ISO 14000 TOTAL QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: THE INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING, TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, AND CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

This exploratory study attempts to assess the implications of the emerging ISO 14000 standards, as an integrator of environmental marketing, Total Quality Management, and corporate environmental codes of conduct such the CERES Principles or the GEMI Principles.

Anheuser-Busch does not subscribe to the theory that deterioration of air or land or water is necessarily the price of progress.

--August A. Busch Jr. (1970)

We don't need environmentalists, we need responsible business entrepreneurs. Screw the environmentalists.

--Horst Rechelback, the first signer of the Valdez Principles(Kelly, 1993)

INTRODUCTION

Publicly traded corporations often adopt agency theory as a foundation for business decision making. Agency theory suggests that the paramount goal of management is to create wealth for the owners (Jensen & Meckling, 1976). A corporation that adamantly follows agency theory will relentlessly pursue activities that maximize stockholder value, moderated only by externally imposed law and regulation. However, Quinn and Jones (1995) propose in the current social climate that shareholder wealth maximinization must also be tempered by the social and moral obligations of the firm. Quinn and Jones (1995) suggest that this broader perspective, termed "agent morality theory," results in enhanced long term performance derived from the "invisible asset" of ethical and socially responsible behavior.

These social and moral obligations are made with the various "stakeholders" of the corporation including (Donaldson & Preston, 1995): (1) customers, (2) communities, (3) employees, (4) trade associations, (5) suppliers, (6) governments, (7) investors, and (8) political groups. Donaldson and Preston (1995) suggest that corporations must move from the "morally untenable" agency theory to a broader stakeholder perspective, explicitly considering the effect on all stakeholders in the development and implementation of strategy. Polonsky (1995) proposes that stake-holder theory allows the integration of environmental issues into overall corporate strategy. However, in an appraisal of modern business practices Hawken (1993) states that "not one wildlife reserve, wilderness, or indigenous culture will survive the global market economy." Similarly, Shrivastava (1995) suggests environmental management "risks have proliferated through population explosion, industrial pollution, environmental degradation, and the lack of institutional capacity for risk management."

Corporate managers are faced with many salient issues in their attempt to maximize value for the different and sometimes conflicting interests of stakeholders. One of the most salient issues pertaining

Contents

Table 1. Environmental/Sustainable Marketing Perspectives Compared to Traditional Marketing

Table 2. Environmental/Sustainable Marketing Adapted to the Van Waterschoot and Van Den Bulte Improved Marketing mix Classification Framework

Table 3. Selected Environmental Product Certification and/or Labeling Systems

Table 4. Total Quality Management (TQM) Compared to Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM)

Table 5. Motives for Environmental Standards Adoption

Table 6. Potential Implementation Barriers and Solutions for ISO 14000 Registration

Table 7. ISO 14000 Total Quality Environmental Management: The Integration of Environmental Marketing, Corporate Environmental Policy, and Total Quality Management

Copyright of Journal of Quality Management is the property of Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.Source: Journal of Quality Management, 1997, Vol. 2 Issue 1, p151, 18pItem: 9703303301

 

Top of Page

Formats:    Citation   HTML Full Text  

 7 of 81     Result List | Refine Search      Print   E-mail  

Save   Folder is

empty.

© 2003 EBSCO Publishing. Privacy Policy - Terms of Use

Contents

Table 1. Environmental/Sustainable Marketing Perspectives Compared to Traditional Marketing

Table 2. Environmental/Sustainable Marketing Adapted to the Van Waterschoot and Van Den Bulte Improved Marketing mix Classification Framework

Table 3. Selected Environmental Product Certification and/or Labeling Systems

Table 4. Total Quality Management (TQM) Compared to Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM)

Table 5. Motives for Environmental Standards Adoption

Table 6. Potential Implementation Barriers and Solutions for ISO 14000 Registration

Table 7. ISO 14000 Total Quality Environmental Management: The Integration of Environmental Marketing, Corporate Environmental Policy, and Total Quality Management