When case studies are not enough: the influence of corporate culture and employee attitudes on the success of cleaner production initiatives

Cleaner production is not only about changing raw materials, processes and products. It is also about changing corporate culture and the attitudes of people. An understanding of the dynamics of change within organisations undertaking cleaner production can help educators, consultants and project champions to improve the potential for success. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the range of key human dimensions that are potentially relevant to the success of cleaner production initiatives. The paper includes examples of the literature relevant to the subject as well as a summary of the results of research into elements of change within 22 organisations participating in a major cleaner production demonstration project in New Zealand. The research was designed to provide insight into changes in key indicators of environmental management and cleaner production, as well as elements of organisational culture and attitudes. For control purposes, a group of randomly selected organisations was also included. Organisations were surveyed before the start of the demonstration project and approximately a year later. Not surprisingly, results for the demonstration group show trends towards indicators of environmental management and cleaner production. Conversely, results for the control group indicate a trend away from environmental management and cleaner production. Trends in organisational culture and attitudes are less predictable. The paper provides a discussion of the implications of the results and suggests that organisational change theory should be incorporated into cleaner production research and programme development, implementation and evaluation.