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Managers' interpretations of LCA: enlightenment and responsibility or confusion and denial?
Author(s) -
Heiskanen Eva
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/1099-0836(200007/08)9:4<239::aid-bse250>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - denial , conceptualization , confusion , economics , sociology , business , psychology , computer science , psychoanalysis , artificial intelligence
Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and ‘life cycle thinking’ are popular approaches to evaluate and manage the environmental aspects of products. While LCA has been propagated as a decision‐making tool, the interest here is in LCA as a mental model, which managers may interpret and enact differently. If LCA and ‘life cycle thinking’ manage to infuse organizations with an extended sense of responsibility, this could counteract some of the ‘organized irresponsibility’ of modern markets. However, LCA use may also lead to confusion, doubt and denial. This article explores potential managerial interpretations of LCA with a small illustration from the wholesale trade, and through a conceptualization of the illustration in terms of Hatch's (1993) dynamic model of organizational culture. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.