the communication and integration of the life cycle perspective in innovation activities conclusions...

The communication and integration of the life cycle perspective

in innovation activities

Conclusions from three Finnish case studies

Tea LempiäläHelsinki University of TechnologyInnovation Management Institute (IMI)

Background The tightening and more versatile nature of

environmental legislation The pressure from international organisations

and activist groups (since the 1970’s), intensified pressure especially in the engineering industry since the 1990’s

Growing interest of stakeholders The increasing product chain orientation of

environmental legislation

COMPANY

Competitive pressure from the new economies

Demanding customers -> excellent quality as standard

Tightening environmental legislation

Growing customer and investor interest

Need for effective environmental innovation

COMPANY









Need for effective environmental innovation

The challenges of the competitive environment for the companies

Definition of the key concepts Ecodesign

Integration into existing plannig processes without compomising other product criteria

Importance of innovation activities more than 80% of all of a product’s environmental impacts are created in product design

Holistic approach requires participation of the whole organisation

The Life cycle perspective ”Cradle to Grave” Balancing the environmental impacts of a product between the

life cycle stages, instead of just transferring them from one stage to another

The Front End of Innovation (FEI) The weakest and most difficult phase of the innovation process Withholds great opportunities to improve innovation capacity

(Charter and Tischner, 2001, Mathieux et al., 2001)

(Ecolife network, 2002; Loikkanen and Hongisto, 2000; Mathieux et al., 2001)

(Koen et al., 2001; Nobelius and Trygg, 2002; Kim and Wilemon, 2002)

Front-End of Innovation in the NPD process

How can the integration be managed? Success factors:

Linking to the overall business strategiesSenior management commitment:strategic importance,allocation of resources,goal creationMotivation, rewarding, effective control mechanismsCommunicationKey individuals

Challenges:Unclear goals, insufficient leadership, inefficient control activitiesGap between strategy and resourcesThe “Green wall”

(Alexander, 1991; Atkinsson et al., 1999; Hunton-Clarke, 2002; James et al., 1999; Kim and Wilemon, 2002: Khurana and Rosenthal, 1997; Noble, 1999; Shelton, 1996; Topf, 2001; Wehrmeyer, 1996)

Cross-functional communication

(Wheelwright et al.., 1992, 17)

Batch communication vs. Integrated problem solving

Cross-functional communication

The difficulty of creating open cross-functional communication

Different, competing goals increase in conflic Power imbalance The need for collaborative communication

Cognitive vs. experimental vs. values-based information

Pinto et al., 1993; Atuahene-Gima and Evangelista, 2000; Brett et al., 1998

The empirical study Three cases (company + supplier) The participating companies:

Large Finnish engineering companies B2B markets

Descriptive Main method of data collection ;

interviewing

The research problem of the study:

How is the life cycle perspective integrated into the innovation activities of Finnish engineering companies and communicated to their subcontractors?

How successful is the communication and integration of life cycle-related information within the companies and between them and their suppliers

The subquestions 1. What are the main drivers for integrating the life cycle

perspective in strategic decision making of innovation activities and the ways of implementation?

2. How well are the perceptions of the importance of the life cycle perspective shared in the companies (communication and integration) and

3. transferred to their main subcontractors.

Technological executive

Sourcing department

Company Subcontractor

Environmental executive

Inte

gra

tio

n

Integration


Sourcing department



Inte

gra

tio

n

IntegrationInte

gra

tio

n Technological executive

Sourcing department



Inte

gra

tio

n

Integration


Sourcing department



Inte

gra

tio

n

IntegrationInte

gra

tio

n

The scope of the study

Results of the empirical studyMain drivers for integration:

Legislation Customer Financers, own interest

Integration to strategic decision making:

Generally good

Variation: as own topics, under the name of efficiency or integrated to technological issues

Environment as a restrictive factor

The successfulness of communication

Strategies formed with two-way communication between the environmental and technological function, but not the sourcing function

Company magazines, seminars and environmental training frequently used

Effective reporting and measurement systems missing lack of concrete rewarding system

Horizontal communication good, vertical communication weak


Sourcing department



Inte

gra

tio

n

Problematic

Good

Problematic Integration


Sourcing department



Inte

gra

tio

n

Problematic

Good

Problematic Integration

The communication and integration of the life cycle perspective

Communication towards suppliers

Overall communication in a good level The life cycle perspective practically

absent from communication Legislation as a guiding feature in

environmental issues Role of own innovation or own product in

realising the LC-perspective not perceived

Successfulness of communication continued Differences especially in the perception of importance of

own role in realising the life cycle perspective Overly optimistic image of the different organisation levels

of each other’s activities Cognitive and values-based information most frequently

used, experience-based information least transferred

Perceived importance of the life cycle perspective / conceptual understanding of the life cycle perspective

Distance from senior management

Managerial implications The role of the sourcing function, vertical

communication Measurement, systematic reporting Clear objectives and rewarding The need for integrated problem solving Life cycle perspective earlier to the

innovation process: perception as an opportunity

Subjects for further research

Holistic organisational perspective to the integration of the life cycle perspective

The human resources perspective to the integration

The role of the supplier in the realisation of the life cycle

The role of the front-end of innovation in ecodesign

the communication and integration of the life cycle perspective in innovation activities conclusions...

Documents