The utility of environmental impact information: a manufacturing case study

Cost information has been considered an important signal to facility decision-makers. The case study poses the question: Is environmental impact information (costs, energy impacts, chemical risk) sufficient, in and of itself, to prompt proactive change in facilities managers? The findings of the case study do not support the hypothesis that for manufacturing facilities that are already operating environmental systems meeting regulatory compliance, cost information alone will induce significant environmental change in the facility in the short term. Significant environmental change was not measured by direct observations of manufacturing processes. Paradoxically these findings are contradicted by managerial attitudes that cost information offers significant utility to business decision-makers. A number of operational, facility, customer and product factors may explain why the perceived cost of inaction was less than the cost of action. These factors should be tested further. Operationally, managers did not recognize the environmental implications of their job descriptions. Interpretive structure appears to be important. Priority setting is also an issue. Important facility characteristics that should be tested include the maturity of the program, and the complexity of the organization. Important product characteristics include the relative amounts of environmental impacts and costs associated with a product. Customer focus appears to be an important variable as well.