Architect, Catalyst, Advocate, and Prophet: A Four-Lens View of Companies to Support Ecodesign Integration

Abstract

Companies are increasingly expected to develop products with better environmental performance throughout their life cycle. Academic literature on ecodesign integration, which investigates firms’ practices of dealing with environmental concerns associated with their products, indicates a need for more focus on formal and informal organizational aspects. From the general management literature, the four-lens view of organizations provides a rich understanding of organizations by embracing their formal (structural lens) and informal (human, political and symbolic lenses) functioning. This article aims to explore the extent to which the four-lens view may support ecodesign integration in companies. This exploratory study builds on fifteen interviews about ecodesign integration at seven manufacturing companies in Denmark and Norway. The main results are threefold: (i) the different lenses of organizations could be found in measures mentioned at the case companies; (ii) measures from the architect’s perspective seemed necessary to provide an official scene for ecodesign and help prioritizing it in organizations; and (iii) the catalyst’s, advocate’s, and prophet’s perspectives seemed necessary to facilitate or complement the architect’s perspective. In the light of these findings, the four-lens view seems relevant to strengthen ecodesign integration, and its potential use as a reflective tool is an avenue for future work.

Exploring “Company Personas” for Informing Design for Sustainability Implementation in Companies

“…Researchers earlier mentioned how the level of formalization can influence DfS implementation in companies [31,57]. The interviews showed that each of the case companies approached DfS implementation differently.…”

“…The company persona definition can help practitioners enrich the understanding of the maturity levels of the company in terms of its managerial preparedness and aspirations, thereby complementing the integration of the eco-design maturity model in practice. Another potential tool is the four-lens model for integrating sustainability in companies [57], which proposes a set of measures a company can take from four different perspectives-namely architect, catalyst, prophet, and advocate-to integrate sustainability in its activities. The company persona approach can help streamline the suggested course of action under each lens based on the niche characteristics of the company.…”

An Environmental and Operational Analysis of Quality Function Deployment-Based Methods

“…Ecodesign has emerged as a proactive approach to develop more eco-friendly products, and this concept has received a large number of definitions. Proponents of ecodesign in organizations generally include sustainability teams involved in the ecodesign agenda [8]. Nonetheless, ecodesign usually exceeds the environmental dimension of business performance [9] and enables opportunities for improvements in a range of projects [10].…”