The Environmental Assessment of Environmental Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Industrial Companies - an Integrated Approach Taking into Account Economic Assessment and Risk Assessment in SMEs
Table of contents
It is evident that within the scope of the demand and dynamics posed by the current economic situation of German companies, measuring and assessing the performance and the success of business management is needed. Moreover, companies are facing high demands to measure and assess the performance and success of the environmental management as well.
It is now up to the companies to meet the demands with actual results of corporate environmental management, i.e. environmental performance and environmental success, and with criteria to assess them.
Results show that mainly instruments for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are missing, especially instruments to implement the innovative possibilities of environmental management systems, as opposed to simply being able to manage and report data.
The objective of this research project is the development of a control instrument to measure and assess the environmental performance and the environmental success of the company. This instrument has to fulfill the following requirements in order to be useful under the differing economic conditions found in practice:
- Compatibility of the environmental management instrument with the instrument of the classical business management;
- Hence, the integration into decision making within the company, i.e. implementation of the principle of decision support;
- Practicability of the instrument as a prerequisite for usage; and
- An integrating approach of environmental, quality, and risk management.
In order to support companies wishing to integrate not only business performance but also environmental performance in the corporate decision making processes, the instrument has to implement the idea of decision support. Only in this way will the instrument find long-term use in practice. For this reason, the instrument will fulfill not only a reporting function, but also a control function.
The integration of several aspects in one instrument is becoming more and more important in practice as the combi-certification of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 as well as the improved compatibility of the current ISO 14001 (as of 2004) and the ISO 9001 (as of 1999) have shown. This research project takes into account these important and current aspects.
Due to the high relevance regarding law, practice, and science of the topic ‘risk analysis and risk assessment’ from both an economic and environmental point of view, this research project analysed in depth in which way an environmental assessment can be combined with a risk assessment.
Leadership
Researcher
Dipl.-Kffr. Susann Silbermann (nee Kaulich)
Term
07/2004 - 07/2008
Publications, Presentations and Press Review
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