Leadership Matters: So Does the Attitude of the Leader

This essay joins the debate on whether a shift in regulatory agencies from a coercive to a cooperative approach would lead to improved environmental policy & practice. Advocates for cooperation believe that voluntary environmental management systems should be sufficient for compliance. Opponents doubt this & contend that regulatory coercion is needed. The author reviews a number of studies offering different viewpoints on the subject. Susan Summers Raines & Aseem Prakesh (2005), "Leadership Matters: Policy Entrepreneurship in Corporate Environmental Policy Making," focus on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 voluntary management program's effectiveness in promoting pro-environmental policy through corporate environmental entrepreneurs. Michael Kraft (2004) suggests that entrepreneurs are opportunists who will evaluate relevant information & seek to take advantage of situations that further their environmental initiatives with a lesser cost to themselves. Both regulatory agencies & company leaders face real challenges in selecting the most productive means to achieve environmental goals, but it is clear that company leaders' environmental attitudes are the most important factor. References. J. Stanton