ISM AND ISEG MBA - Développement durable

As put forward earlier, employees have a considerable role to play in building the company
image, and being also consumers themselves, it is interesting to note their personal involvement
in environmental protection issues, both within their private lives and at their work place. It
would also be interesting to study the different ISO 14000 standards and the effect on company
strategy of having adopted these standards.
1. The employees’ point of view on the environment
A survey conducted by ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie)
shows some results of employee involvement in the protection of the environment in France.
This survey provided a response to four questions:
Is the ISO 14001 standard producing a behavioral change in employees and consumers?
In which domains are the employees ready to react?
Does it have an impact beyond their professional life?
Who is responsible for the environmental politic inside the company?
The change of behavior:
Question: Following the adoption of the ISO 14001 standard, have you changed your behavior
towards protection of the environment?
Result: 100% of the employees answered YES.
This result is revealing, it shows that every person questioned claims to have changed his
behavior pattern, which has a direct consequence on the environment. However, this 100% figure
should be read with caution; this answer does not show that each employee is a protector of the
environment, but that he exhibits a positive reaction when his company is engaged in an action in
favor of the environment.
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