Relation between management's behavioural intentions toward the environment and environmental actions

Drawing on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour, this paper analyses whether there is a relation between management's behavioural intentions toward an environmental problem and the company's specific actions in this area, and also considers the impact of the company size on these actions. For the data, a questionnaire was sent to 184 managers employed in industrial companies located in Spain which belonged to the automobile industry. The empirical analysis produces positive and significant regression coefficients and provides support for the hypotheses proposed. Specifically, the results show that the environmental actions carried out in the company respond at least in part to management's behavioural intentions toward these issues and the size of the firm.     

Analysis of Cleaner Production Practices in a Printing Company in Brazil

This article presents an analysis of the application of a cleaner production program within a Brazilian printing company and describes its specific characteristics to propose a benchmark for similar efforts at other companies. As a result, a very number of improvement opportunities (136) were identified, indicating that the printing industry needs to make reasonable, collective efforts to ensure that companies' environmental systems reach international marks.     

Support for First Nations' Land Claims amongst Members of the Wilderness Preservation Movement: The Potential for an Environmental Justice Movement in British Columbia

Abstract

In this paper we examine the relationship between identification with the environmental movement and support for First Nations' land claims in order to determine the potential for an environmental justice movement in British Columbia. The findings are based on survey data collected from members of a wilderness preservation movement organization based on Vancouver Island. The findings demonstrate that the stronger an individual identifies with the environmental movement, the more s/he supports linking First Nations' land claims to conservation campaigns. We conclude by proposing that the wilderness preservation movement could increase its mobilization potential and widen the scope of the movement by including First Nations' issues in their campaigns. It could do this by expanding its frame to include issues of environmental justice, thereby connecting environmental protection and fair access to resources.     

ESG表现、财务状况与系统性风险相关性研究——以沪深A股电力上市公司为例

环境、社会及公司治理(ESG)数据有助于认识我国企业的环保行为,同时也有助于深化对近年来企业经济行为的理解。本文立足于坚持绿色发展的现实背景,实证研究了财务状况、系统性风险对我国电力上市公司ESG表现的影响。研究发现:由于投资者与企业管理者对社会责任的忽视,电力企业系统性风险无法影响其ESG表现。研究还发现,较好的偿债能力、盈利能力和合理的资本结构可以促进公司ESG表现,但良好的营运能力会使公司忽视可持续发展的重要性。本文将系统性风险与电力行业ESG研究相结合,为未来的扩展研究提供了新的角度,并就加强信息披露监督、继续深化绿色市场发展提出了建议。     

Creating successful partnerships with hazardous waste providers

Baxter Healthcare's Cardio Vascular Group (CVG) has formed a partnership with Advanced Environmental Technical Services (AETS, formerly called AETC), an 18-year-old environmental services company based in Flanders, New Jersey. With annual revenues of nearly $100 million, AETS is the largest privately owned environmental service company of its kind. Creating a partnership with providers of hazardous waste services has become necessary for many companies that find themselves downsizing and focusing their limited resources on their core businesses. More than merely waste haulers, hazardous waste management companies are being called on to train employees, develop environmental budgets, and even serve as on-site waste managers. AETS and Baxter Healthcare's CVG have created such a partnership and have successfully reduced Baxter's hazardous waste production by 56 percent since 1992. The lessons learned from this partnership are reported in this article.     

CHEAP POWER - AN EXPENSIVE FAILURE: HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN NEWFOUNDLAND1

ABSTRACT By creating the 459,000 kW Bay d'Espoir h.e.p. scheme, the Newfoundland government hoped that the consequent doubling of the island's electricity supply would not only eliminate a deficite situation but provide power for industrial development. These hopes have not been fulfilled, and only one company, producing elemental phosphorus, was attracted to the island by the government's ‘cheap power’ policy. In addition to the continuing power subidy, this company received considerable federal and provincial incentives by locating its plant in Newfoundland. To these direct financial costs have to be added the environmental destruction and deterioration stemming from the h.e.p. development and the haste with which its construction was undertaken, and the catastrophic pollution problem created by effluent from the phosphorus plant. The costs of the ‘cheap power’ policy have been, and continue to be, massive for Newfoundland, Canada's poorest province. Further, the policy has made little or no impact on the small job market and the very large unemployment problem.     

Norway's offshore petroleum industry

During the past decade, Norway has become an important oil and gas producer. Annual production is six times national consumption. Development policies of the national government have been cautious, and future policies will probably follow a similar pattern. The government recently opened offshore areas poleward of 62°N latitude, a decision likely to have a significant impact on Norway's future as an oil producer. Norway maintains a tight reign on foreign oil company participation, domestic downstream processing of crude, oil company taxation and oil revenue investment within the national economy. Norway's large inflow of oil-related capital investments and production revenues have contributed to significant inflation and to changes in local labour supplies. Norway has always used its petroleum industry to further the country's overall development goals, a policy that will continue in the years ahead.     

Carpet take‐back: EPR American style

Unlike most industrial sectors in the United States, the carpet industry has begun voluntarily to take responsibility for its products once their useful life is over. How do these voluntary efforts compare to the mandatory extended producer responsibility requirements now prevalent throughout Western Europe and Asia? © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The sections “Recycling by Fiber Producers” and “Recycling by Carpet Mills” © 2000 INFORM, Inc. Used with permission.     

Government and voluntary policymaking for sustainability in mining towns: A longitudinal analysis of Itabira,Brazil

The socio‐economic fabric of single‐company mining towns needs to be carefully considered by both Government and companies in sustainability policymaking. Policy design and effectiveness in such towns are significantly impacted by the city's economic dependence on a single company. This paper explores the perceived effectiveness of government and voluntary private sector mining policies for pursuing sustainability in the historic mining town of Itabira, Brazil over a period of 20 years. Itabira serves as a worthwhile case study because it allows for an in‐depth and longitudinal analysis that can reveal valuable lessons to policymakers of different sectors and jurisdictions located elsewhere. Based on extensive face‐to‐face interviews and literature reviews, study results indicate that changes to the state environmental licensing policies in the 1990s led to significant socio‐environmental improvements in the area. The globalization of the mining company also contributed to an increase in the quantity and quality of voluntary industry policies. Recent technological improvements in the beneficiation processes of the mining company promises to extend the life of the mine to 2050. Although there are significant incremental socio‐environmental policies and programmes, sustainability remains an elusive vision in Itabira, with no clear objectives or monitoring and accountability mechanisms. The paper concludes by recommending a more formal integrated policymaking framework.     

The use and abuse of scientific studies

In response to Evelyn Pluhar'sWho Can Be Morally Obligated to Be a Vegetarian? in this journal issue, the author has read all of Pluhar's citations for the accuracy of her claims and had these read by an independent nutritionist. Detailed analysis of Pluhar's argument shows that she attempts to make her case by consistent misappropriation of the findings and conclusions of the studies she cites. Pluhar makes sweeping generalizations from scanty data, ignores causal explanations given by scientists, equates hypothesis with fact, draws false cause conclusions from studies, and in one case claims a conclusion opposite of what the scientist published. Such poor reasoning cannot be the basis of an argument for moral vegetarianism. A broader search of the literature and attention to reviews and textbooks in nutrition shows that each of Pluhar's claims is suspect or incorrect. Pluhar has not undermined my central claims: even if animals have certain rights and well-planned vegetarian diets are safe in complex industrialized societies, these diets cannot be so regarded if the presuppositions of high levels of wealth, education, and medical care do not exist; and, women, children, the aged and some ill persons are at greater risk on restrictive vegan diets. Thus, any duty of moral vegetarianism is not categorical but provisional in nature.     

Community concerns about landfills: A case study of Hanoi,Vietnam

This paper examines the nature of community concerns about a landfill in Hanoi, Vietnam and compares these concerns to those found in studies of North American landfills. Based on a survey of 174 households living near Hanoi's landfill, it was found that concerns were uniformly high within the study area. Although the community initially believed the proponent's claims that the landfill would not pollute the environment, their faith in those claims disappeared once the landfill opened and began to produce numerous negative impacts on the community. Residents called for a variety of technical, management and economic measures to mitigate these impacts.     

The benefits of proactive environmental quality: Tips from a successful small business

Who says environmental quality has to cost a bundle? Or that it's out of reach of the typical smaller company? In fact, says this article, a proactive environmental quality program offers significant cost-avoidance opportunities and can allow a company to reap positive public relations rewards. The combination of a total quality production program and a proactive environmental quality program is a formidable force for success. And you don't have to be a big company to be an environmental leader.© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

THE EVOLUTION OF TEXAS WATER LAW AND THE IMPACT OF ADJUDICATION1

Texas' surface water law began its evolution during the Hispanic period of occupance. Later, the English riparian doctrine was adopted, and finally, in the late 1800's, the prior appropriation doctrine was superimposed, resulting in an exceedingly complex dual system. Though the judiciary, legislature, and state water agencies have wrestled with the problem of coordinating these diverse water rights and more accurately delineating and measuring riparian rights and water use since early in this century, until recently all attempts were unsuccessful. The unknown riparian element, in particular, made coordinated and efficient management and administration of the state's surface water resources impossible. Finally, measurable progress toward solution of these problems began in 1967 with passage of the Water Rights Adjudication Act, aimed at identifying all unrecorded surface water rights claims and eventually merging all claims into the permit system. This paper examines the gradual evolution of Texas' curious blend of Hispanic-English riparian rights and later appropriate rights; discusses the resultant problems of water resource administration; and traces the progress of the ongoing water rights adjudication, a lengthy, expensive, and complex procedure, which should eventually make possible more efficient administration of all surface water rights.     

An integrative framework for sustainable supply chain management practices in the oil and gas industry

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the contextual factors of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the O&G industry. It is based on a literature review of studies related to SSCM of O&G topics. The review reveals that there is a lack of SSCM research specific to the industry. Present studies focus on individual stages of its supply chain and do not consider all dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, environmental and social factors. In addition, existing frameworks lack important contextual aspects of the industry's business and organizational environment. To address these gaps, our research develops an overarching framework operationalizing the internal and external contextual factors of the O&G industry environment that can influence the outcome of its SSCM practices. The proposed framework is useful as a tool in the formulation and implementation of SSCM strategy that enables alignment of a company's internal capabilities with its external environment.     

Patagonia struggles to reduce its impact on the environment

Patagonia designs and distributes clothing for active use in the outdoors, and many of the people who work for Patagonia are avid climbers, skiers, surfers, and hikers. If the environment is destroyed, there will be no place for Patagonia's customers and employees to use its products. The types of products Patagonia makes and the personal commitment to the environment of its founder and employees make it unique. In the past few years, Patagonia has been systematically reviewing how the company's products and operations affect the environment. This article shows that even with Patagonia's unusual connection to the environment, the company is still finding that total quality environmental management is not easy. It takes analysis, planning, follow-through, and measurement; and even then, not all environmental efforts are successful.     

Challenges of transformation: The case of Norilsk Nickel

As Russia’s largest mining company, Norilsk Nickel was for much of its history an archetypal Soviet institution. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent prolonged economic crisis, in 2001 new management came into the company with the objective of transforming the company into a modern global corporation. In the years that followed, management pushed through a series of radical changes to the organisation and its operations. Simultaneous with these changes, the company extended its asset base in Russia and acquired assets outside the country. The progressive direction of the company was, however, taking it further and further out on a limb and the programme of transformation was not being matched and supported by public policy and regulation. Pressures came to a head in the middle of 2008 when a change in the structure of company’s ownership and a collapse of metal prices combined to bring about increased involvement of the state in company’s affairs and a more national emphasis to its strategic orientation.     

Stakeholder trust: How do I get it?

A damaged corporate environmental reputation can cost your company business—and may take years to overcome. Building stakeholder trust should be central to every firm's corporate strategy in today's environmentally conscious world. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

3M international environmental management system

To meet the changing needs of 3M's expanding worldwide operations, its International Environmental Operations group is striving to enhance and integrate a global environmental management system. When well-designed, such systems not only can function to guarantee compliance with environmental regulations but also serve to help the company reap the benefits of going “beyond compliance.” They can also prepare facilities to meet the requirements of international standards, such as ISO 14000 or EMAS. An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a necessary step toward achieving sustainable development and gaining competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The challenge of constructing such a system can seem daunting to a multinational company confronted with the spectrum of regional environmental regulations/directives and its own diversity of business and social cultures. This article describes the development and implementation of the 3M International Environmental Operations global EMS initiative.     

COSTS AND EFFECTS OF A WATER PROGRAM FOR A SMALL STRIPPING COMPANY-SOUTHEASTERN OHIO1

The purpose of the study was to use economic analysis in determining the ability of a small strip mining company to incure the financial burden of carrying out various alternative mine drainage abatement programs. The quantity and quality of water with which the company has to deal were determined and treatment and diversion programs were costed out. The company's market area and the market structure were analyzed. It was found that pricing policies were determined by a dominant firm, so the target company had no control over its price per ton of coal. The costs and revenue of the firm were analyzed for the period 1960-1970 and, even without a water quality program, losses were incurred in six out of eleven years. Analysis of the average cost curve indicates that the per unit cost could have been reduced by increasing output thereby increasing efficiency. The conclusions of the study were that the small company could not unilaterally implement mine drainage programs because the added costs would seriously worsen its already precarious financial position. Even uniformly enforced legislation might reduce the small firms competitive position because of economies of scale associated with the large treatment facilities used by big mining companies.