Environmental Management Maturity Research Articles

Do Green Human Resource Practices Influence Employee Environmental Performance? The Mediating Effect of Proactive Environmental Management Maturity

This study investigates the influence of sustainable practices in human resources on employee environmental performance by exploiting environmental maturity and proactiveness. Ability-motivation-opportunity theory was utilized as the theoretical foundation for this endeavour. Social Exchange Theories provide a significant basis for supporting the framework. Data was gathered from employees working in Pakistani private sector banks within the Punjab district Sahiwal. An organized questionnaire was utilized to collect data, while a self-administered survey was administered to gather information. Three hundred questionnaires were distributed among respondents; 254 could be completed for further analysis; 55 surveys were returned as eligible responses. This study helps human resource professionals better appreciate the role played by proactive environmental management. Studies of the effects of green practices in human resource management on employee environmental performance within the banking industry can play an integral part in making decisions about it. Unfortunately, many human resource managers in Pakistani banks don't fully appreciate how green practices impact employee sustainability in this industry.

Energy Management in Manufacturing

In order to reduce the growing negative impact of CO2 emissions, manufacturing firms have begun to refocus efforts on energy management. Several studies have focused on drivers and inhibitors of energy management but few regarding manufacturing energy management maturity. This study investigates both drivers and the role of knowledge management on manufacturing energy management maturity. Using multivariate analyses, questionnaire data from manufacturing personnel throughout the United States is utilized to assess these relationships. The results provide the support that economic followed by organizational and corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively impact knowledge management practices within organizations. Additionally, this study provides support that knowledge management practices within U.S. manufacturing organizations have a positive association with environmental management maturity. Findings contribute to theory and practical knowledge by highlighting the configurational effects of knowledge management and energy management maturity.

Tackling the integration challenge between environmental strategy and environmental management accounting

PurposeThe research debate on the direct relationship between environmental strategy and environmental management accounting (EMA) is quite popular; however, integration challenges between these two factors still persist at the firm level. This paper seeks to adopt the contingency theory perspective to examine how EMA implementation varies across organizations with different intensity levels of environmental management strategy implementation (i.e. environmental management maturity, EMM).Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a web-based survey, designed and administered to public listed companies and members of three industry chambers in Sri Lanka.FindingsThis study finds that EMA implementation is significantly different among organizations at varying EMM stages. Further, it is observed that organizations at higher stages of EMM use significantly greater domain-based EMA tools and EMA for functional purposes. Therefore, the results show that when organizations progress from reactive to proactive environmental strategies, the EMA evolves to encapsulate and diversify to deal with more-sophisticated environmental management activities.Originality/valueThis is the first study to provide cross-sectional evidence on the relationship between the application of EMA tools and functional uses and the intensity of the environmental strategy pursuance (or EMM). It also proposes a multi-item comprehensive measurement tool for EMA implementation.

An Attempt to Evaluate the Green Construction of Large-Scale Hydropower Projects: Taking Wudongde Hydropower Station on the Jinsha River, China as an Example

Huge amounts of energy and resources will be consumed, and a large quantity of environmental pollutants will be produced during the construction process of large-scale hydropower projects. As a core link of green supply chain in hydropower projects, green construction is particularly critical. To objectively evaluate the green construction level of large-scale hydropower projects, an evaluation indicator system was constructed in the study. The evaluation system consisted of 30 quantitative indicators and 7 qualitative indicators from the perspectives of environmental protection, resource saving and comprehensive management on the basis of the construction characteristics of large-scale hydropower projects. The quantitative and qualitative evaluation standards were proposed by combining with relevant laws and regulations, specifications and standards, and the environmental management maturity model. Furthermore, taking the second quarter of 2018 in Wudongde Hydropower Station on the Jinsha River, China, as an example, green construction level was assessed by the analytic hierarchy process fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (AHP-FCE) method. The calculation results indicated that the evaluation value of green construction in Wudongde Hydropower Station was 3.697, at “Good” level. The evaluation values of environmental protection, resource saving, and comprehensive management were 3.681, 3.473, and 3.965, respectively, within the range of 3 to 4, so they were all evaluated to be “Good”. To further improve the green construction level, it was necessary to supervise some aspects of construction process, i.e., treatment of waste slag in construction, economical and intensive utilization of land, publicity and training, soil erosion control, and saving water resources. In particular, management of soil erosion control should be strengthened. The proposed green construction evaluation system is relatively reliable and practical for professionals in the green hydropower industry, and can provide a reference for other large-scale hydropower projects.

An Integrated Safety, Health and Environmental Management Capability Maturity Model for Construction Organisations: A Case Study in Ghana

Safety, health and environmental (SHE) management is becoming a priority as construction companies (i.e., contractors) strive to reduce construction accidents and negative environmental impacts, conform to regulatory requirements, and sustain their competitiveness. Consequently, construction firms are expected to adopt and implement innovative SHE management systems to mitigate SHE risks effectively and efficiently. For construction firms to effectively do this, they need to have the adequate capability in respect of integrated SHE management. However, there is limited empirical insight regarding the integrated SHE management capabilities of construction companies. Furthermore, there is limited insight regarding the mechanisms for ascertaining the integrated SHE management capability of construction companies to guide such organisations towards SHE management excellence in their operations. Drawing on the capability maturity model integration (CMMI) concept, this study, by applying expert reviews (i.e., Delphi technique and the design methodology for capability maturity grids), developed an integrated Safety, Health and Environmental Management Maturity Model (iSHEM-CMM). The model offers capability maturity assessment on a five-level scale within five thematic categories and 20 integrated SHE management capability attributes. Based on an industrial validation by construction professionals, it is concluded that the maturity model is a useful assessment framework or tool for industry stakeholders, particularly construction firms, to evaluate the status of their current SHE management capabilities, identify strengths and improvement areas, and accordingly prioritise strategies/actions for improving their SHE management. Furthermore, clients who appoint construction companies could use the model as part of prequalification arrangements in selecting construction companies with an adequate SHE management capability.

Establishment of Green Supplier Evaluation and Environmental Sustainability

The Environmental criteria should be considered In addition to traditional criteria such as price, quality and delivery time. Evaluating Green Supplier Development Initiatives Recently developed here; we have reviewed some of the import studies to find out how to improve green supplier development. Indexes based on environment, depletion of raw materials, increasing pollution and environmental degradation. Broad relaxation of quantitative and qualitative criteria for measuring supplier product quality is typical of increasing global trends in policies and practices. Improving the management companies Substitution under scarcity is used to create green supplier improvement program rankings to specify quantitative information for evaluations of selected criteria. The integration and management authors develop an expanded perspective on ecosystem dynamics that can serve as a guide is context at the analytical level of dimensional process and progress improvement are found in areas such as environmental management maturity and environmental content, the relationship between production strategy, distribution, supply chain management and technology management, and quality.

Resource slack, environmental management maturity and enterprise environmental protection investment: An enterprise life cycle adjustment perspective

Enterprise environmental protection investment has recently become increasingly essential to address environmental problems. Based on the data from China's A-share heavy pollution industry listed companies from 2007 to 2018, this paper empirically examines the impact of the degree of resource slack on enterprise environmental protection investment and the moderating effect of environmental management maturity on both. The results show that the degree of resource slack has a significant negative impact on the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. As the maturity of environmental management increase, the negative impact of the degree of resource slack on the scale of enterprise protection environmental investment is significantly weakened. This paper further finds that there are significant differences in the moderating effect of environmental management maturity in enterprises of different life cycles on the relationship between the degree of resource slack and the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. Compared with the enterprises in the recession period, the environmental management maturity in the growth and mature period can more alleviate the negative relationship between the degree of resource slack and the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. The results are conducive to clarifying the important impact of implementing voluntary environmental management and strengthening internal control capabilities on enterprises' active environmental investment. It provides ideas for enterprises to dynamically adjust their environmental management methods, promote the improvement of internal governance and sustainable development. At the same time, it also provides a theoretical basis for the government to issue differentiated environmental regulations and improve the efficiency of government environmental governance.

Do green HR practices enhance green motivation and proactive environmental management maturity in hotel industry?

Abstract The devastating effects on the environment have raised many questions on the environmental performance of an organization. As the environment is severely affected by the operations of giant businesses, i.e. ‘hotel industry.’ There is a need to explore the factors that influence employee environmental performance by incorporating green motivation and proactive environmental management maturity as mediators. The data are collected using the survey method. The statistical techniques applied to the dataset were confirmatory factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that green HR practices positively and significantly related to green intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and proactive environmental management maturity. Similarly, green motivation is significantly and positively linked with employee environmental performance. In contrast, proactive environmental management maturity is positively and insignificantly linked with employees’ environmental performance. In contrast, mediation analysis reveals that green motivation, i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic, partially mediates the association between green HR practices and employee environmental performance. However, no mediating effect of proactive environmental management maturity is found between the proposed associations. The paper contributes to the literature in many ways. Firstly, it explains the role of Green HR practices in forming green motivation among employees of the hotel industry, and previously no researchers studied this combination in the context of the hotel industry. Secondly, green motivation and proactive environmental management maturity are incorporated as mediators to have in-depth knowledge about the employees’ environmental performance.

Environmental performance in manufacturing companies: a benchmarking study

PurposeThis study aims to explore manufacturing companies' environmental performance with the green supply chain management (GSCM) approach, taking into account company size, geographic region, industrial sector, target market and environmental management maturity level.Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature review, five propositions were put forward. An empirical study, using survey research, was completed. The survey questionnaire was designed with 46 items, using both the literature and industry expert input. Statistical analysis was employed to test the propositions in a sample of 116 Colombian manufacturing companies.FindingsThe test results indicate that significant environmental performance differences exist, given company sizes and target markets. However, no statistical significance was found involving the geographic region or industrial sector. Significant differences were found in maturity levels between the three clusters identified: reactive, preventive and proactive. Although the companies in the proactive group performed better, they still lagged in green practices that implied integration with suppliers and customers.Practical implicationsThis study provides empirical evidence regarding the profile of those manufacturing companies that achieve better environmental performance. Moreover, the results yield insights for the generation of continuous improvement processes in companies with lower performance.Originality/valueFew empirical studies have been carried out in GSCM that integrate specific factors in the environmental performance assessment of manufacturing companies in developing countries. On the other hand, the results permit the identification of the profile of those companies with greater maturity in their environmental practices.

Environmental Management Maturity: The Role of Dynamic Validation

Maturity models enhance the performance of companies by prescribing a trajectory through stages of increasing capability. However, a recent review of maturity models concludes that current maturity models hardly meet the design principles required for prescriptive use. To address this deficiency, we conducted semistructured interviews and a Group Model Building study with industrial companies in Spain in which we studied the progression toward a Leading Green Company as the highest maturity stage of environmental management. The findings from the study were tested using surveys with enterprises in Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, semistructured interviews in the United Kingdom and case studies in Spain. Using these data sources, we develop a causal model that captures an idealized environmental management maturity dynamic progression though stages. By mapping maturity stages to feedback loops connected to actions to improve those maturity levels, system dynamics can help companies articulate policies for transitioning toward higher maturity stages.

Understanding the human side of green hospitality management

• The ‘human side’ of more sustainable hospitality management is approached. • Direct relationship between green training and environmental performance is explored. • Mediating effect of green competencies between green training and performance. • Mediating effect of environmental management maturity between green training and performance. • Moderating effect of environmental commitment between environmental maturity and performance. Green training is considered as crucial factor in green human resource management, stimulating environmental performance in an organisation. However, the effects of environmental training on the performance of organisations in the hospitality industry have so far been under-studied. At the same time, hospitality industry in India has attracted significant attention, and therefore deserves to be studied further. This study explores the mediating effects of green competencies and proactive environmental management maturity as well as the moderating effect of environmental commitment. In order to conduct empirical analysis, a survey instrument is developed for data collection. The results indicate the following relationships: (a) a positive and significant relationship between green training and environmental performance; (b) a mediating effect of green competencies; (c) a mediating effect of proactive environmental management maturity; and (d) a moderating effect of environmental commitment. This work provides insights towards the ‘human side’ of transitioning towards sustainable hospitality management.

Institutional pressures and corporate environmental management maturity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate environmental management strategies at different environmental management maturity (EMM) stages are influenced by institutional forces in the service sector organizations of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a multiple case study approach in this study. Institutional isomorphic pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative) at different EMM stages were used as the analytical framework. Findings The study finds coercive pressures largely shape the corporate environmental management strategies at the reactive stage while mimetic pressures have the greatest influence on the internal integration stage. Combined mimetic and normative pressures influence the environmental strategies at the external integration stage. Further, it emphasizes the importance of various institutional pressures in propelling the organizations in the developing countries to benefit from higher levels of EMM. Originality/value This paper offers a new theoretical approach that highlights the importance of considering the institutional influence of the top-down process of diffusion and simultaneous counter-process of invention by which the lower level organizational actors shape and change their environmental management practices for corporate EMM.

Environmental management maturity model for industrial companies

PurposeDespite significant amounts of environmental management tools that are available for companies to use, no model guides them toward environmental excellence. As a consequence, the purpose of this paper is to develop an environmental management maturity (EMM) model that helps companies that are on the path toward environmental excellence.Design/methodology/approachAn iterative process was used to develop this model, starting with some semi-structured interviews with 19 companies within the Basque Country and two workshops with environmental experts. Following these steps, the initial version of the model was developed. Data from subsequent surveys carried out in Spanish and Italian companies, and a survey and semi-structured interviews in companies in the UK were incorporated into the model, yielding the final, more robust version of the EMM model.FindingsThe EMM model proposes six maturity stages: legal requirements, responsibility assignment and training, systematization, ECO2, eco-innovative products and services, and leading green company. Each stage details a series of elements: description, agents involved, policies, tools, indicators, structure, and behavior over time graphs. This research confirms that a company’s environmental management evolves through several distinctive stages, regardless of the industrial sector.Originality/valueThe proposed model concludes that the defined maturity stages provide valuable guidance for industrial firms as it helps them identify their maturity stage as well as the steps they should follow to move to the next stage.

Proposed Derivation of the Integrated Capability Maturity Model as an Environmental Management Maturity Model

This article highlights the adaptability of the integrated Capability Maturity Model within the context of a environmental process maturity framework. Existing maturity models are applicable in a variety of quality contexts – quality management, quality control, and quality assurance. The reviewed literature is synthesized to propose a process improvement maturity model derivative to address environmental management processes.

Environmental management maturity of local and multinational high-technology corporations located in Brazil: the role of business internationalization in pollution prevention

This paper identifies and characterizes the environmental maturity level of local and multinational high-technology corporations located in Brazil. This characterization is achieved by discussing the adoption of environmental management practices and considering aspects of the productive process stage. An eight-case study was conducted through data triangulation using interviews with employees in diverse organizational areas, direct observations and secondary data. The results indicate the differences in environmental positioning among the studied corporations with a predominance of preventive practices, i.e., an emphasis on eco-efficiency and compliance with legislation. It was also noted that environmental concerns in the corporations are related to internationalization and, in some cases, to the pressure exerted by corporations that represent the brand of the products produced in Brazil. Moreover, the adoption of environmental practices based on the productive process stage supported the environmental maturity classifications of the studied companies.

Maturity levels of material cycles and waste management in a context of green supply chain management: an innovative framework and its application to Brazilian cases

The objective of this study is to identify the relationship between the maturity of environmental management and the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices utilizing an integrative framework and evidence from multiple cases. To achieve this goal, a state of the art literature review on environmental management maturity was performed, and a typology of GSCM practices was created to produce an original integrative framework of GSCM maturity levels. To verify its applicability to real cases, five companies in supply chains with high levels of environmental impact were analyzed. Of the five companies, two were in the battery business, two in the pesticides business, and one in the automotive business. Adherence to the integrative framework was verified, and sensitivity to changes in maturity of environmental management and the adoption of GSCM practices were observed, achieving the research’s objective. The following classification of GSCM maturity levels was obtained: (a) first, the reactive GSCM level with low adoption of GSCM practices, which is motivated by legal restrictions; (b) second, the preventive GSCM level with average adoption of GSCM practices, which is driven by cost reduction; (c) and third, the proactive GSCM level, which is driven by the pursuit of competitive advantages.

Reprint of “Quality management, environmental management maturity, green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects”

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.

Quality management, environmental management maturity, green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.

Environmental training and environmental management maturity of Brazilian companies with ISO14001: empirical evidence

In the search for more environmentally sustainable organisations, scholars devoted to the subject of environmental management in industrial organisations are increasingly interested in identifying the human, organisational or technical factors that may be related to the environmental management maturity of those companies. In this context, based on the emerging literature on natural resource-based view of the firm and on green human resource management, one can question whether environmental training is, in fact, related positively and significantly with the maturity of the environmental management of companies with ISO14001 located in Brazil. To address this question, a quantitative, exploratory, survey-based study, in which the collected data were subsequently processed using structural equation modelling, was performed using data from 95 companies. The results indicate the following: confirmation of the research hypothesis H1, i.e., that the construct environmental training (ET) relates positively and significantly with the environmental management maturity (EMM) of the companies in the sample, and the power of determination of ET over EMM can be considered “large”.

Energy and utility management maturity model for sustainable manufacturing process

The manufacturing industry, one of the top consumers of natural resources, produces extensive carbon emissions that create the need for a sustainable manufacturing process, a topic of significant research interest. In the recent decades, the advancement of environmental technology and introduction of comprehensive environmental management systems have highlighted the intangible benefits of environmental management practices and their potential to drive organizational competitiveness. Accumulating evidence on the potential benefits of environmental protectionism has given rise to a series of environmental management practices and systems, such as energy informatics, environmental management standardization frameworks, and green supplier management and collaboration. However, existing literature lacks a clear conceptualization and a coherent theoretical framework of environmental management. In addition, no systematic framework exists for the design and implementation of environmental management practices that guide organizations in deciding on the practices or systems that they should implement given their organizational situations. Thus, this study aims to develop an energy and utility maturity framework for systematic measurement and management of natural resource consumption. Specifically, the proposed framework, energy and utility management maturity model (EUMMM), was designed based on the capability maturity model integration (CMMI). EUMMM has two major functions. First, it provides an assessment framework for analyzing the maturity level of energy and utility management in organizations. Second, it provides a progressive framework to guide organizational advancement in energy and utility management. A collaborative pilot study was conducted to validate the effectiveness, practicability, and convenience of the EUMMM. The results indicated that EUMMM successfully led the participating companies to move along the environmental management maturity path. Theoretically, this study extends the application of CMMI to the context of natural resource management and develops a progressive framework for energy and utility management maturation. Practically, this study provides a robust guideline for practitioners in analyzing and advancing energy and utility maturity levels to achieve a sustainable manufacturing process.