Modelling the impact of ISO 14001 on environmental performance: A comparative approach

Abstract

Studies analyzing the effects of ISO 14001 certification and determinants of environmental performance tend to be based on a traditional and instrumental model of efficiency. Using structural equation modelling developed through a survey of 303 organizations, this paper compares the validity of this instrumental model with two alternatives models: the legitimacybased model and the hybrid model. The findings question the efficiency of ISO 14001 and show that the traditional model does not explain the environmental performance of the surveyed organizations. Study results show that the legitimacy-based model, which questions the efficiency of ISO 14001 certification, is more pertinent in explaining the environmental performance but leads to a rather critical view of management practices. The development of a hybrid model based on the principal hypotheses of the legitimacy-based model, but integrating certain managerial and operational practices distinct from ISO 14001 certification, results in a less critical and more pertinent view of the determinants of environmental performance. Study results suggest that this hybrid model provides the best data fit.

The Nature of Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors

“…To respond to these pressures in implementing environmental management practices such as the ISO 14001 standard, organizations are mostly driven by the desire to improve their social legitimacy, rather than their environmental performance. As a result, these practices are often superficial, ceremonial, and do not necessarily translate into concrete pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace (Boiral, 2007b;Boiral & Henri, 2012;Christmann & Taylor, 2006). For example, in his case study among facilities certified to ISO 14001, Boiral (2007b) illustrated how the integration and implementation of this standard inside certified organizations is superficial, and what role of employees' behaviors play in improving its effectiveness.…”

“…Although Ramus and Steger are among the pioneers in this area, the focus of their definition on the improvement of environmental performance of the company seems too restrictive. First, the concept of environmental performance is both vague and controversial (Boiral & Henri, 2012). Second, pro-environmental behaviors can have a nonmeasurable impact or may concern issues not directly related to the company activities, such as riding a bicycle to work instead of taking the car.…”

A Novel Environmental Performance Evaluation of Thailand’s Food Industry Using Structural Equation Modeling and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Techniques

“…Notably, numerous studies have demonstrated that quality management has positive and significant effects on environmental performance [1,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49].…”

ISO 14001 y variables económicas, ¿hay alguna relación? Análisis de las empresas certificadas del sector cerámico español

“…Pero, además de generar beneficios debidos al control de los procesos y a la generación de información interna específica (12), son ya muchos los autores que apuntan a la mejora no sólo de indicadores operacionales, sino a la influencia que los sistemas de gestión medioambiental tiene sobre el control de costes y la mejora de la imagen de la compañía (13)(14)(15)(16), lo que se traduce en un incremento de los resultados económicos (17). La implantación de la norma ISO 14000 y cómo afecta al comportamiento empresarial se ha estudiado en diversos sectores a nivel internacional como el metalmecánico (18), A. PEIRó-SIgNES, M. SEgARRA-OÑA, J. MONDéJAR-JIMéNEz, M. VARgAS-VARgAS mantener o crear ventajas competitivas (8).…”

“…Este resultado puede tener importantes implicaciones a nivel empresarial, ya que parece que una vez realizado el esfuerzo y la inversión y obtenida la certificación, se desaprovechan las oportunidades de mejora de resultados que la ISO 14001 como sistema de gestión medioambiental podría ofrecer a la empresa, como el incremento de información, reducción de costes o el control en el uso de los recursos energéticos, entre otros (8,11,12,16,17,23,56).…”