IMPACTS OF INTERNATIONL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARDS ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

Abstract

The momentum towards global-markets and international trade agreements has prompted a broad based cross-section of companies to adopt International Consensus Standards. These free trade drivers, coupled with the 'greening' of global markets and issues like cross-border pollution impacts, have created the impetus for International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to formulate environmental management system standards. A company of less than 50 employees is defined as Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). ISO 14000 is a family of International Standards on Environmental Management. There are 392 companies who have been certified for ISO 14001 in Singapore. A study was conducted to evaluate both positive and negative impacts of implementing ISO 14001 standards on SMEs, Advantages in implementing ISO 14000 series of EMS by the SMEs are: • To meet a perceived market need (and circumvent a potential trade barrier) • To enable an organization to satisfy regulatory requirements • To meet perceived pressures from interest groups • To demonstrate a company's environmental credentials • To potentially improve profitability and reduce the burden to the environment. • To improve morale of the employees Some of the disadvantages or barriers in implementing ISO 14000 series of EMS by the SMEs are: • Lack of training, awareness and guidance • Lack of resources • Internal and external barriers • High cost of implementation and maintenance To overcome the difficulties for SMEs, there is a strong need for: • Affordable training at various levels • Adoption of user friendly EMS manual • Simplification of the process of implementation • Reduction in implementation and maintenance cost • Formulation of strong national policies • Integration of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series of standards