Why is switching to more sustainable inputs so hard?

In 2016, two colleagues and I started a research project in Finland with a simple question in mind: Which inputs should firms buy? While plenty of research investigates how buyers should deal with their dependence on specific suppliers, much less attention has been paid to which inputs firms should acquire in the first place. We hypothesized that the choice of what to buy would be significantly influenced by sustainability characteristics of the focal input materials but that managers would take account of various internal dependencies that mde input switching harder or easier.

Our findings suggest that managers are less interested in sustainability features of an alternative input when their products and processes rely heavily on the focal input. On the flip side, the interest in sustainability increases when the company has a strong brand or great creativity. These findings paint a challenging picture of the future. Even in the ideal case scenario of an alternative input that is equally good, priced the same, and significantly more sustainable, most managers do not want to switch. Our paper explains why internal dependencies cause inertia and hence dramatically slow down progress to a more sustainable supply chain. The full article is available in open access here.

This has implications for the work we are doing at Handprint.

Handprint is on a mission to imbue every business transaction with positive impact. While businesses should prioritize refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, redesign, repair and so on, many companies will face internal barriers to act, even if alternative solutions are available. Yet those barriers need not lead to apathy. With Handprint, any business can integrate positive impact (e.g. reforestation, plastic removal from the ocean, coral reef reconstruction) into its businesses in a seamless way. Integrating Handprint does not require complex changes to existing processes and can be coordinated by the marketing team, with the peace of mind that the impact is real. It’s as simple as that. Impact as a Service, at any person’s fingertips.

Here’s a practical example. Imagine you are using plastics in your production process. While there are bio-plastics available, many companies may not have sufficient access to those or may think they cannot handle those properly with existing equipment. Via Handprint, they could connect with an ocean clean-up group and reverse the footprint of their production process and products by contributing to plastic removal from the ocean. This changes the conversation these companies can have with their clients. The budget is predictable and easily managed, and the reputational benefits can sometimes be on par with the benefits to the earth.

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