Extracted from: "Inside ISO 14000: The Competitive Advantage of Environmental Management" Don Sayre

CHAPTER 4: Principles and Elements for Successful Environmental Management There are five environmental management system principles within ISO 14000: Commitment and Policy Principle 1: An organization should focus on what needs to be done -- it should ensure commitment to the environmental management system and define its policy. Planning Principle 2: An organization should formulate a plan to fulfill its environmental policy. Implementation Principle 3: For effective implementation an organization should develop the capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve its environmental policy, objectives, and targets. Measurement and Evaluation Principle 4: An organization should measure, monitor, and evaluate its environmental performance. Review and Improvement Principle 5: An organization should review and continually improve its environmental management system, with the objective of improving its overall environmental performance. An environmental management system following these five principles provides order and consistency in addressing environmental concerns. Organizations need environmental management systems in order to anticipate and meet environmental performance expectations and ensure compliance with requirements, both nationally and internationally. Environmental management is an essential, integral part of the overall management system. The design of the system must be an ongoing, interactive process for defining, documenting, and continually improving the required capabilities. The same precepts appear in ISO 9000. In the words of ISO 14000: "An organization should implement an effective environmental management system in order to protect human health and the environment from the potential impacts of its activities, products and services; and to assist in maintaining and improving the quality of the environment." The Standard is especially tailored for small and medium-sized companies, although its guidance and elements of management can be used by organizations of any size. The environmental management system of any organization will provide more confidence to customers, the public, and governments that environmental objectives and targets are met. Emphasis is on prevention first, evidence of regulatory compliance and continual improvement. The system is a framework to allow organizations to link environmental objectives with targets and with specific financial outcomes; the tie between eco-protection and eco-nomics is indisputable, so that needed resources are provided for the best benefit to all three. British Standard 7750 asserts that organizations must, if they're to be effective, conduct their business within a structured management system, integrated with overall management activity and addressing significant environmental "effects." Environmental management audits and reviews are inherent, says the standard, but they are separate parts of the system. By themselves, they provide no assurance that an organization's performance meets and will continue to meet legislative and policy requirements. This British Standard has principles similar to those of ISO 14000: Establish and maintain an environmental management system with a defined and documented policy. Define and document responsibilities, authority, and interrelations of key personnel. Provide for verification resources. Have procedures to ensure effective communications to employees and interested parties. Provide proper training to employees and contractors. Identify, examine, and evaluate environmental impacts. Maintain a record of legislative, regulatory, and policy requirements. Specify environmental objectives and consequent targets. Have a program to achieve the environmental objectives and targets. Control documents and operations. Measure and test performance. Investigate and correct noncompliance with requirements. Maintain records. Perform environmental management audits and reviews. Documented system procedures and instructions are required by BS 7750 as well as their effective implementation. Organizations must take into account any pertinent code of practices to which they subscribe. Organizations are to define and document responsibilities, authority, and interrelations of key personnel. Key personnel are those individuals who manage, perform, and verify activities having a significant impact on the environment, whether real or potential. These personnel are to have sufficient organizational freedom to control further activities until an identified environmental deficiency or unsatisfactory condition is corrected. They are charged with the authority to initiate action to ensure compliance with the environmental policy and to identify any environmental problems. These responsible individuals are to initiate, recommend, or provide solutions to environmental management problems through designated channels and to verify implementation of the solutions. Similar requirements to those in BS 7750 and ISO 14000 apply to the nuclear industry and, through the ANSI/ASQC E4 standard, to the chemical industry. The U.S. Department of Energy has promulgated Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 830 (10CFR830). Subpart 120 specifies requirements for the management and control of quality in nuclear facilities (10CFR830.120) (Quality Assurance for Nuclear Facilities). The 10CFR830.120 requirements came from a previous Department of Energy Order, Number 5700.6C, which was based largely on ISO 9000 and the "graded approach" to quality (Ibid.). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has almost identical requirements in 10CFR50 Appendix B, showing 18 criteria for effective management and control of quality. The U.S. Department of Energy squeezed the 18 criteria into 10 to more closely align them with the respective responsible parties. Ten management elements are identified by the ANSI/ASQC E4 standard: 1. organization 2. management system description 3. qualifications and training 4. procurement 5. documents and records 6. hardware and software 7. planning 8. work processes 9. assessments and response 10. continuous improvement According to ANSI/ASQC E4, it's up to management to define the organization. Management must identify functions and responsibilities, levels of authority and accountability, lines of communication, and interfaces. Management identifies the needs and expectations of customers, then defines objectives to satisfy customers. It is up to management to provide the necessary resources to the line to accomplish objectives. Management has to create a work setting that is conducive to personnel collaboration on producing the type and quality of results intended. Managers are ultimately and directly responsible for the success of the system they design. The system must be planned, established, documented, and communicated to everyone with responsibilities. Logistics, such as when and how controls are to be applied, need to be identified. These controls are to be applied commensurate with their importance to the environment, human health and safety, and the success of meeting objectives. System implementation must continually be assessed for compatibility and consistency with activities, products, and services. People make the system work. They need to be properly qualified, competent and further empowered with sufficient authority. This involves adequate training on requirements, techniques, the use of tools, management expectations, resource availability, and the importance of the controls. Performance and proficiency need to be evaluated periodically. Your environmental management system must be a descendant and proponent of your management and business philosophy. And philosophy always starts with principles and ends with expected practices. 4.1 Environmental Management Commitment and Policy Remember Principle 1. It is restated at the beginning of Section 4.1: "An organization should focus on what needs to be done---it should ensure commitment to the Environmental Management System and define its policy." This section of ISO 14000 covers the following elements: Top Management Commitment and Leadership Initial Environmental Review Environmental Policy Begin where there is recognizable benefit, says ISO 14000. Focus on: Regulatory compliance, or Limiting sources of liability, or Making more efficient use of materials British Standard 7750 suggests an environmental management system be designed to enable the organization to maximize its beneficial effects and minimize its adverse effects, with emphasis on prevention instead of detection and amelioration after damage has occurred. It suggests that organizations identify and acquire or develop needed skills, equipment, controls, processes, monitoring systems or whatever tools are needed in order to achieve the required environmental performance. Both BS 7750 and ISO 14000 allow for sharing common elements of the existing overall management system regarding operations, occupational health and safety, and environmental protection so that shared documentation and records will reduce duplication. In these cases, the interrelationships are to be identified and cross-referenced. Effective integration and coordination is essential to ensure consistent decision-making. The British Standard includes a discussion of the environmental management program. Following the program is key to compliance with the environmental policy. Implementing the program means a clear and unequivocal commitment by everyone involved, especially the most senior levels of management. The most senior officer must ensure that suitable organizational systems are in place. The program should deal with any environmental consequences from past activities of the organization and with development of new products or services throughout their life cycle from feasibility studies through planning and design to construction, installation, operation, and eventual decommissioning. Key objectives and responsibilities of an organization, according to ISO 9000, include: Achieving quality in activities, products, and services, maintaining quality in activities, products, and seeking to continuously improve quality to meet the stated and implied needs of stakeholders. Organizations should demonstrate quality improvement provide confidence that requirements are being fulfilled. Mana ment is responsible for the policy, the organization, and management reviews, according to the ISO 9000 series, including and commitments. Adequate resources must be provided management to achieve the objectives and meet the commitments. Management reviews of the system must occur at defined intervals a frequency that ensures continuing suitability and effectiveness. Environmental management is the safest, least expensive to make your organization survive. Don't kill the egg until chicken has laid it. Count the eggs in the basket but only you've counted the chickens in the coop. The chicken egg, to end a lifetime dilemma. It may have come from a chicken source, but without the chicken .... This chicken/egg analogy is about environmental undl ing. In order to ensure golden eggs for your organization and sustainable development, you need to know the source of the egg. Are your suppliers environmentally conscious? Do your su give you the quality of product or service you need to ensure quality of your own product or services? Are you masking supplied items in your final product? By asking a few questions, you can better understand value you are adding to your product quality, Perhaps you are adding value that should already be there, provided by your suppliers. Although ISO 14000 has no requirement that you mandate sound environmental management by your suppliers, it strongly recommends that you encourage them to participate. Without your personal commitment and a solid commitment from your people, the policy is only a dusty document on the shelf. It has no clout, no purpose, no one pursuing it. Policy comes from the heart of an organization, from the people who are the organization. To make yours work, you must commit to making it work. 4. I. I Leadership in an Environmental Management System The first step in environmental management is top management commitment to review and improve environmental performance. Step two is to provide the necessary leadership. Finally, a full, honest review of your environmental performance and performance capabilities is required. Leadership entails taking the initiative to implement new processes. BS 7750 recommends preparing an environmental management manual to describe the system. The manual will serve as a permanent reference to the implementation and maintenance of the system. This manual covers the Whole organization. It may involve subcomponents such as dlvlsmn-level manuals. It may require more specialized manuals for individual functions, like design, marketing, finance, and investment, or individual process lines. Ail the manuals should be consistent in approach and content. Every manual should be subject to similar rules for control, review and revision. It may be wise for the site emergency plan and the occupational health and safety manuals or documents to incorporate relevant environmental information and instructions. Another key function of the environmental management manual would be for audits to verify if it fits its purpose. Procedures in the manual need to be simple, unambiguous, and understandable in the methods and criteria they prescribe. Other important attributes of the environmental management manual and documentation include dealing with normal as well as abnormal operating conditions, incidents, accidents, and potential emergency situations. Methods to deal with emergencies need to be periodically tested for effectiveness and suitability. Peter Block suggests that leadership means to create order; that is, consistency, control, and predictability (Block 1993). He says that control means there is a clear line of authority. Leaders are successful when they distribute ownership and responsibility, when they balance the power and promote a partnership to end secrecy, demand a promise, and redistribute wealth. Stephen Covey, the management "guru" for the U.S. Department of Energy, suggests similar traits and talents. He describes the habits that apparently all effective managers share (Covey 1989).   Highly Effective Habbits 1. Be proactive 2. Begin with the end in mind 3. Put first things first 4. Think win/win 5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood 6. Synergize 7. Sharpen the Saw; principles of balanced self-renewal Pro-activity means being responsible, with the knowledge that behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. Responsibility is the ability to choose a response. It's not what happens to us but our response to what happens to us that hurts or helps us. Consider the alternatives. Choose a different approach. Control your own feelings. Create an effective presentation. Choose an appropriate response. Choose, prefer, will. Your "circle of influence'' is smaller than your "circle of concern." A proactive focus and positive energy enlarge your circle of influence until it encapsulates the concern. The power to make and keep commitments is the essence of developing the basic habits of effectiveness. Knowledge, skill, and desire are all within our control. We can work on any one to improve the balance of the three. As the area of intersection becomes larger, we more deeply internalize the principles upon which the habits are based and create the strength of character to move us in a balanced way toward increasing effectiveness in our lives. As Covey says, "Proactive people make love a verb." He also quotes Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM: "Success is on the far side of failure." Where you're heading depends on where you're coming from. Start with a clear understanding of your destination. Know where you're going so you better understand where you are now, and the steps you take will always be in the right direction. All things are created twice: first, a mental creation; then, a physical or social creation, a blueprint, a script (my interpretation of Covey's principles). Covey believes, "Leadership is not management. Management is the second creation." Leaders ask "What do I want to accomplish?" Management asks "How should it be accomplished?" "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things," according to Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis (Ibid.). Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success, but leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. Highly successful habits, according to Covey, require imagination and conscience. "An organizational mission statement--one that truly reflects the deep shared vision and values of everyone within that organization-----creates a great unity and tremendous commitment. It creates in people's hearts and minds a frame of reference, a set of criteria or guidelines, by which they will govern themselves. They don't need someone else directing, controlling, criticizing, or taking cheap shots. They have bought in to the changeless core of what the organization is about (Ibid.)." Effective management is putting first things first. Leadership decides what those first things are, and management is the discipline of carrying them out. Time management is organizing and executing around priorities. "If we delegate to time, we think efficiency; if we delegate to other people, we think effectiveness" (Ibid). Stewardship delegation involves clear, up-front mutual understanding and commitment regarding expectations in five areas: desired results, guidelines, resources, accountability, and consequences. "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities" (Ibid.). A leader creates a clear, mutual understanding of what needs to be accomplished, focusing on results, not methods. An effective leader will identify the parameters within which the organization should operate, including any formidable restrictions and failure paths. Leaders identify resources required to accomplish objectives (human, financial, technical, organizational). They set standards of performance to use in evaluating results and specify what will happen, both good and bad, as a result of the evaluation. There are six paradigms of human interaction: win/win; lose/ lose; win/lose; win; lose/win; or no deal. Character is the foundation of win/win and involves integrity, maturity, and what Covey calls the "abundance mentality." There are five elements of the win/win paradigm:2 desired results, guidelines, resources, accountability, and consequences. First, see the problem from the other point of view. Second, identify the key issues and concerns involved. Third, determine what results would constitute a fully acceptable solution. And fourth, identify possible new options to achieve those results. Empathetic listening is the key, says Covey. Diagnose before you prescribe. Understand and perceive. Commit, then learn, then act. One of Covey's best known concepts is that of your circle of concern and your circle of influence. You always want your circle of influence to encompass your circle of concern, with more influence than concern? Good leaders think in every dimension they can lay their hands on. The Boy Scouts of America teach leadership skills, and the first and foremost is "Be Prepared." The best management practices are structured around customers (Block 1993). Manage the customer relationship first and design the work flow to fit the relationship. Purchasing and supplier relationships are almost equally important. Discipline must be a standard practice. "[There are] three principles in man's being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech, and the principle of action. The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow men is that I do not say what I mean, and that I do not do what I say.''4 Astute managers know customer loyalty is an absolute necessity for profitable businesses from now on (Bell 1994). Bell recommends that managers adopt the attitude of customer partnership, an orientation that starts with a deep, assertively demonstrated respect for the customer. You need to maintain a spirit of contribution and "the joy of knowing the best possible has been done to meet or exceed a need" (Ibid.). The current market demands, since the end of the 1950s, have been customer-driven. Most companies in the United States at least, are obligated to tell you where to find what you're really looking for, rather than selling you a product or service you don't need. Customers are both external and internal. Anyone you give something to is a customer. Anyone you take something from is a supplier. The effective environmental management system will keep these two concepts in mind at all times. The organizations that succeed will be "those that invite the customer to access them any time, in many ways, and with ease" (Ibid.). Here are the elements Bell identifies in his anatomy of partnership:   Abundance Trust + Dreams + Truth + Balance + Grace   = Customer partnership An effective leader of an environmental management will think in terms of two economic equations (Silverstein 1993). What's good for the environment = What's good for the economy = What's good for the environment Silverstein writes, "The health of the world's ecosystems the wealth of the world's economics now ebb and flow in tandem. There are six functions in the work of a manager (Allen 1994): 1. Establishing objectives 2. Organizing 3. Motivating 4. Developing people 5. Communicating 6. Measurement and analysis Considering the entire firm as 'the team' and expecting synergies and interdepartmental solutions to naturally evolve is generally far too optimistic except for the most simple issues .... For whatever reason, there is no synergy. In fact the opposite results in a very expensive fashion: The whole is less than the sum of its parts. True systems improvements often result from actions in the 'white spaces' on the organizational chart." Using interdepartmental teams "to identify and eliminate chronic problems are about the only proven technique that can systematically solve system issues, and at the same time improve the culture to remove some departmental boundaries (Fellers 1992). Dr. Fellers recommends that interdepartmental teams have at their use at least nine tools (Ibid.): Brainstorming Cause and effect diagrams (fishbone charts) Pareto charts Flowcharts Trend charts Control charts Scatter diagrams Other statistical tools Common sense He also notes five deadly diseases for any organization that are worth repeating here: 1. Management by-the-numbers 2. Performance appraisal by-the-numbers 3. Lack of constancy of purpose 4. Mobility of management 5. Short-term orientation A simple solution is to recognize the following traits as intangible and "world class" (Ibid.): Creativity Energy Inquisitiveness Desire to work for the good of the team Eagerness to compensate for co-workers' shortcomings Willingness to achieve results that are necessary, but unnoticeable to the boss Leadership is key to making the management system work. Leaders learn from history and continually evaluate their own unique capabilities to add to those from previous leaders. They try to avoid "reinventing the wheel" and use what is already there. But when the tried and proven techniques no longer fit, they try a new approach. If the stride of the leader before you seems wrong, you must make your own new footsteps.

ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000 ISO 14000

Copyright © 1996-2002 Transformation Strategies, All Rights Reserved