Managing the Environmental Change Process: Barriers and Opportunities

Organizations face formidable obstacles to the institutionalization of environmental management programmes. Longitudinal studies show that companies face two major types of barriers to change: industry-specific barriers, which affect all organizations in a line of business; and organizational barriers, which are not specific to environmental problems, but may impede a company′s capacity to deal with any form of change. Evidence shows that these barriers can be overcome through effective environmental management programmes. Argues that by overcoming these barriers, organizations can move along an environmental performance curve, consisting of phases involving adjustment to regulatory and market realities; adaptation and anticipation of emerging issues; and innovation in achieving economically and environmentally sustainable performance through change programmes involving internal and external elements.