Towards a framework for sustainability information in product development

Important, accessible and accurate sustainability information (SI) beyond product and process data is a prerequisite for making knowledge-based decisions in product development and for reducing the unsustainable impacts of products. This article introduces a definition of SI relevant to product development and synthesises existing literature from the period 2000–2010 with the purpose of identifying, collecting and compiling relevant SI into a framework. The aim has been to demonstrate the value of using more and other types of information in sustainable product development than is done through the current scope of existing tools and methodologies. The competent use and exploitation of SI in product development have the potential to lead to the development of more sustainable products and to enhance firms' competitiveness through adding value to products beyond functionality, quality and cost.

[1]  Diane M. Strong,et al.  AIMQ: a methodology for information quality assessment , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[2]  Myriam Steinemann,et al.  TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS , 1983 .

[3]  Roberto Verganti,et al.  Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean , 2009 .

[4]  Glynn Skerratt,et al.  Socially responsible investment in the UK—criteria that are used to evaluate suitability , 2003 .

[5]  R. Handfield,et al.  Environmental Management Systems and Green Supply Chain Management: Complements for Sustainability? , 2008 .

[6]  L. Preston,et al.  The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, and Implications , 1995 .

[7]  Jörn-Henrik Thun,et al.  An empirical analysis of green supply chain management in the German automotive industry , 2009 .

[8]  Casper Boks,et al.  Theory and practice of environmental benchmarking in a major consumer electronics company , 2003 .

[9]  M. Charter.  Sustainable Solutions : Developing Products and Services for the Future , 2001 .

[10]  Perry Sadorsky,et al.  The Relationship Between Environmental Commitment and Managerial Perceptions of Stakeholder Importance , 1999 .

[11]  Arnt Meyer,et al.  What's in it for the customers? Successfully marketing green clothes , 2001 .

[12]  A. Young,et al.  Sustainable Supply Network Management , 2001 .

[13]  Christine Meisner Rosen,et al.  The Role of Voluntary Industry Standards in Environmental Supply‐Chain Management , 2002 .

[14]  R. Handfield,et al.  ‘Green’ value chain practices in the furniture industry , 1997 .

[15]  Raul Carlson,et al.  System for Integrated Business Environmental Information Management , 2001 .

[16]  M. Toffel,et al.  Stakeholders and Environmental Management Practices: An Institutional Framework , 2004 .

[17]  Yvette Salaün,et al.  Information quality: meeting the needs of the consumer , 2001, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[18]  Maths Lundgren,et al.  The banks' impact on the natural environment – on the space between ‘what is’ and ‘what if’ , 2000 .

[19]  Ned M. Gibbons,et al.  Business Process Improvement Toolbox , 1999 .

[20]  Robert P. Anex,et al.  The road to cooperative supply‐chain environmental management: trust and uncertainty among pro‐active firms , 2009 .

[21]  Steven P. Frysinger.  An integrated environmental information system (IEIS) for corporate environmental management , 2001 .

[22]  J. González‐Benito,et al.  A review of determinant factors of environmental proactivity , 2006 .

[23]  Stefan Seuring,et al.  From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management , 2008 .

[24]  Joop de Boer,et al.  Sustainability labelling schemes: the logic of their claims and their functions for stakeholders , 2003 .

[25]  Casper Boks,et al.  Environmental information from stakeholders supporting product development , 2012 .

[26]  Michael T. Rock,et al.  Impact of Firm‐Based Environmental Standards on Subsidiaries and Their Suppliers: Evidence from Motorola‐Penang , 2006 .

[27]  D. Maxwell,et al.  Developing sustainable products and services , 2003 .

[28]  Glen Mullineux,et al.  A framework for the requirements of capturing, storing and reusing information and knowledge in engineering design , 2002, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[29]  C. Jasch.  Environmental performance evaluation and indicators , 2000 .

[30]  Stuart Walker,et al.  Product development and responsible consumption : designing alternatives for sustainable lifestyles , 2008 .

[31]  Sergio Rubio,et al.  Characteristics of research on green marketing , 2009 .

[32]  Casper Boks,et al.  The soft side of ecodesign , 2006 .

[33]  K. Peattie.  Golden goose or wild goose? The hunt for the green consumer , 2001 .

[34]  A. Moffat,et al.  Corporate Environmental Innovation (CEI): a government initiative to support corporate sustainability leadership , 2006 .

[35]  Scott J. Callan,et al.  Corporate financial performance and corporate social performance: an update and reinvestigation , 2009 .

[36]  Ulrich Steger,et al.  Moving Business/Industry Towards Sustainable Consumption:: The Role of NGOs , 2002 .

[37]  Peggy Zwolinski,et al.  A tool to implement sustainable end-of-life strategies in the product development phase , 2005 .

[38]  Christopher Foster,et al.  Greening the innovation process , 2000 .

[39]  Glenn Johansson,et al.  Organising for environmental considerations in complex product development projects: implications from introducing a ''Green'' sub-project , 2006 .

[40]  David L. Levy,et al.  Building institutions based on information disclosure: lessons from GRI's sustainability reporting , 2009 .

[41]  Tamar Frankel.  [The theory and the practice...]. , 2001, Tijdschrift voor diergeneeskunde.

[42]  Tim C. McAloone,et al.  Environmental improvement through product development: A guide , 2009 .

[43]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[44]  Randall Krantz,et al.  A New Vision of Sustainable Consumption , 2010 .

[45]  Anne-Marie Tillman,et al.  Analysing influencing factors of corporate environmental information collection, management and communication , 2009 .

[46]  S. Barr,et al.  Green consumption or sustainable lifestyles? Identifying the sustainable consumer. , 2005 .

[47]  François Thérin,et al.  Knowledge acquisition and environmental commitment in SMEs , 2008 .

[48]  Umit Alniacik,et al.  How corporate social responsibility information influences stakeholders' intentions , 2011 .

[49]  Aseem Prakash,et al.  GREEN MARKETING, PUBLIC POLICY AND MANAGERIAL STRATEGIES , 2002 .

[50]  Diego Vazquez-Brust,et al.  The ‘win–win’ paradigm and stakeholder integration , 2009 .

[51]  E. Sundin,et al.  Making functional sales environmentally and economically beneficial through product remanufacturing , 2005 .

[52]  Arnold Tukker,et al.  Identifying Priorities for Environmental Product Policy , 2006 .

[53]  Michael Zwicky Hauschild,et al.  From Life Cycle Assessment to Sustainable Production: Status and Perspectives , 2005 .

[54]  Roberto Verganti,et al.  Design-Driven Innovation , 2014 .

[55]  A. Verbeke,et al.  Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective , 2003 .

[56]  Ralf Nordbeck,et al.  Impacts on industry of Europe's emerging chemicals policy REACh. , 2008, Journal of environmental management.

[57]  C. Sanne.  Willing consumers—or locked-in? Policies for a sustainable consumption , 2002 .

[58]  Antero Honkasalo,et al.  Eco-efficiency and Integrated Product Policy: Lessons from Finland , 2001 .

[59]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Product Design and Development , 1995 .

[60]  Lin Li,et al.  Environmentally responsible public procurement (ERPP) and its implications for integrated product policy (IPP) , 2005 .

[61]  Minna Halme,et al.  Does corporate environmental protection increase or decrease shareholder value? The case of environmental investments , 2001 .

[62]  Henrikke Baumann,et al.  Mapping the green product development field: engineering, policy and business perspectives , 2002 .

[63]  R. Handfield,et al.  Integrating Environmental Management and Supply Chain Strategies , 2005 .

[64]  John Elkington,et al.  Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st‐century business , 1998 .