Product chain collaboration for sustainability: A business case for life cycle management

Life cycle management (LCM) is frequently described as a holistic sustainability perspectivealong the product chain. It has mainly been a company internal practice.However, recent developments reveal a new type of LCM where companies collaboratein product‐chain‐specific initiatives. This raises questions concerning why corporationsextend “corporate LCM” toward “product chain LCM”. Here, we explorerationales and challenges for corporations engaging in one such coalition: The SustainableTransport Initiative. The study covers five companies in different productchain positions and practitioners in different corporate functions. The results showa broad range of rationales for engaging in product chain LCM, related both to selfinterestand a shared interest in the product chain. The importance of the “businesscase,” both for the individual companies and the product chain, is identified. Theimportance of sustainability managers as actors and as facilitators in discussionsbetween managers from different corporate functions is also identified