Climate change and the slow reorientation of the American car industry (1979–2012): An application and extension of the Dialectic Issue LifeCycle (DILC) model

By C. Penna, Frank W. Geels. 2015

134 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper uses the Dialectic Issue LifeCycle-model (DILC-model) to analyze the co-evolution of the climate change problem and strategic responses from the American car industry. The longitudinal and multi-dimensional analysis investigates the dynamics of the climate change problem in terms of socio-political mobilization by social movements, scientists, wider publics and policymakers. It also analyses how U.S. automakers responded to mounting pressures with socio-political, economic and innovation strategies oriented towards low-carbon propulsion technologies. We use a mixed methodology with a quantitative analysis of various time-series and an in-depth qualitative case study, which traces interactions between problem-related pressures and industry responses. We conclude that U.S. automakers are slowly reorienting towards low-carbon technologies, but due to weakening pressures have not yet fully committed to comprehensive development and marketing. The paper not only applies the DILC-model, but also proposes three elaborations: (a) the continued diversity of technical solutions, and ‘ups and downs’ in future expectations, creates uncertainty which delays strategic reorientation; (b) firms may develop radical innovations for political and social purposes in early phases of the model; (c) issue lifecycles are also shaped by external influences from other problems and contexts.

Subfields: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Management Science and Operations Research, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/318056ffd5db533abed77e29e3b135e1b4652a3a

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In Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In Management Science and Operations Research

In Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Citations in the corpus

Navigators through the storm: A review of organization theories and the behavior of incumbent firms during transitions (2017, result): “This is in line with findings in the transitions domain, which suggest that incumbents may shift their strategic focus over time (Penna and Geels, 2015; Smink et al., 2013).”
Reducing energy demand through low carbon innovation: A sociotechnical transitions perspective and thirteen research debates (2018, background): “Diffusion may also be accelerated by incumbent firms reorienting themselves towards radical innovations, thereby making financial resources, technical capabilities and marketing expertise available [66,67,132].”