129
© The Author(s) 2015
G. Sonnemann, M. Margni (eds.), Life Cycle Management,
LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1_11
Chapter 11
Sustainable Value Creation with Life Cycle
Management
B. M. Krishna Manda , Henk Bosch , and Ernst Worrell
Abstract Life cycle management has gained traction in the last decades. However,
even today it is not yet implemented in all companies due to lack of the connection
between sustainability and value creation. In fact, managers are pressed to deliver
value, and their performance is measured on how well they deliver the value. In this
chapter the authors contribute to bridging the gap between sustainability science
and business management by application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in corporate
sustainability and aligning it with business activities/functions and value creation.
They illustrate the context of corporations, sustainable value creation opportunities
and the role of different business functions in integrating sustainability in the core
business. Two cases demonstrate how business functions can use LCA-based
insights for business decisions and how they are directly connected with value
creation opportunities.
Keywords Corporate sustainability • Life cycle assessment • Life cycle costing •
Life cycle management • LCM toolbox • Product sustainability • Social life cycle
assessment • Sustainability • Value creation
1 Introduction and Objective
The relevance of the various sustainability aspects differs from company to
company depending on the context, the type of product systems, geographical
scope, and related social and environmental problems/drivers. Thus, the integration of sustainability in business is diffi cult and inherently complex. It requires a
B. M. K. Manda (*) • E. Worrell
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development , Utrecht University ,
Utrecht , The Netherlands
e-mail: b.m.k.manda@uu.nl
H. Bosch
DSM Nutritional Products , Kaiseraugst , Switzerland
© The Author(s) 2015
G. Sonnemann, M. Margni (eds.), Life Cycle Management,
LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1_11
Chapter 11
Sustainable Value Creation with Life Cycle
Management
B. M. Krishna Manda , Henk Bosch , and Ernst Worrell
Abstract Life cycle management has gained traction in the last decades. However,
even today it is not yet implemented in all companies due to lack of the connection
between sustainability and value creation. In fact, managers are pressed to deliver
value, and their performance is measured on how well they deliver the value. In this
chapter the authors contribute to bridging the gap between sustainability science
and business management by application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in corporate
sustainability and aligning it with business activities/functions and value creation.
They illustrate the context of corporations, sustainable value creation opportunities
and the role of different business functions in integrating sustainability in the core
business. Two cases demonstrate how business functions can use LCA-based
insights for business decisions and how they are directly connected with value
creation opportunities.
Keywords Corporate sustainability • Life cycle assessment • Life cycle costing •
Life cycle management • LCM toolbox • Product sustainability • Social life cycle
assessment • Sustainability • Value creation
1 Introduction and Objective
The relevance of the various sustainability aspects differs from company to
company depending on the context, the type of product systems, geographical
scope, and related social and environmental problems/drivers. Thus, the integration of sustainability in business is diffi cult and inherently complex. It requires a
B. M. K. Manda (*) • E. Worrell
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development , Utrecht University ,
Utrecht , The Netherlands
e-mail: b.m.k.manda@uu.nl
H. Bosch
DSM Nutritional Products , Kaiseraugst , Switzerland