Definition
An environmental management system (EMS) is a management tool that establishes policy and procedures relating to environmental issues and enables continuous improvement in that regard, with an objective toward sustainable development. An EMS, while being based on a standard, becomes the organizational-specific standard for an organization to comply with.
Introduction
Organizations have an obligation to establish policies and procedures relating to how they will deal with environmental issues. While these are often incorporated into the general management of an organization, increasingly these are deposited in an EMS or an integrated management system (quality, safety, and environment). By identifying and consolidating all environmental issues to be dealt with, an organization can prepare itself and achieve a degree of certainty that appropriate action will be taken.
In order to...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Boiral, O. (2007). Corporate greening through ISO 14001: A rational myth? Organization Science, 18(1), 127–146.
Boxer, L. J. (2003). The sustainable way. Melbourne: Brolga.
Hamschmidt, J., & Dyllick, T. (2001). ISO 14001: Profitable – Yes! But is it eco-effective? Greener Management International, 34(Summer), 43–54.
Hertin, J., Berkhout, F., Wagner, M., & Tyteca, D. (2008). Are EMS environmentally effective? The link between environmental management systems and environmental performance in European companies. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 51(2), 259–283.
Hillary, R. (2006). Using network approaches to engage small and medium-sized enterprises in environmental management systems. In D. Marinova, D. Annandale, & J. Phillimore (Eds.), The international handbook on environmental technology management (pp. 241–250). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
International Standards Organisation. (1996). ISO 14001: 1996 environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use. Geneva: ISO.
International Standards Organisation. (2009). ISO 14000 essentials. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_14000_essentials. Accessed 7 Apr.
Könnölä, T., & Unruh, G. C. (2007). Really changing the course: The limitations of environmental management systems for innovation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 16(8), 525–537.
Lesourd, J.-B., & Schilizzi, S. (2001). Environmental management systems: The ISO14001 and EMAS international standards. In J.-B. Lesourd & S. Schilizzi (Eds.), The environment in corporate management (pp. 286–337). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Melnyk, S. A., Sroufe, R. P., & Calantone, R. (2003). Assessing the impact of environmental management systems on corporate and environmental performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21, 329–351.
Moxen, J., & Strachan, P. A. (2000). ISO 14001: A case of cultural myopia. Eco-Management and Auditing, 7, 82–90.
Rondinelli, D., & Vastag, G. (2000). Panacea, common sense, or just a label? The value of ISO14001 environmental management systems. European Management Journal, 18(5), 499–510.
Sadgrone, K. (1997). A to Z of corporate environmental management. London: Earthscan.
Yoxon, M., & Sheldon, C. (2008). Environmental standards, management systems and the illusion of progress. International Journal of Performability Engineering, 4(4), 385–400.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Boxer, L.J. (2013). Environmental Management System. In: Idowu, S.O., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Gupta, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_591
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_591
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28035-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28036-8
eBook Packages: Business and Economics