247
2.2.2 Additional Case Studies of Mature Companies
Few companies have explicitly used a formal CMM to guide efforts to implement
LCM practices. Thus, it is useful to survey experiences of companies with more
mature programs to elicit lessons that might be applied to evaluating the effi cacy of
a capability approach. GE (General Electric) has been developing LCM and LCA
since 2008. The GE Ecoassessment Center of Excellence (CoE) was founded to
assess the environmental impact of products and technologies throughout the entire
lifespan, from raw material extraction through reuse, recycling and disposal at end
of life. The programs avoid a ‘one-size fi ts all’ approach by developing and applying
a variety of tools and resources, from simple screening tools to detailed LCAs. The
intent is to leverage the screening and streamlined approaches in early phases of
product development, make strategic use of LCA and focus on value creation for
customers, investors and society. The Ecoassessment CoE does not dictate the use
of LCM, but rather works to build awareness, deliver tools and resources, provide
guidance and support, and where necessary manage the detailed LCA studies. An
environmental LCM portal is used to make tools and resources easily accessible to
diverse business units. It is also necessary to tailor the tools to the diverse needs of
different businesses. For example, a product LCM tool includes ten separate sets of
customizable weightings that can be used to emphasize issues most relevant to a
specifi c business context. When detailed LCA studies are warranted, the CoE provides trained professionals to perform the LCA or manage the work with external
experts. It is necessary to demonstrate value to the business to promote adoption of
LCM practices. An interactive tool was created to build awareness of how a LCM
1.1
1.2+1.3
Alignment
of LCM with
Business
Planning
Blank/Don’t Know
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
Positive Negative
Implement/
Assess LCA/M
practices
Continuous
Improvement
Product LCA
Data
Supplier
Capacity
Building
Production
Process
D a y 1
D a y 2
1.4
2.2
2.4
2.5
Fig. 17.1 Comparison of participant responses on day 1 and 2 of the training showing improvement in understanding of LCM concepts
17 Building Organizational Capability for Life Cycle Management
2.2.2 Additional Case Studies of Mature Companies
Few companies have explicitly used a formal CMM to guide efforts to implement
LCM practices. Thus, it is useful to survey experiences of companies with more
mature programs to elicit lessons that might be applied to evaluating the effi cacy of
a capability approach. GE (General Electric) has been developing LCM and LCA
since 2008. The GE Ecoassessment Center of Excellence (CoE) was founded to
assess the environmental impact of products and technologies throughout the entire
lifespan, from raw material extraction through reuse, recycling and disposal at end
of life. The programs avoid a ‘one-size fi ts all’ approach by developing and applying
a variety of tools and resources, from simple screening tools to detailed LCAs. The
intent is to leverage the screening and streamlined approaches in early phases of
product development, make strategic use of LCA and focus on value creation for
customers, investors and society. The Ecoassessment CoE does not dictate the use
of LCM, but rather works to build awareness, deliver tools and resources, provide
guidance and support, and where necessary manage the detailed LCA studies. An
environmental LCM portal is used to make tools and resources easily accessible to
diverse business units. It is also necessary to tailor the tools to the diverse needs of
different businesses. For example, a product LCM tool includes ten separate sets of
customizable weightings that can be used to emphasize issues most relevant to a
specifi c business context. When detailed LCA studies are warranted, the CoE provides trained professionals to perform the LCA or manage the work with external
experts. It is necessary to demonstrate value to the business to promote adoption of
LCM practices. An interactive tool was created to build awareness of how a LCM
1.1
1.2+1.3
Alignment
of LCM with
Business
Planning
Blank/Don’t Know
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
Positive Negative
Implement/
Assess LCA/M
practices
Continuous
Improvement
Product LCA
Data
Supplier
Capacity
Building
Production
Process
D a y 1
D a y 2
1.4
2.2
2.4
2.5
Fig. 17.1 Comparison of participant responses on day 1 and 2 of the training showing improvement in understanding of LCM concepts
17 Building Organizational Capability for Life Cycle Management