Desired, Perceived, and Achieved Sustainability: Trade-Offs in Strategic and Operational Packaging Development

Bjorn De Koeijer, Jos De Lange and Renee Wever
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Bjorn De Koeijer: Top Institute Food and Nutrition, P.O. Box 557, 6700 AN Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jos De Lange: Department of Design, Production and Management, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
Renee Wever: Division of Machine Design, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-29

Abstract: The alignment of the strategic and the operational level of packaging development in relation to the integration of sustainability is not addressed extensively in current research. This paper aims to address this, by focusing on the decision-making interrelations of key actors (marketing and packaging development) within multidisciplinary product-packaging development teams. The research is conducted by means of a qualitative approach, consisting of semi-structured interviews with individual packaging development team members, complemented with a newly developed visualization tool. The research builds upon eight cases within brand owners, packaging material suppliers and packaging development consultants. The main findings of the study include the decision-making trade-offs between sustainability considerations and other project indicators, such as costs, time-to-market and technical challenges. These trade-offs are linked to the strategic and operational roles of key actors, and to internal and external factors influencing sustainable development processes. This research’s contribution is to address the alignment of the strategic and the operational levels of sustainable packaging development, in relation to (1) decision making and interrelations within multidisciplinary development teams; and (2) the relevance of development-influencing factors. This provides opportunities for further development of sustainable packaging models and tools, in order to align the strategic and operational level of development.

Keywords: operational development; strategic development; sustainable development; marketing; packaging development; development team (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1923-:d:116238

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