IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v82y2012icp11-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Opportunism and environmental management systems: Certification as a smokescreen for stakeholders

Author

Listed:
  • Lannelongue, Gustavo
  • González-Benito, Javier

Abstract

This paper sets out to explain how the implementation of an environmental management systems (EMS) conditions the way firms respond to environmental pressures exerted by their stakeholders. While the most common approaches to be found in the literature consider the certification of such systems to be an indicator of proactivity and cooperation with stakeholders, this article posits that it is also a mechanism firms use to discriminate between stakeholders, allowing firms to react to the pressure of certain stakeholders only. Specifically, the analyses conducted on a sample of 3748 plants reveal that the implementation of an EMS responds to pressure from stakeholders, but once this system has been certified a firm's environmental actions basically respond to the pressure from internal primary stakeholders, ignoring pressures from external primary and secondary stakeholders and regulators. The key element in the theoretical line of reasoning regarding these results is the opportunistic behavior associated with certification, given that the certification by itself represents incomplete information. Thus, an EMS can serve as a valuable shield against a majority of stakeholders, since only the pressure of those stakeholders who can verify the effects of such pressure will have an influence on the environmental behavior of firms with a certified EMS.

Suggested Citation

  • Lannelongue, Gustavo & González-Benito, Javier, 2012. "Opportunism and environmental management systems: Certification as a smokescreen for stakeholders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 11-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:82:y:2012:i:c:p:11-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.08.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800912003084
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.08.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arimura, Toshi H. & Hibiki, Akira & Katayama, Hajime, 2008. "Is a voluntary approach an effective environmental policy instrument?: A case for environmental management systems," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 281-295, May.
    2. Nigel Roome, 1992. "Developing environmental management strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 11-24, March.
    3. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    4. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    5. Darnall, Nicole & Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 2008. "Do environmental management systems improve business performance in an international setting?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 364-376, December.
    6. North, Douglass C. & Weingast, Barry R., 1989. "Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 803-832, December.
    7. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2006. "Firm self-regulation through international certifiable standards: determinants of symbolic versus substantive implementation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 863-878, November.
    8. Matthew Potoski & Aseem Prakash, 2005. "Covenants with weak swords: ISO 14001 and facilities' environmental performance," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 745-769.
    9. Nicole Darnall & Irene Henriques & Perry Sadorsky, 2010. "Adopting Proactive Environmental Strategy: The Influence of Stakeholders and Firm Size," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1072-1094, September.
    10. Harold Hotelling, 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 137-137.
    11. Josefina L. Murillo‐Luna & Concepción Garcés‐Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera‐Torres, 2008. "Why do patterns of environmental response differ? A stakeholders' pressure approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1225-1240, November.
    12. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2001. "Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 439-458, September.
    13. Seema Arora & Timothy N. Cason, 1996. "Why Do Firms Volunteer to Exceed Environmental Regulations? Understanding Participation in EPA's 33/50 Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 72(4), pages 413-432.
    14. Nishitani, Kimitaka, 2009. "An empirical study of the initial adoption of ISO 14001 in Japanese manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 669-679, January.
    15. Nick Johnstone (ed.), 2007. "Environmental Policy and Corporate Behaviour," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12551.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Truong, Yann & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2019. "Opportunistic behaviors in green signaling: When do firms engage in symbolic green product preannouncement?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 287-296.
    2. Patrícia Tourais & Nuno Videira, 2016. "Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    4. Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Francesco Testa, 2017. "SA8000 as CSR‐Washing? The Role of Stakeholder Pressures," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 57-70, January.
    5. Gustavo Lannelongue & Oscar Gonzalez-Benito & Javier Gonzalez-Benito, 2014. "Environmental Motivations: The Pathway to Complete Environmental Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 135-147, September.
    6. Saddam A. Hazaea & Ebrahim Mohammed Al-Matari & Khaled Zedan & Saleh F. A. Khatib & Jinyu Zhu & Hamzeh Al Amosh, 2022. "Green Purchasing: Past, Present and Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, April.
    7. Lanfranchi, Joseph & Pekovic, Sanja, 2014. "How green is my firm? Workers' attitudes and behaviors towards job in environmentally-related firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 16-29.
    8. Nicoletta Corrocher & Ilaria Solito, 2017. "How do firms capture value from environmental innovations? An empirical analysis on European SMEs," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(5), pages 569-585, July.
    9. Montserrat Boronat-Navarro & Alexandra García-Joerger, 2019. "Ambidexterity, Alliances and Environmental Management System Adoption in Spanish Hotels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Artitzar Erauskin‐Tolosa & Eugenio Zubeltzu‐Jaka & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Olivier Boiral, 2020. "ISO 14001, EMAS and environmental performance: A meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1145-1159, March.
    11. Meijaard, Erik & Wunder, Sven & Guariguata, Manuel R. & Sheil, Douglas, 2014. "What scope for certifying forest ecosystem services?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 160-166.
    12. Gustavo Lannelongue & Javier Gonzalez‐Benito & Oscar Gonzalez‐Benito, 2015. "Input, Output, and Environmental Management Productivity: Effects on Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 145-158, March.
    13. Tiberio Daddi & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Luca Marrucci & Francesco Rizzi & Francesco Testa, 2021. "The effects of green supply chain management capability on the internalisation of environmental management systems and organisation performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1241-1253, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Quang Le Van & Thanh Viet Nguyen & Manh Hung Nguyen, 2019. "Sustainable development and environmental policy: The engagement of stakeholders in green products in Vietnam," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 675-687, July.
    3. Wagner, Marcus, 2015. "The link of environmental and economic performance: Drivers and limitations of sustainability integration," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1306-1317.
    4. Blackman, Allen & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "What drives voluntary eco-certification in Mexico?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 256-268.
    5. Chien‐Ming Chen & Maria J. Montes‐Sancho, 2017. "Do Perceived Operational Impacts Affect the Portfolio of Carbon‐Abatement Technologies?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 235-248, May.
    6. Meleddu, Marta & Vecco, Marilena & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2024. "The Role of Voluntary Environmental Policies Towards Achieving Circularity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    7. Bu, Maoliang & Qiao, Zhenzi & Liu, Beibei, 2020. "Voluntary environmental regulation and firm innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 10-18.
    8. Guoyou Qi & Saixing Zeng & Xiaodong Li & Chiming Tam, 2012. "Role of Internalization Process in Defining the Relationship between ISO 14001 Certification and Corporate Environmental Performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 129-140, May.
    9. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Fabio Iraldo, 2018. "Internalization of Environmental Practices and Institutional Complexity: Can Stakeholders Pressures Encourage Greenwashing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 287-307, January.
    10. Javier Aguilera-Caracuel & Juan Aragón-Correa & Nuria Hurtado-Torres & Alan Rugman, 2012. "The Effects of Institutional Distance and Headquarters’ Financial Performance on the Generation of Environmental Standards in Multinational Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(4), pages 461-474, February.
    11. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka & Kamil Fijorek, 2020. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Proactive environmental strategy, stakeholder pressure and the moderating effect of firm size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2338-2354, September.
    12. Pablo Arocena & Raquel Orcos & Fedaous Zouaghi, 2021. "The impact of ISO 14001 on firm environmental and economic performance: The moderating role of size and environmental awareness," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 955-967, February.
    13. Kawai, Norifumi & Strange, Roger & Zucchella, Antonella, 2018. "Stakeholder pressures, EMS implementation, and green innovation in MNC overseas subsidiaries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 933-946.
    14. Norifumi Kawai & Roger Strange & Antonella Zucchella, 2016. "Stakeholder Pressures, EMS Implementation, and Green Innovation in MNC Overseas Subsidiaries," DEM Working Papers Series 121, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    15. Kyungmin Baek, 2017. "The Diffusion of Voluntary Environmental Programs: The Case of ISO 14001 in Korea, 1996–2011," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 325-336, October.
    16. Gustavo Lannelongue & Oscar Gonzalez-Benito & Javier Gonzalez-Benito, 2014. "Environmental Motivations: The Pathway to Complete Environmental Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 135-147, September.
    17. Feng Zhang & Lei Zhu, 2019. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Stakeholder pressures, organizational learning, and green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1012-1026, September.
    18. Corinna Dögl & Michael Behnam, 2015. "Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder Engagement in Developed and Emerging Countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 583-600, September.
    19. Holtbrügge, Dirk & Dögl, Corinna, 2012. "How international is corporate environmental responsibility? A literature review," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 180-195.
    20. McGuire, William, 2014. "The effect of ISO 14001 on environmental regulatory compliance in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 254-264.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:82:y:2012:i:c:p:11-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.