Managing environmentally driven change in manufacturing organisations - moving from reactive to proactive behaviour

Manufacturing companies must become better at managing environmentally driven change in order to establish a sustainable world for future generations. Environmental issues such as energy, natural resources, pollution and waste offer both competitive opportunities and constraints, and are changing the competitive landscape in many industries. Even though several incentives have been initiated such as integrating the environmental management system into the quality management systems, still more needs to be done to achieve sustainable operations. In order to increase understanding of the strategic context of environmentally driven changes this paper explores driving forces for the implementation of environmental improvements within an organisation. Additionally, key factors supporting a successful implementation are further analysed. A framework is proposed which links together lessons learnt from implementing change from change and quality management into sustainability and environmental management in order to support manufacturing companies in their decision process towards a better environmental position.