The Effect of the Adoption of Environmental Strategies on Green Product Development: A Study of Companies on World Sustainability Indices

To face the environmental sustainability challenge, a growing number of companies are shifting (or are planning to shift) toward more sustainability-oriented business models, adopting environmental strategies and developing green products. In this paper, we study the influence of the adoption of different environmental strategies on green product development and compare the behaviour of two samples of companies, assumed to have different levels of commitment towards sustainability: 255 companies listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and 255 in the Dow Jones Titans Indexes. These companies are worldwide located and belong to several industries. Data have been collected through the content analysis of companies' web-sites and documents, by means of specific keywords, and analyzed though regression. Results show that green product development cannot be conceived as a standing alone practice within companies, but it needs to be supported by environmental strategies. In particular, companies more committed to environmental sustainability develop green products through a comprehensive adoption of environmental strategies.