Managing Environmentally Sustainable Innovation : Insights from the Construction Industry

A paradigm shift is happening at this moment. Firms and consumers are aware of the fact that they cause environmental pollution, depletion of resources and are responsible for the dangers involved. At the same time awareness is growing that they need to and will develop the appropriate solutions in the time to come. The idea that sustainable, cyclic businesses are more logical than consumption-oriented and waste-dumping ones seems fascinating to a growing number of people. For this change to happen new thinking and behavior is needed.

Firms and consumers play a central role in a sustainable business. Companies deliver what consumers buy and vice versa. In a sustainable paradigm, companies are able to develop and produce sustainably. Therefore, companies need new management concepts for sustainable investment, manufacturing, logistics and marketing and for sustainable management.

In Managing Environmentally Sustainable Innovation, Bossink evaluates the innovation chain in a process of five consecutive stages, articulates five levels at which people collectively manage the chain, and analyzes the interplay between the two. Acquainting the reader with the complexities of innovation, as well as which complexities are active in the management of environmental sustainability, this book offers guiding principles and a toolbox for the management of environmentally sustainable innovation in construction.

Bart Bossink is Professor of Technology and Innovation at VU University Amsterdam. He obtained a master degree in industrial engineering and management and a Ph.D. in civil engineering and management at University of Twente. He was formerly associated with the University of Twente and Rotterdam School of Management. More than 60 of his papers were published as an article in various scientific and professional journals.