Agile management-based approach to support Sustainable Product Development

Abstract: Product development has always been an indispensable step in society’s transition to sustainability. The environmental consequences of resource depletion, production, distribution and disposal are proof that existing product design and development strategies are not enough to achieve sustainability. Both positive and negative repercussions of a product during its lifespan are mostly determined during product design phase. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate sustainability strategies into product development methodologies and technologies. When trying to apply sustainability strategies in order to develop eco-friendly products, design teams encounter challenges because when one strategy addresses sustainability in product development, another fails to deal with other existing barriers towards sustainability and innovation, leaving a gap for research. Existing literature and research papers suggest different strategies for sustainable product development. However, considering the fact that product design teams need an approach that would assist them in designing for sustainability, there is a research gap in formulating a framework which combines already existing and most efficient product design and development strategies. Considering such challenges, this thesis aims to fill this research gap by systematically reviewing product design and development approaches in the existing literature and generate a new approach with a holistic view of sustainability, to support sustainable product development (SPD). By conducting an integrative literature review, this thesis aims to investigate the potential combination of Agile methodologies, Modularization and Circular design principles together as a potential approach that can fill the current knowledge gap within the scientific literature and help design teams to generate greater insights on sustainability and innovation, leading to the design of winning products. Product modularization helps to create strategically flexible and interchangeable product modules while integrating product circularity principles into each module to address sustainability concerns. While using such an approach, design teams would prioritize changing market requirements and consumer demands while also addressing the needs of all non-customer stakeholders and the ecosphere. Agile would enable rapid and flexible product development where the short development lifecycle allows the design team to experiment with new product features and effectiveness, resulting in the delivery of an innovative product. While applying Agile methodologies, design team are expected to recognize all stakeholders with a value in the product development, such as customers, sponsors, and executives, and including them all across the development and design process. All three approaches are merged into “Agile management based” approach that supports collaborative and cross-functional design teams throughout product design and development.