ISO 14001 as an Environmental Capacity Building Tool — Variations among Nations

Abstract

As a contribution to the long, ongoing debate regarding the effects of ISO 14001 on improving environmental performance of industrial facilities, this article focuses on ISO 14001 as an external environmental capacity (EC) building tool. It presents findings from a study of the effects of ISO 14001 within Israeli industry conducted through questionnaires and indepth interviews at all certified Israeli facilities. A comparative analysis of the Israeli findings with results reported from the US and Japan found that there were differences in implementation of ISO 14001 in regard to building external actors' EC. Janicke's "environmental capacity building," Gunningham, Kagan, and Thornton's "license to operate," and Potosky and Prakash's "club's goods" were applied to explain these differences. The argument offered claims that differences in the motivations of facilities to influence their ISO 14001 club's license to operate depends on society's initial EC. This suggests operation of a vicious cycle: whenever the effect of ISO 14001 is most required, it is the smallest. Recommendations for improvement are offered in the domain of the standard's specification.

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001: Towards a Research Agenda on Management System Standards*

“…Following an approach clearly related to that above, the phenomenon of meta‐standards has also been studied (especially in relation to ISO 14001) from the viewpoint of the theory of cartels and clubs which can be applied to voluntary programmes in which certifiable meta‐standards may also be included (particularly noteworthy for these purposes are the contributions from Diaye et al . (2007), Kerret (2008) and Potoski and Prakash (2004, 2005)). Basing their observations on the theoretical model proposed by Buchanan, Potoski and Prakash (2005) point out that, for companies, the benefits of membership (the so‐called ‘club goods’) are the excludable branding certification that allows members to publicize their club membership and thus claim credit for their pro‐environment activities.…”

Pre-paradigmatic status of industrial sustainability: a systematic review

“…The business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) "is concerned with the primary question of how organisations benefit tangibly from engaging in CSR policies, activities and practices" (Carroll and Shabana, 2010, p. 87;Eccles et al, 2010). It integrates the needs, aspirations and intrapreneurship of employees in the workplace to promote equity, development and well-being (Liu et al, 2012); adopts environmental ISO14001 standards (Kerret, 2008) and develops sustainable marketing strategies to promote environmental and social benefits and combat the negative impacts of consumerism (McDonald and Oates, 2006). As a complement to these individual and organisational-level inquiries, we also observe multi-organisation-level research on sustainable supply chains.…”

Voluntary environmental programs: A comparative perspective

“…To the extent VEP participation induces firms to follow the law, membership can yield environmental benefits that participants might not otherwise have produced. If this is indeed correct, then VEPs might hold substantial promise in developing countries where governments' capacity to make and enforce regulations is weak and the culture of compliance among firms is not well established (Espach, 2006; Graham & Woods, 2006; Kerret, 2008; Börzel & Risse, 2010). Even in developed countries, variation in the quality of compliance with the law suggests where VEPs can be helpful.…”