ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the relevant theoretical literature and how environmental management can increase competitiveness. Corporate strategy has been driven by different forces in the past, by production pressures, personnel pressures, and more lately by information pressures. Meimas categorization of the various environmental management paradigms that have emerged over the past few years into four groups, gives us an overall theoretical framework. His approach suggests that while there are some who perceive the environment as an anthropocentric moral/ethical issue, there are others who regard it as a means to gaining financial benefits. Porter's well-known framework of the competitive forces that determine industry profitability can be used to indicate the nature of competition with regard to the environment in any particular industry. According to authors such as Taylor and Welford a proactive stance therefore requires total managerial commitment. It means incorporating environmental concerns into all the activities of the organization, like product quality, employee relations, and corporate image.
