INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY INTO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY

Abstract

This study investigates the adoption of product development techniques and the integration of sustainability considerations into product design within the context of an electrical manufacturing firm in Iraq. Employing a two-phase mixed-methods design, the research first assesses the implementation levels of four core product development techniques—green manufacturing, total quality management, value engineering, and computerized production—at the General Company for Electrical Industries, Diyala, through a structured checklist administered to 57 managerial staff. Results reveal substantial implementation gaps, ranging from 20% in green manufacturing to 50% in value engineering, indicating that the firm does not apply these techniques with uniform rigor. In the second phase, a quantitative survey of 213 respondents is analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the influence of corporate sustainability strategy and policy (CSSP), sustainable product requirements (SPR), and the sustainability integration into product development (SIPD) on sustainable product design and development (SPDD). Findings reveal that SIPD exerts a dominant and statistically significant positive influence on SPDD (β = 0.806, p < 0.001), while SPR contributes a significant but modest effect (β = 0.091, p = 0.008). Conversely, CSSP does not significantly predict SPDD (p = 0.075). These results advance theoretical understanding of sustainable product development in emerging economies and provide actionable managerial guidance for industrial firms seeking to align operational practices with global sustainability imperatives.