Prof. Dr. Moritz Petersen

This chapter provides information to assist in adopting successful decarbonization roadmaps or decarbonization projects by focussing on value chains. The authors emphasise the importance of understanding the various activities and processes involved in creating value for companies in the maritime sector and their interdependence on other parts of the value chains in which they operate. They emphasise that decarbonization should be seen as a joint undertaking of multiple intertwined value chains. Only with this broad perspective can the available decarbonization enablers be assessed holistically and implemented in the timescale that society is increasingly demanding.

Recycling activities are complex and involve many actors. Recycling supply chains are under increasing pressure due to higher volumes of waste and rising requirements regarding the treatment and quality of the secondary raw materials. We aim to identify challenges and best practices in recycling supply chains. The analysis comprises the recycling supply chains of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), plastics packaging, construction and demolition, glass, and paper waste. 36 interviews with actors from different stages of the recycling process are analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results show that the main challenges are related to impurities in the waste streams resulting, among other reasons, from wrong disposal, treatment with unsuitable equipment, or inadequate product design. Furthermore, we highlight that a joint effort of the different actors in the supply chain is necessary to overcome the current challenges and improve the quantity and quality of secondary raw materials.

Human factors, such as an individual's competences and attitudes, have a decisive impact on the results of product development processes, especially in companies with small product development teams. Sustainability considerations further amplify this impact as such a multifaceted issue results in an extra layer of product requirements and hard-to-make decisions on tradeoffs. This paper explores the interplay of corporate sustainability and the individual approaches product developers exhibit toward improving product sustainability. For this purpose, a grounded theory study in the German consumer goods industry is conducted. Thirty-two expert interviews with product development managers and extensive secondary data are collected and analyzed. It is found that the corporate sustainability approach heavily influences how developers comprehend sustainability and how they conceptualize it for their product portfolio. Explicitly, the products considered for sustainability improvements, their innovation level, and the use of design stereotypes to signal sustainability improvements emerge as key decision levers. The findings emphasize that the human factors in the context of product development, specifically concerning sustainability, warrant more academic attention. Also, it is demonstrated that companies need to be aware of the organizational environment which they are providing for their developers when pushing for product sustainability.

Developing more sustainable products provides an opportunity to address wasteful consumption practices. Yet, despite their best efforts to improve product sustainability, many companies admit to lacking a comprehensive sustainability strategy. Further, they have only limited insights into their consumers' expectations towards product sustainability. This manuscript presents the findings of a behavioral experiment on consumers' reactions towards companies' development efforts. We investigate how the development efforts “more sustainable materials” and “green exterior design” influence consumers' perceptions of product quality, sustainability, and aesthetics for two exemplary products. In summary, both efforts signal higher product sustainability to consumers. Yet, this may come at a cost as these changes may also signal impediments with respect to quality and aesthetics. We juxtapose our findings with signaling theory to derive implications for research and practice.

Blockchain is an emergent technology concept that enables the decentralized and im-mutable storage of verified data. Over the last few years, it has increasingly attracted the attention of different industries. Especially in Fintech, Blockchain is hyped as the silver bullet that might overthrow today’s payment handling. Slowly, the logistics and supply chain man-agement community realizes how profoundly Blockchain could affect their industry. To shed light on this emerging field, we conducted an online survey and asked logistics professionals for their opinion on use case exemplars, barriers, facilitators, and the general prospects of Blockchain in logistics and supply chain management. We found most of our participants are fairly positive about this new technology and the benefits it offers. However, factors like the hierarchical level, Blockchain experiences, and the industry sector have a significant impact on the participants’ evaluation. We reason that the benefits over existing IT solutions must be carved out more carefully and use cases must be further explored to get a rather conservative industry, like logistics, more excited about Blockchain.