click on star to go back to Joseph Sarkis' HomepageThe aim of this paper is to analyze the existence of differences in implementation of environmental practices between companies that possess some form of environmental management system (ISO 14001 or EMAS) and those that do not have any system, specifically studying the auxiliary automotive industry. In addition this study investigates whether companies with a certificated environmental management system are also making additional environmental demands on their suppliers. An empirical study utilizing survey data from the automotive industry was completed. A total of 157 in-person interviews were conducted with managers of Spanish auxiliary automotive companies. Logistic regressions and non-parametric tests are used to test the hypotheses. A positive relation was found to exist between the possession of certified environmental management systems, specifically ISO 14000 and EMAS, and the environmental demands that these organizations impose on their suppliers. Environmental concern therefore spreads upstream in the product value chain. It has also been shown that the demands on suppliers in environmental matters increase with company size, but level of internationalization through imports and exports do not show much relationship to these pressures. The study is limited to an (important) industrial sector and cannot be directly extrapolated to other industries. There is a paucity of research that relates certified environmental management systems and their relationships to adoption and implementation of environmental practices in their own companies and in supply chain partners. This is the first such study to be completed for the automotive industry.
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