The effect of environmental regulation on environmental innovation

Environmental expenditure estimates resulting from US environmental policy are based on current technology which may overstate policy's true costs. Existing evidence shows that ex ante cost estimates are greater than realized costs due to unexpected technological progress. This research programme asks whether innovation is a response to environmental regulation or whether the true regulatory compliance costs are overestimated ex ante when technological advancement is ignored? The author conducts an empirical study of the US manufacturing industry's environmental patent activities and environmental regulation as measured by pollution abatement and control expenditure (PACE) data. She finds a statistically significant positive relationship between environmental regulation and innovation when estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS). However, the OLS coefficient of pollution abatement costs is inconsistent because of a correlation between the explanatory variable and unobservable variables. Two-staged least squares addresses the inconsistency problem, resulting in positive and significant PACE coefficients. Thus, there is evidence that innovation is a response to environmental regulation. © 1998 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.     

Corporate environmental marketing: An environmental marketing action model

A model of environmental marketing action and success is proposed, which includes a range of variables and examines the relationship between them. Environmental success is partly determined by the level of Environmental Marketing Action which varies between level 0 and level 8 and which directly determines the extent of environmental marketing success. Perceptions of environmental consciousness, the subjective norm and net total risk determine the level of environmental marketing action. Beliefs with regard to stakeholders and events and the motivation to comply with these beliefs combine to form the subjective norm.     

The environmental challenge

We now come to the ultimate question of whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about our environmental future, and indeed our survival. If we believe human beings to be rational and thus ultimately acting in their own self-interest, there is no reason to believe that the environmental challenges confronting us as individuals and as a society are not resolvable in a manner that allows both economic development and a reasonable quality of life for human beings. Indeed, we see, at least in the developed world, recognition of the magnitude of the problems that we face and movements toward solutions. Yet our nemesis is time. Irretrievable seconds are ticking away as we struggle against ignorance and economic self-interest. Our concern must be not whether we will act, but whether we will act in time to forestall environmental catastrophe for our civilization. The ultimate solution to our environmental problems must come from a fundamental change in the self-serving psychology that produced the tragedy of the commons. Self-interest must be sublimated not only to the greater needs of society, but to the needs of our posterity. The tragedy of the commons can only be avoided if our time horizon shifts from the short- to long-term. In addition, there must be a shift in values from obsession with economic development to concern for the quality of human life. These shifts dictate that in the future our economic, political, and social system must be built upon a foundation of "sustainable" growth. This means that "industries (and nations, for that matter) cannot thrive if they sacrifice future quality of life for present economic gain. In the long run, the principles of economic growth and environmental quality reinforce each other." How do we make this esoteric speculation relevant to our job each day as materiel managers in health care delivery organizations? We can do this by first understanding the problems that we confront and how we are a part of these problems. Next, we must assume a leadership role in confronting and resolving these problems. This means being an advocate for the environment and championing initiatives within the institution to resolve problems and advance environmental responsibility. Finally, we must remember that every day, with each purchase order we issue, we vote for or against the environment.     

Does organisational capital influence environmental strategies? Evidence from environmental innovation

As a result of increasing consumer awareness and stakeholder demands about environmental management, firms face stricter challenges surrounding the impact of business operations on the environment. In this regards, environmental innovation is one of the important ways of acting in harmony with the environment. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of organisational capital on environmental innovation measured as the process innovation and product innovation. Using environmental innovation data from ASSET4 for the US listed firms between 2002 and 2018, our empirical results reveal a significant positive association between organisational capital and both the process innovation and product innovation. Furthermore, the relationship is stronger in high-profitability and sensitive industries subsamples. These results are robust to additional control variables and endogeneity tests. This study, while endorsing the resource-based view (RBV), provides important implications for the top management teams that organisational capital could be an important channel through which managers can boost environmental innovation.     

The effect of environmental complexity and environmental dynamism on lean practices

Increasingly manufacturers implement lean practices to improve operational performance. In addition, manufacturers operate in ever more complex and volatile environments. This research investigates the effects of environmental complexity and dynamism on lean operations and lean purchasing practices. It empirically examines these relationships using archival and survey data from 126 manufacturers. The results show that environmental complexity positively moderates the effects of lean operations and lean purchasing on performance. However, environmental dynamism reduces the benefits of lean operations on performance, but enhances the benefits of lean purchasing on performance. Robustness tests further confirm the contingent effects of complexity and dynamism on lean operations and lean purchasing. This research offers a more nuanced understanding of the effect of external environmental context on lean practices, and suggests that practitioners should carefully consider the external environment when implementing different types of lean practices.     

Beyond environmental management—Perspectives on environmental and management research

In a recent article Richard Welford encouraged discussions about the status and future of environmentally related organization and management-research. The following contribution is an attempt to take up some of the challenges that our field faces. The purpose is to analyse the relationship between, on the one hand, a growing flora of environmental efforts and environmental solutions and, on the other hand, a management research that is developing on its own terms. The author's basic premise is that these two need to move closer to each other. A number of theses are also presented. The author's basic thesis is that organization and management theory does not need yet another new special subject; rather, it is environmental research that needs to more seriously include relevant management research. The second thesis is that there are no objective environmental problems (as most environmental researchers maintain), but that environmental problems are social constructions. The paper finishes with a number of conclusions in favour of a management focused environmental research, that is guided by an intention of ‘soft interventions’. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The impact of voluntary environmental protection instruments on company environmental performance

In the last decade there has been increasing emphasis on the use of voluntary environmental protection tools such as corporate environmental reporting (CER) and environmental management systems (EMSs). There has been relatively little research, however, on the impact of these tools on the actual environmental performance of companies. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 40 companies operating in Western Australia to determine the extent to which the implementation of two voluntary instruments has influenced company environmental performance. The research considered four questions: To what extent have CER and EMSs influenced the environmental performance of companies operating in Western Australia? What are the characteristics of these influences? How does the influence of EMSs on environmental performance compare to that of CER? Have other external factors concurrently influenced environmental performance? In general, most respondents indicated that EMSs had influenced environmental management practices to some extent. On the other hand, CER was seen more as a public relations exercise and had less impact on company practices compared with EMSs. Other factors that influenced environmental performance included pressure from clients, senior management, the public and regulators; corporate culture; and cost savings. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Measuring strategic environmental performance

It is now widely acknowledged that environmental issues will increasingly affect the performance of firms in western countries, both in the short and in the long run. Environmental issues can act on revenues and on costs. They can influence revenues when a firm follows a ‘green strategy’, i.e. it enhances the characteristics of environmental compatibility of its products or it promotes a credible image of a ‘green company’, that employs only clean technologies. They can influence costs as, on the one hand, more limiting environmental standards can result in higher manufacturing and non manufacturing costs and, on the other hand, programmes focused on improving environmental performances can result in less spoils and wastes, hence in lower costs. Hence, environmental performance should be a structured part of the management control system of an industrial firm. Unfortunately, it is not completely clear how accounting information can be structured in order to obtain this result. This paper is aimed at developing a set of information that can be used for a managerial control focused on the environmental performance of an industrial firm. This paper is organized in three main sections. Section I describes the conceptual requirements of a management control system based on accounting information for monitoring the environmental performance of an industrial firm (completeness, long term orientation, external orientation, measurability and cost). Section II analyses different classes of Environmental Performance Indicators (EPI) used in practice. Both accounting measures (prevention costs and investments; operating environmental costs; contingent environmental liabilities) and non financial measures (physical indicators; compliance) are considered. Section III suggests an integrated approach to the design of a management control system focused on environmental issues, where different classes of indicators are used jointly. More specifically, two integrated systems, one mostly based on physical measures and aimed at external communication, the other focused on accounting measures and supporting managerial decision making, are suggested.     

Evaluating corporate environmental reporting

In the field of environmental reporting, three recent tendencies can be noted. Firstly, some countries have started to impose legal obligations on firms. Secondly, a less stringent, implicit societal demand to be open on environmental issues has arisen from both primary and secondary stakeholders. Thirdly, those firms that do report experience an increasing need to move from environmental statements and intentions to quantified, comparable, verifiable and even verified information. These developments also affect evaluation systems of environmental reports. Ratings and research differ with regard to the normative character of the approach, the importance attached to principles of external reporting, the criteria on the basis of which the reports are collected and the method of data collection. Based on an analysis of different rating systems and their results, it can be concluded that such evaluations will increasingly advance beyond the stage of counting individual reporting components, paying more attention to reliability, consistency and relevance. Meeting such stricter requirements will have implications for both practitioners and academics. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

谈谈商品包装与环境保护

商品包装在商品经济中的重要性日显突出,包装工业也日益壮大,在大力发展包装工业的同时,要增强环保意识,要采取相应的措施来减少和限制包装废弃物对环境的污染。     

Adapting to environmental jolts

This paper examines organizational adaptations to an environmental jolt--a sudden and unprecedented event (in this case, a doctors' strike)-- that created a natural experiment within a group of hospitals. Although adaptations were diverse and appeared anomalous, they are elucidated by considering the hospitals' antecedent strategies, structures, ideologies, and stockpiles of slack resources. Assessments of the primacy of the antecedents suggest that ideological and strategic variables are better predictors of adaptations to jolts than are structural variables or measures of organizational slack. Although abrupt changes in environments are commonly thought to jeopardize organizations, environmental jolts are found to be ambiguous events that offer propitious opportunities for organizational learning, administrative drama, and introducing unrelated changes.     

Business environmental performance measurement

Organisations face increasing demands to measure their environmental performance. This is necessary in order to achieve sustainable development to reassure financial stakeholders that their investments are not at risk, to satisfy the demands of regulators and other non-financial stakeholders and to provide information for customers and employees. Measures can be grouped into ten generic categories - impact, risk, emissions /waste, input, resource, efficiency, customer, financial, normalised and aggregate. At least six different approaches to using measures can be identified - production, auditing, ecological, accounting, economic and quality. Although there has been some limited cross-fertilisation, in most cases they have developed in isolation from each other and have had different drivers, measurement focii and metrics. In order to achieve the comparison, integration and business relevance which is routine in financial performance measurement, a seventh approach - that of strategic environment-related performance measurement - is both needed and beginning to develop. The long term challenge is to stretch measurement systems to include the sustainability of business activities (through impact measures) and the competitive advantage they are creating (through customer and financial measures). A ‘balanced scorecard’ of measures is essential too, as is clear identification of the customers of the measures. The comparison which is facilitated by standardised measurement is also a powerful spur to continuous improvement of environmental performance.     

The gap between the environmental attitudes and the environmental behaviour of small firms

Small firms are facing serious difficulties responding to environmental pressures. Due to their unique characteristics, small firms cannot be expected to employ scaled down solutions that have been developed by, and for, larger organizations. The indications are that the typical owner–managers of manufacturing and service small firms are struggling to bridge the gap between their environmental attitudes (aspirations) and their environmental behaviour (practices). Part of the problem would appear to be the domination of an outmoded paradigm that has created a set of values, personal and corporate, that is unable to cope with the environmental problems of today. However, the prognosis need not be pessimistic. There is evidence to suggest there are driving forces promoting change toward a more sustainable small firms sector. A number of emerging solutions offer ways to tackle the problem at the level of the firm, such as industrial ecology, and at the level of the institution, such as ecological modernization. The message remains that support for more extensive environmental education and training programmes and a much stronger regulatory framework would help to counteract the imbalance between the resistant forces and driving force that are presently widening the gap between small firm environmental attitudes and behaviour. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Shareholders' environmental profile and its impact on firm's environmental proactivity: An institutional approach

Theorists and practitioners still argue about different shareholders' environmental preferences. Drawing on various processes of institutional theory such as deinstitutionalization and defensive institutionalism, we test the differences between foreign and national shareholders' influences on firms' environmental proactivity. Specifically, we focus on the country of origin of the dominant shareholders and the environmental culture of the countries of origin of the shareholders. Using unbalanced panel data from between 2006 and 2017, which includes 12,527 observations of 1532 different firms from 11 economic sectors and across 23 countries, our results show that foreign shareholders are more prone to modifying existing environmental practices, whereas national shareholders may accept them, despite being reluctant to implement such changes. We make a contribution by showing that the deinstitutionalization forces coming from foreign shareholders are stronger than the defensive institutionalism efforts of national shareholders. However, such forces are not always the best options for sustainability.