Adoption Of Environmental Management Systems Research Articles

The Impact of Cost Accounting on the Adoption of Environmental Management Systems in the Tourism Industry

Environmental issues often receive attention in Malaysia in parallel with the rapid development of the tourism industry which has contributed to environmental pollution. In connection with that, various efforts have been made to prevent and reduce the effects of pollution on the environment, including the Environmental Management System (EMS). By implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS), the effects of unwanted pollution on the environment will be reduced. The purpose of this study is to expand the understanding of how cost accounting factors affect the application of EMS among hotels in Malaysia. The sample of this study is based on a questionnaire collected from 56 4 and 5 star hotels in the Central Region of Malaysia including Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. This study uses Semi-Structured Least Squares Equation Modeling and Institutional Theory as supporting theory. The study found that cost savings do affect the use of EMS among hotels in Malaysia. Further analysis shows that different hotel sizes do not affect the adoption of EMS. This study expands knowledge on how cost accounting simultaneously influence the adoption of EMS in a tourism industry in Malaysia. Next, this study also provides new evidence that the size of the hotel does not influence the effect of cost accounting factors on the implementation of EMS.

Environmental Management System (EMS) in Hotel Industry: Government Incentives & Customer Demand.

The tourism industry in Malaysia has been a significant contributor to pollution, necessitating the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) to address the negative impact of environmental degradation. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of government incentives and customer demand on the adoption of EMS in Malaysian hotels. The research was based on questionnaires collected from 4- and 5-star hotels in the Central Region of Malaysia, and the data were analyzed using Least Square Partial Structural Equation Modeling. Contrary to expectations, the study found that neither government incentives nor customer demand had an impact on EMS adoption. However, the size of the hotel was found to be a significant factor affecting the adoption of EMS. This study contributes to the literature on motivational factors and EMS adoption in emerging markets like Malaysia and highlights the importance of considering the size of the hotel when designing policies to promote EMS adoption.

Innovation vs. standardization: The conjoint effects of eco-innovation and environmental management systems on environmental performance

In this study, we first analyze whether firms' eco-innovation, manifested through green patents, improves environmental performance. Then, we assess whether adopting environmental management systems (EMS) that follow standardized guidelines enhances the potential of eco-innovation to improve environmental performance. To test our predictions, we build a unique firm-level dataset that combines global data on green patents, EMS adoption, and performance from five different data sources. The data support the positive effect of eco-innovation on environmental performance. However, our results show that adopting EMS, rather than strengthening the positive impact of eco-innovation on environmental performance, generates organizational rigidities that weaken the eco-innovation–environmental performance link. After conducting a set of qualitative post hoc interviews with elite informants, our surprising findings became more meaningful. Furthermore, we conducted a set of additional tests to validate our results in different scenarios where organizational rigidities could be a pivotal factor in explaining environmental performance differences connected to eco-innovation. This study has relevant theoretical and practical implications for the design and adoption of EMS and the conjoint dynamics between innovation and standardization practices to improve performance.

Green by Affiliation? Ownership Identity and Environmental Management System Adoption in Chinese Business Groups

How does owner identity affect environmental management system (EMS) adoption by business group affiliates? While current research on EMS adoption is mostly focused on stand-alone Western firms, a marked uptake of adoption has unfolded in Eastern countries such as China, where business group affiliates are the dominant organizational form. This stark contrast between corporate interest and research attention has left a clear lacuna in our understanding of how systems that can reduce environmental impact diffuse across industrial settings. We argue that state, family, and foreign owners of affiliated firms show distinct propensities to adopt an EMS, owing to differences in legitimacy needs, ownership competencies, and group-level preferences to engage in systematic environmental practices. Logistic regressions based on data from listed Chinese business group affiliates between 2008 and 2019 show that state and family ownership negatively influence the likelihood of EMS adoption, whereas foreign control has a positive effect. More intragroup transactions exacerbate the low adoption propensity of family-owned firms. Our study contributes to the literatures on business groups and corporate environmentalism.

Environmental Management System, Environmental Management Accounting, and Firm Performance in China’s Manufacturing Companies

The aim of this study is to propose the relationship between environmental management system (EMS), environmental management accounting (EMA) and firm performance (FP) based on the Chinese manufacturing industry. Although the previous literature has already explored the effect of EMS adoption on FP, findings are inconclusive. Since there is also evidence that both EMS and EMA could potentially influence FP, it is worth considering the role of EMA as an intervening variable in this relationship. The survey of the study involved 131 manufacturing companies conducted in China. The data are analyzed using Smart Partial Least Square (SmartPLS) version 3 to evaluate the hypotheses of the study. The results showed that EMA mediates the relationship between EMS and firm performance. Therefore, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on EMS, EMA and firm performance, especially in the relatively new topic in China.

Comparing the EMS adopter and EMS non-adopter organizations in achieving sustainable business goals.

The corporate sector has paid attention to the concept of sustainable development since the emergence of this concept in the late 1980s and the adoption of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) by many organizations is the initiative of these organizations’ exact dimensions. The focus of this research is to compare the status of EMS adopter and EMS non-adopter organizations in terms of Environmental Performance, Occupational health and safety performance, Employee Satisfaction, Operational Improvement and competitive advantage. The overall environmental performance of EMS adopter companies was approximately two times higher than non-EMS adopter companies. EMS adopter organizations’ performance was almost two times better than non-EMS adopter organizations regarding occupational health and safety. The overall Employee Satisfaction level at non-EMS adopter organizations was about three times better than at EMS adopter organizations. The EMS adopter organizations were found to have about three times performance regarding operational improvement. Regarding the competitive advantage gained by the EMS adopter companies compared to the non-EMS adopter organizations, no significant difference was observed between these two categories of organizations. However, The EMS adopter organizations seem to have a slight competitive advantage over non-adopter companies.

Quality and environmental management systems as business tools to enhance ESG performance: a cross-regional empirical study

AbstractThe growing societal and political focus on sustainability at global level is pressurizing companies to enhance their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance to satisfy respective stakeholder needs and ensure sustained business success. With a data sample of 4292 companies from Europe, East Asia and North America, this work aims to prove through a cross-regional empirical study that quality management systems (QMSs) and environmental management systems (EMSs) represent powerful business tools to achieve this enhanced ESG performance. Descriptive and cluster analyses reveal that firms with QMSs and/or EMSs accomplish statistically significant higher ESG scores than companies without such management systems (MSs). Furthermore, the results indicate that operating both types of MSs simultaneously increases performance in the environmental and social pillar even further, while the governance dimension appears to be affected mainly by the adoption of EMSs alone. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such large-scale, cross-regional analysis of the impact of QMSs and EMSs on ESG performance is absent from the literature, thus paving the way for pioneering academic research. The study is grounded in stakeholder theory and demonstrates managers how the implementation of MSs can assist in successfully translating stakeholders’ sustainability concerns into actionable business practice. Furthermore, it allows decision-makers to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of QMSs and EMSs for tackling specific ESG issues and highlights the performance advantages of combining both MSs. The work also depicts policymakers how corporate sustainable performance (CSP) can be improved by fostering MSs adoption, thereby emphasizing the importance of supporting and facilitating the diffusion of these systems.

Environment and Energy? The Impact of Environmental Management Systems on Energy Efficiency

Problem definition: Despite the widespread adoption of environmental management systems (EMS), their relationship with energy efficiency remains unclear. This study investigates whether and how EMS adoption lowers energy efficiency and, if so, how to mitigate the impact. Academic/practical relevance: Understanding the relationship between EMS and energy efficiency is important because any decrease in energy efficiency may eventually lead to undesired environmental outputs (e.g., CO2), potentially contributing to climate change. This study sheds light on energy as a necessary input required for environmental management, thereby elucidating the issue of environmental trade-offs in sustainable operations. Methodology: Using novel panel data on energy efficiency and EMS standards obtained from 2,690 South Korean plants operating between 2001 and 2014, this study empirically investigates the impact of EMS on energy efficiency at the plant level. Results: We provide evidence of a trade-off relationship between environmental performance and energy efficiency in relation to EMS adoption. We find that the adoption of ISO 14001, the representative EMS standard, results in approximately 6%–12% lower energy efficiency compared with nonadoption although it effectively reduces air, water, and waste pollution. More importantly, our results show that the trade-off, an unintended consequence of EMS implementation, can be moderated through quality management capability. Managerial implications: We suggest that sustainability managers take balancing actions to reduce trade-offs between environmental performance and energy efficiency. Specifically, when implementing EMS, managers are advised to (1) actively incorporate energy management activities, (2) employ more comprehensive measurements for energy efficiency, and (3) redesign incentive schemes to facilitate improvements in energy efficiency.

Organizations towards the Evaluation of Environmental Management Tools ISO 14001 and EMAS

The purpose of this article is to analyze and compare the benefits of and barriers to the implementation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS)—International Standard ISO 14001 and Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)—by organizations. This paper attempts to answer the following research questions: 1. Does the implementation of either ISO 14001 or EMAS bring the same benefits and barriers to organizations? 2. Does the system functioning duration in the company influence internal and external benefits resulting from EMS implementation? 3. Are economic aspects of EMS adoption as important for entrepreneurs as the ecological aspects? This topic is important due to the large disproportions appearing in recent years between the number of companies registered in ISO 14001 and in EMAS, and due to relatively frequent cases of non-renewal of EMAS certifications in recent years. It is crucial because each EMS certified institution has implemented procedures which contribute to better protection of the natural environment. The study was conducted in the form of a survey; questions and answers were specified based on the literature review and the authors’ research. Results indicate that the knowledge-based and organizational problems, as well as the time invested in preparing the documentation, are much more significant than financial problems associated with EMS implementation. Even organizations that previously introduced ISO 14001 still have difficulties with EMAS implementation. The perception of benefits resulting from EMS introduction is related to the system functioning duration in the company. The analysis shows that it is necessary to strengthen economic incentives in order to enable the widest possible dissemination of EMS among companies. Research results can contribute to further simplification and increases in EMS implementation, which may lead to more sustainable development and climate change mitigation, inter alia, due to the improvement in energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Shedding light on the diffusion of ISO 14001 across Africa, Asia and Oceania

ISO 14001 certificates have achieved wider diffusion in all regions of the world implementing the Environmental Management System (EMS). However, research on characterizing and forecasting the diffusive process is concentrated in Europe and some countries in the other regions. Thus, Africa, Asia and Oceania are regions that do not have characterization and forecasts for their countries and industrial sectors. This information is important in the decision-making of the stakeholders regarding the expectations of adopting or not the EMS in the countries and sectors that make up the region. As a result, the work characterized the main countries and industrial sectors in these three regions, simulating a diffusive scenario for a period of two years. For this, ISO 14001 certifications data from 1999 to 2017 were obtained from the ISO Survey. Based on these data, the annual relative growth rate (RGR) was calculated, because it permits more equitable comparisons between organisms, once represents this adoption over time in an S-curve pattern is ideal for ISO certification diffusion behavior. In addition, ARIMA models were used to forecast the number of certifications as an alternative to locations where data on the number of companies is not available. Therefore, it was observed an increase in the number of certifications above 90% for all regions. However, this growth is concentrated in a few countries within each region, with highlights for South Africa, China, India and Australia. These countries had high RGR at the beginning of the period with a reduction to close to zero, and negative in some countries, over time. Thus, future scenarios pointed to a growth trend for China and India, while South Africa and Australia would remain stable. These forecasts indicate that the Chinese Construction and Information Technology sector in India is expected to increase EMS adoption by companies. Finally, Africa, Asia and Australia are regions with growth potential for ISO 14001 due to the concentration of certifications in some countries, which allows expansion to others, in addition to maintaining growth in the countries with the highest values.

Impact of institutional and contingent factors on adopting environmental management accounting systems: the case of manufacturing companies in Libya

PurposeEnvironmental management accounting (EMA) has received increasing interest since 2000 and is now regarded as an effective tool to deal with environmental issues and the economic performance of companies and countries. This study aims to examine the impacts of institutional pressures on the adoption of EMA by manufacturing companies operating in Libya. The study examines how such adoption is impacted by four contingent factors, namely, company size, company age, environmental management system adoption and business type.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from a sample of medium- and large-sized manufacturing companies operating in Libya by means of a questionnaire survey. Institutional pressure and contingency factors were tested against the level of EMA adoption via multiple regression analysis and moderator multiple regression.FindingsThe results indicate that the relationship between coercive pressures and EMA adoption varies as a function of company size. This result indicates that when companies face pressures, the way they respond depends on specific circumstances and characteristics of the company such as company size.Originality/valueThe key contribution of this study to the body of knowledge comes from being able to combine contingency and the new institutional sociology perspective of the institutional theory to create a complementary perspective. This was achieved by examining the moderating effect of the four contingent variables on the relationship between institutional pillars and EMA adoption in manufacturing companies in Libya.

The search for alignment of board gender diversity, the adoption of environmental management systems, and the association with firm performance in Asian firms

AbstractThis study examines how board gender diversity can address the challenges to adopt environment management systems (EMS) to improve firm performance. Firstly, drawing on gender socialization and diversity theories, higher board gender diversity motivates firms to adopt EMS. Empirical evidence shows that firms with gender diverse boards are greener. Secondly, the study investigates the maxim that green pays to be green. The empirical findings highlight a positive and statistically significant but economically modest link between EMS and firm financial performance. However, the inclusion of board gender diversity as moderator significantly improves the relationship between EMS and firm performance. In addition, CEO gender is linked to better performance only in firms with low female board diversity. The findings strongly recommend higher board gender diversity as a mechanism to address the challenges of EMS and firm performance simultaneously. The findings are robust to controlling for propensity score matching technique and are different in different approaches.

Assessment of the critical factors in ımplementing ISO 14001:2015 environmental management systems for developing countries: A case study for Sri Lanka

AbstractISO 14001:2015 is an international standard that specifies the requirements of environmental management systems (EMS). This study assessed the influence of top management commitment, applications of compliance and other requirements, operational control, monitoring and measurements, resource management and improvements as critical factors on successful implementation and the operation of the ISO 14001:2015, by considering organizations in Sri Lanka as a case study. A data collection was conducted via questionnaires and structured interviews from stakeholders who are directly responsible for the EMS such as environmental managers, quality mangers and general managers of the organizations, who are certified with ISO 14001:2015, and comparisons were undertaken. The statistical analysis of the critical factors has shown a significant positive effect on both large‐scale organizations and export‐oriented organizations on EMS implementation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the EMS adoption has created significant positive impacts on efficient energy and resource consumption within organizations.

Why Do Firms Voluntarily Adopt Environmental Management Systems? The Case of the Czech Republic

We examine why firms voluntarily implement environmental management systems. Employing the ISO 14001 management system and using firm-level data for the Czech Republic, we find that environmental management systems are typically adopted by large firms and by those firms that initially pollute the environment more. These systems are more commonly implemented by firms operating in service industries. On the other hand, we find little support that the adoption of environmental management systems is influenced by the firm’s financial performance and labor costs.

Driving sectoral sustainability via the diffusion of organizational eco‐innovations

AbstractUsing insights from institutional literature, the resource‐based theory of the firm, and internationalization, we explain variations in the diffusion of organizational eco‐innovations. Studies have previously reported that the drivers of eco‐innovation are regulatory pressures, technology push, market pull, and firm factors. But relatively little attention has been paid to nontechnological forms of eco‐innovation, such as environmental management systems (EMS). Consequently, how exactly to encourage EMS adoption across sectors is still unclear. We attempt to address this question by combining sectoral panel data (2009–2014) from a number of sources in Spain. The econometric analysis reveals that environmental policy is driving the adoption of ISO 14001 largely due to differences across sectors in energy and pollution intensity. In addition, the adoption of ISO 9001 increases the use of ISO 14001 in industry because of complementarities between the two systems. Third, in highly internationalized sectors, firms adopt a greater amount of ISO 14001.

The Adoption of Environmental Management Systems Based on ISO 14001, EMAS, and Alternative Models for SMEs: A Qualitative Empirical Study

The adoption of environmental management systems (EMSs) based on standards such as ISO 14001 and EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) has become very popular and the academic literature has studied the adoption of these standards extensively. However, the variety of ways in which EMSs are adopted and internalized has not been fully analyzed and the few studies that have analyzed this issue have focused on the analysis of the outcomes of just one of the main reference standards for EMSs, namely, ISO 14001. Considering this shortcoming in the literature, this work contributes to the empirical literature on the analysis of the adoption of standards for EMS by analyzing the case of the three main reference models used by organizations: ISO 14001, EMAS, and the alternative models for EMSs. The present work summarizes conclusions of interest for the different stakeholders involved in the adoption of EMSs. Implications for scholars and other stakeholders are discussed. It is recommended that further studies should focus on the analysis of the real effects of the adoption of the main standards for EMSs.

Ambidexterity, Alliances and Environmental Management System Adoption in Spanish Hotels

Competitiveness in the hotel sector and its effect on the environment involves integrating environmental issues in hotel management. Current environmental challenges often require firms to cope with contradictory processes. Ambidexterity is a firm’s capability to deal with conflicting demands and could be helpful in increasing a firm’s environmental management system (EMS) adoption. Furthermore, given the complexity of technological advances, environmental requirements demand inter-firm collaboration. The aim of this study is to further an understanding of how hotels can increase EMS adoption by providing a framework of the contributing effect of alliances and ambidexterity. Results from tests using logistic regression and bootstrapping techniques on a sample of 306 Spanish hotels confirm the importance of ambidexterity because of its positive and direct effect on EMS adoption, and because of the mediating effect, which helps transform the benefits of firms’ participation in strategic alliances into their adoption of EMS. This study contributes to the literature on ambidexterity by highlighting the importance for firms to develop this capability. It also contributes to a better understanding of the drivers of EMS adoption, introducing the integrated effect of hotel participation in alliances and ambidexterity. Hotel managers should endeavor to develop ambidexterity capability to facilitate EMS adoption.

The Role of Formal EMS on the Eco-Innovation-Environmental Performance Relationship

The adoption of environmental management systems (EMS) and eco-innovations have become common themes in business ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability literatures. Both phenomena hav...

Do environmental management systems help improve corporate sustainable development? Evidence from manufacturing companies in Pakistan

This study assessed whether the adoption of an environmental management system (EMS) as a part of an integrated management system (IMS) helps improve corporate sustainability based on the data for 211 manufacturing companies in Pakistan. A stakeholder-weighted CSR index and an equal-weighted CSR index were used to measure CSR performance of the selected companies. Descriptive t-test and exploratory factor analysis were employed to test the hypothesis and internal consistency. Structural equation modelling was used to measure various useful links between latent and observed variables. Results revealed that the mean CSR performance of EMS adopters was significantly higher than that of non-EMS adopters. Further, EMS adopters had positive and significant effect on soundness, environmental protection, fairness and contribution to society, whereas, the non-EMS companies had positive and substantial impact on employee satisfaction and economic contribution. In conclusion, EMS adoption can be an effective tool for organisations to address economic, social and environmental issues. Moreover, EMS adoption appears to be a viable means to develop business goals and improve CSR activities.

ISO14001 certification and operating performance: A practice-based view

Despite the growth of ISO 14001 a lot is still unknown about the impact of environmental management systems on firms' operating performance with much of the academic literature focusing on the financial, market and environmental benefits of ISO 14001. The research in this paper employs the practice-based view along with the event study methodology to determine whether firms can enhance operational efficiency through adopting replicable management practices prescribed under the ISO 14001 standard. This research involved examining performance for both certified and non-certified firms in the UK and Ireland. Whilst ISO 14001 was shown to have a positive and prolonged effect on certified firms' manufacturing cost efficiency, employee productivity, and return on assets, the sample firms' operating cycle displayed evidence of diminishing returns in the long-run. This study advances upon previous ISO 14001 research studies by applying the event study methodology and measuring the effect of environmental management system adoption through utilising operating performance metrics rather than relying on subjective measures of firm performance. Moreover, this research is important as few firms actually quantify the benefits of the ISO 14001 standard. However, the findings come with the caveat of diminishing returns for some operating indicators emphasising that firms can become overly efficient to the detriment of the initial operating speed gains.