| Author: | Frank den Hond |
| Title: | In Search of a Useful Theory of Environmental Strategy-A Case Study on the Recycling of End-of-Life Vehicles from the Capabilities Perspective |
| Institution: | Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Date: | 1996 |
| Advisor: | Prof.Ing. Eric-Jan Tuininga |
| Key Words: | product take back, recycling, end-of-life vehicles, automotive industry, Europe, companies (Renault, Peugeot, FIAT, BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Ford), countries (France, Italy, Germany, England, the Netherlands), capabilities, core competenties, corporate environmental strategy |
| How to Obtain: | (1) order a paper copy at the VU Boekhandel,
De Boelelaan 1105, 1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands (P +31-20-6444355 F +31-20-6462719) (2) download the thesis in pdf-format from http://www.scw.vu.nl/~den_hond/onderzoek/publicaties.htm (the second-last version, without final editing). |
| Abstract: | The study deals
with how firms develop strategies in order to solve environmental problems
that have strategic importance. The empirical part focuses on the automotive
industry, specifically, the strategies that eight European car manufacturers
developed to try solving the end-of-life vehicle waste issue. Although
these car manufacturers faced largely the same regulatory threat, and although
they compete in the same markets, the capabilities they developed in their
recycling strategies differ. This study questions why and how car manufacturers
differ in developing a recycling strategy. In the theoretical part, a capabilities-based
matrix for environmental strategy is developed. This is an extension to
the current state-of-the-art in theorizing about the firm's environmental
strategy. In recent literature, important issues are not satisfactorily
dealt with, such as developing knowledge and organizational learning to
solve environmental problems. Because firms hold different capabilities,
and because they perceive different options for expanding their capabilities
in trying to solve environmental issues, it is likely that their environmental
strategies differ. Diversity in environmental strategy is an important
empirical feature that is not sufficiently taken into account in the literature,
and that might be of interest to environmental policy.
ISBN: 90-9009717-1 |