Application of QFDE on greenhouse gas reduction strategy

Purpose – Global warming has become one of the most important issues in today's world, and business behavior to prevent global warming is receiving more attention from stakeholders. Mandatory domestic emission trading schemes have not been implemented in Japan as of June 2011, resulting in more discretion being given to companies to set their carbon management strategies, especially in selecting optimal targets and measures to achieve them. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that quality function deployment for environment (QFDE), developed by incorporating environmental aspects into quality function deployment (QFD) in order to simultaneously handle environmental and traditional product quality requirements, can provide a framework for selecting targets and measures. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a three-step approach: first, a framework for selecting measures is derived through a review of good-practice activities in two leading companies; second, a framework based on QFDE is generalized by collecting key elements through a literature review of environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports published by 35 companies; and third, the usefulness of the framework is verified through case studies. Findings – The main outcomes of this study are the derivation of a hierarchical framework with QFDE as its base and verification, through the use of case studies, of the applicability of the framework as a template, as well as an effective communication tool to be used for setting targets and selecting measures. Originality/value – The framework will be useful for companies which voluntarily set targets and select measures that could form an essential part of their carbon reduction strategies, based on QFDE concepts.