Product Design with the Triple Bottom Line

Abstract

The triple bottom line, coined by the famed business writer John Elkington, consists of three elements - profit, people, and the planet. It maintains that companies should commit to focusing as much on environmental and social issues as they do on profits. This chapter reviews existing literature that focuses on the financial and environmental impacts of product design, and presents recent work to motivate research needs on the social impact of product design. It also includes a general demand model that can serve as a starting point for future researchers to develop methodologies to help companies address product design issues with the triple bottom line.

Keywords: product design, triple bottom line, sustainable operations management