Greening the campus of a Brazilian university: cultural challenges

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovana da Silveira Marques Pereira ◽  
Charbel Jabbour ◽  
Sonia V.W. Borges de Oliveira ◽  
Adriano Alves Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
The University

Purpose – This study examined the relationship between environmental management practices developed at a campus of a Brazilian university (University of Sao Paulo) and the greening of its organizational culture. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This article presents a theoretical background based on the concepts of environmental management, organizational culture and environmental management in higher education institutions. The main framework of this research is the model proposed by Harris and Crane. Findings – The studied university has an environmental management program that is sometimes constrained in the following ways: the university bureaucracy and hierarchy; the main performance indicators for lecturers and professors are based on scientific production and publication, giving them little time for complementary activities; and some units develop their own environmental management practices, but they are not disseminated as best practices for use by other units. Some academic units showcase the proactive actions of professors who incorporate environmental management into their daily activities. The general perception is that the phrase “environmental management” is almost synonymous with “solid waste management”. Originality/value – This research details the first Brazilian application of the Harris and Crane model. It contributes an original analysis of environmental management and “green” organizational culture of a Brazilian university, an organizational type that has seldom been studied to date.

Assessment of solid waste management practice in the university campus

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-575
Author(s):  
Saad Dahlawi ◽  
Mahmoud F. El Sharkawy
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Management Program ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

Purpose Municipal solid waste (MSW) consists mainly of several recyclable materials such as paper and cardboard. Inside the educational institutes, especially universities, MSW is generated from several facilities including offices and cafeterias. Without an effective management program, solid waste can have detrimental impacts on the environment. This paper aims to assess the solid waste management practices followed at the main campus of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam – Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach The MSW samples were collected from different sources inside the IAU campus such as the college buildings (such as the teaching rooms and staff offices), the administrative buildings and services buildings (e.g. the main library, the photocopying center, the restaurant and cafeteria) at least one time per week during a full academic term (January–May) of the academic year 2017–2018. The collected MSW samples were segregated into seven categories, and the net amount of each category and the overall weight of the MSW were determined once every week. The MSW samples were characterized for physical and chemical properties including moisture, carbon and ash contents. Food product waste (FPW) of the main university restaurant was studied separately. Findings Data on the composition of MSW samples revealed that 80% of wastes were recyclable, 19% as compostable materials, while only 1% of the materials were a non-recyclable waste. More than 73% of the recyclable materials include paper and plastic warranting dire need of an effective solid waste management program. The highest value of FPW was recorded for the breakfast meal. Originality/value Most of the waste generated from the university campus was recyclable type that needs to be handled carefully to avoid its mixing with other types of the waste stream. Waste characterization is an important tool that helps in understanding the amount and pattern of waste generation. It can be used as a decision-making tool for implementing sustainable waste management programs for universities.

Customer orientation and organizational innovation: the case of environmental management practices

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 835-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Pekovic ◽  
Sylvie Rolland ◽  
Hubert Gatignon
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Marketing ◽  
Customer Information ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to investigates the effect of three customer orientation components – customer information-processing, responsiveness and values and norms – on a firm’s decision to adopt environmental management practices. Consistent with the literature on strategy and industrial marketing, the authors also examine the moderating effect of marketplace characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a linear model on a sample of 4,324 French firms with ten or more employees. Findings Based on a large-scale survey of firms across industries, the results indicate that customer information-processing and values and norms directly contribute to the adoption of environmental management practices. Furthermore, the effect of customer information-processing is shown to be contingent on market competition. Practical implications The findings have direct practical implications. When managers recognize the importance and usefulness of customer orientation, they understand the need to formulate organizational strategies in terms of environmental management practices that reflect customer expectations. In addition, following the strategic fit approach, customer orientation should fit with the specific market environment to stimulate the adoption of environmental management practices. In other words, the findings are useful for managers, who can assess the specific environmental characteristics they are facing and align these with customer orientation to build competitive advantage. Originality/value The findings indicate that the different dimensions of customer orientation distinctly affect a firm’s decision to adopt environmental management practices. In this sense, the authors argue that they capture different facets of the customer orientation measure, which points to the importance of analyzing the dimensions of customer orientation separately. Furthermore, rather than analyzing aggregate measures of corporate social responsibility, the authors selected environmental orientation as a specific dimension, which has received less attention in the industrial marketing literature. Finally, the main findings mark an important contribution to the literature because they provide deeper insights into the conditions under which customer orientation dimensions drive the adoption of environmental management practices.

Environmental management practices, operational competitiveness and environmental performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 588-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Famiyeh ◽  
Ebenezer Adaku ◽  
Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah ◽  
Disraeli Asante-Darko ◽  
Charles Teye Amoatey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management practices (EMP) and competitive operational performance with respect to reduced cost, improved quality, improved flexibility and improved delivery as well as overall environmental performance, of firms, using data from a developing country. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a survey approach with responses from 164 informants from different industries and used partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between EMP and competitive operational performance and their overall impact on the environmental performance of firms. Findings The results indicate that EMP by firms have a significant positive effect on firms’ competitive operational performance. Again, firms’ competitive operational performance has a partial positive effect on the overall environmental performance. It was also realized that the EMP initiated by a firm have a direct positive impact on the overall environmental performance of the firm. Research limitations/implications There is the need for organizations to take steps to plan and implement EMP since it is likely to enhance their competitive operational performance as well as their overall environmental performance. Practical implications The findings demonstrate the impact of EMP on competitive operational performance as well as on the overall environmental performance of firms. This is important as firms struggle with balancing investments in those practices against the perceived benefits that might be obtained from the practices. Originality/value The work provides insights and adds to the literature in the area of EMP and firm performance by providing evidence from a developing country environment. This study is among the few that have investigated the impact of EMP on firm performance in developing country environments.

Determinants of environmental accounting and reporting practices in Portuguese local entities

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Paula Ribeiro ◽  
Cristina Aibar-Guzmán ◽  
Beatriz Aibar-Guzman ◽  
Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Regulation ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Determining Factors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop environmental accounting and reporting practices (EARPs) by Portuguese local entities and their determining factors. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained through a postal survey. In order to measure the degree of development of environmental accounting and reporting practices index was developed, which reflects the extent to which a set of eight EARPs have been implemented by the 69 Portuguese local entities included in the sample. Three variables are considered in this study as possible factors that drive the development of environmental management practices (EMPs) by local entities, namely, size of entity, accounting framework, degree of development of EMPs. Findings – Results indicate the degree of development of EARPs in Portuguese local entities is low. Additionally, accounting regulation and the degree of development of EMPs are explaining factors of the degree of development of environmental accounting practices in Portuguese local entities. Originality/value – This study adds to the international research on environmental accounting in public sector by providing empirical data from a country, Portugal, where empirical evidence is still relatively limited.

Stakeholders, reward expectations and firms’ use of the ISO14001 management standard

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 830-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayna Simpson ◽  
Robert Sroufe
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Standards ◽  
Stakeholder Pressure ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Pls Modeling

Purpose – An ongoing challenge for managers is to define and benefit from their firm's environmental management practices. Firms that seek stakeholder recognition of their practices, or face stakeholder pressure for evidence of improvement, increasingly use management standards such as ISO14001. Such standards, however, may encourage firms to use more reportable rather than embedded environmental management practices. Why some firms use environmental management standards to improve practices relative to firms that use them to deflect attention, is an important research question. As paper proposes, stakeholder pressure on firms for improved practices can interact with firms’ expectations of related rewards to influence environmental management outcomes. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The intention was to identify significant differences in stakeholder focus and each firm's environmental management practices, between ISO14001 certified and non-certified firms. The paper explored the propositions with a sample of US manufacturers. The paper used a PLS modeling approach. Findings – The paper identified links between firms with a greater regulative stakeholder focus, to greater use of reportable practices (pollution reduction). Firms with a greater normative stakeholder focus were linked to greater use of embedded practices (policies and pollution prevention). Originality/value – This study is one of the first to assess differences that distinguish between both stakeholder type and choice of environmental management practices. Further, the paper grouped firms’ practices according to their emphasis on either rewards of stakeholder recognition or internal operational benefit. As other studies have identified, firms do not necessarily adopt environmental management standards for their goals of practice improvement. The study contributes to use of stakeholder theories to understand firm level adoption of and benefit from environmental management practices.

Implementation of environmental management practices in the Ghanaian mining and manufacturing supply chains

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1091-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Famiyeh ◽  
Amoako Kwarteng
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Using Data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the driving forces of environmental management practices in mining and manufacturing firms using data from Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Prior exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, based on questionnaire survey data, were used to study the driving forces of environmental management practices in the extractive and manufacturing firms using institutional theory. Findings Environmental management practices by organizations in Ghana are driven by regulatory and the mimetic pressures. Normative pressure has no significant effect on environmental management practices. The authors found no difference between the extractive and the manufacturing sectors as far as the results are concerned. Research limitations/implications The results indicate the importance of regulatory bodies in developing good environmental policies that are implemented and monitored in order to achieve improved environmental performance. Effective implementation of environmental policies is likely to motivate other firms to mimic the actions of implementing organizations. One limitation of this work is the use of data from Ghana. It is important for other researchers to assess these relationships using data from a wider geographical area. Practical implications The results indicate that organizations implement environmental management practices as a result of coercive and mimetic pressures. In practice, it is therefore important for the regulatory bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency Ghana, to be very innovative in developing good environmental regulations that are monitored to ensure implementation by all polluting sources. This is because the results indicate that the monitoring of regulations by regulatory bodies seems to be connected to the implementation of these regulations. Such implementation is also expected to be benchmarked by other firms, thereby influencing the “greening” agenda in Africa. Originality/value The study illustrates and provides some insights, and builds on the literature in the area of green supply chain strategies for a developing country’s environment. This is one of the few studies that investigate the driving forces of environmental management implementation using the institutional theory based on data from the African business environment.

Toward a holistic understanding of sustainability in corporations: Resource-based view of sustainable supply chain management

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozlem Ayaz Arda ◽  
Frank Montabon ◽  
Ekrem Tatoglu ◽  
Ismail Golgeci ◽  
Selim Zaim
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Management Practices

Purpose While the three interconnected aspects of the triple bottom line -environmental, social and economic sustainability- are well-established, these aspects have insufficiently been addressed together in the supply chain management literature. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether environmental and social performance mediates the relationship between environmental management practices and operational performance and whether operational performance mediates the relationship between environmental and social performance and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a data set of 208 firms operating in a wide range of manufacturing industries, the authors test the hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The research context for the study is Turkey, an important emerging market and one of the nexuses of European and Asian supply chains. Findings The findings indicate that all three aspects of sustainability have mutually supportive relationships as demonstrated by positive mediating mechanisms between environmental management practices and operational performance and between environmental and social performance and financial performance. The mediation results correspond with the resource-based view. They indicate that building up capabilities and resources in the form of environmental management practices supports three areas of the triple bottom line and boosts firms’ financial performance. Originality/value Research on sustainability is well-established, yet supply chain management research has, thus, far paid insufficient attention to all three aspects. This paper, thus, sets itself apart by explicitly considering all three aspects of sustainability and contributes to understanding how they relate to one another.

Environmental performance, environmental management and company valuation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Abrams ◽  
Seungmin Han ◽  
Mehdi Tanzeeb Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Performance Criterion ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Company Valuation ◽  
Environmental Goals

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between environmental performance and management and company valuation. With a specific focus on company valuation, this study shows how a firm’s environmental activities, including its environmental management practices, are perceived and valued by its stockholders. Design/methodology/approach Newsweek’s green ranking data between 2014 and 2016 were used to support this analysis. Environmental performances and environmental management practices of 345 Fortune 500 companies from various industries were included in the data set. Findings The analysis finds higher valuations for US companies that are more efficient in managing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, it empirically shows that investors place a higher value on companies with the following environment-related management policies: initiatives that reward top management for achieving environmental goals and third-party auditing of environmental performance. Originality/value By incorporating corporate environmental management practices as an additional environmental performance criterion, this research fills a gap in the literature on the potential relationship between corporate environmental performance and company valuation.

scholarly journals Environmental management practices and environmental performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 1201-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wantao Yu ◽  
Ramakrishnan Ramanathan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Marketing Capability ◽  
Organizational Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Functional Capabilities ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Environmental Capability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an initial analysis of the roles of functional capabilities in adopting environmental management practices (EMP) and improving environmental performance from an organizational capability perspective. Design/methodology/approach – By combing survey data and archival data from 121 UK-based manufacturing firms, this study explores the relationships among functional capabilities (marketing and operations), EMP and environmental performance. Findings – The results show that marketing and operations capabilities significantly affect EMP, which in turn leads to improved environmental performance. More specifically, this study finds that EMP fully mediates the relationship between marketing capability and environmental performance. Practical implications – The results of this study provide guidance for managers considering how to develop environmental capability in order to improve environmental performance. Originality/value – This study addresses a demonstrable gap in the existing literature that few empirical studies have explored the potential effects of functional capabilities on implementing EMP.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document