- Daniela Mejia Echeverria
4. Term, Urban, Energy and Environmental Planning, Master (Master Programme)
Despite the priority given to sustainability topics on the business agenda today, not much information is available on how to address corporate sustainability in shifting business dynamics such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This case study analyses the latest combination between International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) and DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) from a corporate sustainability standpoint. A focus is given to the two product sustainability approaches that have come across after the merger process: Cradle to Cradle (C2C) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Here, the main objective was to explore C2C and LCA as integrated approaches for promoting product sustainability among the stakeholders of the combined company, which keeps operating under the name of IFF. For this, a comprehensive literature review was carried out, followed by semi-structured interviews conducted to key stakeholders. The data collected was then evaluated and discerned through a qualitative content analysis. Key insights from the case study included the opportunity of broadening sustainability assessments and showcasing further sustainability attributes of IFF products. Challenges related to a diverse product portfolio and dealing with technical contrasts such as metrics incompatibilities were also identified. Overall, the findings showed that C2C and LCA can be used as complementary tools to create a more comprehensive evaluation of product sustainability. Hence, an integrated framework of C2C and LCA is proposed as a first step solution for driving and promoting product sustainability in the recently combined company. Future considerations include projecting the framework to the specific circumstances of each IFF business unit and scaling it down to particular products depending on market demands.
Specialisation | Environmental Management and Sustainability Science |
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Language | English |
Publication date | 4 Jun 2021 |
Number of pages | 81 |
External collaborator | International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. Mikkel Thrane Mikkel.Thrane@iff.com Place of Internship |
Keywords | Product Sustainability, Cradle to Cradle, Life Cycle Assessment, Corporate Sustainability, Merger & Acquisitions, Stakeholder Engagement |
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