Examining the role of soft dimensions on the implementation of ISO 14000 environmental management systems: a graph-theoretic approach

Annals of Operations Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04898-8 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Examining the role of soft dimensions on the implementation of ISO 14000 environmental management systems: a graph-theoretic approach Syed Mithun Ali1 · H. M. Belal2 Ahmed Shoyeb Raihan1 · Sanjeeb Roy1 · Md. Tayabur Rahman1 · Accepted: 28 July 2022 © The Author(s) 2022 Abstract Organizations worldwide are now embracing different standards while approaching environmental management systems (EMS) to be environmentally and economically sustainable. The ISO 14001 EMS has captured much attention by offering efficient environmental practices organization-wide and throughout the supply chain. Human factors (HFs) are crucial behind implementing ISO 14001 EMS since research articles about ISO 14001 strongly emphasize different HFs. This study proposes a framework that solely focuses on those HFs. Influential HFs are extracted through content analysis of related literature and categorized into 5 main HFs. Opinions from experts in the relevant field about interrelationships and inheritances of the HFs are collected and converted into quantitative data. Incorporating the graph theoretic and matrix approach (GTMA), the data delivered permanent values corresponding to the main HFs and their best and worst possible values. Among the main HFs, EMS Training has been found to have the most scopes for improvement, followed by Employee Empowerment and EMS Teamwork. This study demonstrates a framework about how to assess the role of HFs behind internalizing ISO 14001 EMS and enables organizations to go for competitive benchmarking and to define and adjust goals for environmental management. B H. M. Belal Syed Mithun Ali ; Sanjeeb Roy Md. Tayabur Rahman Ahmed Shoyeb Raihan 1 Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh 2 School of Business and Management, Liverpool Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, England 123 Annals of Operations Research Keywords ISO 14001 · EMS · Human resource factor · Graph-theoretic and matrix approach (GTMA) · Emerging economy 1 Introduction Globalization and industrialization have rapidly increased over the last few decades, leading to robust economic development and industrial growth (Chowdhury et al., 2018; Ndiaya & Lv, 2018). However, although the prolific growth of manufacturing firms helps improve lives, it has also caused severe environmental degradation due to the spread and accumulation of harmful wastes (Karaduman, 2022). Therefore, increasingly considerable pressure is created from the governments and NGOs that require manufacturing firms to address the environmental impacts (Ole et al., 2021). The concept of sustainability has thus emerged and has recently become the focal point for almost all organizations (Bravi et al., 2020; Colapinto et al., 2020). This concept implies a development that fulfils the needs of the present generation and considers as well as ensures the future generation’s capability of fulfilling the needs without facing difficulties (WCED, 1987). Apart from complying with the environmental regulations to preserve nature, enterprises are embracing sustainable practices to make their business processes more efficient and to get leverage from governments and customers who prefer firms with sustainable integrated systems (Abid et al., 2021; Roy et al., 2020). Consequently, the enterprises are adopting standard environmental management systems (EMS)—communication tools that are voluntary based on complying with environmental indicators to participate and minimize their negative impact (Arocena et al., 2021; Murmura et al., 2016). Especially the ISO 14001, a rigorous EMS, has been widely adopted (Lira et al., 2021; Sorooshian et al., 2018). Scholars and practitioners have found benefits from the successful adoption of ISO 14001, such as improved environmental management practices (Boiral et al., 2018; Zimon et al., 2021), improved environmental regulatory compliance (Castillo-Martinez et al., 2021), and achieving sustainability in the supply chain (Nguyen & Hens, 2015). Furthermore, ISO 14001 helps firms improve their environmental performance (Boiral et al., 2018; Sivaprakasam et al., 2015) by improving the health and safety of the employees (Nguyen & Hens, 2015), reducing environmental risks and accidents (Djekic et al., 2014), ameliorating the waste management process (Woellner, 2020; Hasan & Chan, 2014) and reducing energy and resource consumption (Martín-peña et al., 2014). The ISO 14001 EMS also helps to improve firms’ brand image and reputation (Kwon et al., 2021), maintaining solid relationships with stakeholders (Patón-Romero et al., 2019). This EMS develops employees’ competencies to get more involved in environmental activities (Jirawuttinunt & Limsuwan, 2019). Bangladesh National Industrial Policy recommended using EMS (DoE, 2010) to eradicate the devastating impacts of pollution brought about by unplanned industrialization (Islam et al., 2018). Nevertheless, there is a significant lack of successful adoption of ISO 14001 EMS in the entrepreneurial community of Bangladesh, so they have failed to exploit the benefits of being environmentally and economically sustainable (Haque & Sharif, 2021). Some factors influencing the successful adoption of ISO 14001 have already been discussed in the existing literature, including critical success factors (Cassells et al., 2011; Wulandari et al., 2012), motivators (Mas-Machuca & Marimon, 2019; Santos et al., 2016; Sorooshian et al., 2018; Waxin et al., 2020), challenges (Granly & Welo, 2014; Sorooshian et al., 2018; Waxin et al., 2020) and benefits (Di Noia & Nicoletti, 2016; Sorooshian et al., 2018). However, few studies have discussed the role of human factors (HFs) in successfully 123 Annals of Operations Research adopting ISO 14001 (Boiral et al., 2018; Waxin et al., 2020). Therefore, further study is needed on the mentioned topic. Likewise, past studies have also indicated the critical role of human resources (HR) factors in adopting the total quality management system (Chowdhury et al., 2018; Grover et al., 2006) and in achieving a sustainable humanitarian supply network (de Camargo Fiorini et al., 2021). Thus, it can be argued that HFs play a crucial role in successfully adopting ISO 14001 EMS (Daily & Bishop, 2003; Kivinda et al., 2021). More specifically, according to Kaur (2011), Wee and Quazi’s (2005) work is one of the first studies identifying the success factors underlying the ISO 14001 adoption. These scholars identified 7 factors, the first 3 being HFs, i.e., top management commitment, involvement of employees, and training. Besides, Daily et al. (2007) indicated the importance of HFs compared to other elements for adopting EMS and then classified HFs into 5 categories: management support, training, rewards, empowerment, and (...truncated)