7. Concluding remarks
Today’s typical management thinking in most companies focuses on the exchange processes with suppliers, customers, and competitors. However,especially in the area of sustainability, the critical environmental impact of products or processes often is not caused by the producer or the customer directly, but rather is linked to the natural and physical traits of the raw materials used and the behavior of all actors and their integrated behavior in the whole product life cycle. Accordingly, identifying and creating new business opportunities in sustainability requires a holistic business perspective from cradle to grave of a product or service, considering also processes outside of the classic supplier-company-customer relationship. The life cycle assessment method helps managers view the market in this holistic perspective more systematically. The LCA method itself produces environmental impact figures for the entire life cycle of a product or service, which not only enable management to identify critical life cycle steps of their products and services, but also enable managementto make whatif analyses to evaluate improvement measures. The results can help managers improve business performance in the areas of strategy development, R&D and product management, sourcing and production, marketing and sales, and also information and training. As shown in the cases, the business impact on adding value can be enormous in all of these areas.
