Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-107).

abstract: The purpose of this quantitative study is to test the validity of a behavioral theory, value-belief-norm theory (Stern, 2000), in the context of environmental hotel management. The lack of theoretical consideration in previous studies on environmental attitudes of hotel/resort managers warrants an investigation of a theory with the potential to better explain behaviors that support the goals of environment management systems. The goal of this research was to document the values, beliefs, personal norms, and environmental management support behaviors of managers in a hospitality setting. Data were collected from a sample of hotel and resort managers in the Phoenix metropolitan area by using a survey of well-documented items from previous research on the theory. Results suggest the value-belief-norm theory is successful in explaining environmental management support behaviors. Implications for practitioners as well as researchers are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Recreation and Tourism Studies 2011

Arbetet med hållbarhet är vår tids största utmaning för att ta vara på den jordglob vi lever på och bevara den för framtida generationer. Arter utrotas, isarna smälter, havsnivån stiger, haven dör och det senaste i kedjan: för första gången finns klimatflyktingar. Studier visar att detta bara är början om mänskligheten inte väljer att förändra sitt levnadssätt och skapa bättre och hållbara samhällen där alla kan leva tillsammans. För 30 år sedan publicerades Our Common Future, Brundtlandrapporten, där problemen mänskligheten fortfarande tampas med idag pekades ut. På 30 år har informationsflödet om hållbarhet och metoder för hållbarhetsarbete – miljömanagement – ökat lavinartat och idag är det få individer som förnekar att mänsklig aktivitet påtagligt har förändrat jordens system eller att tiden för åtgärder är nu.   Det här examensarbetet syftade till att undersöka vilka förutsättningar som en projektledare i sin yrkesroll har att arbeta med hållbarhet och miljömanagement. Syftet har även varit att bygga på kunskapsgrunden om i vilket skede av projektet möjligheten att påverka är som störst och vilka faktorer som har störst effekt på hållbarhetsarbetet. För att göra detta genomfördes en litteraturstudie och en intervjustudie med respondenter från WSP Sveriges affärsområde Management. Litteraturstudien grundas i områdena hållbarhet, miljömanagement och projektledning och intervjuerna hölls med projektledare på WSP Management där frågorna följde samma ämneskategorier.   Litteratur- och intervjustudien visade att definitionen på hållbarhet och miljömanagement är tvetydig och inte gemensam för alla studier. Den mest vedertagna definitionen för hållbarhet är tolkningen av Brundtlandrapportens ekonomiska, sociala och ekologiska faktorer. För miljömanagement är den mest vedertagna definitionen hur en arbetar med hållbarhet och miljöledningssystem och att miljömanagament har gått från att syfta endast på miljö till att vara mer inom hållbarhet. Intervjuerna visade även vilka kunskapsgrunder projektledarna har att arbeta med i sin yrkesroll samt vilken kunskap och verktyg de efterfrågade från WSP. Det visade även var i projekten de upplevde sig ha mest påverkansmöjligheter och vilka faktorer som påverkade hållbarhetsarbetet mest.   Hållbarhet och miljömanagement är mycket viktigt att arbeta med för att skapa framtidens samhällen och att projektledarens största möjlighet till påverkan ligger tidigt i projekten. Desto tidigare hållbarhetsaspekten tas in desto bättre resultat för både beställare och projektledarens företag. / The work towards a sustainable world is our generation’s greatest challenge, to take care of Earth as we have known it and preserve it for future generations. Species are eradicated, the icecaps are melting, sea levels are rising, the oceans die and the latest addition to our growing debt: for the first time in our history - climate refugees. Studies indicate that this is only the beginning, if we do not change our way of living and strive to create better sustainable societies. Thirty years ago, the Brundtland report Our Common Future was published and the problems caused by human activities were presented – these are problems we still struggle with today. In thirty years, the flow of information about sustainability and methods of working with sustainability has grown immensely and today there are only a few deniers.   This thesis aimed to investigate the prerequisites a project manager has to work with, concerning sustainability and environmental management. In addition, the purpose has also been to expand the knowledge of what stage in the project, the ability to influence sustainability is greatest and what factors affect it the most. Consequently, a literature review and a qualitative study with interviews were conducted. The literature review was based on sustainability, environmental management (EM) and project management. Thus, the interviews were held with project managers at WSP Management and followed the same structure as the literature review.   The study showed that the definition of sustainability and EM is ambiguous and not common to all studies. The most common definition of sustainability is according to the Brundtland report with economic, social and ecological factors. For EM, the most accepted definition is how one works with sustainability and EM systems. Moreover, EM has gone from focusing purely on the environment to be more focused on sustainability. The interviews also revealed the amount of knowledge the project managers have as well as the knowledge and tools they request from WSP. Interviews also showed where in the project they experienced the greatest potential of influence and what factors that greatest affected sustainability work.   Sustainability and EM are very important to work with in order to create future societies and that the project leader's greatest potential for impact is early in the projects. The earlier aspects of sustainability are taken into account, the better the results for both the client and the project manager's company.

The subject of green management is today relatively unexplored in existing literature, especially regarding SMEs in logistics. To bridge this gap this study aims to find what factors influence the implementation of green management for SMEs in logistics. Furthermore, this study aims to address the influential weight of these factors to create an even greater understanding within the topic. The chosen research method of this paper is qualitative, and the empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews with Swedish logistic companies who have acquired the environmental management system ISO 14001. Furthermore, the research approach of this study is deductive. When implementing green management, this paper has found 4 factors that influence a company in various ways. What also has been found is what factors that have more influential weight and are essential to make such implementation effective. The study provides both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically it fills a gap current literature and further explains SMEs in logistics use of green management. Practically companies can draw from this study to see if they work effectively with green management or better prepare for a transition. The researchers of this study suggest that the factors of influence that are presented in the empirical findings should be tested in a quantitative study with a larger sample size to better measure the effect of each one in a practical context.

Increasing environmental awareness and an acceptance of accountability by the public and by businesses internationally and locally, could motivate organisations to adopt Environmental Management as part of their operations. The new direction the tourism and related industries are obliged to follow, in accordance with new government initiatives, will require responsibility in terms of the environment, management of the impacts these activities have on the environment and a commitment to the philosophy of sustainable development. Even though international standards and benchmarks for Environmental Management exist for the hotel industry, standards and guidelines do not yet exist for the South African environment. Furthermore, guidelines for an Environmental Management System in accordance with ISO 14001 have not yet been drafted for this industry, either internationally or locally. The aim of this study is to compile a guideline document for the implementation of Operational Environmental Management in accordance with the requirements of an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Three South African hotels, belonging to a local group of hotels but with international exposure, were researched as case studies to establish the impacts hotels may have on the environment. Literature on Environmental Management was studied to extract the requirements for Environmental Management, and combined with the requirements for the establishment of an Environmental Management System as prescribed by ISO 14001. The research confirmed that hotel activities, facilities and services impact on the environment. Environmental Management procedures previously documented for hotels have not been incorporated into an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. The study successfully combined Environmental Management procedures for the environmental impacts identified for hotel activities, facilities and services with the procedures of establishing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. In summary, hotels have activities, facilities and services that impact significantly on the environment, but these significant impacts are site-specific. Detailed site-specific assessments should be undertaken when implementing this guideline for specific hotels, to establish the significance of each of the environmental impacts in relation to the site that is studied. Further studies should adapt this guideline document to the different accommodation types offered in the hospitality industry to ensure that an ISO 14000 Environmental Management System can be implemented at each of these accommodation types. / Dissertation (ML(Landscape Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Architecture / unrestricted

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.

Company managers have increasingly adopted environmental management in the 2000’s, and the relationship between environmental management and financial performance has been a subject for discussion during the last decades because of inconsistent results. The aim of this study is to investigate this relationship between environmental management and financial performance within companies, and to analyse how Swedish retail companies are evaluating the environmental and financial results from environmental management. The methodology used for the study is a literature review to capture the current knowledge area in research, a study of companies’ sustainability reports and an interview study to collect empirical evidence from the retail sector. The literature study shows a positive result between environmental performance and financial performance, a positive relationship between environmental management and financial performance, and non-conclusive data of the relationship between environmental management systems and financial performance. Furthermore it shows that companies are measuring and reporting environmental performance but no or few companies are reporting the financial outcome from environmental management, however companies seem to measure cost savings from environmental management. From this study, no consensus of a general methodology of the measuring of the financial outcomes from environmental management has been found. The findings are not representing the entire retail sector and should rather be seen as empirical evidence from a number of retail companies. The conclusion made was that the ambitions within environmental management differ within one industry sector, and that there seem to be no general methodology for measuring the financial outcome from environmental management. / Miljömanagement har införts av fler och fler företagsledare under 2000-talet, och kopplingen mellan miljömanagement och affärsnytta har varit ett ämne för debatt under de senaste decennierna då resultaten ofta varit motsägande. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka relationen mellan miljömanagement och affärsnytta inom företag, samt att analysera hur svensk detaljhandel utvärderar och mäter de miljömässiga och ekonomiska resultaten från miljömanagement. Metoden som har använts är en litteraturstudie för att fånga det nuvarande kunskapsläget i forskningen, en studie av företags hållbarhetsrapporter samt en intervjustudie för att samla empirisk data från detaljhandeln. Litteraturstudien visar att relationen mellan miljöprestanda och affärsnytta är positiv, att relationen mellan miljömanagement och affärsnytta är positiv samt en icke-bestämd relation mellan miljöledningssystem och affärsnytta. Studien visar även att företag inom detaljhandeln mäter och rapporterar miljöprestanda men inga eller få företag rapporterar affärsnytta från miljömanagement, däremot förekommer mätningar av kostnadsbesparingar hos flera företag. Inga generella metoder för att mäta affärsnyttan av miljömanagement har identifierats i studien. Resultatet i den här studien representerar inte hela detaljhandeln, utan är en samling av empiriska data från ett urval av företag. Slutsatsen från studien är dels att ambitionen inom miljömanagement skiljer sig åt inom olika företag inom detaljhandeln, samt att det inte verkar finnas någon generell metod för att mäta affärsnyttan av miljömanagement.

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi identificar os fatores contingenciais para o desenvolvimento e alinhamento das atividades de gestão ambiental com a estratégia empresarial em pequenas empresas. Esses fatores são tratados neste trabalho como barreiras e facilitadores à adoção de práticas ambientais em empresas de pequeno porte. A gestão ambiental é considerada como um conjunto de diretrizes e atividades administrativas e operacionais realizadas pela empresa para abordar problemas ambientais decorrentes da sua atuação ou para evitar que eles ocorram no futuro. Desde os anos 1990, acadêmicos e profissionais têm demonstrado que as atividades de gestão ambiental são urgentes para o planeta e boas para a reputação empresarial e desempenho econômico das empresas. Esta pesquisa foi realizada em quatro empresas de pequeno porte do setor metal-mecânico, situadas na região central do estado de São Paulo. A pesquisa adotou o método qualitativo, com finalidade exploratória, e utilizou a abordagem do estudo de casos coletivos. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados utilizados foram as entrevistas semi-estruturadas e a análise documental. Os dados foram analisados por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo indutiva. Como principal resultado, encontrou-se que a capacidade de inovação é o principal facilitador do alinhamento entre gestão ambiental e estratégia empresarial nas pequenas empresas pesquisadas. / The general aim of this research was to identify the contingency factors for the development and alignment of environmental management activities with business strategy in small enterprises. These factors are addressed in this work as barriers and facilitators to the adoption of environmental practices in smaller enterprises. Environmental management is the set of company guidelines and operational and administrative tasks which deal with environmental problems that may be caused by the companys activities and are adopted to prevent their future occurrence. Since the 1990s scholars and practitioners have shown that environmental management activities are urgent for the planet and good for business reputation, as well as the financial performance of companies. This research was conducted at four small enterprises of the metal-mechanic industry in the central region of the state of São Paulo. The research adopted the qualitative method with exploratory purposes, and used the collective case study approach. The data collection instruments used were semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The data analysis employed the inductive content analysis technique. The main conclusion was that the capacity for innovation is the most important facilitator for the alignment of environmental management and business strategy in the small enterprises investigated.

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi identificar os fatores contingenciais para o desenvolvimento e alinhamento das atividades de gestão ambiental com a estratégia empresarial em pequenas empresas. Esses fatores são tratados neste trabalho como barreiras e facilitadores à adoção de práticas ambientais em empresas de pequeno porte. A gestão ambiental é considerada como um conjunto de diretrizes e atividades administrativas e operacionais realizadas pela empresa para abordar problemas ambientais decorrentes da sua atuação ou para evitar que eles ocorram no futuro. Desde os anos 1990, acadêmicos e profissionais têm demonstrado que as atividades de gestão ambiental são urgentes para o planeta e boas para a reputação empresarial e desempenho econômico das empresas. Esta pesquisa foi realizada em quatro empresas de pequeno porte do setor metal-mecânico, situadas na região central do estado de São Paulo. A pesquisa adotou o método qualitativo, com finalidade exploratória, e utilizou a abordagem do estudo de casos coletivos. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados utilizados foram as entrevistas semi-estruturadas e a análise documental. Os dados foram analisados por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo indutiva. Como principal resultado, encontrou-se que a capacidade de inovação é o principal facilitador do alinhamento entre gestão ambiental e estratégia empresarial nas pequenas empresas pesquisadas. / The general aim of this research was to identify the contingency factors for the development and alignment of environmental management activities with business strategy in small enterprises. These factors are addressed in this work as barriers and facilitators to the adoption of environmental practices in smaller enterprises. Environmental management is the set of company guidelines and operational and administrative tasks which deal with environmental problems that may be caused by the companys activities and are adopted to prevent their future occurrence. Since the 1990s scholars and practitioners have shown that environmental management activities are urgent for the planet and good for business reputation, as well as the financial performance of companies. This research was conducted at four small enterprises of the metal-mechanic industry in the central region of the state of São Paulo. The research adopted the qualitative method with exploratory purposes, and used the collective case study approach. The data collection instruments used were semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The data analysis employed the inductive content analysis technique. The main conclusion was that the capacity for innovation is the most important facilitator for the alignment of environmental management and business strategy in the small enterprises investigated.

Purpose – The aim of this research is to explore the benefits and barriers of integrating EMS to SCM in Sandvik Tooling. While exploring that, it is intended to gain insights into the methods employed to integrate the systems and find out the type of integration used in practice. Design/methodology/approach – Explorative case study method is employed in this research paper. Primary data is obtained through semi-structured interviews and observations. Triangulation, respondent validation, peer review are the principal strategies employed to ensure validity and reliability of this study. Findings – Sandvik Tooling employed a composite view of integration in which verbal and documented forms of information exchanged together with novel solutions to provide integration throughout supply chain on the basis of common goals and vision, shared values and resources. Integration is provided with a balanced mixture of interactions and collaborations. Benefits of integration are categorized as environmental, economic, and organizational benefits. On the other side, barriers are presented as internal and external barriers. Practical Implications – This research paper has significant practical contributions to businesses with presenting the ways to integrate and analyze these two systems and demonstrate barriers to overcome and benefits to take advantage of. Originality/value – Environmental management systems and supply chain management topics received considerable interest among researchers in recent decades. However there is a lack of research about how these two systems can be integrated and what kind of integration will best define this integration type. Analyzing barriers and benefits of integration process will also advance and contribute our knowledge in this research area.