ISO 14001:2015 ConsultantsISO 14001:2015
ISO 14001, as with other ISO 14000 standards, is voluntary , with its main aim to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance, while complying with any applicable legislation. Organizations are responsible for setting their own targets and performance measures, with the standard serving to assist them in meeting objectives and goals and in the subsequent monitoring and measurement of these. ISO 14001 was developed primarily to assist companies with a framework for better management control that can result in reducing their environmental impacts. In addition to improvements in performance, organizations can reap a number of economic benefits including higher conformance with legislative and regulatory requirements (Sheldon 1997) by adopting the ISO standard. By minimizing the risk of regulatory and environmental liability fines and improving an organizations efficiency (Delmas 2009), benefits can include a reduction in waste, consumption of resources, and operating costs. Secondly, as an internationally recognized standard, businesses operating in multiple locations across the globe can leverage their conformance to ISO 14001, eliminating the need for multiple registrations or certifications (Hutchens 2010). ISO 14001 can be used in whole or in part to help an organization (for-profit or not-for-profit) better manage its relationship with the environment. If all the elements of ISO 14001 are incorporated into the management process, the organization may opt to prove that it has achieved full alignment or conformity with the international standard, ISO 14001, by using one of four recognized options. These are: 1. make a self-determination and self-declaration, or 2. seek confirmation of its conformance by parties having an interest in the organization, such as customers, or 3. seek confirmation of its self-declaration by a party external to the organization, or seek certification/registration of its EMS by an external organization. There are many reasons that ISO 14001 should be potentially attractive to supply chain managers, including the use of the voluntary standard to guide the development of integrated systems, its requirement for supply chain members in industries such as automotive and aerospace, the potential of pollution prevention leading to reduced costs of production and higher profits, its alignment with the growing importance of corporate social responsibility, and the possibility that an ISO-registered system may provide firms with a unique environmental resource, capabilities, and benefits that lead to competitive advantage. Emerging areas of research are starting to address the use of this standard to show that ISO 14001 registration can be leveraged across the supply chain for competitive advantage. By looking at ISO 14001 registered firms, information from the study compared different amounts of integration and sustainability in the supply chain. Several research propositions and an empirical framework posit the impacts of ISO 14001 on supply chain design. ISO 14001:2015 Consultants by State
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