Maria Claudia Lucchetti

State of the art in S-LCA: integrating literature review and automatic text analysis

PurposeSocial life cycle assessment (S-LCA) method lacks of standard and code of practice. The aim of the study is to classify the wide variety of contributions on S-LCA for tracking the development of different themes and for defining and classifying the main approaches in a systematic and reproducible way.MethodsThe research addressed to study a collection of 51 articles published between January 2006 and November 2014 using statistical criteria. We used automatic text analysis (ATA) tools related to lexicon analysis to identify keywords useful in tracing the main topics covered in articles published in different periods. We conducted principal component analysis (PCA) to classify the different approaches in the literature and to outline the orientations of the various research groups.Results and discussionThe results from lexicon analysis showed a rapid succession of different topics covered in the analyzed period. This alternation is strongly affected by the introduction of UNEP/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) S-LCA guidelines and methodological sheets. PCA analysis enabled to synthesize the information related to the numerous approaches. Results did not show a clear division into groups which indicates the absence of a dominant position on the subject in the literature.ConclusionsThis study attempted to map the state of art in S-LCA integrating literature review with multivariate statistical techniques. The analysis showed a highly fragmented field. These results confirm the existence of a variety of approaches that in part have already been identified by literature reviews on S-LCA. Alignment with the results in the literature confirms ATA to be a suitable instrument for the realization of reviews. Moreover, being systematic and reproducible allows ATA to be applied repeatedly, expanding the number of articles and topics analyzed.

Business model configuration and dynamics for technology commercialization in mature markets

Purpose The food industry is a well-established and complex industry. New entrants attempting to penetrate it via the commercialization of a new technological innovation could face high uncertainty and constraints. The capability to innovate through collaboration and to identify suitable strategies and innovative business models (BMs) can be particularly important for bringing a technological innovation to this market. However, although the potential for these capabilities has been advocated, we still lack a complete understanding of how new ventures could support the technology commercialization process via the development of BMs. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach To address this gap, this paper builds a conceptual framework that knits together the different bodies of extant literature (i.e. entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation) to analyze the BM innovation processes associated with the exploitation of emerging technologies; determines the suitability of the framework using data from the exploratory case study of IT IS 3D – a firm which has started to exploit 3D printing in the food industry; and improves the initial conceptual framework with the findings that emerged in the case study. Findings From this analysis it emerged that: companies could use more than one BM at a time; hence, BM innovation processes could co-exist and be run in parallel; the facing of high uncertainty might lead firms to choose a closed and/or a familiar BM, while explorative strategies could be pursued with open BMs; significant changes in strategies during the technology commercialization process are not necessarily reflected in a radical change in the BM; and firms could deliberately adopt interim strategies and BMs as means to identify the more suitable ones to reach the market. Originality/value This case study illustrates how firms could innovate the processes of their BM development to face the uncertainties linked with the entry into a mature and highly conservative industry (food).

Social Life cycle assessment in a managerial perspective: an integrative approach for business strategy

The attention regarding social, economic and environmental impacts and the increase in the attention on sustainability by the customers and the other general stakeholders has led businesses to adopt several tools for sustainable development patterns and, in particular, for social development patterns. The development of social impacts’ evaluation is one of the cornerstones of products and services sustainability. Concerning that, Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA hereafter) focuses on studying the social impacts of life cycles, but as this is a relatively new analytical approach, no globally shared application tools have yet been developed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the tools of stakeholder management and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to create a pathway of integration between the tools of social responsibility, SLCA and Stakeholder Management Approach. The research has characterized two main phases; the first is devoted to the critical analysis of the literature on the subject, and specifically on SLCA methodology. The objectives to be achieved are to carry out a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the subject for developing a conceptual model for the interpretation of the behaviour observed. In conclusion, we can say that the innovative model is properly inherent in the various interpretations of the stakeholders and the assessment of social impacts of product or services.

Waste Management and Environmental Impact: A Case Study of Pharmaceutical Industry

The European Initiatives of environmental policy are moving increasingly towards the continuous improvement of performance in a sustainable model, leading to stipulate that one of the components that quantifies the quality of the product on key variables of sustainability influences. The greater environmental impact in many manufacturing stages is the waste production and management. In this context, the life cycle approach better identifies and quantifying material and energy consumption and environmental emissions. The aim of this chapter is to describe, in detail, production and waste management in the pharmaceutical context, analyzing the environmental impact through life cycle approach.