamental principle for person-centered technologies that could accelerate the adaptation of innovation. A Digital Health Living Lab based on community offers a sustainable and real-life environment to ideate, develop, and evaluate digital health solutions addressing the needs of multiple stakeholders. This article presents the experience of the School of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Brighton in establishing a Digital Health Living Lab. In addition, we share a proposed step-by-step approach to establishing such a living lab in the community, supplemented by a case study of product development.
Clean energy research and development (R and D) leading to commercial technologies is vital to economic development, technology competitiveness, and reduced environmental impact. Over the past 30 years, such efforts have advanced technology performance and reduced cost by leveraging network effects and economies of scale. After demonstrating promise in applied R and D, successful clean energy and energy efficiency technologies are incorporated into an initial product sold by the private sector. Despite its importance, processes by which first commercialization occurs are difficult to generalize while capturing specific insights from practitioners in markets and technologies. This paper presents a policy-focused qualitative assessment of the first commercialization of four diverse energy technologies: thin film photovoltaics, wind turbine blades, dual-stage refrigeration evaporators, and fuel cells for material handling equipment. Each technology presents distinct value propositions, markets, and regulatory drivers. The case studies indicate three common characteristics of successful first commercialization for new energy technologies: 1) good fit between the technology, R&D infrastructure, and public-private partnership models; 2) high degree of alignment of government regulations and R&D priorities with market forces; and 3) compatibility between time scales required for R&D, product development, and opportunities. These findings may inform energy investment decision-making, maximize benefits from R&D, and advance the transition to a low-emission future.
Purpose
This exploratory research aims to analyze sustainable innovation in the context of inclusive business in Latin America.
Design/methodology/approach
The study performs a summative content analysis of 22 inclusive businesses (IBs) of current Business Call to Action (BCtA) members in Latin America. Codes were created to identify the modification or introduction of sustainable products/services/processes. Data were analyzed using NVivo 12.
Findings
Results show a prevalence of Colombian examples within Latin American inclusive business, and a more significant proportion in the agricultural sector, consistent with reports found in the literature. The authors found that sustainable innovation takes place when introducing new products/services/processes that respond to the needs of the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) population, or modifying existing processes and services to make them more sustainable.
Originality/value
As most sustainable innovation literature is product-oriented and technically dominated, these results contribute to the newer works adopting a more comprehensive conception of innovation, providing empirical evidence at the product, service and process levels. The results provide insights on how inclusive businesses make adaptations to improve the sustainability of their supply chains to bring their products/services within reach of isolated and disadvantaged communities. The findings also suggest that sustainable product innovation in an inclusive business goes beyond a cost reduction objective. Tailored design reveals a hybrid socioeconomic goal with a high degree of local context embeddedness and precise attention to nascent specialized demand. The results could be of practical use for organizations that want to operate an inclusive business in BoP markets.
Circular Economy (CE) implementation is considered an instrumental strategy to help reaching the world's resource, energy, and climate mitigation targets, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. However, major barriers must be overcome to facilitate CE implementation in industry such as cultural, market, regulatory and technological considerantions (Kirchherr et al., 2018). Improving management systems within industrial companies is crucial when implementing effective CE solutions in compliance with existing industrial standards such as quality and environmental management systems. However, it is not yet common practice yet due to the lack of standardized, suitable, and easy-to-use supporting analytical tools. This paper attempts to fill this gap by presenting Industrial Circular Economy Questionnaire (ICEQ), a self-diagnosis questionnaire built upon the revision of industrial harmonized standards and, academic literature on business-level CE assessment tools. ICEQ, compiling a set of 165 questions for company self-CE assessment, was applied to 30 industrial companies belonging to 17 economic sectors (automotive, machining and metalworking transformation, waste management, machine tool, etc.) in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) in Spain. The automotive sector stands out with 70% of circularity while Machining and metalworking transformation only has 34%, showing that the automotive sector is more conscious of CE since they must comply with End-of-Life Vehicles (EoLV) legislation.
Energy transition is necessary, given that the share of fossil fuels in the total energy production ensures that we will not achieve the climate goals as set out in the Paris Agreements. Moreover, this energy transition is not only necessary because of the climate aspect, but also because of the geopolitical dependence on the supply and the easily accessible stocks of fossil fuels are in danger of being quickly exhausted. But this energy transition cannot only take place in a technological way-i.e., choice of energy source or generation-but must also be accompanied by an adapted flexibility, storage, and consumption. This can also evolve towards "energy as a service". To successfully make this paradigm shift possible, including the adapted business models, this is best done by involving the largest possible co-creation of as many stakeholders as possible, through social innovation. For the sake of additional knowledge, but also to achieve broad support and a smooth introduction. Transition teams play a key role in this respect in the context of a Multilevel Perspective approach with both monetary and social impact. This paper illustrates the role of three transition teams in a higher education institution in Belgium, an energy producer in the Netherlands and a grassroots experiment in the Netherlands. Their first realizations in "building coalition for change" are reported, together with the growth process into a "Change Through Network". This involves Energy as a service-including Public Civil Partnerships-and Energy Efficiency Service Companies that contribute to a smart sustainable building for a healthy human in a smart city. We show that this is a catalyst for a new corporate approach for the energy producer, a new social domain/neighborhood economy at the grassroot and a next level of pioneership for the Sustainable Development Goals within the higher education institution.
Due to the strong demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display products and the highly competitive global market, OLED enterprises need to proactively make product innovations for presuming business competitive advantage, high sales, high profits, high customer consuming value, and the sustainability of the enterprise. A suitable multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model for OLED new product development (NPD) can help OLED enterprises’ R&D team to minimize risks and maximize the success rate of NPD. However, the literature reviews of the MCDM model for OLED NPD are very rare. This study aims to propose the approaches for establishing an integrated MCDM model for OLED NPD that apply three methodologies which include the literature review and expert panel, Interpretive structural modeling (ISM), and Fuzzy analytic network process (FANP). Meanwhile, after the implication of the proposed approaches in the case study of Taiwan OLED NPD, this study proposes an integrated MCDM model for OLED NPD in Taiwan. The research results reveal fifteen evaluation criteria of OLED NPD and their relative weight. Furthermore, the research results reveal the top three important criteria are return on investment, expert research and industry evaluation, and R&D funding preparation. The proposed approaches can be applied in other industries for establishing an integrated MCDM model for their own NPD. The proposed integrated MCDM model for OLED NPD in Taiwan can help enterprises in the Taiwan OLED industry to develop new OLED products in an efficient way and to boost sales, profits, and competitive advantages. Besides, this study enriches the research references of MCDM model for NPD and OLED field.
Although collaborative networks (CN) are widespread in academia and have come to be even more used in corporations all over the world, they still face several challenges on behalf of the new product development (NPD) context, especially in regard to the selection of the CN’s right partner. This becomes even more evident when it comes to promoting sustainable development goals within a CN’s activities, by selecting the right partners with a wide consensus from a CN’s management board, avoiding, therefore, the subjectivity around managers’ perception of a CN’s partner selection. Therefore, this work attempts to answer this problem, by presenting a soft-computing-based framework, to support the managers’ board on partner search and selection. The method presented here is further assessed by using a case study, based on the development of a green product, where, according to the obtained results, it is demonstrated that the proposed approach is extremely effective for partner selection, by assessing and prioritizing each candidate involved. The most suitable candidate that fulfills the CN’s requirements is then selected to be integrated as a future partner.
There is a constant discussion in the modern society regarding innovation. Everybody talks about the word, the concept, and the strategy behind it. Nonetheless, not too many companies and industries of the economy can proudly mention their use of innovation at operational level. The usage of the innovation concept is mostly linked to the idea of product improvements for commerciality and immediate returns. At the same time, sustainability occupies the second pole position behind innovation as a concept easily identifiable in numerous marketing campaigns, mostly for the beautification of phrases, rather than for business-related purposes. The question that stems here is related to our history as an innovative and sustainable civilization (to some extent), and from the difficulty of finding examples of both concepts in real-world business sectors. The present paper aims at constructing a systematic review of the previous research regarding the concepts of innovation and sustainability from a product management perspective, followed by an application to the case of the luxury apparel sector of the economy. The research could be continued through the usage of primary data, by extending the paper with state-of-the-art luxury business examples.
Despite the recent interest in the Industry 4.0 applications for sustainability, little is known on the processes through which digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies enable sustainable innovation in manufacturing. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by developing a strategic roadmap that explains how businesses can leverage Industry 4.0 technologies to introduce sustainability into innovative practices. For this purpose, the study conducts a systematic review of extant literature to identify Industry 4.0 functions for sustainable innovation and applies interpretive structural modeling to devise the promised roadmap. The results offer interesting insights into Industry 4.0 applications for sustainable innovation. The strategic roadmap developed reveals that Industry 4.0 enables sustainable innovation through 11 functions. Industry 4.0 and the underlying digital technologies and principles allow businesses to improve interfunctional collaboration and better integrate with internal and external stakeholders. Industry 4.0 further improves the knowledge base and advanced manufacturing competency and promotes organizational capabilities valuable to sustainable innovation such as green absorptive capacity , sustainable partnership, and sustainable innovation orientation. Through these functions, Industry 4.0 subsequently enhances green process innovation capacity and the ability to develop or reintroduce eco-friendly products economically and competitively. Overall, the roadmap explains the complex precedence relationships among the 11 sustainable innovation functions of Industry 4.0, offering important implications for businesses that seek to leverage Industry 4.0 sustainability implications and manage sustainable development. K E Y W O R D S digitalization, green product, Industry 4.0 technologies, stakeholder engagement, sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable innovation, systematic literature review
Recent supply and innovation literature emphasizes the importance of foreign participation in product development. Based on this work flow, this study distinguishes four novel interagency new product development strategies (NPDs) based on two dimensions: the external source “supply chain supplies [SCS] and non-supply chain resources (NSCS)” and the form of interaction (united and purchasing). Using theoretical arguments from a knowledge-based perspective, we compare the effects of these four strategies on product innovation and product financial performance. Therefore, multi-criteria decision-making models are used to find the best inter-organizational strategy for developing a new product conducting a case study. The results indicate that some strategies are more effective to enhance product innovation, while others are more effective in improving product financial performance. In addition, this study shows that there is no distinction between the supply chain and the supply chain effects on product innovation. We also show that interdependence of technology plays an important role in increasing the positive relationship between product innovation and product financial performance. In general, the study suggests that companies need to carefully design their interagency NPD strategies with the various needs of innovation projects.
Drawing on the awareness of consequence literature, this paper unpacks how the awareness of the consequences of full-sun cocoa production can encourage farmers to adopt shaded cocoa agroforestry that preserves the land and favours better cocoa farm waste management. Using Ghana as a case study, the paper provides distinctive insights on how shaded cocoa agroforestry systems provide sustainable yields in the medium- to long-term, relative to unshaded systems. We also find that cocoa farmers’ awareness of consequences about the effects of undertaking unshaded cocoa production could make individual farmers exhibit pro-environmental behaviour, leading to the adoption of cocoa agroforestry systems that help preserve soil fertility and improve waste management. We recommend that the utilization of awareness of consequence protocols, coupled with the efficient diffusion of information on the benefits of agroforestry in terms of waste management and environmental improvements to the cocoa farmers, could increase the adoption of shaded cocoa production regimes in Ghana.
OVERVIEW
Central China is a rich multi-cultural and multi-religious region with many traditional making practices. In recent decades, however, rapid economic growth and urban development has created severe challenges for these practices. This research presents a case study based discussion, that was conducted in this region to investigate the opportunities and challenges for sustaining local traditions. In particular, for identifying areas where design could make a constructive contribution in ways that accord with contemporary understandings of design for sustainability. The research study employed qualitative forms of investigation, including desk-based theoretical research on crafts and design for sustainability and on traditional making practices within a Chinese context. Initial analysis of primary and secondary data suggests that design’s contributions might not be solely related to new product development but also in related areas such as marketing, branding and packaging design. In addition, some concerns have been identified in relation to sustainability.
Design policy for innovation and prosperity have been acknowledged and adopted globally. Existing literature on design policy usually adopts a top-down perspective to analyse the components of design innovation system and ignores the practical needs of practitioners. Our study aims to explore potential opportunities and challenges of design policies for design-enabled innovation from a bottom-up perspective. We firstly discussed the enabling role of design in the context of design as input, output and process of innovation with emphasis on design-enabled innovation conception; afterwards, European design policies are reviewed in terms of characteristics, priorities and strategies at EU, national and regional levels. Based on multiple case studies on the SWOT analysis of 50 European design innovation initiatives, we summarised eight dimensions of SWOT factors – organisation, production, performance, knowledge, environment, market, technology and institution – so as to identify main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that practitioners are facing and discussed common and specific factors that might influence the identification of SWOT forces by taking into account the country and sector factors. It’s concluded that European design policy is located as intergenerational transition from awareness raising to capacity building, which calls for more coordinated policies to tackle current opportunities and challenges.
Social product development (SPD) is an open innovation model in which social technologies and social mechanisms are employed to mobilize individuals in ideation, development, and commercialization of new products. This model holds the promise of engaging a broad and varied community of individuals in innovation activities. However, SPD platforms have struggled to scale early successes and build momentum to become sustainable. To critically assess the viability and paths forward for SPD, we examine social innovation processes, technologies, and platform governance that underlie this open innovation model. We identify six process functions—social engagement, ideation, experiential communication, social validation, codevelopment, and cocommercialization—to model SPD. We examine how these functions are enabled or supported by social technologies and cogoverned by an innovation community, innovation sponsor, and partners in manufacturing and retailing. We assessed the proposed SPD model with case studies of two SPD platforms. This article contributes to the innovation process modeling literature a comprehensive, integrated model of SPD processes, technology, and governance. This holistic model provides a new framework for systematic investigations of SPD for further theorization and empirical study. The proposed model is sufficiently general yet grounded in the phenomenon to guide design, deployment, and governance of socially enabled open innovation.
The development of a new product is a complicated multi-stakeholder process with a significant risk of failure. This is particularly true in the medical device sector, where there are strict therapeutic, psychological, and normative constraints.
This article presents a multi-criteria decision making process called “Define, Prioritize, Measure, and Aggregate” (DPMA). DPMA is designed to help engineering managers in decision making during the development process of new medical devices. The model is based on two sets of criteria linked to business and customer satisfaction. These criteria are weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and group decision making (GDM) process. The performance of a medical device is measured according to each criterion. Furthermore, the final score of GO/NO GO alternatives are calculated with the simple additive weighting (SAW) method. A case study for the development of a new kind of femoral implant is presented to demonstrate the implementation of the DPMA process. This study shows that the application of the DPMA process during the design of a 3D printed femoral prosthesis provided engineering managers the key elements and green light to go ahead with the development of this medical device.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how technology-forcing regulations affect the product development process in the supply chain of heavyweight vehicles.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a case study, this paper seeks to understand how one of the leading companies in heavyweight vehicles manufacturing industry and its engine supplier in Brazil introduce eco-design practices into its engine development process.
Findings
Through case studies conducted in a heavyweight vehicle producer and its engine supplier, this study shows that, in addition to meeting the standards and legislation, the automaker uses ecodesign practices during the product development cycle such as a design that eliminates harmful and hazardous materials and a project that allows recycling, the reuse of parts and energy efficiency, thereby reducing the environmental impact. However, without the mandatory requirements imposed by federal legislation, products with lower environmental impacts would rarely be developed, as environmental performance is not demanded by customers, who are mainly cost driven. Technology-forcing regulations play an important role in enhancing the adoption of ecodesign practices, but market and competitive conditions also play an important role.
Originality/value
Several studies on the impacts of public policies and development for the automobile sector have been conducted, but there is a lack of studies in the area of commercial vehicles, especially in Brazil. Therefore, this research is justified by new demands of society, in addition to the necessity of complying with legal requirements and the adoption of good practices related to eco-design.
Purpose
Management education trainers are increasingly called upon to train students to devise interventions for sustainable development in business settings. Due to the dominant reductionist paradigm, these interventions may lead to unwanted side effects. Teaching students about unacknowledged feedback loops in complex systems should prevent them from choosing “the most obvious” intervention without considering unwanted side effects.The current study aims to report the effects of teaching a systems perspective, applied to transport systems, on students’ opinions and expressed paradigms. The following questions are addressed: Do students adhere to the techno-centric paradigm, believing technology, innovation and growth can solve all types of threats for sustainable development, while neglecting low probability, high impact events? Are paradigms held by students coherent? Can teaching lead to a change in opinions and paradigms held by students?
Design/methodology/approach
Measures for several systems concepts (i.e. functional stupidity, paradigms and fragility) are taken across a wide sample of university students. Posttests of some key items are taken for a subsample that followed a sustainability and systems perspective in a course on transport economics.
Findings
A large share of students think that technology can solve different types of problems in sustainable development (a kind of weak sustainability), but their paradigms tend to be a mix of conflicting opinions. Though student opinions on topics that were explicitly treated in the course have changed, neither a wider paradigm shift nor significantly more coherent paradigms can be confirmed.
Originality/value
The results show that even though students can be taught about the unwanted side effects and limitations on specific techno-fix interventions, this does not automatically translate into a critical mind-set toward techno-fixing in general.
This paper explores the relationship between firm size and sustainable innovation in large International firms. To this end, we develop a labour demand framework. The contribution to the literature is to explore the knowledge externalities in determining the employment impact of sustainable innovation. Our investigation is based on firms of three economic areas: Europe, Japan and United States. In this way, we will appreciate the extent to which the technological spillovers can matter at geographical perspective. The findings evidence a significant effect of spillover effects on firms’ size but they depend on to the spillover stock type.
Purpose
Conditioning factors of the globalized world have created new requirements and opportunities in developing management models for organizations that englobe sustainability aspects, which presume substantial investments in innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between sustainable innovation practices and the performance of industrial companies.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a quantitative study and carried out by applying a research survey in Brazilian industrial companies.
Findings
The results showed that there are significantly positive associations between several variables related to sustainable innovation practices and company performance, being, therefore, possible to confirm the original proposed hypothesis.
Research limitations/implications
The main limiting factors were theoretical choices, comprehension of the phenomenon through the perception of the respondents, and the number of companies in the sample, as little representation was found in the researched population. In this manner, the results cannot be applied to the universe of considered research, being restricted solely to the group of companies in the sample.
Practical implications
From the main contributions, it is possible to highlight, at a theoretical level, the joint approach to issues of sustainable innovation and performance, since there are few studies covering the impact of adopting innovation practices on company performance. At a practical level, understanding of how the behavior of Brazilian industrial companies contributes to the wide distribution of practices that may contribute to better business performance and generate competitive advantages.
Social implications
At a social level, understanding of the benefits in adopting sustainable innovations practices favors the minimization of negative socio-environmental impacts.
Originality/value
By analyzing the themes of sustainable innovation and industrial performance, the present study may contribute to adopting business behavior that strategically and systemically integrates the objectives of sustainable innovation.
This paper examines how established firms use their core competences to diversify their business by exploring and ultimately developing green technologies. In contrast to start-ups dedicated to a green mission, diversifying into green markets by developing new products based on existing core competences has proven to be challenging. This is because the exploration processes to find a match between green technology opportunities and internal competences is complex and new to most established firms. This paper gains insights into exploration processes for green technologies and the learning modes and outcomes linked to these processes. We examined exploration processes at the micro-level in an embedded case study of an engineering firm using a combination of the "fireworks" innovation process model and organizational learning theory. First, we found that developing green technologies involves a long-term exploratory process without guarantee of (quick) success and likely involves many exploration failures. Second, as exploration unfolds along multiple technology trajectories, learning occurs in individual exploration paths (on-path), when new paths are pursued (path-initiation), and when knowledge from one path is spilled over to subsequent paths (across-paths). Third, to increase their chances for success, firms can increase the efficiency of exploration by fostering a failure-friendly organizational culture, deliberately experimenting, and purposefully learning from failures.
Purpose
This paper aims to understand and document evaluation criteria used in the new product development (NPD) process of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support the management and control of their NPD projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines exploratory and explanatory methodology (case studies) involving five Canadian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are successful in NPD. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with nine selected managers and project managers to explore the process and evaluation criteria used to manage and control NPD projects.
Findings
The results highlight that cost, time and quality are key evaluation criteria used by SMEs to make decisions relative to the NPD project's success. Profitability, return on investment, expected sales and customer satisfaction are additional criteria used to evaluate NPD project's success. It has been also found that the SMEs did not consider sustainability issues in the criteria used as their focus are on the needs of stakeholders, mainly customers.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations: The evaluation criteria are extracted from a limited number of SMEs that have successfully carried out NPD projects and may therefore be influenced by some contextual factors. The results cannot be generalized to all SMEs or to all projects, as their characteristics may differ. Implications: This study offers a novel outlook on NPD process in SMEs, by documenting criteria related to constraints in project management. The integration of theory of constraints contributes to increasing theoretical knowledge about the management and control of NPD projects in SMEs. It provides insight into how project managers (and other decision makers) can increase the chances of project success by managing project constraints and criteria.
Practical implications
The evaluation criteria identified in this study can therefore be of use to SMEs managers and project leaders seeking to improve the management and control of their NPD projects. These criteria can help them better manage their limited resources and skills and allocate them to the most promising projects. They can also help them conduct their NPD process more efficiently to achieve the intended objectives, including the desired project profitability targets.
Originality/value
This paper offers new insight and practical implications about evaluation criteria within the stages and activities of the NPD process that needed to be considered by SMEs' managers involved in NPD projects.
Organizations all over the globe are starting to address environmental-related matters with special emphasis.
Several authors believe that for organizations to improve their corporate performance and remain competitive they must minimize pollution and use resources more efficiently. To achieve the previous, green innovations (GIs) ought to be implemented. A lot of knowledge about GIs and everything they entail has been generated over the years. Nevertheless, it is all scattered. There is no consensus among authors and three main concepts (green innovation, sustainable innovation, and eco-friendly innovation) are used interchangeably. Moreover, the advantages of GIs are dispersed within the vast world of information and oftentimes can only be found within articles or books concerning certain specific domains. Likewise, current means for implementing GIs seem to be a completely different topic and unrelated to GIs, as it is hard to find data concerning these in relevant articles.
This article is a mere literature review aiming to summarize a topic of a great magnitude such as green innovations and to show what they are, what moves organizations towards them, how can they be achieved, what is being done both in the EU and Finland in that regard, and to and propose a framework to better understand green innovations.
How do firms address complex collective action problems effectively? Institutional and stakeholder research suggests that firms may avoid the tragedy of the commons by aligning the interests of critical proximate stakeholders in ways that governments cannot accomplish. This phenomenological paper investigates this possibility by analyzing Amazon rainforest preservation by Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics company. The results indicate that Natura internalized environmental externalities by linking ecologically conscious consumers with rural Amazonian communities. A differences-in-differences analysis compares forest preservation and fire activity in the municipalities that Natura entered with those in which it did not enter. Natura’s impact is identified through an instrumental variable analysis using missing satellite images, which Natura relied upon to decide which municipalities to enter. Quantitative results tie Natura’s entry into municipalities with forest preservation. Analysis of three mechanisms associates Natura’s involvement with stakeholder decisions to cultivate diverse forest-generated crops instead of clearing the land for conventional agriculture. This study contributes to the management literature by suggesting how firms can address important global challenges, such as rainforest preservation, by investing in stakeholder capability development and by creating institutional arrangements in line with those envisioned elsewhere.
This paper was accepted by George Serafeim, special section of management science: business and climate change.
Funding: This work was supported by the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics [CAD 7,500.00] and Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4884 .
In response to mounting pressure for organizations to meet sustainability requirements and improve their environmental footprint, companies are increasingly tasked with adapting their product portfolios to include environmentally sustainable solutions. However, little research has explored how firms develop the capabilities necessary to achieve this goal. In particular, there is a gap in understanding the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities–the specific skills, processes, and organizational activities–that enable firms to simultaneously pursue business objectives and environmental requirements during product development cycles. To address this gap, we conducted a multiple case study of 19 established manufacturing firms to examine the dynamic capabilities involved in developing environmentally sustainable products. Our findings reveal a dynamic process of profiting from environmentally sustainable product development and identify several microfoundations that enable these dynamic capabilities. For scholars, this study provides a detailed analysis of why and how microfoundations of dynamic capabilities support environmentally sustainable product development. We show that implementing these becomes a continuous process of strategic renewal for an organization. For manufacturing practitioners, our study provides a blueprint for initiating and enabling strategic activities for environmentally sustainable product development.
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the nature and scale of the sustainability value of car sharing and to identify, through consumer analysis, the contextual and consumer factors of success of car subscription as a business model.
Design/methodology/approach
The study evaluates the car sharing model against the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations in 2019. Individual interviews were performed for preliminary understanding of the factors affecting consumers' choices. Subsequently, through two phases of data collection, factor analysis and path model analysis were performed to identify and confirm latent factors. Consumer market segmentation was performed using cluster analysis.
Findings
Car sharing was found to have an overall positive net impact, with certain potential negative dimensions. Willingness, financial affordability, location and experience were identified as the key factors of consumers opting for car subscriptions. The findings further highlight the significant business potentialities of car subscription in India, consequent also to consumers' attitudes toward car ownership.
Practical implications
The research has substantial implications for both society and business, with the former being presented with an innovative sustainable means of transportation, and the latter with the elements of success of an entrepreneurial business model to support the former.
Originality/value
The study is a pioneer in objectively evaluating and prescribing positive social and business value creation for and through car subscription in India, based on consumer analysis.
Purpose
This paper aims to understand how a sustainable entrepreneur through his/her sustainable innovation can implement the three pillars of sustainable development, i.e. economic, social and environmental pillars, and how an entrepreneurial opportunity can be sought in environmental problems to develop a new product.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach using a single-case study design has been adopted. It discusses the case of an Indian sustainable entrepreneur working for the cause of reducing plastic pollution in India and providing employment to rural women from economically weaker backgrounds. Data was primarily collected through semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed through thematic analysis.
Findings
The paper shows how an entrepreneur through entrepreneurial opportunity discovery and sustainable innovation contributes toward sustainable development.
Practical implications
This study highlights the need for institutional support by governments for a wide spectrum of sustainable enterprises as they can help the governments in achieving sustainable development goals at local levels. It will also act as a representative example for the entrepreneurs about how one can covert an environmental problem into an opportunity, through sustainable innovation.
Originality/value
The originality of the study lies in the presentation of an innovative idea developed by the entrepreneur for addressing the problem of plastic waste. The case used here demonstrates that sustainable entrepreneurship, through sustainable innovation, can deal with multiple economic, social and environmental issues.
The questions of when and what consumer outcomes corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) would elicit when both are present in the same company remain unclear. This study conducted two between-subjects experiments that explored the independent and interaction effects of CSR/CSI order (CSI first, CSR first, or CSR/CSR at the same time), CSR-CSI domain congruity (congruent or incongruent), and the CSR commitment (high or low) on different consumer reactions. Based on two samples (Study 1 N = 361, Study 2 N = 291) recruited in the United States, the results showed that consumers' negative responses toward the company were stronger when CSI followed CSR than vice versa. Specifically, CSI following CSR triggered consumers' perceived corporate hypocrisy, which in turn led to negative behavioral intentions. Furthermore, we found that companies face more backlash from consumers if their irresponsible behavior was in the same issue domain (versus different domain) as prior CSR.
Purpose
This study analyzes how supply chain leadership (SCL), supply chain followership (SCF) and green supply chain integration (GSCI) can contribute to green new product development (GNPD) and performance (PRF) through the effects of green innovation (GRI), considering the moderator role of customer pressure (CPR). In doing so, it provides new insights that can aid in understanding the importance of collaborative behavior in the supply chain that promotes sustainable benefits for companies and their stakeholders, stimulating green innovation as a key to making business more circular.
Method
ology: Using a structured questionnaire, this study gathers data from a cross-sectional sample of 425 supply chain partners of Portugal's biggest energy supplier. Structural equation modelling is used to test the proposed hypotheses, and the impact of customer pressure on the suggested relationships is assessed through a multi-group analysis.
Findings
The findings suggest that SCL, SCF and GSCI positively impact GRI. Additionally, this study reveals that GNPD has a positive impact on PRF. Supply chain customer pressure appears to moderate some of the proposed relationships.
Implications/originality
This article provides some empirical evidence of the influence of SCL, SCF and GSCI on organizational value creation, contributing to a better understanding of the impacts of green innovation approaches on business sustainability. The overall results may support the importance of collaborative behavior in the supply chain for creating value for business, responding at the same time to the environmental sustainability challenges that humanity is facing, considering the role of customer pressure in moderating these relationships. Results show that, by being greener, a company may be more competitive, thus highlighting the importance of the collaboration between responsible and committed leaders and proactive followers for creating a better future for all.
Limitations
The research considered the suppliers of only one company. The relationships between variables need to be explored in other practical case studies and longitudinal research to improve the potential for extrapolating generalizations and establishing clear causalities.
Sustainable innovation – the introduction of new products and processes that bring economic, social and environmental benefits – have a crucial role in the textile and fashion industry. However, current literature mainly focuses on new product development and the consequent environmental impacts. One of the main challenges for textile and fashion companies is how to be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and innovative in the meantime. This paper is based on the Triple Bottom Line framework and attempts to address this gap by identifying some key success factors (KSFs) that could allow textile and fashion companies to develop product and process innovations, taking into account their social, environmental and economic outcomes. The research is based on a multiple-case study method and results show that textile and fashion companies can achieve a competitive advantage by being sustainable and innovative and when there are strong corporate values, cultural heritage and stable relationships with the territory. Besides extending the literature on sustainable, the paper highlights the main challenges and opportunities within this sector.
Access: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GQ2NKZJ5HAQDZKPBNDKJ/full?target=10.1080/20932685.2021.2011766
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the interrelationships between lean production, green technology adoption, green product innovation, social sustainability performance and green competitiveness. The study further investigates the mediation roles of green technology adoption and green product innovation between lean production systems, social sustainability performance and green competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative research approach is used for the study. Data for the study is garnered from 197 managers of manufacturing firms in Ghana via a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modeling, specifically partial least square is applied as the methodological tool to test all hypotheses.
Findings
Results of the study suggest that lean production systems have a significant positive impact on green technology adoption, green product innovation and green competitiveness. However, lean production systems are found to have an insignificant impact on social performance. The results further confirm the mediation roles of both green technology adoption and green product innovation between lean production systems, social sustainability performance and green competitiveness; thus indicating that lean production systems create an efficient condition for firms to adopt green technologies and produce innovative green-based products to leverage superior social sustainability performance and green competitiveness.
Originality/value
This study proposes and develops a comprehensive research model that is supported by the natural resource-based view theory to investigate the link between lean production systems, green technology adoption, green product innovation, social sustainability performance and green competitiveness from an emergent country perspective.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the drivers of innovative behaviour of sustainable community-based enterprises (SCBEs) in the Mahasarakham province, Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on insights from a qualitative case study method, this paper uses a purposive sampling technique with 30 SCBEs from December 2019 to December 2020. This study uses in-depth interviews and applied content analysis (e.g. theme, categorisation, quotation and coding), using the ATLAS.ti software.
Findings
This case study shows that transforming the community into an enterprise is related to creation, venture and innovative management, sustained in community-based enterprises. The findings reveal that innovative behaviour is associated with intention, thinking, orientation, product development, service, collaboration, competition and technology, which drives SCBEs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of community-based group and cooperative community-based enterprise with innovative behaviour, which can drive SCBEs growth.
Capitalism is broken. The relentless pursuit of more has delivered climate catastrophe, social inequality and financial instability – and left us ill-prepared for life in a global pandemic. Tim Jackson’s passionate and provocative book dares us to imagine a world beyond capitalism – a place where relationship and meaning take precedence over profits and power. Post Growth is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
More details via www.post-growth.com
Agri‐Food producers have a responsibility to provide safe, secure and sustainable food in a world characterized by disruption and increasing intolerance of waste along supply chains. As such, it is critical that they adopt new technologies to ensure efficient and effective management of their responsibility. While Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can underpin process innovation opportunities, there is a gap in research‐based understanding of how they influence innovation practice and outcomes in Agri‐Food. In this paper, we investigate how I4.0, as a set of enabling technologies, influences core process innovation practice and product innovation outcomes in Agri‐Food firms. We present case studies of two Spanish firms processing fresh food products, competing in two important subsectors of the industry, meat and fruit and vegetables. We used secondary material and semi‐structured interviews as data sources. The findings describe how, in the two cases, I4.0 has enabled responses to new customers requirements through process innovations resulting in enhanced functionality, aesthetics and meaning of the delivered products. Our paper contributes a framework identifying for researchers and managers how I4.0 technologies act as enablers of the core innovation processes and competitive outcomes.
Firms are creating sustainable innovations in response to customers and other stakeholders. Yet little is known about the capabilities required, as well as whether these innovations produce the touted people, planet, and profit – or triple bottom-line – rewards. Through the lens of market-based capabilities and stakeholder theories and based on a survey of firms working on sustainable innovations, this study determines the capabilities of market-based sustainability and organizational learning propel sustainable innovation, contingent on public ownership and organizational unlearning. We also find sustainable innovation contributes to the triple bottom-line by enhancing firms’ environmental performance and social performance, and in turn economic performance.
This study identifies a list of barriers that hinders adoption, implementation and upscaling of sustainable supply chain innovation in the manufacturing industry. It further proposes overcoming strategies that seek to aid management decision to dealing with these barriers systematically. A multi-criteria decision analysis method, the Best-Worst Method (BWM), is adopted to aid in the evaluation and prioritisation of the barriers and their overcoming strategies within the Indian manufacturing industry, an emerging economy. The results depict that, “lack of technical expertise and training”, “lack of R&D and innovation capabilities”, “popularity of traditional technology”, “high initial investment in latest technology” and “fear of extra workload and loss of flexibility” are the top five barriers that confronts the Indian manufacturing companies in their quest for adopting and implementing sustainable supply chain innovation practices. In addition, the overcoming strategic pathway for dealing with these barriers are provided. The findings provide managerial and policy insights for guiding the formation of strategic operations framework and resource allocation if these Indian manufacturing firms seeks to build sustainability into their supply chain innovations.
Collaborating with a partner in a distant area is widely endorsed in practice as a means for inspiring novel innovations. However, empirical evidence also reports significant innovation efficiency challenges when working with distant partners due to differences in technical knowledge domain differences. In this study, we conducted a multi-method approach by using a case study of 30 interviews to develop three information technology (IT)-enabled inter-firm knowledge capabilities and testing the research model with field survey data from 258 firms. The findings of this research confirm our hypotheses that IT-enabled inter-firm knowledge exploration capability and IT-enabled inter-firm knowledge exploitation capability can help embrace the benefits of product effectiveness while IT-enabled social integration capability surmount process efficiency challenges inherent in collaboration with distant partners. This study adds a much-needed perspective to the IT and innovation literature and offers practical suggestions for firm managers to mindfully design and deploy IT resources in collaborative innovation projects.
Plastic waste is becoming extremely threatening to the environment due to their high quantities generated which pose serious harm to both the environment and its inhabitants. A major victim of this menace is the marine environment. Plastic wastes generated on land find their way to water bodies where they cause detrimental effects such as flooding and poisoning of the animals in the marine ecosystem. The plastics in the marine environment, which are ingested in fish, are also deleterious to human health if such fish are consumed. Cancer is a major disease that emanates as a consequence. In order to find an effective way to manage these wastes and improve the sustainability of our environment, this study, therefore, explores various approaches to recycling plastic wastes into new products. The critical threat of the presence of plastic wastes in our marine environment is also presented. The limitation of the use of plastic waste for construction applications alongside the prospects is discussed. It is concluded that the use of plastic wastes for construction applications will improve the sustainability of the environment significantly, and also serve as a reliable source of materials for construction purposes. In addition, the use of recycled plastic wastes as a component in cementitious composites has been found to be the most beneficial as it can be used to replace all solid components of the composite. Finally, areas for further studies are also presented.
This special issue implores us to address sustainability from the lens of emerging economies and the role that innovation can play in this context. We posit that, for sustainable operations research to be relevant in the context of emerging economies, it needs to incorporate social concerns and conditions of underserved populations, with an emphasis on inclusion and equity. Especially important for addressing social concerns of these populations will be product/service innovation, process/business model innovation, and supply chain innovation. We further posit that successful innovation in these areas will require collaboration of for‐profit firms with the public sector, civil society organizations, and communities. In this paper, we put forward “inclusive innovation” as a unifying approach that enables the collaborative integration of social issues of relevance to underserved populations in operations management decisions. We then focus on contemporary sectoral challenges in services, manufacturing, and agriculture, highlight the relevant social sustainability issues with an emphasis on those relevant to underserved populations, and point to new opportunities for research.
The last few decades have seen a profound transformation of innovation project management within automobile firms. During the 1990s, the product development phase was revolutionized by the deployment of heavyweight project management, project portfolio processes, and platform strategies. The 2000s saw the forces of change move upstream in the innovation process, with the development of new methodologies intended to develop and orient creativity, as well as new upfront units acting as innovation labs. However, many upfront creative endeavors still encounter an innovation valley of death when they move into the rigid and risk-averse development phase. Thus, the frontier of innovative project organization seems to be the ongoing quest to reconcile the emergence of breakthrough innovations in the upfront phase with the more rationalized nature of development phases. Based on a case study of a disruptive low-cost car, this article analyzes how the product development phase can support innovative exploration to overcome the challenge of achieving a major cost breakthrough. We analyze the specific content of the project’s innovations ( fractal innovation) and the management practices and organizations used to implement them. We characterize how such innovative product development can contribute to a new economy of innovative effort within the global innovation funnel of the firm. We compare this global innovation process, where development projects play a major role as a locus for organizational learning, to the customary one in automotive firms, where learning happens essentially in front-end marketing and engineering departments.
There is an opportunity to reduce the amount of sheet metal currently used to manufacture automotive components, despite the available cost and CO2 savings, the automotive industry has not realised the full potential of these saving opportunities. To understand why, a practical case study was set up with an automotive manufacturer. A cross-functional team was established with the scope to make changes to five components using a structured design process to improve material efficiency. The trial identified realistic opportunities to improve material utilisation by 20%pts, and save £9million and 5 kilotonnes of CO2 annually. The greatest saving opportunities were found early in the product development cycle, before the production method is determined by component geometry. Of these, 3%pts were actually implemented on the production vehicle, saving £1.8million and 1.5 kilotonnes of CO2 annually. The case study identified significant barriers to implementing material efficiency strategies in an industrial setting. To overcome these barriers material utilisation should be considered early in the product design process and high in the vehicle platform hierarchy. As a result of this investigation, new business processes are being generated to support design for material utilisation at the automotive manufacturer. This case study approach should be considered to increase implementation for other aspects of material demand reduction.
The growing attention to environmental sustainability is not reflected in the effective implementation of ecodesign principles in the industrial context. The main barriers are related to the propensity of companies to optimise only specific aspects directly affected by legislation and to the higher priority given to other drivers such as performance, cost and aesthetics. The present paper faces this issue by proposing an approach to support designers to concurrently deal with environmental, economic and technical performance in all the key phases of the product development process (selection of drivers, evaluation of design alternatives, preservation, sharing and reuse of knowledge, etc.). The approach is grounded on a multi-criteria index, called Product Impact Index (PII), which allows weighting different drivers, verifying the satisfaction of the company’s goals, and comparing different design solutions. The method has been successfully applied in two case studies to support the redesign of a cooker hood and a freestanding cooker. Results confirmed its usefulness and effectiveness in overcoming the common barriers to ecodesign implementation in the industrial context.