Do stakeholder groups influence environmental management system development in the Dutch agri‐food sector? |
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Authors: | Harry Bremmers Onno Omta Ron Kemp Derk‐Jan Haverkamp |
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Affiliation: | Business Administration Group, Social Sciences Department of Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | sustainability environmental management stakeholder influences environmental policy agri‐food sector environmental policy |
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