In Search of ISO: An Institutional Perspective on the Adoption of International Management Standards

Abstract

This paper analyzes the determinants of the cross-national adoption of the international Environmental Management System standard ISO 14001 using a panel of 102 countries from 1996 to 2000. I use new institutional economics to develop hypotheses on the impact of the institutional environment on the cost of adopting the management standard.I also develop hypotheses using the institutional sociology perspective to address the role of the institutional environment in affecting demand and legitimation processes related to the standard. The results of the statistical analysis show that both rationales of cost minimization and legitimation play a role in the adoption of the standard. Using both theories improves our understanding of institutional forces affecting the early adoption of emerging management standards.2

Determinant factors of corporate environmental information disclosure: an empirical study of Chinese listed companies

“…Some emphasised external factors, such as regulative pressure, competitive mechanism and pressure from non-government organisations [7][8][9]. The others tried to observe the effects of organisational ability of environmental management from an enterprise's concrete characteristics such as the institutional structure, learning capacity and so on [10][11][12].…”

Why do standardized ISO 14001 environmental management systems lead to heterogeneous environmental outcomes?

“…ISO 14001 certifi cation is a process-based instrument with no performance requirements (Welch et al, 2002). As Delmas (2003) has emphasized, 'like ISO 9000, ISO 14001 does not focus on outcomes, such as pollution [reduction], but focuses on process'. 'The standard does not require fi rms to provide information to the public on their environmental performance.…”

Empirical analysis of determinants of adoption of proactive environmental strategies in India

“…Is the adoption of these strategies driven by potential business benefi ts or by institutional pressure? Some research has analyzed the adoption of environmental strategies under such regulation and competitive forces (Aragon-Correa, 1998;Christmann, 2000;Dean and Brown, 1995;Delmas, 2003;Hart, 1995;Nehrt, 1996Nehrt, , 1998Russo and Fouts, 1997;Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998) and pressure from non-governmental organizations (Lawrence and Morell, 1995). Other research has looked at the role of characteristics of fi rms in explaining the adoption of environmental strategies.…”

“…The focus group studies are conducted independent of each other, and each lasted for about an hour. The opinion drawn on key dimensions along with the important inputs from the available literature are clubbed together and the fi nal questionnaire is drafted by utilizing information obtained through focus group study and referring to previous work done on adoption of proactive environmental strategies (Aragon-Correa, 1998;Christmann, 2000;Dean and Brown, 1995;Delmas, 2003;Hart, 1995;Nehrt 1996Nehrt , 1998Prakash, 2001;Russo and Fouts, 1997;Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998).…”