Product development and organisational strategies in the context of sustainability: A qualitative study examining sustainable product development and the consideration of micro-level sustainability strategies

Sammanfattning

This qualitative study investigates how organisations approach the development processes of sustainable products considering their micro-level sustainability efforts and ambitions and compare it to the model presented in the literature. The research follows a qualitative, social constructivist approach that enabled the researcher to work with pre-existing theories and the new empirical material. The empirical data was collected through seven semi-structured interviews. The findings contribute to the literature by elucidating how sustainable product development is applied within the fast-moving-consumer-goods food industry. Furthermore, the study has highlighted the circularity of SPD and the necessary addition of the Voice-of-customer in the model. Moreover, environmental certification, governmental regulations, and consumer (il)literacy have proven to be possible tools to further the ethical rationality in the process.