There has been an increased awareness of the current problems regarding the environmental changes in the world. Companies are acknowledging these problems more and more to try and prevent the heavy pollution humans contribute. The metal industry is one of the highest emitters in the world because its manufacturing, production, and processing require substantial amounts of energy. While the pressure of addressing environmental issues has been on the bigger companies in history, the smaller ones are being caught up in the same pressure from customers and partners. Because of the raised awareness of the environmental impact, even the smaller companies, which are low on environmental impact alone but substantial when defined as a whole market, are more often required to implement an environmental management system. However, the limitations of resources are different for smaller companies. There is no structured way to work towards a certification in ISO 14001 with the barriers that might limit them. This study has its focus on gathering information in a qualitative mean to interpret and generalize the reality of smaller companies in the metal industry. By doing so, the main goal is to investigate the barriers that appear for the management when implementing an EMS according to ISO 14001 and identify the potential procedures taken to reach the end goal of certification. The results of this study are that companies don’t face the barrier of economic resources and the true barrier is the interpretation of costs. The implementation of a certified EMS is a long-term investment and generates money through continuous improvements and creates a business opportunity by opening a new market to customers with ISO 14001 requirements. Knowledge was a barrier and the change in ISO 14001 being more compatible with previous quality certification ISO 9001 helped the implementation.

<p>Environmental problems are seen as the first priority that all countries try to find as a solution to be more sustainable. These issues arise due to the lack of our responsibility to the world. Researchers agree on that the starting point in changing our society to be green is to increase environmental awareness (Jiang et al., 1999). Several sectors accept this idea like UNESCO which focuses on education as a tool to promote sustainable development (UNESCO, 2002).</p><p> </p><p>Following UNESCO, our study investigates university students’ environmental awareness. The Authors hope that the outcome not only reflects university performance, but also helps to develop the environment in the future.  Hence, the authors selected the University of Gävle or HiG, as a case study because it is a best practice in Environmental Management System (EMS). Moreover, HiG received the ISO 14001 certificate and it has a continuous improvement program (Sammalisto, 2007, p.69). </p><p> </p><p>The study was started by reviewing research literatures concerning Environmental Management System (EMS), Sustainable Development (SD), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Environmental Awareness. The authors found that there are few studies talking about students’ awareness in universities after being awarded ISO 14001. Notice that the research was seen only from environmental perspective (Flint, 2004).</p><p> </p><p>To answer research questions, two surveys were adopted. The first part focused on teachers and officers (or staffs) who work on environmental issues. While, the second part focused on the students which were divided into Swedish and international.</p><p> </p><p>The research outcomes indicate that HiG has a good EMS performance supported by annual environmental audits, regular policy revision and the attempts to minimize non-conformities. Conversely, when the authors pointed at student awareness, it shows that students have insufficient environmental knowledge. Moreover, some students have lower environmental awareness and act in a less ecological friendly way. Nevertheless, a knowledge problem was also found among several university staffs. This is because of the lack of communication about environmental issues inside the staffs community and lack of environmental education for students.</p><p> </p><p>Whatever the university situation is, there are some groups of staff and students eager to develop themselves and their university. This point of strength could be the best driving force. It can push the university forward until the university reaches sustainable development and it brings the aware graduates into society.</p>

Environmental problems are seen as the first priority that all countries try to find as a solution to be more sustainable. These issues arise due to the lack of our responsibility to the world. Researchers agree on that the starting point in changing our society to be green is to increase environmental awareness (Jiang et al., 1999). Several sectors accept this idea like UNESCO which focuses on education as a tool to promote sustainable development (UNESCO, 2002).   Following UNESCO, our study investigates university students’ environmental awareness. The Authors hope that the outcome not only reflects university performance, but also helps to develop the environment in the future.  Hence, the authors selected the University of Gävle or HiG, as a case study because it is a best practice in Environmental Management System (EMS). Moreover, HiG received the ISO 14001 certificate and it has a continuous improvement program (Sammalisto, 2007, p.69).    The study was started by reviewing research literatures concerning Environmental Management System (EMS), Sustainable Development (SD), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Environmental Awareness. The authors found that there are few studies talking about students’ awareness in universities after being awarded ISO 14001. Notice that the research was seen only from environmental perspective (Flint, 2004).   To answer research questions, two surveys were adopted. The first part focused on teachers and officers (or staffs) who work on environmental issues. While, the second part focused on the students which were divided into Swedish and international.   The research outcomes indicate that HiG has a good EMS performance supported by annual environmental audits, regular policy revision and the attempts to minimize non-conformities. Conversely, when the authors pointed at student awareness, it shows that students have insufficient environmental knowledge. Moreover, some students have lower environmental awareness and act in a less ecological friendly way. Nevertheless, a knowledge problem was also found among several university staffs. This is because of the lack of communication about environmental issues inside the staffs community and lack of environmental education for students.   Whatever the university situation is, there are some groups of staff and students eager to develop themselves and their university. This point of strength could be the best driving force. It can push the university forward until the university reaches sustainable development and it brings the aware graduates into society.

Monitoring is an important tool for gaining insight into an organisation’s environmental performance and for learning about the environmental condition and the effectiveness of environmental management measures. Development of environmental monitoring has generally relied on research aiming at improving monitoring methodology, technique or practice within a particular management tool. Little empirical research has taken into account the organisation’s reality where several management tools are used in parallel. This thesis analyses the practice of environmental monitoring in public authorities with the aim of identifying barriers and possibilities for environmental monitoring as an instrument for improving environmental performance, using the Swedish Rail Administration as a case organisation. The study identified two different types of environmental monitoring: environmental performance measurement (EPM) and activity monitoring, both important for achieving environmental improvements. EPM involves gathering and evaluating data to determine whether the organisation is meeting the criteria for environmental performance set by the management of the organisation. EPM can further be used for judging the success and failure of environmental objectives and strategies. Activity monitoring provides each project of the organisation with information to minimise the negative effects on the natural environment or human health and to ensure that the organisation’s operations conform with regulations. Problems encountered comprised a variety of little co-ordinated monitoring activities, poor utilization of the monitoring results as well as limited internal feedback on monitoring results. Some of the problems identified seem to be an effect of the management transition from a traditional ‘command and control’ system to a self-administered organisation managed by economic incentives and voluntary management systems. This thesis suggests several improvements to make monitoring more efficient. Primarily, the monitoring systems must have a clear structure and be adapted to its specific function. The EPE system would benefit from being integrated with the organisation’s central performance measurement, presenting progress towards organisational strategic objectives as well as operational objectives. The system for activity monitoring must not only focus on inputs and outputs to the system but must also include the environmental condition of the system. In order to improve communication and learning, monitoring data within both EPE and activity monitoring must be better transmitted and utilised within the structure of the permanent organisation. Experience from all monitoring activities that now is scattered and inaccessible to the individuals of the organisation could beneficially be stored within a well-structured organisational ‘memory‘. Such a system would facilitate an iterative management process where the monitoring results and the knowledge gained are used for making future plans and projects more adaptive, thereby improving the environmental performance of the organisation. / QC 20100729

This diploma thesis is focused on the environmental management system (EMS). The company can benefit from this system, eg. competition advantage and image increase. The aim of my work is to describe and evaluate two systems of environmental management in Logica CEE company - one is already set up in the Czech Republic and the second one is being established in Slovakia recently. I would like to determine the benefits and impacts of these systems. In practical part of the diploma thesis I describe the complex system implementation and its certification and re-certification.

Our research is based on data triangulation methodology by which we are going to answer the question with a combination of two elements: the design and development in combination with life cycle perspective according to ISO 14001:2015 and organization consider the life cycle perspective when they design and develop their products, in a modified form introducing many new aspects of life-cycle thinking. This Master’sthesis aims to discuss the Sustainability approach through the use of Environmental Management Standards (EMS), the results achieved by organizations that implement and certify those EMS, and a special focus on the current process of ISO 14001:2015 revision and the logic behind it. Revisiting the concept of Sustainability, the status of the International Organization for Standardization 14001, requirements that related to that life cycle perspective in ISO 14001:2015, eco-design, circular economy and its expected outcomes are discussed. The ISO 14001:2015 revision will have major impacts on the more than 300,000 worldwide certified organizations and on the many professionals that work with it. Analysis of the development of a sustainability portfolio within a globally-operating manufacturing company, we came different illustrate the kinds of life cycle work involved in dealing with activities and interests, connecting activities and interests into action-nets, performing life cycle practices, and spreading the life cycle idea. Finally, we discuss implications of life cycle work for research in the field of organization and management studies and questions related to the topic with quality engineers within the organization.

The adoption of formal environmental management systems (EMS) according to EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) represents a voluntary approach that aims to increase corporate environmental performance. Though EMAS can offer several advantages for organizations, registration numbers are falling. In the hospital sector, the dissemination of EMAS is low. The question arises as to what hinders hospitals when planning, implementing, and maintaining such voluntary environmental management initiatives. The results from interviews with environmental managers in EMAS registered hospitals reveal problems such as high initial effort for creation of the required documents, or lacking knowledge and staff awareness. The barriers are presented in a model synthesizing the problems chronologically on the organizational, group, and individual level. The challenges for the adoption of EMAS as a voluntary environmental management approach in hospitals are discussed. This paper contributes by creating an understanding of the barriers organizations might face when implementing an EMS. Thus, measures to actively manage and overcome barriers can be developed by organizations, consultants, reviewers, policy makers, and researchers.

Environmental management is one of the voluntary tools for environmental policy, which provides instructions to organizations, how they can coordinate their products, activities and services to minimize their negative environmental impacts. This work describes and compares two basic approaches for environmental management system (EMS) implementation - ISO 14001 Standard and EMAS II Regulation in terms of requirements for an organization. Attention is paid to advantages and disadvantages of EMS implementation in an organization too. In analytical part of this work, environmental management is analyzed in light of a number of certified and certifying organizations, after that follows cost-benefit analysis of EMS focused on organizations and SWOT analysis. The goal of this work is to find out on the basis of the results of these analyses, whether environmental management system implementation is a competitive advantage of an organization, or not.

The adoption of formal environmental management systems (EMS) according to EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) represents a voluntary approach that aims to increase corporate environmental performance. Though EMAS can offer several advantages for organizations, registration numbers are falling. In the hospital sector, the dissemination of EMAS is low. The question arises as to what hinders hospitals when planning, implementing, and maintaining such voluntary environmental management initiatives. The results from interviews with environmental managers in EMAS registered hospitals reveal problems such as high initial effort for creation of the required documents, or lacking knowledge and staff awareness. The barriers are presented in a model synthesizing the problems chronologically on the organizational, group, and individual level. The challenges for the adoption of EMAS as a voluntary environmental management approach in hospitals are discussed. This paper contributes by creating an understanding of the barriers organizations might face when implementing an EMS. Thus, measures to actively manage and overcome barriers can be developed by organizations, consultants, reviewers, policy makers, and researchers.

Master’s thesis includes proposal for optimization of process in preparing integrated management system implementation in small construction company, which is related to prosperity of company. Solution coming-out from global and detailed analyses processes at company. Optimized processes will serve as basis for documentation of integrated management system, which means manual, directions process realization of product and consequently at implementation of integrated management system.