Managing environmental issues across multiple functions: an empirical study of corporate environmental departments and functional co-ordination

Using survey data from major US companies obtained in the mid-90s, this study finds differences in the desired levels of integration with various other functional units sought by environmental departments. Moreover, the disparities between these levels of integration sought by the environmental unit and those actually achieved with production and product development, in particular, were found to be related to certain dimensions of these firms» environmental performance. Environmental audits and management information systems as integration mechanisms also appear to be related to environmental performance.