Promote development of sustainable products & services

CR&S practitioners are expected to promote improvements in the sustainability of products and services.  These could be significant breakthroughs or more incremental developments.

In doing so, CR&S practitioners will need to acquire an understanding of the principal sustainability impacts of products and services as currently designed. Based on this knowledge they should, wherever possible, identify improvements that minimise or eliminate negative social, environmental or economic consequences. They should also attempt to identify new products and services that deliver tangible social, environmental or economic benefits.  The extent to which practitioners can influence improvements and developments to products and services will be contingent on how integrated sustainability is within an organisation’s strategy.

Promotion of more sustainable offerings should be directed at internal colleagues, including senior management, especially but not solely within those departments and functions charged with product and service development. It should also be directed at influencing external stakeholders throughout an organisation’s value chain, including suppliers, business partners and consumers. 

This may require practitioners to challenge accepted behaviours, standards and practices. It will demand personal leadership and commitment, a grounded understanding of an organisation’s current impacts, the product/service design and development process, the ability to build a compelling business case, and excellent and creative communication skills.

Awareness

  • Understand the principal social, environmental and economic impacts of an organisation’s products and services throughout their life cycle.
  • Understand how an organisation improves its existing product and service offerings and develops its portfolio.
  • Keep informed of how competitors and other organisations are developing their products and services to minimise or eliminate negative sustainability impacts and promote positive impacts.
  • Keep informed of how technological, regulatory and other developments may provide opportunities for improvements in the sustainability of products and services.  

Advocacy and Advice 

  • Provide compelling arguments in favour of incorporating changes to existing products and services that will reduce negative social, environmental and economic impacts and/or promote positive impacts.
  • Provide compelling arguments in favour of developing new products and services that minimise or eliminate negative social, environmental and economic impacts and/or deliver positive impacts.
  • Raise awareness of the importance of improving the sustainability of products and services with senior management and encourage them to act as advocates for the benefits.

Strategy

  • Identify and utilise creative ways to contribute to the product and service improvement or design process.
  • Identify and raise awareness of the benefits of shifting core strategy towards a triple bottom line focus on profits, people and planet.

Stakeholders

  • Form strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders involved in the product and service improvement and design process and be prepared to challenge assumptions (for example, in relation to “business as usual” and/or the efficacy or otherwise of improving sustainability performance). 
  • Identify and utilise appropriate media for engaging with stakeholders, including customers, consumers and clients, to ascertain their views on how products and services can become more sustainable. 
  • Identify opportunities for collaboration with external organisations, (including competitors, suppliers and other public and private sector entities) and to embrace new models such as open innovation, to improve the sustainability of products and services.

Communication

  • Develop effective metrics to assess the social, environmental and economic impacts of products and services, including any improvements made.
  • Communicate the results of improvements to the social, environmental and economic impacts of products and services internally and externally using the most appropriate and effective media.