23
© 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_3
Chapter 3
Life Cycle Management as a Way
to Operationalize Sustainability Within
Organizations
Sarra Harbi , Manuele Margni , Yves Loerincik , and Jon Dettling
Abstract This chapter proposes a value creation framework to operationalize
sustainability within organizations through an improved link between life cycle
management tools and business drivers for value creation. Internal and external
stakeholders’ need to be fi rst identifi ed and accounted for, and value creation must
be clearly identifi ed in order to be acknowledged and communicated. The question
“what do we want to achieve?” needs to be answered before thinking how to best
achieve the identifi ed business value. We propose to apply “reverse-engineering” to
defi ne the value creation path and identify the departments and collaborators to be
involved at different level of the organization. LCM offers an essential and fl exible
integrated management framework of concepts, techniques and procedures to think
how to best operationalize sustainable actions to achieve the identifi ed business
value. The sustainability action involves a team that should include, at least a sponsor or a pilot from the department that is expecting fi nal value creation (Human
Resources – HR for employee engagement, marketing for product positioning, etc.)
and a representative from each department involved in the value creation path. Each
of them will need an LCM tool adapted to their need and specifi c objectives. Last
but not least, one needs measurable indicators on global goals that are to be monitored by the overall project sponsor, through KPI (key performance indicators) and
follow-up.
S. Harbi • Y. Loerincik
Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
M. Margni (*)
Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
CIRAIG, Polytechnique Montréal , C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville ,
Montréal , QC H3C 3A7 , Canada
e-mail: manuele.margni@polymtl.ca
J. Dettling
Quantis-International , 295 Hanover Street, Suite 4A , Boston , MA 02113 , USA
© 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_3
Chapter 3
Life Cycle Management as a Way
to Operationalize Sustainability Within
Organizations
Sarra Harbi , Manuele Margni , Yves Loerincik , and Jon Dettling
Abstract This chapter proposes a value creation framework to operationalize
sustainability within organizations through an improved link between life cycle
management tools and business drivers for value creation. Internal and external
stakeholders’ need to be fi rst identifi ed and accounted for, and value creation must
be clearly identifi ed in order to be acknowledged and communicated. The question
“what do we want to achieve?” needs to be answered before thinking how to best
achieve the identifi ed business value. We propose to apply “reverse-engineering” to
defi ne the value creation path and identify the departments and collaborators to be
involved at different level of the organization. LCM offers an essential and fl exible
integrated management framework of concepts, techniques and procedures to think
how to best operationalize sustainable actions to achieve the identifi ed business
value. The sustainability action involves a team that should include, at least a sponsor or a pilot from the department that is expecting fi nal value creation (Human
Resources – HR for employee engagement, marketing for product positioning, etc.)
and a representative from each department involved in the value creation path. Each
of them will need an LCM tool adapted to their need and specifi c objectives. Last
but not least, one needs measurable indicators on global goals that are to be monitored by the overall project sponsor, through KPI (key performance indicators) and
follow-up.
S. Harbi • Y. Loerincik
Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
M. Margni (*)
Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
CIRAIG, Polytechnique Montréal , C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville ,
Montréal , QC H3C 3A7 , Canada
e-mail: manuele.margni@polymtl.ca
J. Dettling
Quantis-International , 295 Hanover Street, Suite 4A , Boston , MA 02113 , USA