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Business‐oriented environmental performance metrics: Building consensus for environmental management systems
Author(s) -
Russell William G.,
Sacchi Guido F.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
environmental quality management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6483
pISSN - 1088-1913
DOI - 10.1002/tqem.3310060403
Subject(s) - business , process management , set (abstract data type) , return on investment , resource (disambiguation) , overhead (engineering) , risk analysis (engineering) , computer science , production (economics) , economics , computer network , macroeconomics , programming language , operating system
Today, environmental managers are learning new ways of adding value to their organizations. Before, the environmental department was an overhead expense—an indirect support group required for complying with burdensome regulations. Now, such departments add insights and value during strategic planning sessions, identify efficiency improvement opportunities, provide a superior return on investment, and—bottom line—improve profits. The primary approach to meeting the challenge is a new environmental management system (EMS) that identifies, measures, and manages a diverse set of internal and external customer needs. These needs include environmental cleanups, regulatory compliance, pollution prevention, and design for the environment—and each represents a potential improvement opportunity. Unfortunately, most organizations have so many such needs that all cannot be addressed at once, given the resource constraints of a competitive business climate. Thus, priority is a key concept of an effective EMS. This article describes an innovative application of consensus‐building tools that quickly identify and set priorities for diverse environmental programs. The article also shows how appropriate performance measures will align these programs with corporate goals and objectives.