Really changing the course: the limitations of environmental management systems for innovation

The paper broadens the scope of environmental management system (EMS) research by describing how EMSs can contribute to inertia in present production systems. In conjunction with other factors this inertia can inhibit dramatic shifts toward more sustainable technologies and systems. Our approach builds upon technological lock‐in theory, which focuses on market coordination and technological interdependencies as generators of inertia in technological systems. Building on this framework, we call attention to previously under appreciated non‐market social forces and institutional structures that can further reinforce lock‐in. We argue that the co‐evolutionary mechanisms that generate increasing returns for physical technologies may also be applied to social technologies, such as management systems. The paper describes the emergence of ‘EMS lock‐in’ as a path dependent evolution occurring within the context of the larger quality management paradigm. While EMS may initially produce improvements in environmental performance, EMS may also constrain organizational focus to the exploitation of present production systems, rather than exploring for superior innovations that are discontinuous. The paper questions the enthusiastic private and public sector support for EMS implementation and instead recommends an ambidextrous management approach that integrates foresight and broader stakeholder collaboration. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Financial comparability and environmental diversity: an international context

Accounting and environmental management both hold improved resource‐use efficiency as an ultimate goal, but intermediate processes and objectives vary and consequently it is separately assessed within each discipline. This paper intends to make visible the globalizing trends in accounting practice, which aim to standardize financial reporting to produce comparable information so that shareholders can maximize their economic wealth. This paper seeks to contrast this comparability strategy with the apparent need for diversity in accounting information exhibited by actual accounting practices, the information needs of environmental management and, ultimately, the cultural needs of sustainable development. We argue that a more pluralistic model, that enables a holistic assessment of corporate performance and balances diverse stakeholder objectives, is better suited to an uncertain future. Implementation requires accountants and environmental managers jointly to create and test a new order of reporting. There are many practical challenges but most significantly accountants and environmental managers must combine to enhance the visibility and credibility of these diverse performance measures. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

环境管理会计理论与实务问题分析

环境管理会计作为管理会计创新的组成部分,其理论研究和实务在过去十年里得到迅速发展．本文对国际上解决常规管理会计中有关问题的EMA理论研究和实务现状进行了分析,回顾了国际上有关行业的EMA 案例,分析了其存在问题,探讨了环境管理会计在投资评估、成本计算以及绩效管理等方面的进一步工作．     

Power of sustainable development: Does environmental management system certification affect a firm's access to finance?

Although prior research generated inconclusive findings between a firm's environmental management system and firm financial performance, attention to resolve this inconsistency by examining the internal channels is limited. Thus, this study focuses on a firm's access to finance and investigates whether a firm's environmental management system certification (EMS) leads to better access to finance. Based on the organizational legitimacy perspective, we hypothesize that this certification will benefit a firm with stakeholder approval and support and consequently alleviate its financial capital constraints. We further posit that the proposed relationship will be moderated by three types of legitimacy environments pertaining to how stakeholders and investors make the judgment on the environmental management system certification. We document that the proposed relationship, that is, the positive relationship between environmental management system certification and access to finance, will be stronger when the government attaches larger importance to environmental protection (regulative legitimacy), better environmental record (moral legitimacy), and better financial position (pragmatic legitimacy). Empirical analyses provide strong corroborating evidence for our predictions. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications that are well discussed in this study.     

The 100 plus corporate environmental report study: A survey of an evolving environmental management tool

An emerging environmental management tool is the corporate environmental report, a free-standing document, analogous to the corporate annual report, but which covers environmental and often health and safety issues. This study examines the nature of the corporate environmental reports of large, public, US companies to determine which companies produce reports, what type of information is reported, how this information is presented, and who might be the audiences for this information. This study also seeks to identify state of the art practice in corporate environmental reports, drawing on the US reports and leading environmental reports from Europe and Canada. Over 100 US companies now publish corporate environmental reports. These companies are primarily from the manufacturing sector, although they are increasingly part of the service sector. Report issuers identified employees and shareholders as their primary audiences. Both overall report organization and composition as well as report distribution, including the use of the Internet for environmental reporting, were examined. Topics which reflect leading edge environmental practice are identified and examples from reports are given. These topics include integrating business and environmental performance, environmental policy, goals and measurement, management and organizational structure, environmental and resource data presentation, third-party verification, disclosure of negative information, and sustainability. The paper discusses trends in reporting and makes recommendations to improve reports.© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Corporate environmental performance,environmental management and firm risk

Using a sample of 1,632 U.K. firm‐year observations from 2002 to 2013, this paper investigates the impact of multidimensional corporate environmental performance (CEP) on firm risk. Considering two dimensions of CEP, namely environmental management performance (EMP) and environmental operational performance (EOP), we find that EMP serves as an effective mechanism in reducing firm risk, and such an effect is mainly driven by the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, there is no clear association between EOP and firm risk. However, our findings highlight a moderating effect of EOP on the relationship between negative EMP and firm risk. This provides new insights into the value of multidimensional CEP and suggests that the complex relationship between outcome‐ and process‐based environmental performance is important for understanding the real effects of CEP on firm risk. Our results have important implications for managerial decision‐making in strategy and risk management, as well as for policymaking in environmental regulation.     

Gaming the system: building an online management game to spread and gather insights into the dynamics of performance management systems*

ABSTRACT

Extensive research has produced many insights into the dynamics of performance management systems. Spreading these complex insights among students and practitioners can be a daunting task. Gathering new insights can be equally challenging. This article introduces a novel tool for teaching and researching performance management, reporting on the design and first use of a free online management game. Players take the role of a hospital manager trying to satisfy multiple stakeholders through applying different performance management instruments. While students learn about the complexities of performance management, researchers gather data about the pathways individuals pursue while navigating performance management systems.     

Stakeholders expectations of an environmental management system: some exploratory research

This paper emanates from a larger research project (see Kamp-Roelands and Bouma, 1998) which has a practical focus. This research project seeks to start the process of exploring how environmental management information systems could be designed such that they better satisfy the needs of those using the information which emerges from these systems. In order to develop this work it was necessary to first generate some information about the internal and external stakeholder needs with respect to environmental information. This task has been tackled in the context of a single site of a multinational company. For this site a range of stakeholders were identified and questioned in some detail about, inter alia, their expectations of what an environmental management system (hereafter EMS) could achieve, their motives for using environmental information, how important they viewed various pieces of information to be and their views on quality of information issues. This paper presents the data gathered from this part of the larger project and seeks to determine if there are particular aspects which should be taken into account in EMS design and whether or not internal and external stakeholders are different from each other in their expectations about EMSs. Finally, some tentative concluding remarks are made on the implications of this work for the further investigation of the EMSs.     

How do integrated quality and environmental management practices affect firm performance? Mediating roles of quality performance and environmental proactivity

Based on a sample of 208 Turkish firms, this paper investigates the integration of two management systems, quality management and environmental management, and explores the effect of this integration on firm performance. First, a conceptual framework was developed, relying on the premises of the resource‐based view. Second, mediating roles of quality performance and environmental proactivity were examined on the association between integrated quality and environmental management systems and firm performance. Among the underlying trends, both quality performance and environmental proactivity were found to fully mediate the relationship between integrated quality and environmental management and firm performance.     

The evolution of environmental management: from stage models to performance evaluation

In the past two decades, academics and practitioners have attempted to improve understanding of environmental management by classifying companies' environmental behaviour, and evaluating their performance. Driven by both research and societal interest, this has resulted in a wave of stage or phase models, and a range of typologies. This article gives an overview of the development of such environmental management models, analysing their characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. An evolution can be noted in the direction of typologies and non‐linear models to deal with organizational and strategic complexities. Models are starting to pay more attention to the management side. To overcome problems of operationalization and limited company and sector specificity, environmental performance evaluation systems have emerged more recently. Although comprehensive performance assessments are still unavailable, the tenets of such a system can already be delineated. The paper presents these components, and draws conclusions on the contribution of environmental management models and performance evaluation systems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

Accommodating a Foreign Object: Federalism,coordination and performance management in the reform of German employment administration

Abstract

This paper uses the case of the reform of the German employment administration to explore the usage of performance management approaches within multi-level governance settings. It traces the adoption and accommodation of the performance management approach to govern the joint service centres (called ‘Jobcenter’) at the local level within the multi-level administrative coordination regime in Germany’s federal system. A contribution is made to nascent debates about the potential of managerial tools in systems of negotiated decision-making. The paper shows how performance management is adapted to the institutional logic of multi-level administrative coordination and serves as a facilitator of cross-level coordination.     

Do stakeholder groups influence environmental management system development in the Dutch agri‐food sector?

This paper presents the results of a survey that included 492 companies in the Dutch agri‐food sector with respect to the influence of stakeholder groups on the companies' level of environmental management system (EMS) implementation. It is concluded that primary stakeholders (government, clients) are more relevant for EMS development than secondary stakeholders (such as environmental organizations). The results suggest that small and medium‐sized companies are able to accommodate to demands with respect to the implementation of internally oriented care systems (I‐EMSs). I‐EMSs focus at the single firm or location. In general, they are predominantly influenced by governmental and other ‘non‐commercial’ stakeholder groups. For the implementation of externally oriented EMSs (E‐EMSs), which focus on the supply chain and network, qualitative rather than quantitative relationship characteristics between companies and the government are important. Moreover, commercial stakeholder groups (such as suppliers, clients and competitors) influence E‐EMS levels significantly. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Tracing business and environmental effects of environmental management systems—a study of networking small and medium‐sized enterprises using a joint environmental management system

In Hackefors Industrial District in Sweden, 26 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have formed an environmental network and implemented a joint environmental management system (EMS) according to ISO 14001. Based on interviews with the environmental co‐ordinators at these enterprises, the effects on business and environmental efforts and impacts are analysed. It can be concluded that the joint EMS has resulted in better relations with important stakeholders, such as existing and potential customers. For example, three‐fifths said that their EMS had made it easier to receive a contract for the sale of products and services. Several environmental improvements have been observed and are presented in the paper, many of which are considered as consequences of the EMSs. Moreover, based on observations during the study, this paper discusses how boundaries and screening affect the connection between EMSs and environmental performance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

Towards an integrated model for the transference of environmental responsibility

This research explores how environmental responsibility transfers to others. Although environmental responsibility is one of the most debated topics in environmental management literature, a framework describing how a teacher's environmental responsibility shapes the student's environmental responsibility is still lacking. Adopting emotional contagion theory as a lens, the paper addresses this issue via the mediation of emotional contagion and the moderation of a teacher's environmental concern. Based on a survey of teachers and students (N = 283) conducted in Pakistan, our findings provide evidence that a teacher's environmental responsibility can better transfer to students via emotional contagion. Additionally, our data establish that the transference of environmental responsibility from teachers to students via emotional contagion is more effective when the teacher has a high level of environmental concern than when he or she has a low level of environmental concern. Finally, the authors discuss the implications for policy in detail.     

Environmental management certification and environmental performance: Greening or greenwashing?

This article analyzes the contribution of certifiable environmental management standards—such as ISO 14001 and the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)—to corporate environmental performance. Based on a content analysis of 414 third‐party‐verified environmental statements from EMAS‐registered Spanish organizations, which included information for around 6,700 detailed indicators, a weak improvement in environmental performance was found. Less than half of the analyzed indicators—namely, 48.27%—revealed a net improvement. Similarly, analysis of the justifications of the registered companies for the lack of improvement points to a rather symbolical adoption of the certification, intended to do only the bare minimum. These findings call into question the prevailing opinion about the positive impact of voluntary certifiable environmental management standards on environmental greening. Implications for managers and public policy makers, as well as for other stakeholders, are discussed.     

Issues in the implementation of proactive environmental strategies

Management consultants, environmental groups, and industry trade associations have all recently offered guidelines for companies to improve environmental performance.¹ The guidelines suggest ways that companies can implement strategic change to move beyond compliance with regulation, assume responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products, and gain public credibility. Much of the advice offered can be useful to managers who are responding to rapidly changing environmental pressures. Nevertheless, implementation of some of the general guidelines could impose undue costs or introduce untoward organisational consequences for certain companies. While mentioned as an issue in the management literature, companies need more systematic advice on how best to tailor these broad guidelines for environmental strategic change to the specific needs and capabilities of their companies. In addition, as many companies are comprised of diverse business units that are sometimes linked together only through financial controls, managers must adapt environmental management programs to unique ‘substructures’ within the firm. These substructures can differ dramatically in their environmental performance and their management capabilities. Elsewhere we have offered a framework for analysing environmental strategies and management programs.² In this paper, we identify some of the implementation issues that confront companies when they introduce environmental strategic change. We argue that environmental strategies are most effectively implemented when they are consistent with the organisational characteristics and operating context of the company involved. We use Volvo's experience with environmental strategic change to highlight many of the difficulties that companies may encounter when altering their approach to environmental performance. The case illustrates how a company can modify its own strategy and management programs for more effective change. It is an interesting case to study because of the proactive and comprehensive nature of Volvo's environmental strategy and management programs.     

Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach

This study addresses the development of environmental strategies and associated management control in the international hotel industry, a sector of major economic and environmental impact hitherto largely neglected in the environmental management and accountability literature. The low key level of commitment to environmental management currently exhibited by the industry is considered in the context of dominant systems of hotel management performance evaluation and control, as well as the industry's current strategic management and budgetary practices. Informed by Giddens' structuration theory, the study offers a new theoretical framework, environmentally efficient resourcing, as a structured approach to the development of hotel environmental strategy and its management. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Why do standardized ISO 14001 environmental management systems lead to heterogeneous environmental outcomes?

Institutional theories and resource‐based views have suggested that, although they appear similar externally, standardized management systems may be implemented very differently in different organizations. This variability in implementation may be responsible for the heterogeneous performance of these standardized management systems. The current literature on the environmental impacts of ISO 14001 certification has largely neglected this phenomenon. Drawing on our survey of all US 14001 certificate holders, this study finds that great variability does exist in facilities' implementation of ISO 14001 standards. This heterogeneity has a significant impact on the linkage between ISO 14001 certification and facilities' environmental performance. In particular, we find that facilities that integrate ISO 14001 standards into their daily operations are more likely to report improvements in environmental performance. Environmental improvements are also more likely to occur in facilities that include performance management elements in their ISO 14001 standards. Furthermore, both types of facility are more likely to report that ISO certification contributes to this improvement. Neglecting the heterogeneity in facilities' implementation of ISO 14001 standards may explain the instability of findings from the empirical literature investigating the impacts of ISO 14001 certification. Theoretically, this paper informs the understanding of heterogeneous organizational behavior under isomorphic pressures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.