دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی پیشنهاد یک سیستم مرجع جدید برای فرایند توسعه محصول سبز (GPDP) - الزویر 2018

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the alignment between environmental sustainability and the product development process of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises that operate in Southern Brazil, as well as to propose a system to assist the execution of a green product development process. To that end, an exploratory research was carried out in two steps: (i) narrative bibliographic review and (ii) a field research. The (i) bibliographic review was conducted in the “Web of Science” and “Scopus” databases. The (ii) field research was executed with managers of 18 industries of different segments. Regarding the theoretical research, results show the state-of-the-art in academic research on product development process and sustainability practices, which provided support for the design of the data collection instrument and for the reference system suggested at the end of the work. As to the field research, results show that the sampled organizations understand the need for product and process environmental sustainability and they define internal drivers for the adoption of adequate practices, adapting such practices to the regulatory pressures and to market demands. Nevertheless, environmental matters do not comprise a dominant topic on product development. In this sense, we propose a reference model that aims to support companies to strategically align environmental aspects to the product development process. Although literature describes specific reference models, the need for a new system is justified since previous models presented specificities, lacked both post development assessment phases and introductory phases of product planning before the conceptual design. Therefore, the reference system proposed present phases that precede the development process (Sustainability-Oriented Organizational Strategic Planning; Portfolio Strategic Planning; and Project Strategic Planning), followed by the development phases (Operational Planning of the Product; Production Preparation; and Product’s Launch Plan), and one post-development phase (Market Follow-Up of the Product). Future studies can apply the model in real cases through the action research method.

6. Final Considerations

After a bibliographic and a field research with SMEs, we found that environmental issues are still not a dominant topic in product development practices, and there is great potential for the inclusion of these practices in distinct phases of the PDP, mainly in the phases before concept generation and in the post-launch phases. Nevertheless, we highlight that operational and strategic matters previously highlighted by academic research on environmentally sustainable product development process are already considered by SME. Among these activities, we highlight the ecologic integration in the project planning and production planning steps, and a strategic planning that contemplates sustainability. Yet, another relevant finding lies on the fact that SMEs are not aware of most of the methods and tools to adapt and assess the PDP’s ecological qualification.

Finally, a reference model was proposed, taking into consideration that, although some characteristics of SME’s environmental innovation management differ from the characteristics of large organizations, environmentally sustainable product development practices need to be operationalized. It is necessary to highlight that the name “reference model” is used to serve as basis and provide subsidies for companies, so that, these companies can develop specific models for their realities. Thus, despite the study providing reference system proposition, it is important to mention that organizations should customize the reference system according to their needs, objectives, and available resources. Still, observing the inherent complexity regarding current competitive contexts, the linearity serves to guide thinking and communication among stakeholders, but it also needs to be aligned to the flexibility inherent to the competency called “organizational learning”.