Organizing product-oriented environmental management from a resource-based perspective

Abstract

More and more the biophysical environment is being acknowledged as a critical business concern, while the environmental performance of products is becoming increasingly important to all parts of the product chain. Systematical attempts to decrease the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle could contribute to a firm's sustainable development potential, since product-oriented environmental management (POEM) addresses different themes of sustainable industrial development. POEM is defined as an approach to organizing a firm in such a way that improving the environmental performance of its products and processes becomes an integral part of both operations and strategy