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Environmental Management for small Sized Indian Enterprises

in Manaufacturing

Sanjeev Kumar, Somnath Chattopadhyaya, Vinay Sharma

AbstractDespite the growing interest in environmental management practices research to date has typically analyzed a limited

range of these practices and used traditional data sources. The data used in this study comprised environmental performancedata from small manufacturing industries. Recent research obtained data on the current practices and experiences of Indiansmall sized enterprises of manufacturing and environmental management. Traditionally, when evaluating supplier performance, industries have considered factors such as price, quality, flexibility etc. However, with environmental pressures increasing, many industries have begun to consider environmental issues and the measurement of their suppliers’environmental performance. Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and Product Recovery also has become an

obligation to the environment and to the society itself, enforced primarily by governmental regulations and customer perspective on environmental issues. Currently environmental management is at the forefront of small sized enterprises,especially in certain sectors where its presence is mandatory in order to operate in business. Although small enterprises incertain sectors are catching up on their larger counterparts in reducing their environmental impacts, which are mainly due tosupply chain demands, statistics clearly show that the majority of small manufacturing industries are not incorporating

formal environmental management system into their businesses. As a result the majority of small manufacturing enterprisesmust rely on the help and assistance of external environmental consultants to assist them in taking account of theirenvironmental impacts.

Keywords: Environmental management, Manufacturing, Indian industry, ISO 14001, Green supply chain

1 IntroductionDuring the industrial revolution, environmental issues

were not addressed when designing and manufacturing products. However, in the last decade or so, Environ-mentally Conscious Manufacturing and Product Recoveryhas become an obligation to the environment and to the

society itself, enforced primarily by governmental regula-

tions and customer perspective on environmental issues.Environmentally conscious manufacturing is concernedwith developing methods for manufacturing new productsfrom conceptual design to final delivery and ultimately tothe end-of-life disposal such that the environmental stan-dards and requirements are satisfied. Product recovery, onthe other hand, aims to minimize the amount of waste sent

to landfills by recovering materials and parts from old oroutdated products by means of recycling and remanu-

facturing (including reuse of parts and products) (AskinerGungor, Surendra M. Gupta, 1999). With increasing go-vernment regulation and stronger public awareness inenvironmental protection, industries today simply cannot

ignore environmental issues if they want to survive in theglobal market. In addition to complying with the environ-

mental regulations for selling products in certain countries,industries need to implement strategies to voluntarily reducethe environmental impacts of their products. Environmentalmanagement is becoming more and more important forcorporations as the emphasis on the environmental protec-tion by organizational stakeholders, governments, custom-mers, employees, competitors and communities, keeps in-

creasing.( Amy H.I. Lee, He-Yau Kang, Chang-Fu Hsu,Hsiao-Chu Hung, 2009). Environmental management

 practices are the techniques, policies and procedures aindustries uses that are specifically aimed at monitoring and

controlling the impact of its operations on the naturalenvironment (Frank Montabon, Robert Sroufe, Ram Nara-simhan, 2007). Currently, industries are trying to understandthe benefits of a proactive approach to environmental poli-

cies. Industries

Industries may become environmentally proactive inanticipation of more efficient utilization of resources and

improved corporate image. (Frank Montabon, Robert Sroufe, Ram Narasimhan, 2007). All industries have management

systems in place to ensure efficient and smooth running ofcertain aspects of their business. Environmental manage-

ment systems are designed to facilitate the management ofall environmental impacts associated with industries acti-vities in the aim of continuous improvement of environ-mental performance. The part of the overall management

system that includes organisational structure, planning acti-vities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes andresources for developing, implementing, achieving, revie-wing and maintaining the environmental policy. (StephenBurke, W.F. Gaughran, 2006). Number of large sized enter- prises has already implemented Environmental Manage-ment System certified to ISO 14001 and/ or the eco-management and auditing system (EMAS). As part of ISO

14001/EMAS specifications, these manufacturers must, and

have been seen to, make specific demands and targets ofenvironmental performance and assurance which suppliers,i.e., small sized enterprises, must meet. In order to remainahead of the competition, small sized enterprises in thesesupply chains must obtain these appropriate ISO environ-mental standards before even being considered as con-

tenders. There are also certain circumstances where there isa legal requirement for having an Environmental Manage-

ment Systems (EMS). Despite these legal requirements andsupply chain pressures on manufacturing small sizedenterprises, statistics clearly show that the majority of themare not incorporating EMSs in their industries. Research hasand is being carried out on small sized enterprises, their

experiences and uptake of EMSs, highlighting the current practices, barriers and drivers in an effort to overcome this poor participation.

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2 Literature ReviewEnvironmental problems are an area of steadily incre-

asing concern. Environmental management factors are ra- pidly emerging as an important issue for businesses to con-sider. The ISO 14001 standard specifies a series of requ-irements that must be met by the environmental mana-

gement system (EMS) of an industry, that is, by the systemused to organize and coordinate all the environmental acti-

vities and initiatives that the industry develops. Thisstandard is intended to be useful to those industries thatwish to become involved with a more proactive environ-mental management, and its implementation allows theindustry to obtain a certificate of compliance that recognizesthat the EMS meets the established requirements. (JavierGonza lez-Benito, Oscar Gonza lez-Benito, 2008). People/

consumer is increasingly aware of the strong links betweenthe economy and the environment these days. Exploiting thesynergies between the two is essential to maximize bothwell-being and economic growth. As a result, many coun-tries have started to enforce environmental legislations andregulations for controlling the use of products, processes

and wastes that may be detrimental to the environment.(Amy H.I. Lee, He-Yau Kang, Chang-Fu Hsu, Hsiao-Chu

Hung, 2009). Industry/organizations have attempted torespond by developing products and services that, for

example, use less packaging, reduce pollution and/ordecrease energy consumption. Even though businesses have been blamed for many environmental problems, there is stilllittle guidance on how they can reduce their impact. A potentially effective way of managing an industries envi-ronmental policy is by linking it closely with the activities

of the purchasing function. Diffusing environmental mana-gement techniques along the supply chain can be an ap- propriate method of enhancing the environmental perfor-

mance of an industry (Paul Humphreys, Ronan McIvor,Felix Chan, 2003).

3 Some Other Current Environmental

ProblemsIndia as well as world faces many environmental le-

gacies. These include how to deal with greenhouse gases

that have already been emitted into the atmosphere, how toreduce emissions that are still occurring and what to do withresources and waste products that have been used and thendispersed into landfill sites or just left to decay (or not).Large amounts of heavy metals such as lead have been

released and dispersed into the environment from industrial processes. The world’s resources are finite. Using limited

resources and releasing waste into the environment canaffect air and water quality and cause longer term problems.It is suggested therefore that planning for renewability isessential. (Maurice Bonney, MohamadY.Jaber, 2010).World problems, often inter-related, include:- Global warming

- Shortages of resources- Globalisation based on cheap labour and transportation

systems.Disasters such as tsunamis, floods, cyclones and earth-

quakes. 

4 Small Sized Enterprises

Environmental Practice & Performance

Environmental performance is a concern of managersdue to reasons ranging from regulatory and contractualcompliance, to public perception and competitive advan-tage. Some literature offers insight on potential patterns ofsupply chain relations for improving environmental perfor-mance. Investment in these programs can be great and

 pressures to perform environmentally are great, improvedenvironmental performance from these practices may not beguaranteed (Qinghua Zhua, Joseph Sarkis, 2004).Thus,

further understanding the environmental practice & per-formance is needed, especially for small sized enterprises incountries that need to balance a growing economy and en-vironmental protection such as India. Also economic

 performance is typically the most important driver forenterprises that wish to implement environmental manage-

ment practices, especially for enterprises in developingcountries such as India. It has been argued that success inaddressing environmental issues may provide new oppor-tunities for competition, and new ways to add value to core business programs. Small sized enterprises are under themost strain from modern business demands from having to,

comply with existing and upcoming legislation, reducecosts, meet consumer demands, remain competitive and

maintain a good corporate image. Whatever small sizedenterprises can avoid and ‘get away with’ is usually the predominant feeling, keeping costs and headache at a mini-mum, especially when implementing voluntary environ-mental standards. It was found that small numbers of thesmall sized enterprises were failing to take practical mea-sures to reduce their impact on the environment and having

an environmental policy. It was also found that as the valueof raw materials, and price of waste disposal increasedhowever, the incentives for short-term waste minimizationand long-term Environmental Management Systems(EMSs) increased, purely for commercial reasons. (StephenBurke, W.F. Gaughran, 2006).

5 Benchmarking Questionnaire The Competitive Strategies and Best Practices Bench-

marking Questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire

consists of sixteen questions.

Tab. 1 The Comparison 

S.No. Statement Score

1.  Use of raw material ,product & resources 3

2.  Use of water & waste water 23.  Prevention & reduction of waste stream 2

4. 

Recycling & selective separation of waste 15.  Air pollution, dust & odours 26.  Reduction & control of noise & vibration 27.  Storage of products 38.  Mobility & transport of employees and goods 39.  Green planning for products & services 2

10.  Health & safety in the workplace 211.  Prevention of environmental accidents 212.  Environmental info. (internal & external) 213.  Comm. with suppliers & subcontractors 314.  Neighborhood (dialogue & implication) 315.  Environmental management practices 2

16.  Motivation of managers & employees 3

The competitive strategy questions designed by (S.Burke, W.F.Gaughran, 2006). The questions aims to explore possible near future developments in the competitive stra-tegies of the industry by addressing their competitive prio-

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rities, manufacturing objectives and action plans. Industrywas asked to rate the degree of implementation of each ofthese practices on a five-point Likert scale (5 for excellent,4 for very good, 3 for good, 2 for average & 1 for poor)shown in table:1 & graph:1.

 Fig. 1 Graph-1 

6 Discussion & Conclusion Environmental issues are main concerns for any in-

dustries during its product design and development.Environmental requirements are quickly becoming primary priorities, even over economic benefits. Environmental protection and sustainable development are getting more

and more attention in industry. Sustainability is traditionallyconceived in terms of environmental protection activitiessuch as cleaning up rivers, pollution reduction and elimi-nation and reasonable exploitation of the world’s resources(Modrak and Dima, 2010). Domestic regulatory pressures

from emissions laws and also take-back legislation willinfluence eco-design and investment recovery practice

adoption in the supply chain, whereas supply chain andmarket pressures will influence cooperative efforts andgreen purchasing practices. From a more general legislativeand policy perspective, it is clear that strict regulations withstrict enforcement are important motivators and drivers forindustries to consider environmental issues through theirwhole supply chains. However, their GSCM practice imple-mentation, such as recycling and selective separation of

waste, green planning of products & services, use of water& waste water, environmental management practices etc.focusing on environmental concerns, is lagging. In most

cases these enterprises have scored less. So industry shouldfocus & more concentrate on use of waste water, prevention& reduction of waste stream, recycling and selectiveseparation of waste, air pollution, green planning for pro-ducts and services, environmental management practices.

GSCM has emerged as an important new archetype forindustries to achieve profit and market share objectives bylowering their environmental risks and impacts and whileraising their ecological efficiency. However, GSCM &green manufacturing is still a new concept. The adoptionrates shown in our investigation are still low. Some Indianenterprises have recognized its importance and tried to put it

into practice, but most of these enterprises may lack

experience as well as necessary tools and managementskills. This study generally examines environmental perfor-mance. Environmental management is becoming in-creasingly important for organisations to consider. Fromreducing pollution to meeting environmental regulations,

organisations need environmental performance measures.Integrating environmental management techniques alongthe supply chain is an appropriate method of enhancing theenvironmental performance of an industry. The environ-mental performance of Small Sized Enterprises and theirlong term commitment to managing their environmentalimpacts must be increased and supported through simple,

effective and strategic support systems. Recycling helpswith cost savings via more efficient use of materials. Re-

cycling can also improve an industries image, which mayhelp to improve sales growth. 

Sanjeev Kumar

Research scholar

Department of Mechanical. Engg

I.S.M. University, Dhanbad

E-mail: sanjeevkg9@gmail.com ,

Mob: +91-8010266661

Somnath Chattopadhyaya

Associate professor

Department of ME&MME

ISM University, Dhanbad-826004, IndiaE-mail: somuismu@gmail.com,

Vinay Sharma

Associate professor

Department of Production Engg

BIT, Mesra (Ranchi)-835215

E-mail: vinay1970@gmail.com

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