An analytical hierarchy process assessment of the ISO 14001 environmental management system

Nowadays, designing and manufacturing of environmental friendly products has become an integral part of business strategy. Increasing consciousness of environmental protection has fostered the development of environmental management systems (EMS). In this paper, the critical decision criteria, sub‐criteria and benefits of ISO 14001 EMS were studied using an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach. An empirical study was performed to investigate the relative weights and priorities of these criteria and benefits. An AHP decision model of EMS adoption was established, and a set of decision criteria, sub‐criteria and benefits of ISO 14001 EMS was examined. By consolidating the acquired judgements of executives and consultants from a number of ISO 14001 registered organizations, this paper demonstrates that the AHP decision model can be developed to help organizations study the ISO 14001 EMS adoption problem. The decision criteria and benefits of the adoption can be assessed in an analytical way.