Abstract
Owing to the green revolution, environmental problems have now become some of the most important issues worldwide. Environmental knowledge management, which combines the strengths of environmental management and knowledge management, will become a popular tool for businesses in the near future. In this paper, through interviews of staff at different levels and in different departments of the business, i. e. managers and engineers and using the environmental knowledge circulation process, the authors evaluate the success of environmental knowledge management when applied to China Steel Corporation in Taiwan. From the case study, the authors found that China Steel Corporation has applied the environmental knowledge circulation process for over thirty years. The company continually improves its environmental and financial performance through environmental knowledge creation, environmental knowledge accumulation, environmental knowledge sharing, environmental knowledge utilization and environmental knowledge internalization. Water pollution and air emissions have reduced year on year and total energy consumption has reduced by 20 % from 1979 to 2006. On the other hand, China Steel Corporation also makes a profit and reduces cost through energy sold, by-products and recycling. Continuous improvement in environmental knowledge management has rendered China Steel Corporation in the most profitable steel company in Taiwan and the world’s twenty fifth largest steel producing company in 2006.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen, A.; APQC, (1996). The knowledge management assessment tool, external benchmarking version, The American productivity and quality center.
Bishop, P. L., (2000).Pollution prevention: Fundamentals and practice, McGraw-Hill, London, UK.
Boiral, O., (2002). Tacit knowledge and environment management. Long Range Plann., 35(3), 291–317.
Chien, M. K.; Shih, L. H., (2007). An empirical study of the implementation of green supply chain management practices in the electrical and electronic industry and their relation to organizational performances., Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech., 4(3), 383–394.
Desouza, K. C.; Evaristo, J. R., (2003). Global knowledge management strategies., Eur. Manage. J., 21(1), 62–67.
Dierickx, I.; Cool, K. (1989). Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage., Manage. Sci., 35(12), 1504–1511.
Dourojeanni, A., (1993). Management procedures for sustainable development, applicable to municipalities, micro-regions and hydrographic basins. Economic commission for latin america and caribbean (CEPAL), 452.
Drucker, P., (1995). Managing in a time of great change, Penguin, New York.
Finster, M.; Eagan, P.; Hussey, D., (2001). Linking industrial ecology with business strategy: creating value for green product design., J. Ind. Ecol., 5(3), 107–125
Forbes, (2003). The world’s best big companies. Special Report. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2003/04/09/aland.html.
Frick, J.; Kaiser, F. G.; Wilson, M., (2004). Environmental knowledge and conservation behavior: Exploring prevalence and structure in a representative sample., Pers. Indiv. Differ., 37(8), 1597–1613.
Fryxel, G.; Lo, C. W., (2003). The influence of environmental knowledge and values on managerial behaviours on behalf of the environment: An empirical examination of managers in China., J. Bus. Ethics, 46(1), 45–69.
Getzner, M., (1999). Cleaner production, employment effect and socio-economic development., Int. J. Tech. Manage., 17(5), 522–43.
Goodland, R., (1995). The concept of environmental sustainability., Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 26, 1–24.
Hansen, M. T.; Nohria, N.; Tierney, T., (1999). What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?, Harvard Bus. Rev., 77(2), 106–116.
Hedlund, G.; Nonaka, I., (1993). Models of knowledge management in the west and Japan, in: Lorange, P.; Chakravarthy, B.; Roos, J.; Van de Van, A., (Eds.) Implementing strategic processes: Change, learning, and Co-Operation, London: Basil Blackwell, Ltd, 117–144.
Howells, J. (1996) Tacit knowledge, innovation and technology transfer., Tech. Anal. Strateg, 8(2), 91–106.
Hsu, C. W.; Hu, A. H., (2008). Green supply chain management in the electronic industry., Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech., 5(2), 205–216.
IISI, (2006). Top steel producers, the international iron and steel institute, Available at: http://www.worldsteel.org/ ?action=storypages&id= 151.
IISI, (2007). World Steel in Figures, the international iron and steel institute, Available at: http://www.worldsteel.org/
Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, (2005). industrial safety and hygiene and environmental protection report china. Available at: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1 G1-79003633. html.
Inkpen, A. C., (1996). Creating knowledge through collaboration., Calif. Manage. Rev., 39(1), 123–140. ?action=storypages&id=23.
Johannessen, J.; Olsen, B., (2003). Knowledge management and sustainable competitive advantages: The impact of dynamic contextual Training., Int. J. Inform. Manage., 23(4), 277–289.
Lee, K. C.; Lee, S.; Kang, I., (2005). KMPI: measuring knowledge management performance., Inform. Manage., 42(8), 469–482.
Lorrain Smith, R., (1982). The nature of environmental management., J. Environ. Manage., 14(3), 229–236.
Malhotra, Y., (1998). Knowledge management for the new world of business., J. Qual. Participate., 21(4), 58–60.
Mangun, D., (2001). Product portfolio design for component reuse, remanufacturing and recycling., M. S. thesis in Civil and Environmental Engineering. University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.
Milliman, J.; Clair, J., (1995). Environmental HRM best practices in the USA., Greener Manage. Int., 10, 34–48.
Nonaka, I., (1991). The knowledge-creating company., Harvard Bus. Rev., 69, 96–104.
Nonaka, I.; Byosiere, P.; Borucki, C. C.; Konno, N., (1994). Organizational knowledge creation theory: A first comprehensive test., Int. Bus. Rev., 3(4), 337–351.
Nonaka, I.; Takeuchi. H.; Umemoto, K., (1996). A theory of organizational knowledge creation., Int. J. Tech. Manage., 11,(7-8), 833–845.
Nouri, J.; Karbassi, A. R.; Mirkia, S., (2008). Environmental management of coastal regions in the Caspian Sea. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech., 5(1), 43–52.
O’Leary, D. E., (1998). Enterprise knowledge management., Computer, 31(3), 54–61.
Payne, M., (2001). China steel corporation: An Asian major looks to regional Opportunities., Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/primary-metal-manufacturing/iron-steel-mills-ferroalloy/837732-1.html.
Petak, W. J., (1980). Environmental planning and management: the need for an integrative perspective., Environ. Manage., 4(4), 287–295.
Prahalad, C.; Hamel, G., (1990). The core competency of the corporation., Harvard Bus. Rev., 68(3), 79–91.
Quinn, J. B.; Anderson, P.; Finkelstein, S., (1996). Managing professional intellect: Making the most of the best., Harvard Bus. Rev., 74(2), 71–80.
Sanchez, R., (2001). Product, process and knowledge architectures in organizational compentence, in: Sanchez, R. (Ed.), Oxford university press, New York, USA.
Sarvary, M., (1999). Knowledge management and competition in the consulting industry., Calif. Manage. Rev., 41(2), 95–107.
Shrivastava, P., (1995). The role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability., Acad. Manage. Rev., 20(4), 936–60.
Swan, J.; Newell, S.; Robertson, M., (2000). Limits of IT-driven knowledge management initiatives for interactive innovation processes: Towards a community-based approach., Proceedings of the 33rd. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Tatsuki, S.; Masahisa, N., (2006). Application of knowledge management to environmental management project: A case study for lake management. Lakes and reservoirs., Resour. Manage., 11(2), 97–102.
Toffler, A., (1990). Power shift: Knowledge, wealth and violence at the edge of the 21st. century., Bantam Books, New York, USA.
Wagner, M., (2005). How to reconcile environmental and economic performance to improve corporate sustainability: corporate environmental strategies in the European paper industry., J. Environ. Manage., 76(2), 105–118.
WCED, (1987). Our common future: World commission on environment and development, Oxford University Press, USA.
Wernick, I. K., (2003). Environmental knowledge management., J. Ind. Ecol., 6(2), 7–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, PS., Shih, LH. Effective environmental management through environmental knowledge management. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 6, 35–50 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03326058
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03326058