Management and Marketing - Theses

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Author: So, Stuart × Type: Masters Research thesis ×

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    Achieving sustainability goals through environmental, health and safety management systems in manufacturing plants
    So, Stuart ( 2015)
    This study focuses on how manufacturing plants can achieve sustainability goals through installation and use of environmental management system (EMS) and occupational, health and safety (OHS) system. The study proposes that the installation and usage of EMS and OHS systems lead not only to direct outcomes in their respective domains, but also exhibit spillover and crossover effects such that EMS practices affect OHS outcomes and vice versa. In addition, an argument is made that contextual factors such as plant size and age could be differentially affecting the proposed effects. Empirical data from the Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) survey study was used to test a set of hypotheses based on these contentions. Practice, performance and contextual data from 525 manufacturing plants located in 14 different countries was analysed with structural equation modelling technique. Results showed support for both the direct effects as well as for the spillover and crossover effects. Results also showed that the proposed effects were stronger in larger and older plants when compared to smaller and newer plants, suggesting support for both the plant size and age acting as significant contextual factors. The study makes several theoretical contributions and offers managerial implications. It shows that manufacturing plants can achieve sustainability through installation and use of formal EMS and OHS systems. The way that they work is not just directly, but through each other as suggested by the spillover-crossover model. The findings also suggest that contextual factors have a role to play, indicating that there may not be universal applicability to EMS and OHS systems. Together, the results of the study contribute to a better understanding of how manufacturing plants can achieve sustainability related outcomes through the installation and use of formal environmental, occupational, health and safety management programs and systems.