IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v27y2020i4p1786-1799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals

Author

Listed:
  • Christin Seifert
  • Edeltraud Guenther

Abstract

The voluntary implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) according to Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a proactive and comprehensive management initiative aiming to improve corporate environmental performance. EMS implementation and connected communication activities are seen as a possibility to strengthen stakeholder relationships. However, EMS development and implementation consumes significant time and financial resources. Therefore, in this empirical study with hospital managers, it is questioned if and to what extent hospital managers perceive stakeholders valuing the implementation of an EMS according to EMAS. The results show that only internal stakeholder pressure from owners and the management board exists. Other stakeholders know little and care less about EMAS, suggesting that they have other priorities and do not see a necessity for hospitals to engage in environmental management efforts. This low stakeholder interest reduces the value of EMAS registration for hospitals and limits future environmental management efforts. This could hinder sustainable development within the healthcare sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:4:p:1786-1799
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1925
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1925
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1925?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fabio Montobbio & Ilaria Solito, 2018. "Does the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme Foster Innovation in European Firms?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 82-99, January.
    2. Bracke, Roeland & Verbeke, Tom & Dejonkheere, Veerle, 2008. "What Determines the Decision to Implement EMAS? A European Firm Level Study," Working Papers 2008/15, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    3. Paul Lanoie, 2008. "When And Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Papers 2008n-02a, CIRANO.
    4. Patrícia Tourais & Nuno Videira, 2016. "Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, March.
    5. Nakamura, Masao & Takahashi, Takuya & Vertinsky, Ilan, 2001. "Why Japanese Firms Choose to Certify: A Study of Managerial Responses to Environmental Issues," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 23-52, July.
    6. Rondinelli, Dennis & Vastag, Gyula, 2000. "Panacea, common sense, or just a label?: The value of ISO 14001 environmental management systems," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 499-510, October.
    7. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    8. Michele Preziosi & Roberto Merli & Mara D’Amico, 2016. "Why Companies Do Not Renew Their EMAS Registration? An Exploratory Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-11, February.
    9. Lannelongue, Gustavo & González-Benito, Javier, 2012. "Opportunism and environmental management systems: Certification as a smokescreen for stakeholders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 11-22.
    10. Julie Battilana, 2011. "The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the UK National Health Service," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 817-834, August.
    11. Roberto Merli & Michele Preziosi & Christian Ippolito, 2016. "Promoting Sustainability through EMS Application: A Survey Examining the Critical Factors about EMAS Registration in Italian Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Ahsen, Anette von & Lange, Christoph & Pianowski, Mathias, 2004. "Corporate Environmental Reporting: Survey and Empirical Evidence," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 37791, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    13. Jonathan A. Patz & Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum & Tracey Holloway & Jonathan A. Foley, 2005. "Impact of regional climate change on human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7066), pages 310-317, November.
    14. Marta Pinzone & Emanuele Lettieri & Cristina Masella, 2015. "Proactive Environmental Strategies in Healthcare Organisations: Drivers and Barriers in Italy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 183-197, September.
    15. Madhu Khanna & William Rose Q. Anton, 2002. "Corporate Environmental Management: Regulatory and Market-Based Incentives," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 78(4), pages 539-558.
    16. Javier González‐Benito & Óscar González‐Benito, 2006. "A review of determinant factors of environmental proactivity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 87-102, March.
    17. Khanna, Madhu & Damon, Lisa A., 1999. "EPA's Voluntary 33/50 Program: Impact on Toxic Releases and Economic Performance of Firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, January.
    18. Morrow, David & Rondinelli, Dennis, 2002. "Adopting Corporate Environmental Management Systems:: Motivations and Results of ISO 14001 and EMAS Certification," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 159-171, April.
    19. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    20. Magali Delmas & Ivan Montiel, 2009. "Greening the Supply Chain: When Is Customer Pressure Effective?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 171-201, March.
    21. Konstantinos I. Evangelinos & George E. Halkos, 2002. "Implementation Of Environmental Management Systems Standards: Important Factors In Corporate Decision Making," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(03), pages 311-328.
    22. Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Organizational responses to environmental demands: opening the black box," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(10), pages 1027-1055, October.
    23. Nicole Darnall & Irene Henriques & Perry Sadorsky, 2010. "Adopting Proactive Environmental Strategy: The Influence of Stakeholders and Firm Size," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1072-1094, September.
    24. Dieudonne Alemagi & Pius M. Oben & Jürgen Ertel, 2006. "Implementing environmental management systems in industries along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon: drivers, benefits and barriers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 221-232, September.
    25. Christin Seifert, 2018. "The Barriers for Voluntary Environmental Management Systems—The Case of EMAS in Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    26. Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 1996. "The Determinants of an Environmentally Responsive Firm: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 381-395, May.
    27. de Belvis, Antonio Giulio & Ferrè, Francesca & Specchia, Maria Lucia & Valerio, Luca & Fattore, Giovanni & Ricciardi, Walter, 2012. "The financial crisis in Italy: Implications for the healthcare sector," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 10-16.
    28. Kozo Horiuchi & Masao Nakamura, 2001. "Environmental Issues and Japanese Firms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Masao Nakamura (ed.), The Japanese Business and Economic System, chapter 13, pages 364-384, Palgrave Macmillan.
    29. Rennings, Klaus & Ziegler, Andreas & Ankele, Kathrin & Hoffmann, Esther, 2006. "The influence of different characteristics of the EU environmental management and auditing scheme on technical environmental innovations and economic performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 45-59, April.
    30. Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby, 2002. "Corporate environmentalism: the construct and its measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 177-191, March.
    31. Josefina L. Murillo‐Luna & Concepción Garcés‐Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera‐Torres, 2008. "Why do patterns of environmental response differ? A stakeholders' pressure approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1225-1240, November.
    32. George E. Halkos & Konstantinos I. Evangelinos, 2002. "Determinants of environmental management systems standards implementation: evidence from Greek industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(6), pages 360-375, November.
    33. Robert Innes & Abdoul G. Sam, 2008. "Voluntary Pollution Reductions and the Enforcement of Environmental Law: An Empirical Study of the 33/50 Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 271-296, May.
    34. Esben Rahbek Pedersen, 2007. "Perceptions of performance: how European organizations experience EMAS registration," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 61-73, May.
    35. Brown, L.H. & Buettner, P.G. & Canyon, D.V., 2012. "The energy burden and environmental impact of health services," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(12), pages 76-82.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Diego A. Vazquez-Brust & José Antonio Plaza-Úbeda, 2021. "What Characteristics Do the Firms Have That Go Beyond Compliance with Regulation in Environmental Protection? A Multiple Discriminant Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    2. Tiberio Daddi & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Luca Marrucci & Francesco Rizzi & Francesco Testa, 2021. "The effects of green supply chain management capability on the internalisation of environmental management systems and organisation performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1241-1253, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Ervin & JunJie Wu & Madhu Khanna & Cody Jones & Teresa Wirkkala, 2013. "Motivations and Barriers to Corporate Environmental Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 390-409, September.
    2. Christin Seifert & Matthias Damert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Environmental Management in German Hospitals—A Classification of Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, May.
    3. Christin Seifert, 2018. "The Barriers for Voluntary Environmental Management Systems—The Case of EMAS in Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Anton Shevchenko, 2021. "Do financial penalties for environmental violations facilitate improvements in corporate environmental performance? An empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1734, May.
    5. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Fabio Iraldo, 2018. "Internalization of Environmental Practices and Institutional Complexity: Can Stakeholders Pressures Encourage Greenwashing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 287-307, January.
    6. Marta Pinzone & Emanuele Lettieri & Cristina Masella, 2015. "Proactive Environmental Strategies in Healthcare Organisations: Drivers and Barriers in Italy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 183-197, September.
    7. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    8. Quang Le Van & Thanh Viet Nguyen & Manh Hung Nguyen, 2019. "Sustainable development and environmental policy: The engagement of stakeholders in green products in Vietnam," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 675-687, July.
    9. Kube, Roland & von Graevenitz, Kathrine & Löschel, Andreas & Massier, Philipp, 2019. "Do voluntary environmental programs reduce emissions? EMAS in the German manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    10. Chien‐Ming Chen & Maria J. Montes‐Sancho, 2017. "Do Perceived Operational Impacts Affect the Portfolio of Carbon‐Abatement Technologies?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 235-248, May.
    11. Serdal Ozusaglam & Stéphane Robin & Chee Yew Wong, 2018. "Early and late adopters of ISO 14001-type standards: revisiting the role of firm characteristics and capabilities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1318-1345, October.
    12. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Martin Thomas Falk & Eva Hagsten, 2020. "Time for carbon neutrality and other emission reduction measures at European airports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1448-1464, March.
    14. Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2016. "Determinants of the Quality of Corporate Carbon Management Systems: An International Study," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 275-305.
    15. Darnall, Nicole & Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 2008. "Do environmental management systems improve business performance in an international setting?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 364-376, December.
    16. Earnhart, Dietrich & Mark Leonard, J., 2016. "Environmental audits and signaling: The role of firm organizational structure," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-22.
    17. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka & Kamil Fijorek, 2020. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Proactive environmental strategy, stakeholder pressure and the moderating effect of firm size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2338-2354, September.
    18. Julia Wolf, 2013. "Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 92-108, February.
    19. Ziegler, Andreas & Seijas Nogareda, Jazmin, 2009. "Environmental management systems and technological environmental innovations: Exploring the causal relationship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 885-893, June.
    20. Roeland Bracke & Tom Verbeke, 2007. "What Distinguishes EMAS Participants? An Exploration of Company Characteristics," Working Papers 2007.37, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:4:p:1786-1799. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.