Evaluating Association Between Implementation of Iso 14031 Guidelines and Iso 14001 Certification by Industrial Sector in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Conflicting research results regarding the application of environmental management systems on the environmental performance of industrial organizations between positive, negative, and no effect made studying this relationship a complex research problem. This study aimed to assess the extent of the commitment of industrial organizations in Saudi Arabia in applying ISO 14031:2013 guidelines to evaluate environmental performance and to study the association between the guideline implementation by ISO 14001:2015 certified and uncertified organizations. Using the descriptive approach, the association was identified between 13 independent variables representing ISO 14031:2013 guidelines for environmental performance evaluation and ISO 14001:2015 certification based on a 596 organizations survey conducted from May to December 2020, in addition to comparing the results of the study with similar studies. The results showed a medium positive correlation of ISO 14031 measurement variables with ISO 14001 certification. The study answered the question concerning the association of implementing of ISO 14031 guidelines to evaluate the environmental performance of ISO 14001 certified or uncertified organizations. Limited resources organizations should focus on monitoring environmental indicators and concentrate of planning activities to ensure the organizations uses environmental condition indicators data efficiently. Future studies are necessary to determine causal relationships, to develop specific environmental performance measures, and to integrate ISO 14031 in ISO 14001.

Industrial Sectors’ Perceptions about the Benefits of Implementing ISO 14001 Standard: MANOVA and Discriminant Analysis Approach

“…A number of studies have demonstrated the advantages that firms may achieve by adopting ISO 14001; most of them categorize the benefits as environmental management (EM), environmental indicators (EIs), and environmental awareness and social aspects (EA) [2,3]. Unfortunately, ISO 14001 literature does not agree on the effect of adopting the standard on the environment [4]. Furthermore, few research works have investigated the drawbacks of implementing the standard and showed that the cost of adopting ISO 14001 could be high [5].…”

“…While some researchers view a positive relationship between adopting ISO 14001 and business EIs, others argue that there is no effect between ISO 14001 certification and some EIs [4]. Regarding the EM dimension, it includes four benefits, rigor and effectiveness of practices (EM01), regulatory compliance (EM02), greener supply chain (EM03), and documentation control (EM04) [3].…”

Implementing ISO 14001 and Environmental Performance Evaluation: A Logistic Regression Model

“…It takes the level of 1 when the company is ISO 14001certified and the level of 0 if the company is not certified. The explanatory variables represent the guidelines outlined in ISO 14031 (see the measuring tool given in [3]). The model was developed and evaluated based on an α of 0.05 in terms of fit measures, model coefficients, and predictive measures.…”

“…To scale EPEs in the Saudi industry, ISO 14031 was utilized. A questionnaire that was scaled as either 0 or 1, as listed in [3], was developed based on the requirements of the ISO 14031 standard and emailed to the selected companies. The questionnaire constructs comprised 13 items characterized by three descriptor variables: utilizing information and data, planning for EPEs and reviewing and improving EPEs [45].…”

The Importance of the Circular Economy Concept among Organizations within the Food Sector and a Management Systems Perspective

“…The implementation of an EMS improves the environmental performance of the organization by implementing better technologies, which include, among others, the protection of natural resources [38]. Moreover, the implementation and certification of an EMS in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard contributes to reducing the amount of waste generated [39]. ISO 14001 contains requirements whose application in an organization allows for minimizing the negative impact on the environment by reducing pollutants and emissions [40].…”