Environmental Management In Companies Research Articles

Empowerment dos funcionários e níveis de maturidade da gestão ambiental nas empresas: um modelo conceitual

This paper discusses a human resource management dimension that is rarely integrated with the theme of corporate environmental management: the employees’ empowerment .Indeed, human resources dimensions are considered non-technical factors that directly affect the integration of environmental performance in companies. Among these dimensions of human resources necessary for environmental management, we highlight the empowerment of employees. Thus, this research provides theoretical basis on environmental management in company and on employee empowerment and the integration of these themes. Finally, a framework for an effective corporate environmental management through empowerment is presented. We intend to contribute in this way for management researchers and organizational leaders, within a scope still scarce of theoretical articulations.

The Effects of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Regulation on Company Management and Competitiveness

ABSTRACTIn the literature there are several studies about the effects of environmental policies and regulations on the management and competitiveness of businesses. Some of these studies focus on the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive, but only a few investigate the effects of IPPC permits in depth. This paper aims to bridge this gap by illustrating the results of cross‐country empirical research. We analyse 225 IPPC permits of companies located in seven European regions and issued by different competent authorities.Results show differences in terms of requirements, emission limit values and monitoring frequencies, which are not always justifiable by the flexibility afforded by the Directive. These differences have different impacts on the competitive strategies and environmental management of companies within the same sector but located in different countries. We explore how some differences could influence company costs, contributing to the literature debate about the effects of direct regulation on competitiveness. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Sustainable Production: Practices and Determinant Factors of Green Supply Chain Management of Chinese Companies

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the green supply chain management (GSCM) of companies based in the Yangtze River Delta, China. The companies' overall GSCM practice level (LGSCM) is measured by using the data from 165 valid respondents in a questionnaire survey conducted during April and May 2009. The relationships between LGSCM and the classified determinant factors are analyzed. It is indicated that Chinese companies are still at a preliminary stage of GSCM practices. Their environmental management in cooperation with external members of the supply chain is very marginal. A company's LGSCM is significantly and positively associated with the external pressures from regulatory, domestic clients and business competitors. As an internal factor, a company's learning capacity greatly determines LGSCM. We also confirm that the internal factors function as intermediate variables of external pressures in influencing a company's GSCM. A company's environmental management capacities will be strongly enhanced by frequent internal training of employees to increase its involvement in GSCM practices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Gestão ambiental empresarial: um levantamento da produção científica brasileira divulgada em periódicos da área de administração entre 1996 e 2005

Nesta pesquisa, conduz-se uma meta-análise da produção científica em gestão ambiental empresarial, registrada em seis dos principais periódicos em administração no Brasil (RAE, RAEE, RAUSP, RAP, REAd e RAC), no período entre 1996 e 2005. Para tanto examina-se essa produção acadêmica com base nos seguintes parâmetros: aumento da produção; origem de autoria; perfil metodológico; conteúdo e abrangência das análises; e nível de internacionalização das referências bibliográficas. O diagnóstico que se infere é: a produção acadêmica em gestão ambiental empresarial corresponde a apenas 2,30% da total em administração; parte significativa dessa produção recebe inspiração internacional, principalmente dos trabalhos de Hunt e Auster (1990) e de Porter e Linde (1995); e restringe-se a um pequeno grupo de pesquisadores e instituições, uma vez que quase 60% da produção observada é oriunda de apenas cinco instituições. Contribui-se, assim, com a sistematização da produção acadêmica na área de gestão ambiental empresarial e são fornecidos subsídios para esse campo de pesquisa no Brasil.

Environmental management system and human resource practices: is there a link between them in four Brazilian companies?

The aim of this article is to analyze the theoretical model proposed by [Jabbour CJC, Santos FCA. Relationships between human resource dimensions and environmental management in companies: proposal of a model. Journal of Cleaner Production 2008;16(1):51–8.] based on the data collected in four Brazilian companies. This model investigates how the phases of the environmental management system can be linked to human resource practices in order to attain continuous improvement of a company's environmental performance. Our aim is to contribute to a field, which has little empirical evidence. Although the interaction between the phases of the environmental management system and human resource practices is recommended by the specialized literature [Daily BF, Huang S. Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations and Production Management 2001;21(12):1539–52.], the results indicate that most of the theoretical assumptions could not be confirmed in these Brazilian companies.

Evolução da gestão ambiental na empresa: uma taxonomia integrada à gestão da produção e de recursos humanos

O presente artigo desenvolve uma denominação comum para as várias propostas de estágios evolutivos da gestão ambiental na empresa encontradas na literatura, de forma a associar os estágios dessa nova taxonomia às evoluções da estrutura organizacional e das áreas de gestão da produção e de recursos humanos, que são indispensáveis para a integração da dimensão ecológica no âmbito organizacional. Para tanto, as principais contribuições encontradas na bibliografia em gestão ambiental na organização foram analisadas e sistematizadas a partir de suas similaridades. Dessa perspectiva multicomparada, propõe-se uma denominação comum para a análise da gestão ambiental, composta por três estágios: especialização funcional, integração interna e integração externa da variável ecológica na organização. Este trabalho sistematiza as contribuições das diversas taxonomias da gestão ambiental existentes e as reflete de maneira integrada à estrutura organizacional e à gestão da produção e de recursos humanos, contribuindo, assim, com a literatura ainda escassa acerca da abordagem correlacionada dessas temáticas. Conceber a gestão ambiental na empresa por níveis de maturidade e correlacionada a outras evoluções organizacionais contribui, de forma estruturada, para que empresários e pesquisadores reflitam acerca da situação organizacional atual e planejem atividades futuras em matéria ambiental.

Relationships between human resource dimensions and environmental management in companies: proposal of a model

This work deals with the main contributions of human resource dimensions for the environmental management in a company. While the specialized literature concerning the technical aspects of environmental management expands, there is a gap in the bibliography: integrated approaches between human resource dimensions and environmental management. An extensive bibliographical review was undertaken in order to systematize the human resource dimensions and their contributions concerning the effectiveness of the environmental management system. A model that analyses the relationships between these dimensions and the typical phases of an environmental management system is presented, within a perspective of application for academicians and managers.

Product Chain Responsibility — An Industry Perspective

Traditionally, ecologically conscious product design (EcoDesign) emphasises the systematic environmental improvement of products, with tools derived from life cycle assessment (LCA) being used to record the improvements achieved. The possible integration within a company's environmental management system (EMS), taking Philips as the example, has been described in previously world-wide distributed and publicly available management guidelines called ‘Point of no return’. An operational counterpart was published in 2000 and is called ‘Greening Your Business’, it features an extended method, which includes all milestones in the total sequence from company policy via strategic choices and roadmap planning to the product's creation. This article describes the overall approach.

Toward an Environmentally Sensitive Ecophilosophy for Business Management

Although values and philosophy can influence a company's environ mental management practicees, they are overlooked by managers and business scholars. In this article, a classification scheme of three types of ecophilosophies—"unrestrained economic growth," "social con sciousness," and "environmental consciousness"— is explained. The authors propose that a company's ecophilosophy forms the basis for its behaviors toward the natural environment. Through these actions, the organization's ecophilosophy may influence its eventual environ mental performance and its effectiveness.

Regulation and In‐Company Environmental Management in the Netherlands*

This paper addresses the relationship between preventive systems of social control and regulation of the behavior of public bodies and private organizations. Illustrated with material on new developments in self‐regulation concerning environmental management in companies in the Netherlands, the author argues that a combination of stimulated (or “regulated”) self‐regulation and stringent enforcement policies is feasible and should lead to company compliance with environmental regulation. The article discusses the assertion that to reduce the social distance between government and individual citizen, between regulator and regulated, a mixture of policy instruments is needed, ergo: by involving societal groups of interested people in policy formation and self‐regulation, enhancing the creation of normative systems (involvement “by association”) on the one hand and the availability of adequate law enforcement procedures on the other, corporations, through responsive government regulation, could promote an adequate and successful preventive system of social control.

Öko-Controlling Von der Ökobilanz zum Führungs-instrument

Eco-Controlling is a management tool based on the concept of a material and energy flow accounting. It is an instrument of precise and continuous formulation of targets, progress review, analysis of deviations and reformulation of new targets. It's aim is to provide the management with the information it needs in order to integrate environmental and economic targets in future business – in other words, to achieve a high level of so-called eco-efficiency (added value per added pollution). To implement an integrated Eco-Controlling the following steps have to be taken: Step 1: Definition of an account framework and the management accounting system. With this accounting framework the energy and material data are collected. Step 2: Allocation of the collected energy and material flow data to cost centers (processes) and cost carriers (products). Step 3: Because emissions have different environmental impacts they have to be weighted. There are several methods for weighting the environmental harmfulness of economic activities. One either uses performance indicators, such as “tons CO2 per $ added value”, or classification models, which try to make the environmental impact of different pollutants comparable. Step 4: In order to achieve a higher eco-efficiency, the production-, investment- and sales-planes have to be brought in line with the environmental strategy. Step 5: The strategy can only be successfully implemented, if the management incentive systems are adapted to the new requirements of eco-efficiency. Benchmarking, meaning comparing the company's environmental management systems with the best management practice, can give valuable insights. Eco-Controlling is a decision-supporting tool which closely links the environmental with the financial performance of a company. It is a prerequisite for strategic planning, environmental reporting, and it is an essential element of the recently adopted European Community eco-audit scheme.