Systems Design for Sustainability
Innovation is a broad concept that is used in many different contexts. As a result, there are many definitions of innovation. One useful definition is: “the commercial or industrial application of something new – a new product, process or method of production; a new market or source of supply; a new form of commercial, business, or financial organisation”. Most definitions of innovation emphasize ‘newness’ and ‘successfulness’. There are distinctions made between product versus process innovations and sometimes amongst market, business, and management innovations.
Product innovation is the introduction of new products that have characteristics and/or use applications that differ from existing products on the market.
Product Innovation = Product Development + Realization
The product development process is a disciplined and defined set of tasks, steps, and phases that describe how a company repetitively converts ideas into salable products and/ or services. The product development process itself can be split up into three phases: policy formulation, idea finding and strict development. Product development is not a stand-alone process. Parallel to the product development process the production development and marketing planning take place.
Product development process as part of the innovation process
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• Process innovation
Is the introduction of a new method of production that has not previously been used,or a new way of handling a commodity commercially, to make production more efficient or to produce new or improved products.
• Market innovation
Involves entering new markets, expanding existing markets, and/or developing new ways of serving customers.
• Business and management innovation
Involves developing new reward systems, organisational structures, and ways of handling responsibilities and human resources etc. that positively affect product sales.
Product Innovation Process. Recreated from (Roozenburg and Eekels 1995).
Towards Sustainability‐driven Innovation through Product‐Service Systems
Image Source: Thompson, A. W., (2010)
Innovation levels:
Innovation can be categorised into three levels: incremental, radical, and fundamental. Each category is progressively more significant and far-reaching.
• Incremental Innovation:
Entails step-by-step improvements of existing products.
• Radical Innovation:
Drastically changes existing products or processes.
• Fundamental Innovation:
Depends on new scientific knowledge and opens up new industries, causing a paradigm shift.
P&G is the largest consumer packaged goods company in the world today. This very fact coupled with our Purpose-inspired Growth Strategy—improving the lives of more consumers, in more parts of the world, more completely—requires us to continue to grow responsibly. And it also requires us to accelerate our commitment to helping solve some of the world’s sustainability challenges. We have an obligation to help solve some of the world’s sustainability challenges, and we believe we can do this through innovation.
http://www.pg.com
Sustainability is about ensuring a better quality of life today, for people and our planet. P&G claims to contribute towards sustainability through the products and services they offer, making their products in an environmentally responsible manner, and through their social responsibility programs that improve lives for those in need around the world.
“We define sustainability broadly at P&G to include both environmental sustainability and social responsibility.”
Environmental Sustainability:
As part of their strategy to grow responsibly, they claim to work towards a long-term environmental sustainability vision that includes:
- Powering our plants with 100% renewable energy
- Using 100% renewable or recycled materials for all products and packaging
- Having zero consumer and manufacturing waste go to landfills
- Designing products that delight consumers while maximizing our conservation of resources
In order to deliver their environmental vision they focus on two strategies:
• Products
• Operations
Products:
“We will deliver products with an improved environmental profile.
To reduce the environmental impact of our products we use life cycle analysis to understand where the biggest impact exists, so we know where to focus our innovation. Our deep understanding of the consumer enables us to develop sustainable products that will delight her, without tradeoffs in price or performance.”
Eg:
Products with Purpose: Gillette ProGlide
P&G partnered with Be Green® Packaging, a molded fiber supplier, to develop a breakthrough package for Fusion ProGlide, Gillette’s newest high-performance razor. The new package launched in Western Europe with a 57% reduction in plastic compared to the originally launched Fusion outer pack and razor tray and a 20% reduction in gross weight compared to the Fusion launch package. To minimize plastic, the design uses fibre material made from bamboo, sugarcane, and bulrush.
Operations:
“We will improve the environmental profile of our own operations. We are focused on the environmental performance of our entire supply chain, including our own manufacturing facilities, our suppliers, and the logistics of our finished products. We are focused on creating efficiencies in energy, water, waste, and emissions.”
Social Responsibility:
• Live, Learn and Thrive is P&G’s corporate cause, focusing on helping children in need around the world. The programs enable children to get off to a healthy start, receive access to education and build skills for life. Since 2007, P&G has improved the lives of over 315 million children.
• India has the world’s largest population of uneducated children, with nearly half of all children there not attending school. The Shiksha program (Shiksha - Hindu for "Education") is dedicated to fighting that trend, helping to provide access to education for more children. P&G India’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility Program, Shiksha, is an integral part of P&G’s global corporate cause—Live, Learn and Thrive, which currently reaches out to over 50 million children annually. The program funds NGO efforts to address the underlying causes of poor access to education, such as poverty, health issues, and access to immunization. In cases where schools don’t exist, the program also funds their construction. Now in its 7th year, Shiksha has enabled over 280,000 lesser-privileged children to access good, quality education by supporting the sustainable and tangible assets of schools. Shiksha has supported over 140 schools by interventions such as reactivating defunct government schools, building new schools or enhancing education infrastructure at existing schools.
• Almost one billion people in the developing world do not have access to clean drinking water. As a result, thousands of children die every day. The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program reaches these people through P&G packets, a water purifying technology developed by P&G and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One small P&G packet quickly turns 10 liters of dirty, potentially deadly water into clean, drinkable water. The packets can be used anywhere in the world, including areas affected by natural disasters. This Live, Learn and Thrive program provides water purification packets on a not-for-profit basis. Since the program began, more than 3.8 billion liters of purified drinking water in more than 65 countries have prevented an estimated 150 million days of diarrheal illness and helped save more than 20,000 lives.
• Every year, 59,000 people die from maternal and neonatal tetanus—a completely preventable disease. So for the fourth year running, Pampers is teaming up with UNICEF to deliver the vaccines that vulnerable women and their children need. The effort gets our consumers involved. With the purchase of one pack of Pampers, one dose of the vaccine is donated.
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Only 12 percent of women in India use sanitary napkins! Many girls miss school, and gradually drop out as they enter adolescence, primarily due to lack of knowledge and access to amenities to ensure proper health and hygiene. Similarly, many women suffer from infections due to lack of proper menstrual hygiene, resulting in poor health, adding to their healthcare burden and resulting in loss of wages as they have to remain absent from work.
Johnson & Johnson Limited, India and UNICEF have entered into a partnership to raise funds to promote health and hygiene practices amongst adolescent girls in India, benefitting more than five lakh girls over the next three years. From every Stayfree sanitary napkin sold, a part of the proceeds will go to UNICEF for a period of six months starting April 2012. This will support a pilot program, focusing on creating awareness and empowering adolescent girls for personal hygiene, in Bihar and in Jharkhand.
Image Source:
• http://www.unicef.org/india/media_7582.htm,