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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build upon the conceptual model developed by Feldman et al. (1997) that demonstrated a link between improved environmental performance and increased market value for publicly traded corporations. ISO 14000 standards, not yet established at the time of their study, provide the framework for a strategic approach to environmental management with an emphasis on continuous quality improvement. Consequently, ISO 14000 certification is used as the basis for creating an investment portfolio of publicly traded companies. While previous research has examined short-term stock market reactions to ISO 14000 certification, this study evaluates the longer term impact on shareholder value by comparing the ISO portfolio’s performance against other funds. It adds to the existing literature on the “pay to be green” question. Design/methodology/approach – The successful attainment of ISO 14000 certification is used as the basis for developing a portfolio that is followed over time in order to examine its value to shareholders. The portfolio consists of companies certified between 1996 and 2006, each added to the portfolio the month after its announced ISO 14000 certification date. The study covers the period from October 1996 through April 2011. Average monthly returns and standard deviations for a buy-and-hold strategy over various rolling periods (three, five, seven and ten year) are used to compare the ISO 14000 portfolio against the S&P 500 Index. In addition, the growth of an initial investment of $100,000 is tracked to compare the ISO 14000 portfolio against the S&P 500 Index and three other funds that are socially responsible and/or green (Domini Social Equity Fund (DSEFX), Winslow Green Growth Investment, and iShares KLD 400 Social Index). Findings – The ISO 14000 portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 Index as well as selected socially responsible and/or green funds in the growth of an initial investment over time. It also consistently provided higher average monthly returns (along with higher standard deviations) than the S&P 500 Index when using a buy-and-hold investment strategy over all rolling periods considered. Moreover, monthly returns for the ISO 14000 portfolio were found to be significantly higher, at the 0.05 level, than for those of the S&P 500 Index and the DSEFX. Research limitations/implications – Companies that attained ISO 14000 certification after 2006 were not included in the portfolio due to the inability to obtain a complete listing after that time. Furthermore, causality cannot be established by analyzing fund performance. Nonetheless, ISO 14000 certification as the basis for creating an investment portfolio appears to be a strategy that pays off in the long term. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the literature by examining longer term market reactions to ISO 14000 certification. The methodology employed has not been used in this context, although it has been used to examine the impact of ISO 9000 certification on stock prices. The findings support the argument that improved environmental performance is valued by the market and may provide long-term value for shareholders.

Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are programmes implemented by a company for the communities around its premises, for society at large, or for contributing towards environmental protection and conservation. An analysis of the reported Corporate Sustainability Initiatives for the top 100 companies revealed that more than 90% of these companies had developed codes of conduct as well as internal policies. Companies can adopt various voluntary principles and codes of conduct that are relevant to them and are designed for their specific sectors and industries. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed the ISO 14000 series and the ISO 9000 series for Environment Management System and Quality Management, respectively, which are certification schemes that can be applied by companies. Major manufacturing companies have their own research and development centres to conduct research on improving their manufacturing processes in order to conserve energy and water, remove toxic elements, improve packaging and product development, and so on.

We analyse the take-up by firms of internationally recognized standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. Based on an analysis of 11,668 firms in countries in Asia and Eastern Europe, we conclude that the probability of standard certification increases with firm size, is greatest in large cities and in manufacturing industries. There are other differences, including between countries. Given these differences, we argue that single generic standards for all firms may not be optimal and that there is a case for the simultaneous publication of differentiated standards targeted at different user characteristics.

The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families are among ISOs most widely known standards ever. ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards are implemented across various countries. While the ISO 9000 series details the quality concerns, ISO 14000 addresses issues related to environmental management. This chapter deals with the legal framework for carrying out ISO 14000 including audits and management reviews in addition to the risk and audit assessment techniques. OHSAS 18000 is an international occupational health and safety management system specification. It comprises two parts, 18001 and 18002, and covers OH&S policy. The reader will have a brief on the importance of OHSAS on reading this chapter.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PurposeIn an economic environment characterized in recent years by globalization and the integration of economic processes, standardization in management systems has had a high growth. In this context, there has been a remarkable increase in certain standards, or norms, issued by international organizations. Among these standards, two main groups stand out, both issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO): one for quality management systems – the family of ISO 9000 standards – and the other for environmental management systems – the ISO 14000 standards. This paper aims to analyze the world wide diffusion process of these two standards, using data provided by the ISO itself.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology proposed is developed in four separate phases. The first two analyze the diffusion model over time with a model based on the logistic curve proposed by Franceschini et al. The next two phases analyze whether the diffusion process has proceeded in a relatively homogeneous way in the different sectors of activity. In order to do that, the use of indices of concentration and instability has been carried out.FindingsThe conclusion is that the diffusion of both standards is very similar – in general and in terms of the different sectors. This result coincides with certain hypotheses formulated in the theoretical literature.Originality/valueThis is the first paper where it can be demonstrated that, world‐wide, both the ISO 14000 and the ISO 9000 standards have followed very similar patterns of diffusion in their expansion.

The ISO 9000 series of quality management systems standards is widely diffused, with more than 560,000 sites certified in 152 countries as of December 2003. Anecdotal evidence suggests that global supply chains contributed to this diffusion, in the following sense. Firms in Europe were the first to seek ISO 9000 certification in large numbers. They then required their suppliers, including those abroad, to do likewise. Once the standard had thus entered other countries, it spread beyond those firms immediately exporting to Europe to be adopted by many other firms in those same countries. This paper empirically examines the validity of this view of the role of supply chains in global diffusion of ISO 9000. To do so, we decompose the statement “supply chains contributed to the global diffusion of ISO 9000” into a series of four requirements that must be met for the original statement to be supported. We then use firm-level data from a global survey of more than 5,000 firms in nine countries to test the hypotheses that correspond to these requirements. Our findings are consistent with the view that part of the global diffusion of ISO 9000 did move upstream in global supply chains. In short, this means that firms that export goods or services to a particular country may simultaneously be importing that country’s management practices. We conclude by suggesting how these findings might form the basis for future research on the environmental management systems standard ISO 14000.

There has been growing criticism of financial measures in performance evaluation system in postreform India as they are historic in nature and lack futuristic outlook. Their relevance in the information age, when the companies are building internal assets and capabilities, is questioned. The situation may worsen when the firm is compelled to pursue short-term goals at the cost of the organization's long-term objectives. Kaplan and Norton developed an innovative and multi-dimensional corporate performance scorecard known as the Balanced Scorecard. It compels the firm to align its performance measurement and controls from the customers' perspective, internal business processes, and learning and growth perspectives and investigate their impact on the financial indicators. There are arguments that the Balanced Scorecard should be ‘unbalanced’ based on the strategy followed by the firm. The corporate experiences with the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard suggest mixed results. In this article, the authors a) identify the extent of the usage of the Balanced Scorecard by corporate India; b) explore whether Indian firms use all the four perspectives, namely, customer, financial, internal business, and learning and growth in their performance scorecard; c) capture the management motivations for implementation of the Balanced Scorecard; d) identify the key performance indicators in different perspectives of the performance scorecard; and e) evaluate the performance of the Balanced Scorecard as a management tool. The major findings of this study are as follows: The Balanced Scorecard adoption rate is 45.28 per cent in corporate India which compares favourably with 43.90 per cent in the US. The financial perspective has been found to be the most important perspective followed by customers' perspective, shareholders' perspective, internal business perspective, and learning and growth perspective. The environmental, social, and employees' perspectives also figure in it. The expense centre budgets, brand revenue/market share monitoring, profit centre, and transfer pricing mechanism are the other performance management tools used by the Indian companies. Corporate India monitors the indicators as per ISO 14000 norms in the environmental and social perspectives of the performance scorecard. The difficulty in assigning ‘weightage’ to the different perspectives and in ‘establishing cause and effect relationship among these perspectives’ has been found to be the most critical issue in the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard in corporate India. Most companies claimed that the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard has led to the identification of cost reduction opportunities in their organizations which, in turn, has resulted in improvement in the bottom line. Insights from such an analysis can be useful to both management practitioners and management accounting academics.

This study investigates the relationship between characteristics of environmental policy statements and the reputations of ISO 14001 registrars who had performed certification audits of firms operating in mainland China. Three characteristics of environmental policy statements were examined: (1) The conformance of the policy to strict interpretations of the international standard; (2) The policy statement's adherence to the good practice guidelines specified in ISO 14004; and, (3) Self-reported evaluations of the policy statement's effectiveness as implemented. Data from 106 facilities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou reveal that registrar quality has a relatively weak, positive relationship with conformance to both ISO 14001 standards and to ISO 14004 guidelines, but no relationship was observed with the self-reported data. Additional findings are that the use of foreign registrars is significantly associated with the adoption of ISO 14004 guidelines and that conformance with ISO 14001 standards is somewhat higher for international joint ventures and foreign-owned firms than for state-owned enterprises.

A remarkable disagreement/deviation between the rate of ISO 14001 registration and the rate of implementation of environmental impact assessment in the Chinese construction industry indicates that the contractors there might not have really applied environmental management (EM) in construction projects. This hypothesis has been tested in this paper by a mail questionnaire survey conducted to 72 main contractors in Shanghai, mainland China. The survey results indicate that there are five classes of factors influencing the acceptability of the ISO 14000 series of EM standards. Reasons why approximately 81% of contractors surveyed are indifferent to the ISO 14000 series are then analysed based on the critical classes. A linear discriminant model for decision‐making for construction companies on whether to accept the ISO 14000 series is developed.

The fast evolution of management systems standards ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 worldwide, from unknown entities to well‐established management practices, represents a facet of the global marketplace in which many firms operate. Over 400,000 firms in over 150 countries have adopted ISO 9000 since it was introduced in 1986. Its successor, ISO 14000, was introduced in 1996 and has already been adopted by over 30,000 firms in over 100 countries. Reports on the results of an ISO 9000/14000 mail survey, administered in four Far eastern countries including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan to explore and compare the similarities and differences of motivations, implementations and certification benefits among these countries. Survey data have been analyzed using the multivariate statistical methods and techniques such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, Kruskal‐Wallis test, etc. Several conclusions and suggestions are made based on the statistical analysis results.

Environmental law has developed rapidly in the twentieth century, but Britain lacks an environmental code. Cost of compliance is likely to rise rapidly as the number of statuary offences increases. Environmental legislation gives regulators the power to rectify damage caused by polluters. As a result companies need to develop effective responses. Environmental auditing (EA) is a sub‐set of corporate responsibility reporting of which there are a number of theoretical perspectives. However, ISO 14000 has recently emerged, which will determine organizations’ approaches to environmental reporting. EA imposes costs on organizations and many have found difficulty in implementing such systems. Some organizations see environmentalism as an opportunity to pursue a managerial agenda. If this is the case then EA may degenerate into a marketing tool.

Quality has been a key issue in Singapore's construction industry since the late 1980s. ISO 9000 certification is now compulsory for large construction enterprises and is an important feature of the industry. Following the global trend, environmental issues are gaining prominence in the country. A few companies have been certified to the ISO 14000 standard. It is predicted that this standard will have an impact which is similar to that of ISO 9000. Organisations are being urged to implement integrated management systems (IMS). A study was undertaken to assess the perceptions and expectations of contractors concerning ISO 9000 certification and the costs and benefits in practice. Contractors’ expectations of ISO 14000 certification were also ascertained, together with their environmental awareness, policies and current practices, and their views on measures which could promote its widespread adoption. The study was based on a postal survey. It was found that contractors had derived benefits from ISO 9000 but were driven by short-term cost-benefit considerations. Their attitude to ISO 14000 certification was generally similar. Suggestions for increasing the likelihood of a high uptake of ISO 14000, and IMS are made.

This article analyzes what motivates companies to obtain ISO 14001 certification and what factors within companies determine the success or failure of the environmental management standard. The most important motivators appear to be the worldwide recognition accorded the ISO 14000 norm, and its applicability to all sectors. The factors that most contribute to success are the company's experience in management systems and involvement by management. Failure most often results from lack of employee training and organizational rigidity. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Time to implementation is an essential measure of success in the implementation of ISO 14000 in organizations across the spectrum. Time delays are directly correlated to cost overruns and erosion of competitive advantage that is expected from successful implementation. A framework is developed that seeks to identify management practices that result in faster implementation of environmental management systems leading to certification. This paper identifies a set of management actions that impact on the speed of successful implementation of ISO 14000 environmental management systems to provide future managerial guidance. Management actions in the form of top management commitment, determination of customer driven specifications of quality and environmental friendliness, use of analytical tools, use of statistical process control techniques, support for “do it right the first time”, snowballing training experience across the entire workforce, cross‐functional teams, improvements in communication within teams and across the organization, and qualifications and quality of implementation team members are among those investigated. Size of the organization, size of the core implementation team, newness of the project and industry category, and impact on market performance is used for purpose of classification.

With the introduction of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 registration schemes in the past decade and a half, the application of quality and environmental audits has soared. Namely, the audits are used to verify compliance of quality and environmental management systems with the ISO standards. However, concerns have been raised in recent years about the usefulness of such an application for continuous business improvement, inconsistencies of audit processes and results, and the value of compliance audits in understanding complexities of business systems. In order to address concerns of a like kind, this paper advocates the implementation of the systems approach in auditing. The purpose is twofold. Firstly, it is to illustrate how various interrelationships among audit elements essentially form a unique, underlying, integrated and generic audit system. Secondly, the paper addresses the advantages of using the systems approach in auditing. This includes a more dynamic and adaptive audit, harmonization and integration...

An increasing number of corporations around the world are certifying their environmental management systems by ISO 14000 series standards. Advocates of ISO 14001 claim substantial operational, managerial, and competitive benefits for corporations that adopt the international guidelines. Critics contend that ISO 14001 does not ensure either legal compliance or continued performance improvements. They claim that at plants or facilities already complying with environmental regulations, ISO 14001 certification may merely be an image-building or public relations effort. Theoretically, ISO 14001 could serve as a comprehensive framework for significantly improving performance in a firm with minimal environmental management capacity (in a sense, a `panacea') or as a set of common sense guidelines for enhancing performance in a firm with regulatory compliant practices. Some firms may, indeed, simply use ISO 14001 as a `label' for image-building. The following Case Study of an operationally efficient and regulatory-compliant aluminum plant that certified its environmental management system under ISO 14001 guidelines in 1996 identifies the impacts three years later. Drawing on the literature of program evaluation, and using archival material, interviews with managers, and a concept mapping exercise, four sets of impacts were found of certifying the plant's environmental management system by ISO 14001 standards. They included improvements in (1) employee awareness, (2) operational efficiency, (3) managerial awareness, and (4) operational effectiveness. Many of the world's largest multinational corporations have certified their environmental management systems (EMS) under ISO 14000 standards during the past few years, and many other companies are in the process of doing so. ISO 14000, the International Organization for Standardization's guidelines for environmental management systems, has become the international benchmark by which corporations can voluntarily develop and assess their environmental practices. The ISO 14000 standards, approved in 1996, describe the components and characteristics of an effective system for managing a corporation's environmental impacts ( Tibor and Feldman, 1996 ). They offer a format for developing an environmental policy, identifying environmental aspects, defining objectives and targets, implementing a program to attain a company's goals, monitoring and measuring effectiveness, correcting deficiencies and problems, and reviewing management systems to promote continuous improvement. Some firms are using ISO 14000 guidelines to develop new environmental management systems, or adapting their environmental practices to the international standard, without formally certifying them. Other corporations, government agencies, and environmental interest groups are skeptical about the real impacts of ISO 14000 certification, and either ignore the guidelines or question their effectiveness in improving environmental performance (Krut, R. and Gleckman, H. 1998). But an increasing number of corporations are, through external registrars, formally certifying their EMSs based on ISO 14000 standards or the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Despite the growing interest in voluntary environmental management standards for industry, little empirical information exists and few in-depth case studies have been done on the effects of adopting an ISO 14000-certified EMS. Why and how do companies adopt voluntary EMSs? What impacts does ISO 14000 certification have on a plant or facility? How does certification affect the operations and management of a manufacturing plant? Is certification merely a formality, or does it change the way management and employees conceive of and deal with the environmental impacts of their operations? Are there significant benefits to companies that have certified their quality management systems under ISO 9002 of also certifying their environmental management systems under ISO 14001? In this article we assess the impacts of ISO 14000 certification through an in-depth case study of a plant that began preparing in 1995, more than a year before the international standards were officially approved. The analysis focuses on the Alumax aluminum ingot production facility, called Mt Holly, in South Carolina. Alcoa purchased the plant in 1998. This study traces the history of the ISO 14001-certification process at Alumax — which already had strong environmental practices in place and had earlier certified its quality management system under ISO 9002 — and analyzes its impacts. The case study demonstrates how the certification of a manufacturing facility affects both its operations and management processes. Data were derived from archival sources, from plant site visits, from interviews with key personnel involved in the development of Mt Holly's EMS, and from a concept-mapping exercise involving 15 of the plant's managers and pollution prevention team members. The researchers also interviewed environmental, health, and safety (EHS) managers at other Alcoa facilities and drew heavily on the program evaluation literature in applying the concept mapping exercise.

SUMMARY The ISO 14000 series of environmental standards is a relatively recent development in environmentally responsible manufacturing (ERM). It applies to environmental systems and processes the same approach used by its predecessor, the ISO 9000 quality standards. Being relatively new, numerous questions have arisen regarding the impact of these new standards on both the corporate environmental management system and corporate performance. This article addresses some of these questions by drawing on data generated by a large-scale survey of American managers. The results indicate that, even though ISO 14000 has achieved relatively limited acceptance, there is strong evidence to indicate that this series of standards can positively impact both the performance of the environmental management system as well as overall corporate performance. Further, it was found to outperform other ERM initiatives such as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 33/50 program.

Recently, a number of environmental laws and regulations have been enacted to hold organizations more accountable for their environmental responsibilities. The International Standards Organization (ISO), issued ISO 14000 environmental standards to assist entities worldwide in managing their environmental requirements and to ensure that their environmental policies and practices conform to their missions and goals. ISO 14000 environmental standards are divided into six categories: (1) environmental management systems; (2) environmental auditing; (3) environmental performance evaluation; (4) environmental labeling; (5) life‐cycle assessment; and (6) environmental aspects in product standards. These standards assist entities in preparing step‐by‐step implementation plans to adopt an adequate and effective environmental management system, conduct proper environmental audits, and successfully become registered to ISO 14001. This article presents a 15‐step process which accountantsshould suggest to their organizations to achieve ISO 14001 certification.

oluntary codes of conduct for firms and private standards-setting bodies are growing in number and are increasingly gaining recog nition and public status by states and intergovernmental organiza tions. This has led to a growth in what some have labeled as "mixed" regimes of a hybrid nature, whereby both states and private authorities are heavily involved in the creation and maintenance of international princi ples, norms, rules, and decisionmaking procedures. In such hybrid re gimes, the boundary between public and private spheres is blurred.1 In the environmental realm, the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards recently adopted by the International Organization for Standard ization (ISO) is illustrative of a hybrid private-public regime. These stan dards, intended to help firms take environmental considerations into ac count in all aspects of their operations by establishing an environmental management system (EMS) and other operation guidelines, were recently adopted by the membership of the ISO as official international standards. Though strictly voluntary for firms, the ISO 14000 standards are extremely important, as their impact goes beyond private industry. States are plac ing great hope in voluntary industry efforts to help improve environmental quality.2 The ISO 14000 standards in particular are being adopted by stan dards-setting bodies in some states, either whole scale or in part, as na tional EMS standards. Moreover, these standards are now recognized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as legitimate public standards and guidelines and in effect create an international ceiling for EMSs.3 Industry has also been very supportive of the ISO 14000 standards, as it hopes that adherence to them may preempt, or at least soften, present and future state determined environmental regulations.4 While industry-based voluntary environmental measures such as ISO 14000 have gained initial encouragement from public organizations, de bates have emerged over whether they are actually capable of meeting en vironmental goals such as the promotion of clean production processes in both industrialized and less industrialized countries, as outlined in Agenda 21. Industry advocates see these new environmental codes of conduct as

Reports the findings of a survey on ISO 9000 certified firms in Hong Kong conducted by the University Industrial Centre of the University of Hong Kong in August 1996. Findings suggest that while in general the number of firms certified to ISO 9000 had been increasing, the proportion of small and medium firms appeared to be quite stable. Most of the small and medium firms in both manufacturing and service sectors, and a large proportion of firms in construction sectors were certified in order to satisfy the customers’ demand. Certified firms achieved certain benefits in terms of relationship with existing customers, attracting new customers and internal operations management. The findings indicated that the certified firms need to improve their relations with their subcontractors. Total quality management (TQM) was widely adopted by the firms after they were certified. A good proportion of firms sought to implement ISO 14000.

Social Accountability (SA) 8000 is a newly recognized international standard governing the ethical sourcing for production of goods and services. A response to growing pressure on organizations to demonstrate non‐exploitative behaviour, its methodology is based closely on the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 management system standards.

A new set of environmental management and auditing standards will impact manufacturing companies. The authors explain the new standards, and then discuss what measures manufacturing firms are actually taking based on a survey. They also review the applicability of the new standards to publicly-held manufacturers.

Environmental damage caused by industrial activity and the scarcity of natural resources has induced governments to introduce more binding environmental regulations. However, there are problems with the introduction of the command and control approach, and with inducing industry to implement voluntary systems, such as national or international environmental certification schemes (ISO 14000, EMAS or BS 7750). Many authors have described the requirements of different certification schemes, the potential problems related with their adoption, and their potential impact on a firm's competitiveness. However, there are few empirical studies that analyse effectively the main consequences for firms, arising from the adoption of environmental certification. This paper identifies, through an empirical study, the Italian situation and, in particular (i) why a firm operating in Italy should adopt environmental certification, (ii) the firms that do certify, (iii) the implications for firms, and (iv) the effects on competitiveness arising from its introduction. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Corporate sponsorship of sporting and cultural events has emerged as a critical component of global promotion strategy. Global sponsorship by multinationals could be made more cost‐effective with similar and generally consistent taxation legislation worldwide. International environmental and quality management standards such as ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 are examples of global standards that have emerged due to the increasingly international nature of commerce. Describes the tax implications of corporate sponsorship utilizing the USA and Ireland as illustrative examples, provides general guidelines for other nations including the UK, and suggests that sponsorship regulations be made more consistent globally.

This paper explores the use of inspections or audits to monitor compliance with environmental standards, whether these are set by government agencies or as self-regulatory measures by business. The key issue studied here is the "privatization" of this auditing or inspection process through the use of third parties (the auditors). Such auditors are private (and likely profit-oriented) organizations that may be certified to undertake the task by the competent regulatory authority. We will focus, in particular, on the recent move to implement ISO 14000 environmental standards (and related EMAS standards in the European Union) through precisely this kind of process. The ISO 14000 standards are management system standards and not prescriptive technological or performance standards. Since it is clear that the latter standards also have an important role to play in achieving acceptable environmental performance in an economy, we discuss how the ISO standards might act as a lever for implementing other more detailed specification or outcome-based standards. The paper analyses the costs and benefits of relying on such market-based provision of auditing services at several levels: regulatory compliance and transactions costs at a regional or national level; business performance, including the potential for improved risk management and insurability conditions; and the impact on local community knowledge and welfare. It is argued that management system standards of the kind currently being developed under the ISO 14000 initiative have the potential to achieve a positive balance at all levels, but to do so such standards must emphasize measurable results and not just process and management system standardization.

Strategies for successfully managing environmental programs have been evolving during the last decade. As environmental programs have matured, the management strategies have moved from a regulation-based, compliance-driven, command-and-control basis to an environmental stewardship process heavily dependent on voluntary participation. This shift is viewed by many organizations as a benchmark for measuring the success of their environmental programs, and has led more than one group to develop standards that address what a “good” environmental management program ought to aspire to. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a worldwide federation of roughly 90 standards-setting bodies, forms technical committees (TCs) to develop international standards designed to facilitate trade. They chartered TC207 in 1993 to develop the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards. ISO 14000 gained final approval in late 1996. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was tasked in Executive Order 12856 of August 1993 with establishing a Federal Government Environmental Challenge Program, designed to recognize and reward outstanding environmental management performance in federal agencies and facilities. This is similar to the Environmental Leadership program proposed earlier in 1993 by EPA's Office of Enforcement. The program consists of three components which challenge federal agencies to: • Agree to a Code of Environmental Management Principles (CEMP); • Submit applications to EPA to recognize individual federal facilities as “Model Installations”; • Encourage individual federal employees to demonstrate outstanding leadership in pollution prevention. This article compares the ISO 1400 series standard with the CEMP and looks at how each answers three major questions facing federal agency environmental managers: 1. Will the standards help the agency maintain compliance with regulations? 2. What effects, if any, will implementing the standards have on operations? 3. Will the costs associated with implementation justify the benefits?

At long last, the ISO 14000 environmental auditing guidelines have been issued in final form and have been accepted in the United States and elsewhere as official national standards. The auditing guidelines consist of: Guidelines for environmental auditing—General principles (ISO 14010: 1996(E)) Guidelines for environmental auditing—Audit procedures—Auditing of environmental management systems (ISO 14011: 1996(E)) Guidelines for environmental auditing—Qualification criteria for environmental auditors (ISO 14012: 1996(E)) Unlike the environmental management system (EMS) standard (ISO 14001), the auditing guidelines are just that, guidelines. The ISO 14000 auditing guidelines are not long documents: ISO 14010 is three pages, ISO 14011 is five pages and ISO 14012 is three pages.

The ISO 14000 standards for environmental management systems (EMS) are voluntary standards intended to aid companies that wish to improve their environmental performance. The standards owe their existence, at least in part, to three widely shared views: (1) that existing environmental management systems are either inadequate or ineffective; (2) that companies will want to improve environmental performance for economic or social reasons; and (3) that governments and stakeholders will require companies to exercise greater control of the impacts to the environment through new regulations. ISO 14000 offers a solution—an „integrated” EMS, with components designed to effect sound management in any size organization and in any country. The standards are an embodiment of both the policy and practice of environmental management. This article is a consideration of the business implications of the ISO 14000 series of standards. How will a movement toward an integrated EMS be realized? Who will be in the best position to respond? ISO 14000 is a management system, and it carries with it business consequences.

The Environmental Auditing Roundtable (EAR) is the single largest professional organization in the world, representing over 900 members. Built on a tradition of promoting environmental auditing through openly sharing experiences in the field of safety, health, and environmental auditing, the organization in recent years has significantly expanded its influence on auditing practices both nationally and internationally by monitoring audit activities and participating in the development of audit policy, regulation, standardization, and the certification of environmental auditors. This article describes the origin and evolution of the organization from meeting the needs of the membership to addressing the needs of external national and international stakeholders.

Training has been an important component of the environmental audit profession since its outset some 15–20 years ago. Training and education have taken on a variety of forms—from audit texts and articles, to formal courses, to videotapes, to on-the-job training programs. These efforts have helped to advance the sophistication of environmental auditing over the past few years. Now, with the advent of the international ISO 14012 Environmental Auditor Qualification Guidelines,1 the auditing profession in the United States and around the world likely will be transformed in the near future. In fact, many organizations are now reengineering their programs in anticipation of the emerging Guidelines. The expected transformation holds for training and education programs as well. This article suggests some of the ways in which environmental audit training is likely to be reshaped as a result of ISO 14012. Offerors of training courses and seminars would be wise to anticipate the changes and modify their programs accordingly. A quick response could provide a competitive advantage. Moreover, corporate audit program managers should conduct critical evaluations of commercial offerings to assure that the programs' contents are consistent with ISO 14012 “auditor certification” expectations.