Inter-Organizational Relationships within the Industrial Ecosystem

Joseph Sarkis and Nicole Darnall

Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Environmentally Conscious Design & Manufacturing pp. 15-35.

The introduction of environmentally conscious practices within organizations has been the focus of most research and studies within the area of environmentally conscious design and manufacturing. A focus on environmental practices between firms has not been as notable in the research. Supply chain management, logistics and industrial ecology literature serve as a good foundation to aid in molding some of the ideas that need to be addressed within the area of inter-enterprise environmental practices. In this paper, we identify a number of issues pertinent to inter-enterprise relationships within an "industrial ecosystem". How these relationship issues are and may be addressed is presented. We also identify future directions that must be considered.

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