Screening of how the organisation of life cycle nodes influences environmental impacts: A methodology

Journal article, 2018

Environmentally effective governance requires avoiding sub-optimisation of product life cycles, and effective governance depends on addressing the nets of humans that organise these activities. This article combines these insights into a common approach. A test is performed of a quicker screening version of an existing approach to study how environmental performance depends on the organisation of the product life cycle nodes where environmentally important material flows meet. The test is conducted on five services and products: bowling, bread, coach services, concrete, and road management. Twenty-five different environmentally relevant practices are identified. The findings include: a case of maintenance routines not being reorganised until after a period of environmentally ineffective operation, a case of changing the supply methods due to difficulties in monitoring price fluctuations, and a case of contractors being unwilling to disclose environmentally-relevant information to their successors. The findings highlight that a screening approach can identify non-intuitive environmentally relevant organisational practices at life cycle nodes. Such findings can inform researchers about environmentally relevant aspects to consider, and they can inform managers and policymakers about strategic opportunities for and limitations on environmentally effective governance.