Innovation and Sustainability in the Supply Chain of a Cosmetics Company: a Case Study

Andre Pereira de Carvalho; José Carlos Barbieri

doi:10.4067/S0718-27242012000200012

Authors

Andre Pereira de Carvalho São Paulo Business Administration School of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP)
José Carlos Barbieri São Paulo Business Administration School of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242012000200012

Keywords:

innovation, sustainability, sustainable supply chains, sustainable innovation, cosmetics industry.

Abstract

The article analyses the induction process of technological innovations that consider economic, social and environmental concerns throughout the supply chain, in accordance with the proposals of sustainable development. Specifically, it examines the role of focal companies as innovation inductors for their supply chains. The article presents a debate with regards to innovation, sustainability and supply chain management and analyses the concept of sustainable innovation, as well as management models that bridge the gap between these themes. A case study conducted with a cosmetics company of Brazilian origin and presence in Latin America, is presented. This case study demonstrates that sustainable innovation driven by the focal company requires the engagement of its suppliers in order to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts throughout the product’s life cycle. Moreover, it illustrates that is possible to implement innovations that generate net social and environmental benefits for all members of the supply chain.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

BARBIERI, J.C., Andreassi, T.,Vasconcelos, I.F.G.,Vasconcelos, F.C. (2010). Inovação e sustentabilidade: novos modelos e proposições. Revista de Administração de Empresas, São Paulo, 50(2), 146-154.

CARTER, C.R., Easton, P.L. (2011). Sustainable supply chain management: evolution and future directions. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 41(1), 46-62.

CARTER, C.R., Rodgers, D.S. (2008).A framework of sustainable supply chain management: moving toward new theory. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics management, 38(5), 360-387.

CARVALHO, A.P., Barbieri, J.C. (2010). Sustentabilidade e gestão da cadeia de suprimento. In: Vilela Júnior, A., Demajorovic, J. (Eds.). Modelos e ferramentas de gestão ambiental: desafios e perspectivas para as organizações. Senac, São Paulo, pp. 401-429.

CHESBROUGH, H. (2003). Open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Harvard Business Press, Boston.

LAMBERT, D.M., Cooper, M.C., Pagh, J.D. (1998). Supply Chain Management: implementation issues and research opportunities. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 9(2), 1-19.

COOPER, M.C., Lambert, D.M., Pagh, J.D. (1997). Supply Chain Management: more than a new name for logistics.The International Journal of Logistics Management, 8(1), 1-14.

EISENHARDT, K. (1989). Building theories from case study research. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550.

ELKINGTON, J. (1998). Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia.

International Organization for Standardization - ISO. (2006). Environmental management – life cycle assessment – requirements and guidelines. ISO, Geneva.

GOMES, C.M., Kruglianskas, I., Scherer, F.L. (2011). Innovation management for sustainable development practices in the internalization context. Journal of Technology Management and Innovation, 6(2), 110-127.

KEMP, R., Pearson, P. (2008). Final report MEI project about measuring ecoinnovation. United Nations University - Maastrich Economical and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. http://www.merit.unu.edu/MEI/deliverables/MEI%20D15%20Final%20report%20about%20 measuring%20eco-innovation.pdf [Accessed March 11, 2012] .

KEMP, R., Arundel, A. (1998). Survey indicators for environmental innovation. Indicators and data for European analysis. Idea Project. http://survey.nifu.no/step/old/Projectarea/IDEA/Idea8.pdf [Accessed March 11, 2012] .

MENTZER, J., Dewitt,W., Kreebler, J., Min, S., Smith, C., Zacharia, Z. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics, 22 (2), 1-25.

Natura Cosméticos S.A. - NATURA. (2011a). Resultados do primeiro trimestre de 2011, Natura’s corporate website. http://natura.infoinvest.com.br/ptb/3719/Press_ release_1T11.pdf [Accessed September 01, 2011] .

Natura Cosméticos S.A. - NATURA. (2011b). Relatório anual 2010, Natura’s corporate website. http://scf.natura.net/Conteudo/Default.aspx?MenuStructure=5&MenuItem=12 [Accessed September 01, 2011] .

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD. (2005). Oslo manual guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data. Statistical Office of the European Communities, Paris.

SARKIS, J., Zhu, Q., Lai, K. (2011).An organizational theoretic review of green supply chain management literature. International Journal of Production Economics, 130 (1), 1-15.

SAVITZ, A.W.,Weber, K. (2006).The triple bottom line: how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success and how you can too. John Willey & Sons, San Francisco.

SEURING, S., Müller, M. (1998). From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Clean Development, 16, 1699-1710.

SRIVASTAVA, S. (2007). Green supply-chain management: a state-of-the-art literature review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 9 (1), 53-80.

VAN BOMMEL, H.W.M. (2011). A conceptual framework for analyzing sustainability strategies in industrial supply networks from an innovation perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19, 895-904.

YIN, R. (1994). Case Study Research: design and methods. Sage Publications,Thousand Oaks, California.