Do stakeholder groups influence environmental management system development in the Dutch agri‐food sector?

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a survey that included 492 companies in the Dutch agri-food sector with respect to the influence of stakeholder groups on the companies' level of environmental management system (EMS) implementation. It is concluded that primary stakeholders (government, clients) are more relevant for EMS development than secondary stakeholders (such as environmental organizations). The results suggest that small and medium-sized companies are able to accommodate to demands with respect to the implementation of internally oriented care systems (I-EMSs). I-EMSs focus at the single firm or location. In general, they are predominantly influenced by governmental and other 'non-commercial' stakeholder groups. For the implementation of externally oriented EMSs (E-EMSs), which focus on the supply chain and network, qualitative rather than quantitative relationship characteristics between companies and the government are important. Moreover, commercial stakeholder groups (such as suppliers, clients and competitors) influence E-EMS levels significantly.

Exploring the Stakeholders Salience for the adoption the Principles and Tools of Cleaner Production in Brazil Companies

“…Organizations, in turn, will have to publish their environmental policies in their mission, vision and values statements, as an essential means to inform the general public. In Holland, for example, Bremmers et al (2007) write that the government exerts pressure on all companies for the implementation of a system of environmental management in the entire supply chain.…”

“…T h e t h re e f u n d a m e n t a l t y p e s o f stakeholders that influence the adoption of CP in companies are: (i) government, through public policies (Ashford & Caldart, 2001;Bremmers, Omta, Kemp, & Haverkamp, 2007;Ciccozzi, Checkenya, & Rodriguez, 2003;Chiu, 2011;Geng, Xinbei, Qinghua, & Hengxin, 2010;Gravrilescu, 2004;Taylor, 2006;Zeng, Xu, Dong, & Tam, 2010); (ii) economic agents, comprised of company managers (Guerina, 2006;Hoff & Thiell, 2014), clients (Bremmers et al, 2007) and shareholders (Ciccozzi et al, 2003;O'Rourke, 2003;Zeng et al, 2010), and; (iii) society, concerned with the future of the environment (Guerina, 2006;Taylor, 2006).…”

“…Small and midsized companies in the Netherlands were pressured into adopting an environmental management system by their clients and government, which Geraldo Cardoso de Oliveira Neto / Moacir Godinho Filho / Gilberto Miller Devós Ganga / Benny Kramer Costa included actions to ease pollution stemming from production. The primary goal was to include these influences in the supply chain and network (Bremmers et al, 2007). Regional Chinese governments played an important role in motivating local companies to adopt CP by providing financial subsidies through stimulus policies, including the opportunity to capacitate employees in environmental education (Geng et al, 2010).…”

Implications of Managerial Framing of Stakeholders in Environmental Reports

“…Sharma and Henriques (2005) identified the multiplicity of withholding influences (by regulators and environmental NGOs), usage influences (by customers) and employee influences (through involvement) were identified by managers. In addition to these influences, others were identified from internal, regulatory and supply-chain sources by Darnall et al (2009), whereas Bremmers et al (2007) found that primary stakeholders (such as the government and customers) are more relevant than secondary stakeholders such as environmental organisations. Delmas and Toffel (2004) identified customers, regulators, legislators, local communities and environmental activist organizations as influential stakeholders.…”

“…Researchers have noticed variations of stakeholder influence on EMS development (Bremmers et al, 2007) and they have shown industry-based differences in managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism. Accordingly, they have concluded that industries with high environmental impact have significantly greater levels of environmental orientation and strategy focus (Banerjee et al, 2003).…”