An investigation of incremental and radical eco-innovation development in supply networks

Abstract

Title: An investigation of incremental and radical eco-innovation development in supply networks; Samuel Roscoe, University Of Manchester, 2016, Doctor of Philosophy, PhDThe purpose of this study is to examine how suppliers can assist firms in embedding eco-innovations in the new product development process. Over the course of the study, the researcher argues that eco-innovation creation is a fundamentally different process from non-environmental innovation development. While the latter is spurred by profit motives, the former is driven by external stakeholder pressures. Firms respond to these pressures by developing a sustainability strategy or policy. To embed sustainability into the fabric of the organization, firms adopt a shared value approach where the sustainability strategy is deeply engrained in the corporate strategy. Senior-level sustainability champions disseminate the sustainability strategy to employees at the operational level, ensuring that the environment is a primary consideration in daily tasks. Designers then re-think the NPD process from cradle to grave to ensure the environment is a primary concern during raw material sourcing, production, transportation and distribution. Suppliers, being responsible for many of these supply chain processes, are then well positioned to help NPD teams redesign products for the environment.To develop this argument, the supply chain management literature and social network theory are synthesised to arrive at a conceptual model which consists of four hypotheses. The first hypothesis suggests that adopting a shared value approach is positively associated with eco-innovation creation. The model then suggests that NPD teams seeking incremental eco-innovations will rely on strong ties with suppliers. The model goes on to argue that NPD teams seeking radical eco-innovations will rely on weak ties with suppliers and ties with suppliers that bridge structural holes in the supply network. To confirm the validity of the hypotheses, the researcher uses Rolls-Royce as the context of study and three embedded cases as the units of analysis. Findings from the cases lend support to the four hypotheses of the conceptual modelThe study makes a theoretical contribution by showing that the development of environmental capabilities follows a process of embeddedness, as opposed to a process of path dependence. During the NPD process, knowledge and competencies co-evolve between development teams, and advances in the environmental performance of one technology enable advances in another. To ensure all eco-innovations function harmoniously in the final product, buyer-supplier teams share and integrate knowledge within and across team boundaries.The study also makes a methodological contribution by exploring the complex interactions that occur between the corporate and operational levels of firms during eco-innovation development. To evaluate these interactions, the researcher uses Rolls-Royce as the context of study (corporate level) and the three eco-innovation cases as units of analysis (operational level). Managers are presented with a framework which assists in determining the appropriate level of suppler engagement in eco-innovation development projects.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Paul Cousins (Supervisor) & Antony Potter (Supervisor)