Improving the speed of ISO 14000 implementation: a framework for increasing productivity Available to Purchase

Time to implementation is an essential measure of success in the implementation of ISO 14000 in organizations across the spectrum. Time delays are directly correlated to cost overruns and erosion of competitive advantage that is expected from successful implementation. A framework is developed that seeks to identify management practices that result in faster implementation of environmental management systems leading to certification. This paper identifies a set of management actions that impact on the speed of successful implementation of ISO 14000 environmental management systems to provide future managerial guidance. Management actions in the form of top management commitment, determination of customer driven specifications of quality and environmental friendliness, use of analytical tools, use of statistical process control techniques, support for “do it right the first time”, snowballing training experience across the entire workforce, cross‐functional teams, improvements in communication within teams and across the organization, and qualifications and quality of implementation team members are among those investigated. Size of the organization, size of the core implementation team, newness of the project and industry category, and impact on market performance is used for purpose of classification.