The EMS advantage

Ramon S. Abracosa (Professor, Asian Institute of Management)

Most of us are familiar with what drives organizations, especially business organizations, to adopt an environmental management system (EMS) and obtain ISO certification. Many are responding to market demand which usually happens when buyers require evidence of sound environmental practices from their suppliers. This is now popularly referred to as "greening the supply chain."

Others are responding to regulatory pressures. A good example is the Clean Air Act whose recently signed implementing rules and regulations provide, among other things, that by implementing an EMS, a company will enjoy a grace period within which to meet stringent regulatory standards. EMS becomes a practical mechanism for implementing the law, a long-term solution in lieu of avoidance or the usual reactive short-term palliative measures. In fact, those who have adopted EMS have demonstrated this to be more cost-effective for companies seriously interested in compliance. However, this is only the start. Tougher environmental laws are looming on the horizon. It is no longer a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when’ these will come.

There are those who are motivated by growing evidence that EMS can improve one’s business bottom-line through its effect on improving efficiency, attracting customers, or gaining access to foreign markets. Trade and environment have become entangled such that whatever one’s sentiments are about the justification for the link, it is just becoming stronger.

There is no doubt that every organization is motivated by prospects of an enhanced image associated with having an EMS. This has never been more apparent these days with concerned stakeholders – from disgruntled customers to environmental activists onto well-intentioned regulators – trying to pry into the way companies conduct their businesses. The worst nightmare is the possibility that such misgivings either see print, get broadcasted on radio and TV, or floated in cyberspace at the click of a mouse. Clearly, it helps to be perceived as being socially responsible by having an EMS and thereby avoid such hassles.

Even the public sector has begun jumping onto the EMS bandwagon. Local government units are integrating EMS into their governance toolbox. For example, the province of Bohol is into it already, motivated by a desire to attract investments and tourists. The Department of Trade & Industry’s Board of Investments (BOI) and the Department of Environment & Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) have announced that they will set up an EMS, in an effort to lead industry by example. Definitely, EMS is evolving into quite a versatile tool for both corporate and public sector management. And quite naturally, as a lead school in Asian management education, these developments are of great importance to AIM.

However, the AIM is not party to any supply chain that might be trying to ‘green’ the institution. Neither are we under any kind of regulatory pressure of the kind that polluting establishments face. No one has posted anything on the Internet accusing us of environmental misdemeanors. Neither are we engaged in trade. Hence, these are not our drivers for operationalizing EMS.

While we are finding out that EMS helps us to cut costs by reducing electiricity consumption, water bills, paper and printing waste – there is more at stake for us than the usual bottom-line considerations. While this is not to deny our interests in cost-cutting measures and the sourcing of research funds for environmental programs, or in the distinction of being singled out as a pioneering, socially responsible, ‘green’ corporate citizen to enhance our public image – these are not our main drivers.

Simply put, we at AIM owe it to our stakeholders, our real customers, to alert and prepare them now for what the future holds — whether they are enrolled in our business or in our development management programs as full-time graduate students or as working executives, and whether they are alumni or benefactors. That future, while being determined by the Internet and the technology revolution, is still one where environmental management does and must play a similarly big role – economically, politically and socially. We are preparing students for that common future, and what better way to prepare them than by applying the environmental management tools we teach to ourselves.

As a management school, we are quite unique in that we offer programs that straddle both business management and development management. Sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, total quality environment management, cleaner production, and EMS – these are themes that we are building into our teaching programs. The integration of these environmental themes into our curricula is one of the core programs under our EMS.

AIM’s brand of environmentalism is not confined to our teaching. The framework we have adopted for environmental management speaks strongly of multi-sectoral cooperation – government, industry, civil society, the academe, and media – working together to solve environmental problems. We are one of eight institutions that launched PEPP – the Philippine Environment Partnership Program. Together with the DTI, DENR, DOST, DBP, Land Bank, Economic Mobilization Group, Union of Local Authorities, and the Industrial Initiatives for a Sustainable Environment – we are promoting environmental management or industry, with emphasis on self-regulation. We are working out an incentive package consisting of regulatory assistance, fiscal incentives, technology support, financing, public recognition, and capacity-building.

Our role in the PEPP can be summarized thus:

• To facilitate policy dialogue among government, industry and stakeholder groups to enable a shift from conflict management to cooperation management in addressing industry environmental management issues;

• To conduct policy research to support innovative policy reforms, particularly those that provide incentives and support for industry self-regulation; and

• To develop and offer training programs on environmental management systems and cleaner production.

In effect, our capacity-building expertise plus our work at building partnerships is one more driver for AIM to implement EMS.

In sum, our commitment is embedded in our mission statement and our institutional environmental policy: to make a difference in the development of Asian societies by preparing leaders, decision-makers and innovators who can manage effectively in a rapidly changing world. This rapidly changing world, we believe, will have a heavy dose of environmental management concerns through the years – and this is why EMS is a must at AIM.