Determinants of Corporate Environmental Information Management -Analytical Framework and Case Studies

Licentiate thesis, 2007

Information about the environmental impact of production and products is a prerequisite to any attempt to mitigate environmental impact, either in production or in the choices of end consumers. There are however known problems regarding corporate environmental information management. A life cycle perspective is often weak, and several problems have also been identified regarding production-related information. Previous research is extensive in certain areas, but little literature examines the field as a whole. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the enablers of and barriers to corporate environmental information management, an analytical framework was developed and used to investigate the status and determinants of environmental information management at two case companies. The analytical framework takes both product- and production-related information into account and has two main parts. The first part supports the examination of the status of environmental information management, while the second part supports the examination of stakeholders and company features. Stakeholders are divided into those found in the product chain and those external to it. In the case studies, we found two different approaches to product-related information management. In one case, a quantitative accounting approach was taken. In the other case, an internal policy-based, qualitative approach was taken. The two most significant enablers of product-related environmental management were found to be media attention and the competence and initiative of key employees. The thesis is concluded with discussions on quantitative versus policy-based approaches, different ways of supplying end consumers with environmental information, the corporate implications of strong media pressure and the role of interdisciplinary competence. Finally, two suggestions for further research are presented.