Organizing for successful DFE: lessons from winners and losers

Abstract

Organization is arguably the most critical success factor in DFE. Recent experience with DFE provides some useful lessons in organizing DFE to meet its ultimate objectives-producing more competitive products and sustainable EH&S measures, lowering manufacturing costs, and reducing and managing EH&S risk-by integrating EH&S management into overall product designs and locating the DFE function in the operating units. These lessons include: DFE should be organized as a business management issue supported by the EH&S functions. DFE should produce more competitive products-not green products-and be owned by the product management team in each business unit. DFE programs should start small, expand incrementally. Management must recognize that development, integration, and growth of DFE organizations will almost certainly be uneven across the company.