Sustainabilty integration in product portfolio for sustainable development: Findings from the industry

Abstract

Many companies decide which services, products, and technologies to include in their product portfolio using evaluation criteria, which often consider cost, quality, risk, revenue, time, and market position. Incorporating sustainability in the portfolio evaluation criteria could ensure the development of sustainable solutions from the early stages of the product development process, where there is more room for innovation. The aim of this paper is to understand how sustainability can be integrated in the company portfolio development. Semi‐structured interviews were performed with experts in the field and representatives from multinational manufacturing companies with operations in Sweden. Main findings from this study include a proposed definition of a sustainability product portfolio concept and suggested portfolio evaluation criteria from an industry perspective. Future research will develop a method to guide manufacturing companies in sustainability integration and implementation in product portfolios.

Sustainability risk and portfolio management—A strategic scenario method for sustainable product development

“…The strategic sustainability criterion is fulfilled. In a previous study, based on a systematic literature review, workshops, and semi-structured interviews with high-level positions in product development companies, the sustainability product portfolio was defined as: "A process to set a company platform of solutions, i.e., a cluster of products, services, technologies, and/or customized options, based on the company strategic plan and assessed by a strategic sustainability perspective" (Villamil & Hallstedt, 2021). To assess the sustainability performance of the portfolio, companies use several tools and methods such as LCA (Ma et al, 2020), eco-design tools (Cluzel et al, 2016), and checklists.…”

“…However, these existing tools are missing a strategic sustainability perspective, which ensures that solutions are profitable stepping stones towards sustainability (Villamil & Hallstedt, 2021). Implementing sustainability in the product portfolio requires the active participation of internal and external stakeholders (Goodman et al, 2017;Massaro et al, 2021;Sánchez, 2015;Silvius & Schipper, 2014;Tang et al, 2018).…”

“…Based on this reasoning, it is proposed that these three key areas capture the dynamics of the sustainability transition in the product portfolio process (Schulte et al, 2020;Villamil & Hallstedt, 2021).…”

Strategic Sustainability Risk Management in Product Development Companies: Key Aspects and Conceptual Approach

“…Whether and to what degree sustainability aspects should be integrated into existing processes and tools or separated is a widely discussed topic in the literature, e.g., in relation to portfolio management [41]. Although sustainability risks can conceptually be separated from other types of risks, based on their source of uncertainty, the experts consistently state that in practice, it is difficult to delimitate sustainability risks from other types of risk, since they are an increasingly integrated part of the enterprise risk universe: "Some companies got a sustainability risk register, [ .…”

Weighting with Life Cycle Assessment and Cradle to Cradle: A Methodology for Global Sustainability Design

“…The business strategies of any sector of activity reflect the current interest in managing the product portfolio, from the point of view of sustainable development [1]. Early design phases are critical to approach the product life cycle optimally.…”