As explained earlier, this paper tries to offer a different approach towards examination of reasoning for EMS adoption. Relying on more objective measures, rather than subjective answers to questionnaires, which has been a popular tool in past research in this field, was the research means chosen in an attempt to provide a more accurate description. The methods chosen for this research could also present tools easier to measure, and possibly help creating criteria or scales for future research.
Viewing EMS certification from an entire industry’s point of view, as done in the hypothesis regarding imitation effect, is also a different approach, which has not been used in past research, to the best of our knowledge. Continued researched from this entire industry point of view might be able to provide more accurate and efficient means of assessment and action.
Potential contribution by this paper on the theoretical level could be encouraging further research about implicit methods for affecting firms’ to adopt EMS in an indirect way. Research focusing on variables like target customers (firms or private users), effect of external factors compared with effects of internal factors on firms’
environmental policies, a comparison between firms selling mainly to local market and ones focusing on export market or other criteria not covered in this paper could possibly provide different perspectives on EMS adoption processes. A couple of suggestions we propose are examining firms’ export markets regulations in relation with their EMS policy and the influence of freight costs and methods, as well as product life cycle design (e.g. cradle to cradle design versus other designs) on occurrence of EMS certification.
Developing on some of the issues stemming from the results and discussion
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chapters, further research could also be expanded in areas like effectiveness of media coverage in terms of kinds of coverage create a stronger reaction by firms and public, which types of green organizations activities are more efficient in their use of resources compared with their outcome, or if indeed there is a critical mass for EMS adoption within an industry, and how it can be calculated and reached.
On the managerial level we hope this research could provide both firms’ and environmentally concerned institutions with useful data. Green organizations could use the results of this study to focus their efforts on actions which may be more productive in influencing firms towards creating EMS and obtaining certifications like ISO 14001 or similar ones. For instance, the results regarding firms’ size and its correlation on within industry firms’ policies (the larger the firm, the bigger the effect) could help green organizations channel their efforts to firms which are usually more imitated than others, due to their size, success or other elements and thus use one firm as a springboard for reaching more firms. Another possible contribution in that direction lies in the support hypothesis 2 receives in Israel, showing B2C firms are more likely to adopt ISO 14001. Seeing that end users might be a factor influencing firms’ EMS policies, groups of consumers could unite and work together in order to improve polluting or not ecologically concerned firms’ environmental performance, knowing such efforts are likely to bear fruits.
On the firm level, this research could provide managers with deeper understanding of EMS adoption motives and hopefully increase their interest and incentives for further researching and implementation of such methods. Managers’
understanding the factors which bring firms – both their own as well as competitors – to become more likely to adopt EMS might provide them with more power and understanding when planning long term policies or when dealing with stockholders.
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Another possible implication lies in the creation or promotion of different certificates, like the European Union EMAS certification, which differs from ISO 14001in being more strict regarding this subject (Oluoch–Wauna, 2001), and could provide more holistic solutions for improving overall environmental performance of an industry.
Another way such a standard could be useful in is by making sure a product was manufactured using clean production methods, doing so through governmental, trade partners or private customers and consumers organizations demand for such certification, creating in turn market pressure which might influence firms (Carmin, Darnall, & Mil Homens, 2003). Furthermore, a thorough analysis of several environmental standards might be able to help in the creation of a new type of standards, which will be easier or more attractive for organizations to adopt and apply.
ISO 14001 certifications can be given to financial entities as well as public organizations, government institutions or private non–profit associations. This research has used control variables applying mostly to publicly traded financial firms, whose actions and results are naturally more exposed through reports, regulatory inspection and auditing. This fact puts public firms under two types of pressure – one by consumers, who have alternatives of buying competitors’ products in case they are not satisfied (unlike government services, for instance, which are usually a monopoly in their field), the other type arriving from direct stakeholders (namely, stockholders) pressure for profits and efficient management (a pressure which government institutions usually have on a much lower scale). Future research could develop tools for inspection of incentives for non–commercial organizations such as governmental, non–profit NGO’s and institutions like hospitals and charity foundations to adopt environmental certifications, exploring possible ways to encourage such organizations
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to choose EMS.
Another limitation comes from this research being conducted on only two
countries’ economies. Specific circumstances resulting from the economical structure, political issues or other country level characteristics could make the results not
extensive enough to be able to generalize from them. Exploring other countries for the same factors could help provide a more universal picture of motives, and help not only local governments, but also global organizations seeking to promote EMS.
Another option would be researching countries according to specific characteristics (government type, economy’s structure, GDP, etc.) and comparing firms and industries EMS tendencies in each of these country types.
This researched was named with a question – “Concern for the earth or concern for the wealth?”. Months after this research has begun, we still found ourselves in uncertainty regarding the answer to the question that had led us to initiate this research. On one hand, factors like peer pressure and Media pressure are shown to have a likelihood of affecting firms in EMS adoption; according to our hypotheses, should such a correlation exist, it might mean firms do so out of fear of becoming laggards within their industry, or to suffer negative publicity by the Media, which might influence their financial reports’ bottom lines. On the other hand, these pressures are not made by direct stakeholders. If these hypotheses do indeed affect firms’ EMS adoption, than it is not suppliers nor clients nor any other part of the supply chain or stockholders which influence the firms, but stakeholders who do not have tools for directly sanctioning non–environmental friendly firms. In this case, the reason for EMS adoption could indeed be concern for the earth, by managers who learned more about EMS through these organizations’ pressures.
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Therefore, we choose to define the answer for this research’s opening question as inconclusive, hoping future research could shed more light on this topic.
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection budget percentage out