Management

Formally adopted in 1996 by the International Organization of Standardization, ISO 14001 represents a voluntary international environmental standard, which will likely be adopted by a vast majority of corporations. Its major focus is on the structure, implementation and maintenance of a formal environmental management system. Despite its international acceptance, ISO 14001 is surrounded by controversy and criticism. The literature is clearly divided in its assessment of ISO 14001, which is viewed as a variant of total quality environmental management or a paper-driven process of limited value. In this study, casebased research is used to address the competing views of the standard to show that ISO 14001 registration can be leveraged across the supply chain into a competitive advantage. By looking at ISO 14001 registered fi rms, we compare different amounts of integration and sustainability in the supply chain. We then posit several research propositions to provide an empirical framework for the impacts of ISO 14001 on supply chain design and how it will evolve in the future. sustainability strategy can provide protection from short-term thinking, which does not have long-term benefi ts. Yet, daily details can impede an organization's long-term sustainability goals unless some formal EMS clearly sets the requirements as a standard for daily activities (LogsdonDarnall et al., 2008). The diffi culty for many fi rms starts with defi ning their own sustainability goals and then integrating these goals into their strategy and supply chain . The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) defi nes sustainability as 'the Triple Bottom Line -the integration of social, environmental, and economic objectives' (ISM, 2008). While this defi nition is generalizable, its ambiguity can be a hindrance to fi rms looking for a standardized approach to measuring and monitoring the bottom line.

This study addresses one of the major perceived barriers to total quality environmental management (TQEM): cost measurement. Operations managers have difficulty assessing the impact of TQEM programs because of the lack of appropriate measures. In order for TQEM to be given serious consideration, a cost framework is required for evaluating TQEM by appropriately including all the environmental costs and savings for each investment option. At present, frameworks such as life-cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental cost accounting (ECA) exist, but they have both been recognized as too difficult to implement at the plant level among operations managers. This study focuses on identifying and formulating a set of easy-to-use quantitative cost measures. The structure of these measures is taken from the operations management (OM) literature itself, and specifically the total quality management (TQM) and cost of quality (COQ) frameworks developed by Joseph Juran. However, an empirical examination of this remains untested. The findings of this study provide an important foundation for theory development and set the stage for further research in this burgeoning field of TQEM.

ISO 9000:2000 is the latest version of the quality standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard aims to evaluate a firm's ability to effectively design, produce, and deliver quality products and services. This version of the standard tries to enhance customer satisfaction by including more top-management involvement and continual improvement. Despite widespread international acceptance, the new standard is surrounded by controversy similar to that surrounding its predecessor, the 1994 version. The literature is clearly divided in its assessment of ISO 9000:2000, which is viewed as either a quality management (QM)-based system or as another paper-driven process that increases risk, uncertainty, and costs. This study utilizes case-based research to address the competing views of the ISO 9000:2000 standard in an attempt to see if a sample of firms in the automotive industry can be positioned within the Miles and Snow [Miles, R.E., Snow, C.C., 1978. Organizational Strategy, Structure and Process. McGraw-Hill, New York] strategic typology. We compare different amounts of quality standard integration and quality assurance in the supply chain of firms with ISO 9000:2000 registration while positing several research propositions. #