Managing innovation towards sustainable products and substances
book
This paper of TNO Work and Employment was presented at the 9th Greening of Industry Conference, organised by the Greening of Industry Network, San Francisco, 14 October 2003. A case study was undertaken in five companies with production facilities in the Netherlands, that want to make their business more sustainable: DSM Resins, Hermadix, Philips Electronics, Thermphos and Vliegenthart. All five companies monitor developments in (future) governmental regulation, not only in their home country, but also in other countries. Public debates on substances are also monitored. These are seen as indicators for future loss of exiting markets shares, and as early signal of new or upcoming markets. In all the cases, the innovations concerned only a part of the company’s business. Most innovations require some sort of co-operation in the production chain from suppliers and/or customers. The acceptance of the innovation by customers and the general public can greatly complicate and delay the innovation process. Commercial managers play an important role in the innovation processes. Contrastingly, the Safety and Health managers played only a minor role.
Topics
TNO Identifier
274622
Publisher
TNO
Collation
16 p.
Place of publication
Hoofddorp