Title: Exploring environmental awareness in the electronics manufacturing industry: a source for innovation

Authors: Tugrul U. Daim, Edwin Garces, Kelly Waugh

Addresses: Department of Engineering and Technology Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA. ' Department of Engineering and Technology Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA. ' Department of Engineering and Technology Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

Abstract: Environmental awareness gained a very high attention in the last couple of decades. Most of these diverse environmental concerns, were addressed in several unique waves across independent industries. This paper describes how the increase in concern for the environment during the past several decades has impacted technology management in the electronics industry and demonstrate the use of a model for comparing the strategic benefits of environmental management systems across companies. The generic competitive environmental strategies diagram described four different business strategies that guided a selection of company analyses resulting in categories of environmental business strategies with competitive advantage. Thus with proper implementation, there is an opportunity to being green, even in the high tech electronics industry. Finally the paper finishes with a set of propositions for exploring the linkages between these strategies and potential innovations.

Keywords: case analysis; electronics manufacturing; environmental awareness; technology management; innovation; green manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2009.027208

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2009 Vol.3 No.6, pp.670 - 689

Published online: 17 Jul 2009 *

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