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198 environmental management, best practice
environmental management,
best practice
The term `best practice' has had a mixed reception
in the world of business. To some, it remains
merely jargon or a buzzword, popular with
management consultants. To others, best practice
represents the essential direction which firms need
to take to become and remain competitive
internationally. The term originated in business
organisation theory and in the world of transnational
corporate planning and management.
It has found its strongest expression in the
manufacturing industry, but is also being promoted
in the services and in natural resources management,
including forestry, rangeland management
and the tourism industry.
Best practice readily translates and extends into
`best practice environmental management' as a
means of achieving sustainable growth in a
competitive world. It calls for radically different
organisational structures and attitudes designed to
bring about continuous improvement in a firm's
environmental performance. Environmental excellence
is fostered by enlightened management
practices which incorporate new, cleaner technologies,
and an emphasis on resource conservation,
recycling, reuse and recovery, in progress
towards sustainability.
Since the 1980s, the tourism industry has
shown preparedness to apply the principles of best
practice environmental management to its activities.
Similar to manufacturing, the scale of
operations appears to have a decided influence
on the type and extent of initiatives undertaken.
On the international tourism scene, a growing
number of large hotel corporations have implemented
a variety of effective environmental
measures. The initiative was taken up in Britain
by the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum,
which, together with leading hotel chains, produced
a joint operations manual. The International
Hotels Environmental Initiative followed
and in 1992, produced a revised manual. This
manual, Environmental Management for Hotels:The
Industry Guide to Best Practice, is seen as a voluntary
code of conduct and offers a useful reference and
blueprint for upgrading environmental procedures
in areas such as waste management, energy
consumption, noise and congestion, purchasing
policy and staff training. In a more environmentally
conscious world, tourism faces increasingly
stringent conditions on development, reflecting a
concern for sustainability and the long-term
viability of the resources on which it depends.
The challenge for the industry is to justify its claims
on resources and the environment, with a
commitment to their sustainable management.
See also: codes of ethics, environmental;
environmental compatibility; planning,
environmental; precautionary principle
Further reading
Green Hotelier, Magazine of the International Hotels
Environment Initiative, London: IHEI.
JOHN J. PIGRAM, AUSTRALIA
environmental management
systems
An environmental management system �EMS)
provides a framework for organisations to manage
environmental impacts of their operations. It
involves application of contemporary concepts to
management of business aspects associated with
such significant impacts.
The EMS concept came into prominence
following the emergence of ecologically sustainable
development �ESD) principles in the late
1980s. The latter aims to promote the economic
development initiatives consistent with conservation
which ensure equity in natural resources
between current and future generations.
In 1990, the European Commission became
one of the first major policy-making bodies to
promote ESD principles when it developed the
Eco-Management and Audit Scheme �EMAS).
The latter provided EMS specifications for
industries operating in the European Union.
This was proposed as a voluntary programme to
encourage industries to develop management
systems which include plans for continual improvement
in environmental performance, pro-