This article is part of a cross-industry research program that looks at how companies develop and implement strategies for more environmentally sustainable business practices. The program is supported by the International Motor Vehicle Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the RIT Printing Industry Center, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The article draws from the experiences of three companies: Gage Products, PPG Industries and Xerox. For each of the companies, access occurred through different parts of the organization, as it was important that data come from multiple perspectives. Therefore, semistructured interviews were arranged with at least one high-level strategic manager, a company employee involved in the actual provision of services and products, and a customer representative. When possible, multiple interviews in each of these categories were conducted. A total of 24 people were interviewed, as detailed below.
Interviews were coded, and coded segments were then separated from the field notes and placed in a matrix in order to explore how the cases differed from one another.i In this matrix, a mixture of direct quotes and summary phrases was used. An iterative analysis of the data revealed underlying patterns.
i. This method is suggested by R. Yin, “Case Study Research: Design and Methods” (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1994); and M.B. Miles and A.M. Huberman,... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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