ABSTRACT
Environmental certified management standards (ECMS) can motivate firms to improve environmental performance through compliance with standardized practices that mitigate risk to the natural environment in key organizational systems. Firms adopt ECMS for a variety of reasons, including signaling a commitment to sustainability to a wide range of stakeholders, erecting competitive barriers in their industry, and integrating “green” practices into their operations. As a result of adopting an ECMS, firms see multiple benefits, such as an increase in their profit margin from enhanced operational efficiency, a reputational boost among influential stakeholders, and mitigation of risk to the natural environment.
