Environmental communication and product chain dynamics

The point of departure in this field of research is that innovative solutions are developed by communicative acts between similar and complementary fields of practice. In the specific case of sustainable innovations, co-operation in the product chain is a key-condition, as an environmental, social and/or economic optimisation in one part of the product-chain can cause problems in another part of the product life cycle. Furthermore, synergies in the relations are very influential on the innovation processes. Therefore, enterprises are dependent on collaboration and knowledge sharing within the product chain as well as on close relations to the knowledge and regulatory network.
Enterprises have the challenge to build bridges and linkages in the product chain in a way that creates synergy between the environmental optimisations of the material and service flow in the supply chain, and the expectations of customers in regard to the money and value flow. The research will analyse these product chain dynamics with emphasis on communication as a precondition for collaboration in the product chain.
The fields of investigation include:
  • Flows of resources: to analyse the materials and services downstream, the value and money flow upstream and in specific the relations of environmental communication and collaboration up- and downstream the product chain.
  • The innovation activity: to analyse different types of environmental innovations, e.g. the interplay between radical and incremental innovations as well as between process and product innovations.
  • Actors in the product-chain: to analyse how and why actors from the business network are transforming or adding value to environmental innovations by using different kinds of knowledge and capabilities.
  • Inter-organisational relations : to analyse power relations, closeness and expectations in relation to collaboration in the product chain, e.g. trust, loyalty and credibility embedded in social relations.
Different theoretical perspectives will be applied, e.g. theory in relation to innovation, networks, communication and learning, and empirical data will be collected on different levels, such as company, product chain and sector level. This research theme is linked to integrated product policy as the institutional set-up is constituted and reflected in both regulatory, knowledge and market institutions.