Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Designtex, Inc. (A)

Werhane, Patricia ...

Case

Designtex, Inc. (A)

Werhane, Patricia H.; Larson, Andrea; Gorman, Michael E.; Mehalik, Matthew M.

E-0099 | Published March 1, 1996 | 7 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

Product Details

Susan Lyons, a vice president at Designtex, a firm that develops high-end custom fabric collections, wants to create an environmentally responsible fabric that will provide a model for sustainable design. Lyons consults with William McDonough, a noted designer of environmentally sustainable buildings and materials, whose stated ideal is that "no environmental risk is acceptable." The A case follows the development of a new furniture fabric and asks students to decide whether McDonough's principles go too far--whether it is really necessary or feasible to redesign the chemical protocols to produce a completely compostable product that emerges from an absolutely clean manufacturing process. See also the B case (E-0100).