Organizational Learning for Environmental Sustainability: Internalizing Lifecycle Management

Abstract

Implementing a substantial environmental strategy that addresses all phases of the product lifecycle is a complex and demanding challenge that most organizations fail to convincingly overcome. Based on a case study of five frontrunner companies located in Italy and Norway, this study explores the factors that promote, or hinder, the learning process underlying the implementation of substantial measures for lifecycle management and how this can contribute to further internalizing environmental sustainability throughout the organization. The article contributes to the literature on organizational learning and environmental sustainability by showing, from a dynamic perspective, the enablers of organizational learning required for internalizing lifecycle management in organizations. A new framework for environmental sustainability based on the 4Is (intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionalizing) organizational learning model is put forward in line with the concept of lifecycle management. Managerial implications are also discussed.