Integrating quality and environmental management as competitive business strategy for 21st century

Abstract

Today’s business world changes due to public demands, technology and global competition. Customers are considering environmental values into their supplier(s) selection and are increasingly buying products with identifiable environmental attributes. Therefore, to have a competitive leverage, companies should implement both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 concurrently. In addition to the comparative analysis of both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, zero defects (ZD) and clean (green) production concepts are clarified in this paper. The analogy of the fundamental thoughts behind them are highlighted. A practical strategy for implementing quality and environmental management scheme that copes with 21st century considerations is explored, emphasizing on three main elements i.e. methodology, competitiveness, and change effect.