Bureaucratization of environmental management and corporate greening: an empirical analysis of large manufacturing firms in Japan

Abstract

We have used qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to empirically investigate relationships between the organizational structure of environmental management within large Japanese manufacturing firms and their corporate greening processes. Three dimensions of bureaucratization (i.e., formalization, centralization and professionalization) were chosen as the independent variables. Measures of corporate greening, such as integration of environmental responses into general management, introduction of green technologies and transformation of corporate culture, were chosen as the dependent variables. Our sample consists of 193 firms obtained in a survey conducted in 1997. We find that bureaucratization of environmental management generally has a positive relationship with corporate greening and that the presence of one or two of the three dimensions of bureaucratization may be sufficient for corporate greening to implement certain greening measures. The relationship between bureaucratization and ISO 14001 environmental management systems (ISO 14001 EMSs) and limitations of EMSs are also discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.