Companies are developing as important producers of information. They are increasingly making and using information about the environmental, social, and health impacts of their products, supply chains, and operations. Companies are focusing much more on improving their environmental performance, yet numerous gaps still exist in what they can see and know about.
We examine how environmental management relies on information flows within organizations. For example, how do company staff view environmental problems and develop metrics to convey product environmental data to other employees and to executives? How do information and information technologies interact with organizational factors such as management styles and business strategies? Do companies vary in how they process and act on public demands for environmental information? Are there “information politics” regarding whether, and what, information bits are given weight in factory-level decision-making?
We also study how information about the life cycle impacts of products mutually shapes product design and supply chains extending between organizations. A growing number of tools and processes – such as computer models, material safety data sheets, regulatory compliance tools, economic analyses, or toxicity assessments – help generate and distribute information across supply chains. Suppliers are becoming far more important in targeting product environmental impacts. We are investigating the ways in which change in environmental management can be measured and communicated. How can we evaluate the progress that companies are making in enhancing their performance?
Finally, we are also developing specific information tools that decision-makers can use in making investment, production, design, and planning decisions. For example, we are implementing decision tools to aid biofuels investments, and to make the toxicological and environmental impacts of chemicals more accessible to consumers. Simultaneously, we are following their uses to understand better the learning processes underlying the tools.
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