Corporate Sustainable Product And System Design

Companies increasingly seek to be more sustainable, but many firms struggle to operationalize the concepts
within their organizations and supply chain, or to translate theoretical concepts into practical value for
themselves and their customers. Sustainability practitioners must not only help develop (i.e., design) and sell a
sustainable product or service, but an entire mind-set, and where necessary, to devise changes in business models
and operations. The course will guide students, working in teams, through a development process involving
market and strategic assessment, positioning of the product (including its sustainability attributes), customer-centric design, and business model innovation. This will in turn lead students to develop value propositions and marketing, which will be presented in a final pitch session to the client’s representatives. The primary methodology will consist of design thinking techniques, which will be broadly used and adapted to the sustainability context. Phases of design include the understanding of candidate consumers’ (users’) needs by qualitative means, creation of basic product concepts and prototypes, and the testing and validation of prototypes with users. Implications will also be drawn for the client’s business model. Note that the course may be more time-intensive than a content-based or normal SMU-X course, as it centers on a project with a methodology (design thinking), but also involves content on sustainability and business, and involves some use of analytical techniques such as secondary market research (e.g. assembling of data on consumer segment numbers). Note that the data and analysis may change depending on the client involved. As an example, a past class client was a multinational nutritional supplements company interested in servicing Asian markets with a sustainability value proposition. Future clients will be different firms.