"Go Green" Believing Bosses Over-Comply

Pulse

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 10:02

If the CEO of your company is somebody, who really believes in protecting the environment and is aware of the environmental concerns, then your company is more likely to "" with the environmental standards.

In this age of ever increasing environment damages wreaked on the nature, people are increasingly understanding the necessity to save the planet, but this doesn't mean that everybody cares so much that, for example, a company would give up its profits for environmental concerns as some companies really do.

A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Management examined the reasons that forced a certain firm to violate environmental regulatory standards, while their were some who exceeded them.

The research conducted by JunJie Wu, an economist at Oregon State University examined 689 businesses and in the process found that the senior managements' environmental values were one of the leading factors affecting a firm's decision about whether to over-comply with environmental standards.

Often given to looking only for profitable overtures, many companies find it easy to keep the environmental regulatory issues at an arms bay. The study said that in deterring environmental violations the competitive market forces play a significant role.

These forces include investing in cleaner products to differentiate them from another company's; improving environmental performance to keep up with competitors and being environmentally responsible to reduce employee turnover and increase productivity.

But, the study revealed that the high costs and risks involved with the environment friendly practices are the aspects that lead to can tip many to take the environmental violations route, while environmental over-compliance becomes a road less travelled.

"It's surprising that management's attitude toward environmental stewardship plays such a large role," Wu said. He said, the economists believe that profit drives business decisions, but the management attitude may affect a venture's decision on its compliance level. Though their decision would in most instances would also be profit driven.

While, the Oregon University Economist also noted that there are executives willing to think beyond next quarter year's earning and spend money to adopt some environmental policies that might not benefit the company until perhaps much later.

The study considered a facility to be in violation if it did not meet standards in at least one of these areas. It was considered in compliance if it did just enough to meet standards in all four areas. It was over-complying if it did more than the regulation required in at least one area and met standards in all other areas.

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