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This study provides evidence of the value of third party certification of environmental management systems. We examine the relative importance of improving an environmental management system as a result of certification, versus being able to communicate the quality of that system credibly to outsiders through third party certification. We use survey data where one half of the respondents had indicated that they had an environmental management (EMS) in place before seeking ISO 14001 certification, while the other half of respondents did not. Our analyses comparing the two groups find that the group already having an EMS report similar motivations for ISO 14001 certification and perceive to have received similar levels of benefits as firms having no pre-certification EMS. We conclude that even for organizations that already have an EMS, the ability to communicate credibly the quality of that system is a compelling reason to obtain ISO certification.

This paper investigates the influence of sustainable business development on manufacturing plant operations. Among the three pillars of sustainability consisting of environmental, social and economic longevity and foresight of a firm, we focus on the environmental component. Specifically, basing our arguments on the resource-based view of the firm, we hypothesize the impact of environmental management on plant performance. Environmental initiatives considered include ISO 14000 certification, pollution prevention, recycling of materials, and waste reduction; plant performance is assessed with the dimensions of the four competitive capabilities of quality, delivery, flexibility, and cost. Further, building on the theory of performance frontiers, we investigate these relationships across plants located in different economic regions of the world (plants are classified into emerging, developing and industrialized regions). We suggest that recent emphasis on these environmental initiatives has been greatest among plants located in emerging economies, compared to their counterparts in industrialized and developing nations. In addition, we contend that the influence of these initiatives is greatest for plants located in emerging and developing economies when compared to plants in industrialized nations. These notions are tested with data collected from 1211 plants located in these three economic regions. Overall, this study contributes to the investigation of strategies for sustainable business development, highlighting important implications for both theory and practice.

If you are curious about the 40s and 70s, I can give you the hint that they do not represent year dates here. This is not an editorial about history. It is an update on the current status of life cycle assessment (LCA) standards and their offspring as part of the ISO 14000 family. The mystery of the 40s and 70s will be unraveled a bit later. Let's get down first to brass tacks! International standards for LCAwere developed since the 1990s by ISO Technical Committee 207 as part of their ISO 14000 family of environmental management standards. They were of utmost importance for the broad acceptance of LCA worldwide. They are, until today, the one and only relevant international standard documents on LCA which are broadly referenced by users and other standardization processes. They represent the constitution of LCA. Based on the core standards “ISO 14040-Environmental Management—Life Cycle Assessment—Principles and Framework (ISO 1404

Summary This article compares life cycle assessment studies performed on imaging equipment for the consumer market in order to identify common practices, limitations, areas for improvement, and opportunities for standardization. The analysis suggests that comparisons across studies are significantly hampered by variability in scope, transparency, data sources, and assumptions; it identifies sources of discrepancy and variability. Of particular concern to printing devices was the definition of a functional unit, which can vary significantly depending on the capabilities and use patterns of a printer. Standardization of the functional unit and related assumptions has a high potential to increase quantitative comparability across studies. At the same time, standardizing the functional unit by paper usage excludes the possibility of comparison to alternative communication media.

This study provides empirical evidence of the nature of the relationship between environmental management systems and organizational innovations. Using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, the study reports on the implementation of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14000 environmental quality standards and the relationship of such implementation with organizational innovations in the firm. The study presents several implications of interest for practitioners, academics, and policy makers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This paper was done to learn about the urgency of sustainability in agroindustry palm oil development to reduce global warming. Nowadays global warming should reduce its bad influence to all of us. As part of role in creation of global warming, palm oil industry have to conduct sustainable development. Various tool can be implemented for reach it such as AMDAL, Ecolabelling, ISO 14000, cleaner production and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Conducting of sustainable agroindustry sustainability could maintain our environment sustainable with the ultimate goal to reduce global warming. could keep our environment sustainable which due to reduce global warming

With rising environmental concerns from consumers and stakeholder groups, environmental management has become an important responsibility for today's fashion and textiles manufacturers. The production of fashion and textiles related products often requires high levels of energy and water consumption, and emits large quantities of pollutants to the environment. Therefore, the adoption of environmental management systems (EMSs) is important and could have a significant impact on these firms' operational performance. This study presents empirical evidence on the performance impact of EMS adoption in the fashion and textiles related industries (FTIs). Although EMSs have emerged as a passport to business in the FTIs, their actual impacts on firms' financial performance have not been explored. We reveal that the adoption of ISO 14000, the most popular EMS, improves manufacturers' profitability in the FTIs over a three-year period as measured by return-on-assets (ROA). Based on our sample, we find that profitability improvement started during the implementation stage and continued at least one year after the firm obtained ISO 14000 certification. We also find that profitability improvement is mainly due to improvement in cost efficiency, measured by return-on-sales (ROS). Specifically, certified firms improved up to 2.9% in ROA and 3.3% in ROS over the three-year period since they implemented ISO 14000. We conclude that there is a positive impact of EMS adoption on firms' financial performance in the FTIs.

Purpose: The International Organization for Standardization ISO has developed the ISO 14000 series of standards for environmental management as a response to the concerns about sustainable development expressed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The most important standard is ISO 14001, published in 1996 and slightly modified in 2004, which specifies requirements for environmental management systems. Worldwide, 188,815 organisations have obtained a certificate for their environmental management system based on this standard (ISO, 2009; figures December 2008). In this paper we address the extent to which implementation of this standard has contributed to sustainability and also whether implementation is not only an expenditure but also a source of business benefits. Design/methodology/approach: In order to answer these questions, the existing literature on the impact of ISO 14001 has been reviewed. Findings: Literature shows evidence for environmental and/or business improvements of organisations that have implemented the standard, however, the opposite can also be found. The performance indicators have been identified for which has this evidence could be found. Also the literature shows some moderating variables for the impact of ISO 14001. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the insights in the effects of ISO14001.

In recent years, environmental awareness has increased: governments, the public and industry now take environmental issues seriously. Railways are no exception. Infrastructure managers have made efforts to systematically manage environmental issues of their assets. Railways have considerable effects on the environment. Because of superior energy efficiency it is easy to forget that there is still huge potential for railways to have a negative environmental impact, largely related to extensive land use and large amounts of materials in use. Recently, infrastructure managers have started introducing environmental management systems into their business processes, based on the ISO 14000 standards, to mitigate environmental risks posed by infrastructure. Infrastructure organisations have developed tools to assist the environmental management, but they have been doing this in isolation from each other, resulting in a lack of compatible language and solutions, such as a lack of common guidelines for environmental procurement. The InfraGuidER Coordinated Action compiled requirements for environmental management processes of European Infrastructure Managers. InfraGuidER compiled understanding of environmental aspects of railway infrastructure and how to minimise the environmental impacts from operation, construction, maintenance, upgrading and disposal. This includes knowledge of significant environmental issues of railway infrastructure material, including system boundaries, stocks and flows, and an overview of applicable management processes, international legislation and standards. A major InfraGuidER delivery is the proposal for an UIC guideline for eco-procurement of railway infrastructure materials and components, similar to already existing UIC leaflet 345 for rolling stock. The tools presented within InfraGuidER can improve the environmental impact of railways by supporting environmental decision making processes for railway infrastructure renewal and planning. A new board within the European Railway Purchasing Conference will further deal with these issues. InfraGuidER also compiled proposals for future research activities addressing identified, significant needs concerning the environmental performance and environmental monitoring of railway soil pollution.

Eco-labeling plays an important role in international trade. It is necessary to put emphasis on the importance of eco-labels as potential barriers and potential incentives for international trade. Demand for products with eco-labels is increasing. However, the use of eco-labels can lead to discrimination against foreign products in the domestic market. The paper points out the great importance of the World Trade Organization and the International Organization for Standardization in the field of eco-labeling and international trade.

In recent years there have been many approaches to understand the cross-country diffusion rate of the most common environmental management standards issued by the International Organization for Standardization, the ISO 14000 series, due to their spectacular growth around the world, even though a certain saturation has been detected in some countries. However, few studies have shed light on the diffusion process of these standards across sectors of activity. Therefore, the present paper examines whether there are patterns of diffusion of the ISO 14001 standard that are singular at specific sectors of economic activity. The analysis was carried out using a logistic curve that fits quite well to explain the nature of this growth, and instability and concentration indexes were calculated to analyze the evolution of the rankings of the sectors attending the number of certifications ISO 14001. It concludes that the diffusion among sectors is quite homogeneous: all sectors have experienced similar behavior. Moreover, the article proposes some suggestions for future research.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the current links between standardized models ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ISO 27000 and the model ISO 15489.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on comparative analysis and on the authors' knowledge of the series of standards.FindingsA definition of the most relevant current analogies between these systems and an analysis of observable synergies between the model ISO 15489 and the aforementioned management model were produced.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates the harmonizing capacity of the ISO regulations 15489 related to records management requirements as regulated by the series ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and ISO 27000. It offers perspectives on the potential of these regulations to strengthen records management in organizations and on the benefits that series ISO 15489 offers to producers who have adopted these codes of good practice.

As assumed by ISO 14000 environmental management norms, machining performance concerns also environmental issues. Dry cutting is one of the objectives of many manufacturing development projects: by reducing industrial wastes, costs should be reduced. But dry cutting changes thermo-mechanical interactions between workpiece, tools, and chips. These changes could produce damages on workpiece quality. In order to prevent these issues, this paper propose a new approach to predict cutting temperature in dry turning by using an analytical model of thermal distribution on the workpiece surface subject to a rotating heat source. This modeling is validated by several experimental tests on AISI 1040 Steels.

This chapter focuses on the effective management and implementation of EH&S. The global nature of the World economy is well established. The World's major corporations and organizations have global operations and working for one of these multinational companies requires a management approach to some unique challenges. Cultural, societal and language differences can present a range of challenges. The U.S. is highly regulated in EH&S with sometimes draconian enforcement measures, unlike most of the other countries of the World. Good governance in EH&S is viewed by most NGOs as requiring a management systems approach with ISO 14000 and BSI 18000 accreditation as the minimum. Effective management of EH&S in the less developed world requires consideration of technical support issues and identification, collection and publishing key performance indicators (KPI). Most international companies develop internal standards, safety and industrial hygiene indicators and environmental indicators to carry out this approach most effectively. Keywords: key performance indicators (KPI); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); corporate social responsibility (CSR); industrial hygiene

The ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 standards have a positive impact on achieving sustainable and efficient business. The ISO 14001, in particular, is credited with a crucial role of assisting businesses with managing their environmental credentials which are vital in the upcoming carbon economy. This paper explores the significance of ISO 14001 and expands on the possibilities of the use of this standard in a creative way by organizations. Furthermore, with regards to ISO 14001, adjustments could be made to improve its effectiveness in implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS). The areas of this standard that could be upgraded are also outlined, including measuring compliance, specified, strict environmental targets for business, and a stronger sustainability component.

During the last decade, Sustainability Reporting (SR) has been increasingly adopted by corporations worldwide. This is evidenced by the adoption of several guidelines, such as the ISO 14000 series, the Social Accountability 8000 standard, and the GRI Sustainability Guidelines. SR shows promise to help corporate leaders and their employees to contribute towards achieving sustainable societies. However, most of the guidelines and standards address sustainability issues through comparmentalisation, thereby, leading to the separation of the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Due to these divisive approaches, holistic assessments of the effects of their efforts are seldom properly integrated into coporate decisions and procedures to make improvements for example through Cleaner Production, Worker Health and Safety, Consumer Safety, and reductions in the negative short and long-term Social and Environmental Impacts. This paper analyses SR reports from three companies with the help of Grounded Theory's constant comparative analysis. This analytical framework helped the authors to systematically assess the degree to which the companies addressed economic, ecological and social issues separately or in an integrated and inter-linked manner. From the inter-linkages found, a new category is proposed to be added to future SR. This new category can help corporate SR planners and researchers on sustainability reports to better understand how the company leaders understand their responsibilities with regard to SD. These inter-connectednesses are highly relevant in many short and long-term dimensions of supply chain management, global warming, ecological disruption and societal equity issues, especially with regard to the local, national and global energy issues of fuels and oils, the central themes of the conference at which this paper was originally presented. It also plays a key role in real, long-term changes towards Sustainability, where the time dimension plays a key role in human survival on Planet Earth.

In the procedure of the life cycle assessment complying with ISO 14000 series, impact assessment is required. For the integrated assessment of impacts, evaluation with economical values is frequently applied. Evaluating impacts of damages on human health, it is converted to economical value using method of environmental economics. One of the ways to determine the rates of conversion is to presume residents' willingness to pay to avoid the damages. These rates are estimated by analyzing data observed through social survey, but knowledge of the conversion rates in developing countries is not sufficient. We launched a social survey in Shanghai to analyze willingness to pay to decrease risks contracting asthma caused by air pollution. Five hundred subjects were sampled by multistage area sampling. Subjects were sampled from all of the districts of Shanghai. They were asked their willingness to purchase an air purifier to reduce risks to contact asthma with presented prices for the analysis of contingent valuation method, as well as their profiles. The answers were analyzed by fitting log-logistic distributions and factors that influence the willingness were examined.

PurposeAs the process of standardisation in all aspects of business management has accelerated in recent years in an environment characterised by economic globalisation and integration, two series of standards issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) stand out: the ISO 9000 series, related to the implementation of quality systems; and the ISO 14000 series, related to the implementation of environmental management systems. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare the evolution of both standards in the leading countries in these certifications.Design/methodology/approachIt is noteworthy that the same few nations consistently occupy the highest rankings in both the number of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series certifications. These countries are also those with highest growth rates in certifications. The present study examines these phenomena in terms of: a proposed new index for measuring the “certification intensity”; and a proposed model to analyse how standards are disseminated in a given country.FindingsThe leading nations in ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series certifications have a common spreading pattern. All of them are increasing in both standards, not only in absolute number of certifications, but also in its certification intensity. On the other hand, the logistic curve is a good pattern to forecast the trend of these intensities.Originality/valueThe paper concludes with some forecasts and trends for the immediate future in the most successful countries. Some suggestions are also made for future research.

Green design is a key technology of green manufacturing. Compared with traditional design, green design requires taking into account the environment factors and pollution prevention measures in the product design during the designing phase. The basis to build an evaluation system of green design based on life cycle is a combination and integration of data and knowledge of different phases in product life cycle. Hence, this paper builts a hierarchy structure model of green design under influence of many factors according to the frame of ISO 14000, determines the weight of each factor based on experts’ opinion, and makes a systematic evaluation on the performance of green design based on fuzzy hierarchy evaluation principle.

Vacuum insulated panels are becoming more and more common in building practices. Therefore, environmental analysis through vacuum insulated panels lifecycle and environmentally reasoned choice of components for their production are currently important. Rigorous research inn area of vacuum insulated panels development were conducted by such organizations as Brunel University London, Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg, FHBB Muttenz, TU Munchen, Bayerisches Zentrum fur Angewandte Energieforschung e.V., Ift Rosenheim, NIPTIS named after S.S. Ataev, etc. In Russian Federation the environmental analysis through vacuum insulated panels lifecycle was barely paid attention to, although there are interesting suggestions concerning utilization of different raw materials.The goal of this research is to study the possibilities of vacuum insulated panels production projects in Russian Federation and their environmental assessment.Such methods as ecoindicator-99, environmental restrictions and gross energy were used in environmental analysis through vacuum insulated panels lifecycle. The main method of lifecycle analysis is an integrated accounting of environmental criteria in accordance with the ISO 14000 international standard. In particular, the most important indicators of such account are greenhouse-warming potential (kg CO2-equivalent), ozone layer depletion potential (kg CFC-11-equivalent), acidification potential (kg SO2-equivalent), photooxidants generation potential (kg ethylene-equivalent, eutrophication potential (kg PO4 2-equivalent), primary power consumption from renewable and exhaustible sources. The choice of environmentally preferable components suggests using qualimetry methods.Results of the research confirm that environmental pressure of vacuum insulated panels functional unit (1 m2) through its lifecycle are compatible with pressure of other heat-insulating materials (like glass-wool). When examining different indexes of the ecoindicator-99 system, environmental impacts are almost identical. The attribute «human health» of vacuum insulated panels is a bit inferior to that of glass-wool and the attribute «resources consumption» are that many superior than that of alternative fibrose heat-insulation. In general, results of the research show wide horizons of vacuum insulated panels utilization in modern building construction from the environmental point of view, while there is a range of technological problems to be solved.As a conclusion to the research, we suggest environmentally preferable constructive solutions with the utilization of vacuum insulated panels. Those solutions provide lowering the environmental impact and cost of vacuum heat-insulation systems, alternate solutions for joints due to utilization of back-up insulated systems and different heat-insulation materials, as well as protecting panels from depressurization by integrating them into building envelope.

The world’s leading countries have reached a consensus concerning the need for environmental protection, and many international environmental protection rules and regulations have been implemented. Of these, the EU-legislated Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS), Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and Eco-design of Energy-using Products (EuP) compel the electronics industry to incorporate waste disposal considerations in product design and manufacturing in order to benefit the environment. This study accordingly employed the ISO 14000 environmental management family’s ISO 14031 environmental performance evaluation (EPE) standards as an assessment framework, and investigated the types of factors influencing environmental performance, and their level of importance, when the electronics industry implements lead-free manufacturing. The study conducted a questionnaire survey of industry experts, scholars, and government officers in Taiwan and Japan—which constitute two of the world’s leading electronics product manufacturing centers—employing the Delphi method to extract assessment indicators, and using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to analyze indicators’ relative levels of importance. The results showed that the choice of lead-free substitute materials, soil heavy metal pollution, and compliance with environmental laws and regulations are the three important indicators of the environmental performance of lead-free manufacturing. As a consequence, when relevant industries adopt lead-free manufacturing in the future, they should first establish basic process technology, and also take their industries’ process characteristics and the suitability of substitute materials into consideration. In order to maintain compliance with laws and regulations, and to reduce pollution emissions, such industries should cooperate with government in connection with waste and wastewater treatment. In addition, apart from implementing environmental policies and testing standards, government can facilitate the realization of environmental protection policies and help conserve corporate resources by providing assistance, specialized training, and incentive measures to industry.

We are living in era that have a high potential for being ready towards effective transformation towards Innovation Economy. The Handbook of Hawkins and his team (2017) explores the potential relations between standards and innovation and try to understand where both coincides to create more sustained economy. Both the editors and the authors in different chapters try to see first how standards function and then try to see how innovation might benefit from this comparatively. Then some of the chapters try to see whether standards have some evolutionary economics built in them, similar to the environmental standard ISO 14000. The handbook is considered to be one of the early attempts to build a holistic view of this relation through a strong literature review.

Steel production process is a complex process. For manufacturing of steel material various processes are required to do, that causes the production of the high amount of waste which need to be processed. Production of any product causes waste which has very less economy for the primary production process, but those waste products also have some economic value which can be increased by processing. In this paper, the production of waste in major industries and utilization of that waste and handling of waste has been studied. The paper mainly consists of waste production and utilization in steel industries, best possible way to get “Best from the waste”. The steel industries are one of the major waste producers, but they have invented new methods to utilize the wastes. These new methods helped for sustainable developments as they help in getting more efficiency and reducing the cost of primary methods. As per the ISO 14000 standards industries need to follow so many standards for recycling of the waste material.

The environmentally friendly manufacturing influences the worldwide community both private and public to run the concept of green productivity. The concept of green productivity drives the organisation to seek integration of sustainable environmental management and environmentally friendly production system design. The lack of green and sustainable concept have reduced the competitiveness of the organisation due to the low capability to meet the international standard of ISO 14000. One of the important thing of being ‘green’ is our capability to deal with the pollution. Continuous improvement approach to achieve green productivity is an effort to increase sustainable competitiveness by maintaining green product and reducing the pollution. The continuous improvement to achieve the capability to overcome the pollution problem will lead into tangible and intangible benefit. It is therefore the green productivity is crucial. In this research, the concept of green produtivity and continuous improvement approah are utilised to overcome the problems of pollution in manufacturing industries.

The world's leading countries have reached a consensus concerning the need for environmental protection, and many international environmental protection rules and regulations have been implemented. Of these, the EU-legislated Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS),Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and Eco-design of Energy-using Products (EuP) compel the electronics industry to incorporate waste disposal considerations in product design and manufacturing in order to benefit the environment. This study accordingly employed the ISO 14000 environmental management family's ISO 14031 environmental performance evaluation standards as an assessment framework, and investigated the types of factors influencing environmental performance, and their level of importance, when the electronics industry implements lead-free manufacturing. The study conducted a questionnaire survey of experts, scholars, and government officers in Taiwan and Japan...

La Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) es un instrumento que ayuda a conciliar objetivos económicos, sociales y medioambientales, a empresas de todos los tamaños, en cooperación con sus interlocutores o partes interesadas, defendiendo valores comunes y aumentando el sentido de la solidaridad y la cohesión, dentro del debate de la globalización, la competitividad y la sostenibilidad.El impacto de la RSC en la organización se manifiesta en tres dimensiones: económica, social y medioambiental, siendo en esta última, en donde vamos a centrar el trabajo. En el campo medioambiental es necesario la aplicación de sistemas de gestión que garanticen el cumplimiento de los objetivos dentro del marco de la RSC, bien basados en modelos europeos EMAS o bien según lo establecido por la ISO 14000 y por las primeras aproximaciones de la ISO 26000 RS.Uno de los instrumentos necesarios para la aplicación de los sistemas de gestión son los indicadores cuantitativos, que nos sirven como cuantificación del desempeño ambiental conseguido por las organizaciones en base a la política establecida. Los indicadores por sí mismos no nos van a proporcionar demasiada información útil, salvo que sean considerados bajo la práctica de otros métodos adicionales como puede ser el análisis DAFO o bien el benchmarking, para seleccionar estrategias en base a la comparativa de la posición de la organización en relación al resto del entorno económico.Corporate social responsibility is an instrument that helps to reconcile economic, social and environmental objectives to businesses of all sizes, in cooperation with its partners or stakeholders, to defend common values and increase the sense of solidarity and cohesion, within the debate of globalisation, competitiveness and sustainability.The impact of CSR in the organization is shown in three dimensions: economic, social and environmental; where we will focus our paper in the latter. In the environmental field, it is necessary the implementation of management systems to ensure the fulfilment of objectives within the framework of the RSC, either based on EMAS European models or on the established ones by the ISO 14000 and by the first approximations of ISO 26000 RS.One of the necessary instruments for the implementation of management systems are quantitative indicators, which help us as the quantification of environmental performance for organizations based on the established policy. The same indicators will not provide too much information unless they are considered under the practice of other additional methods such as SWOT analysis or benchmarking, to select strategies based on the comparative position of the organization in relation to the rest of the economic environment.

PurposeEconomic prosperity has often come at the expense of the natural environment. Environmental degradation has surfaced in problems such as pollution, increased carbon dioxide emissions via burning of fossil fuels and environmental waste. Ignoring the ecological costs through indiscriminate use of non‐renewable resources may lead to increase in the cost of doing business in the future. This unsustainable trend exacerbates inter‐generational poverty and equity. Responsible firms have resorted to ISO 14000 certifications, which comprise guidelines for environmental management systems which promote green, efficient production processes. However, ISO 14000 is not a performance standard and does formulate financial key performance indicators. Nonetheless, extant literature has documented the perception that ISO 14000 certification leads to increased competitive advantage, pre‐emption of regulations, increased financial performance, enhanced reputation and reduction of cost of business. This study seeks to bridge the lacuna in research on the influence of ISO 14000 certification on firm financial performance in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachMethodologically, certain matching criteria have been used to enhance the comparability of ISO 14000 certified firms with their non‐certified counterparts based on the work of Collins, and Collins and Porras.FindingsThe findings indicate that ISO 14000 certification improves average return of equity but not necessarily in terms of sales and capitalisation.Originality/valueThe study suggests that there may be a business case for ISO 14000 certification terms of return on equity in the medium term within the Malaysian context.

PurposeImplementation of environmental management systems (EMS) in hotels is gaining popularity world‐wide. ISO 14001, which is the only certifying document in the ISO 14000 series, provides guidelines to set up an EMS. However, there is a paucity of information about the actual environmental measures implemented in ISO 14001 certified hotels. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify and generalize the environmental measures undertaken by studied hotels and to evaluate the performance of these environmental measures.Design/methodology/approachThree case studies were carried out to identify the green measures undertaken in ISO 14001‐certified hotels. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed. Then, regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between monthly utilities input (electricity, gas, fuel oil and water) and activity parameters.FindingsA total of 113 measures were identified, nearly half of which concern energy conservation. Results of multiple regression showed that R2 for different utilities varied. The explanatory power of equation was strong for electricity consumption, moderate for fuel gas consumption, and weak for both gas and water consumption.Practical implicationsThe identified measures provide hoteliers with a thorough picture about the actual environmental works involved in this internationally recognized EMS. Hotel operators and owners can use these measures as a reference either for applying EMS certification or for developing their own EMS.Originality/valueThe paper, which was based on operational experiences from existing hotels, was a collaborative work between hospitality industry practitioners and educators. The paper is also the first of its kind to unveil the comprehensive environmental measures undertaken in city hotels with ISO 14001 certification.

ISO 14000 arose out of the push towards effective implementation of environmental policies among developed nations in recent years. To help traditional industries remain competitive, it encourages businesses to examine their operations to find ways to prevent pollution and help the environment. It also defines a basic set of common international standards that eliminate invisible technical obstacles to international trade and commerce caused by regional and cultural differences in each country’s environmental management standards. For this study, we began by collecting information and literature on the development of the traditional industries in Taiwan and China (Note. In this study, Chinese traditional industries refer to those operated in China by Taiwanese businessmen.). A questionnaire was then designed for businesses in the traditional industry that passed ISO 14000 certification to determine how they fared and the collected data was analyzed using the Performance Evaluation Matrix. Accordi...

In Corbett and Kirsch (2001), we used a simple regression in an exploratory investigation of drivers of global diffusion of ISO 14000 certification. We found that ISO 9000 certification levels, environmental treaties ratified, and exports as a proportion of GDP were the main significant variables, where the environmental measure may be moderated by GDP per capita. In his replication study, Vastag (2004, in this issue) analyzes the same data using more visual techniques, specifically regression trees, and finds support for the significance of ISO 9000 certification levels and environmental treaties ratified, but not for export-propensity. Vastag raises a number of relevant methodological issues, to which we add some perspectives here.

Lean production may have a significant public good spillover—improved environmental performance. However, empirical evidence of the link between lean production practices and environmental performance has not resolved the nature of the relationship. To explore this issue, we conduct an empirical analysis of the environmental performance of 17,499 U.S. manufacturing establishments during the time period 1991–1996. We find that those establishments that adopt the quality management standard ISO 9000 are more likely to adopt the environmental management standard ISO 14000. We also find strong evidence that lean production, as measured by ISO 9000 adoption and low chemical inventories, is complementary to waste reduction and pollution reduction.

The ISO 9000 series of quality management systems standards and the more recent ISO 14000 environmental management systems standards have generated much controversy among practitioners. Although ISO 9000 has become a de facto requirement for many firms, its effects are poorly understood, and similarly the value and domain of applicability of ISO 14000 have been questioned. This paper reports on an exploratory study into the global spread of ISO 14000. We interviewed practitioners worldwide to identify factors that they believe explain differences between national ISO 14000 certification counts. We then collected quantititive data for these factors and, using regression analysis, we found that exports, environmental attitudes (combined with economic development), and ISO 9000 certification count were significant. The fact that ISO 9000 appears as an important factor explaining diffusion of ISO 14000 certifications suggests that the drivers behind the two have significant overlap. This indicates that, although ISO 14000 is an environmental standard, many of the factors driving national certification patterns are not at all environmental in nature, and that ISO 14000 therefore needs to be studied from a broader perspective than from a purely environmental point of view.

The interest shown by organizations and other entities linked by the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS), especially the family of ISO 14000 standards and the EMAS regulation in Europe, has grown spectacularly all over the world in recent years, even though a certain saturation has been detected in some countries. That leads us to ask, is EMS implementation already saturated? This article will analyze the case of the successful ISO 14000 standard, based on previous experience with the most widely used standardised management systems in the entire world: quality management systems (QMS). Will EMS follow in the footsteps of QMS? The analysis carried out, using a logistic curve that fits quite well to explain the nature of this growth, distinguishes three general patterns to explain the diffusion of these norms, namely, expansionistic, mature and retrocessive.

PurposeISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards certification is a phenomenon involving over the years a larger and larger number of companies and organizations. Looking at the empirical data, it is observed that the phenomenon is close to saturation in many countries. In Italy, on the other hand, there is an important increase in the number of certifications. The purpose of this paper is to pick out the different components and aspects which make Italian dynamics so particular.Design/methodology/approachIn order to do that the single commodity sector was analyzed, studying certifications diffusion in terms of certified sites. With the aim of specializing the analysis within commodity sectors, this information has been compared with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) percentage expressed by each sector.FindingThe analysis shows that ISO certifications diffusion followed different dynamics depending on the commodity sectors. These reacted in different ways to the discontinuity of 2003, the year in which ISO 9000 standards changed from the 1994 to the 2000 version.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research efforts will be directed at an in‐depth analysis of the differences between ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certified and analogous non‐certified firms. This analysis will be performed using performance indices such as the number of employees, the profitability, the volume of business, etc.Originality/valueThe paper analyzes the dynamic of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certification diffusion in Italy in different commodity sectors. The term of comparison is given by the contribution given by each sector to the GDP.

Following a growing interest in corporate social responsibility, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) announced plans for development of the ISO 26000—guidance standard for social responsibility. Despite initial signals that ISO 26000 will be built on the intellectual and practical infrastructure of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, the Advisory Group on Social Responsibility set a different direction: a guidance standard and not a specification standard against which conformity can be assessed. This paper aims to investigate what views ISO member body delegations and invited participants in international standardisation of social responsibility had about the divergence from the meta-standard approach towards a guidance standard. To answer the research question, the discussions at the ISO International Conference on Social Responsibility, where ISO member body delegations and approximately 40 invited organisations commented on this matter, have been analysed. As a result of this understanding, not only will insight into the first steps of standardisation of social responsibility be provided, but it will also shed light on the perception of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 that are held by standard developers.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the relation between the ISO 14001 standard and sustainable development, and to present a case study of the energy sector in Poland in order to provide an example of the influence of the environmental management system according to ISO 14001 on environmental quality and sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachThe relation between sustainable development and the environmental management system related to the ISO 14000 series is discussed by comparing these series with the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development. The case study is based on the analysis of the fulfilment of environmental goals and tasks, which are part of the environmental management system, introduced in the company under research.FindingsThe case study provides arguments that the ISO 14001 standard may support sustainable development, in particular when standard legal enforcement mechanisms are weak.Practical implicationsThe introduction of standards for business may be a tool for achieving sustainable development.Originality/valueThe paper shows an example of opportunity for business to contribute to sustainable development.

The fundamental role of integrated weed management (IWM) is to provide a source of scientifically based knowledge from which growers can make informed weed-management decisions. The objectives of this article include (1) highlighting the essential knowledge base required for the success of an IWM cropping system, (2) identifying the barriers to acceptance of IWM, and (3) discussing the future research opportunities for IWM. The minimum knowledge base consists of four key components: the effect of tillage on weed population dynamics, the time of weed emergence relative to the crop, the critical period for weed control, and the concept of a harvest window. There are substantial barriers, however, that reduce the willingness of growers to adopt the components of an IWM cropping system. IWM systems can be perceived as unreliable resulting in increased risk to management. No direct economic benefit can be defined clearly nor has there been sustained support for the adoption of IWM. In the future, IWM must change from a descriptive to a predictive science. As new markets evolve for agricultural products, new quality issues will arise that may influence weed management. Environmental auditing of IWM systems in terms of ISO 14000 accreditation, total carbon credits, or energy use will provide an important template from which comparisons of alternative weed-control strategies can be assessed. IWM strategies must be developed to reduce the risk to management and to gain broader support from the crop-protection industry, growers, and government.

Although researchers have applied different theoretical perspectives to illustrate the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and profitability, to date theories are contested and empirical findings are inconclusive. Therefore, the aim of this research was to present empirical evidence regarding the influence of engaging in environmental responsibility on corporate market value, as the first study to be applied in the Egyptian context. The findings demonstrate that the market compensates those firms that care for their environment, as environmental responsibility exerted a positive and significant coefficient on the firm market value measured by Tobin's q ratio. This aligns stakeholder theory as well as resource-based theory arguments, and provides supporting evidence for those studies that have concluded that it pays to be environmentally responsive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Forest health surveillance (FHS) has been routinely conducted in pine and eucalypti plantations in Tasmania's state-owned forests since 1997. The original objectives of FHS included the detection of exotic pests and diseases, managing the risks arising from native pests and diseases, identifying new threats and recommending operational responses to health or performance issues. Surveillance includes a mixture of aerial, roadside and ground or follow-up surveys. The program has undergone process of constant revision in response to both industry needs and research outcomes. As a result FHS has become a simpler and more cost-effective operation with a focus on the detection of operationally relevant pest and disease problems. The notification and client liaison system ensures that problems are reported in timely manner and allows for the tracking of operational responses and outcomes. FHS data are collated annually on a state-wide basis and are used to satisfy a range of reporting obligations. A hazard-site surveillance program now provides early warning of exotic pest and disease incursions. Today, FHS still satisfies most of its original objectives and plays an important role in achieving some of Forestry Tasmania's high-level management objectives. It has expanded, and is flexible enough, to incorporate the needs of a range of external clients, as well as including targeted surveys in areas with high non-wood values such as wildlife habitat strips. Furthermore it meets the requirements of certification schemes such as the Australian Forestry Standard and ISO 14000. It is expected that FHS will continue to evolve with the introduction of new technology and in response to the needs of a dynamic industry.

Those readers who have spent more It's not your grandfather's than a few years in the environmental insurance-policies have field-and those who count their experi­ changed ence in decadesare aware of how technology, regula­ tions, policies, and practices have evolved to pre­ vent and reduce pollution and clean up both his­ torical and recent contamination. Over the years, regulations and other initiatives have curtailed many of the activities that led to the release of contaminants. Solutions, both government­ driven and founded within the private sector, have arisen to address impacts to human health and the environment. Businesses have adopted many new practices that minimize impact on both the environment and their own bottom lines. In addition to rigor­ ous pollution prevention programs, buying green, product stewardship, ISO 14000 registration, and other initiatives that companies have embraced to address environmental impacts, many businesses have turned to the insurance market. resources damage, business interrup­ tion, and emotional pain and suffering experienced by resi­ dential neighbors who have to evacu­ ate during a chemi­ cal release. What does environmental liability insurance do'? In many cases, it greases the wheels to ensure that businesses can continue to operate and pro­ tect the environment. An environmental liability insurance policy can have a major impact when a merger and acquisition is being planned, a brownfield site is being redeveloped, or a real es­ tate developer wants to purchase property with­ out worrying about shouldering the expense of proving an "innocent landowner" defense if the Phase I environmental site assessment misses a recognized environmental condition. Environmental liability insurance is one more tool that, when joined with other advances in en­ vironmental technology and management, makes it possible for businesses and-particularly

Several studies have examined the determinants of training in developing countries but few have paid attention to the potential importance of international standards such as ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 on the firm's training decision. This article examines training determinants using recent employer surveys for five developing countries: Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco and Nicaragua. It finds that ISO certification status is an important determinant of training, even after controlling for other characteristics such as workers’ formal schooling, firm size, industry and foreign ownership. This points toward the importance of international standards, including product quality and production standards, for firm training. The article also discusses policy implications related to the findings and provides directions for further research.

Almost everyone agrees that recycling is the right thing to do whenever feasible. Recycling prevents the emission of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants, saves energy, supplies valuable raw materials to industry, creates jobs, stimulates the development of greener technologies, conserves resources, and reduces the need for new landfills and combustors [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Municipal Solid Waste—Basic Facts . http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm (accessed 11/22/2006)]. The widespread adoption of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), ISO 14000, executive order 13148, and the growing environmental stewardship movement have all helped increase the popularity of beneficial reuse programs. Biomedical research facilities can offer unique recycling opportunities for the creative manager.

We study the global diffusion of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certification using a network diffusion framework. We start by investigating the presence and nature of contagion effects by defining alternative cross-country networks and testing their relative strength. Second, we study how the rate of diffusion differs between the two standards and between early- and later-adopting countries. Third, we identify which countries had more influence on diffusion than others. Empirically, we build a diffusion model which includes several possible cross-country contagion effects and then use Bayesian methods for estimation and model selection. Using country by year data for 56 countries and nine years, we find that accounting for cross-country influences improves both the fit and the prediction accuracy of our models. However, the specific cross-country contagion mechanism is different across the two standards. Diffusion of ISO 9000 is driven primarily by geography and bilateral trade relations, whereas that of ISO 14000 is driven primarily by geography and cultural similarity. We also find that the diffusion rate of ISO standards is higher for later-adopting countries and for the later ISO 14000 standard. We discuss several implications of our findings for the global diffusion of management standards.

More than 60000 organizations worldwide have implemented environmental management systems (EMSs). About 800 of them are located in Austria. As Austria was one of the leading countries in promoting the EU scheme EMAS, and as there has been no specific study on Austrian experiences with ISO 14001, the purpose of this study is to describe the experiences with and effects of ISO 14001 in Austria. The results show that ISO 14001 often leads to reduced environmental impact, especially in the area of waste. A strong driving force behind implementation is the expected improvement of an organization's image. The average repayment time on an investment in an EMS is less than two years. Legal compliance tends to be difficult to implement, but on the other hand it works well in daily practice. To develop an EMS into a sustainability management system, the two most important challenges are to improve coordination between the EMS and the organization's strategies and to synchronize the EMS with central value chains. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

With the increase in awareness of environmental issues, the level of environmental disclosure and stakeholder demands for environmental information is increasing. New developments in the ISO 14000 standards also make it more evident that a company's environmental performance as well as its environmental reporting should be considered as strategic issues in business strategy. Especially for a developing country like Malaysia, many companies are under external pressures to improve their environmental performance. In this study, a review on the image and environmental disclosure, together with the challenges in environmental information management and a short case study are presented. Subsequently, the paper explores some of the strategic implications of environmental reporting as an important tool for improved environmental management.

Esta dissertação propõe uma metodologia de planejamentode um sistema de gestão ambiental, de acordo com os requerimentos normativos das NBR ISO 14001 14004, de forma a verificar a sua aplicabilidade no segmento das pequenas e médias empresas. Traz um panorama do setor mineral, situando-o nas diretrizes do desenvolvimento sustentável; e, expõe os seus impactos ambientais mais pertinentes, consolidados nos meios físico (ar e solo), biótico (fauna e flora), e antrópico (poder público e partes interressadas). Apresenta a gestão ambiental em uma seqüência histórica de acontecimentos, nos contextos internacional, nacional e estadual, culminando com as Normas da série ISO 14000 de Sistema de Gestão Ambiental, as quais são analisadas comparativamente. A metodologia proposta foi aplicada em uma empresa de mineração situada na região da Grande Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, e consistiu das seguintes etapas: seleção da empresa para o estudo de caso; sensibilização e comprometimento da administração, avaliação ambiental inicial do empreendimento; definição da Política Ambiental, e Planejamento do Sistema de Gestão Ambiental - SGA. Foram identificados os aspectos ambientais e avaliados os impactos significativos do processo de Lavra, para os quais foram definidas ações gerenciais de controle ambiental. A partir das ações que resultaram no estabelecimento de objetivos e metas, foi definido o Programa de Gestão Ambiental da empresa. Concluiu-se pela aplicabilidade das referidas normas no setor e porte propostos. Quanto ao uso da mesma metodologia em empreendimentos de outras tipologias industriais, recomenda-se efetuar alguns ajustes técnicos, de modo a se considerar os aspectos e impactos ambientais genéricos dessas tipologias

[SPA]El principal objetivo de este trabajo es conocer el sistema de certificación ISO 9000-14000 que se implanta en una empresa auxiliar de Construcción Naval. En primer lugar se busca definir los principales conceptos relativos a la calidad y a un Sistema de Calidad como introducción para posteriormente definir y explicar los sistemas ISO 9000 e ISO 14000. La implantación del Sistema de Calidad para obtener su certificación y el posterior mantenimiento que ello conlleva se desarrollan teniendo en cuenta las etapas que comprenden, las herramientas necesarias, los organismos que los llevan a cabo, etc. Con todo esto y la información objetiva recabada de empresas del sector se pueden concluir qué ventajas e inconvenientes pueden conllevar estas certificaciones. La parte final de este trabajo está basada en la experiencia, con la redacción de distintos puntos de vista muy interesantes para conocer el verdadero alcance de estos sistemas y el desarrollo de documentación de apoyo para alcanzar la certificación. Palabras clave: Calidad, Sistema de Calidad, Gestión de Calidad, Implantación, Certificación, ISO 9000, ISO 14000, Auditoría, Mejora Continua. [ENG]The main goal of this study is to know the certification system ISO 9000-14000 that is implanted in a shipbuilding auxiliary enterprise. Firstly, we are going to define the main concepts related to quality and a Quality System as an introduction to then determine and explain ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 systems. The implementation of the Quality System to obtain their certification and the subsequent maintenance it entails are developed taking into account the stages that include, required tools, the agencies that carry them out, etc. It can conclude which advantages and disadvantages can lead these certifications with everything previously presented and the objective information collected from sector enterprises. The final part of this project is based on the experience, with the drafting of different and very interesting points of view to discover the true significance of these systems and the development of supporting documentation to achieve certification. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena

A variety of forces have thrust the issue of environmental management standards to the top of the global agenda. The International Organization for Standardization, based in Geneva, is supervising the development of global environmental management standards system, ISO 14000, which will stipulate a universal procedure for environmental management. The paper briefly discusses this evolvement, the benefits, problems and strategies marketers can use to overcome barriers, be active participants in the process and prepare for implementation and potential certification.

Validerat; 20150625 (global_studentproject_submitter)

From Quality Management System in early 1990, through Safety Management System in 1998, to Maritime Security System in 2002, the shipping/port industries had no choice but to accept such management systems as occasion demands or compulsory in recent 10 years. Furthermore some companies have introduced other system such as Environment Management System(ISO 14000), Occupational Health & Safety Assesment Series(OHSAS 18000) additionally. But most companies have introduced & implemented the quality, safety & security management system generally. This paper is to suggest the effective measurement & improvement plan of Quality Management System.