The Adoption of the ISO14001 Environmental Management System: Its Effects and the Surrounding Issues

No.118
November 2001
Senior Fellow Reiji Takeishi

1.Characteristics of the ISO Standards 14000 Series

The environmental management system stipulated by the ISO14000 series (based on the standards of ISO14001) is a mechanism that calls for certified organizations to strive for "continued improvement". In other words, the series requests organizations to structure their work as a tangible system, in which reduction of environmental burdens can be actualized while at the same time make it possible to expand services or increase the level of satisfaction for employees (or in the case of regional governments, citizens or local residents).

2.The ISO as an International Standard

"That which controls the standards controls the world": just as this saying implies, the promotion of standardization by the international standards of the ISO possesses enough influence to decisively control Japan's industrial competitiveness. Standardization is so crucial a problem that one could say an academic field of "standardology" is necessary. Japanese companies should first aim to control the de facto standards of market competition; next, it is important that Japanese companies make systemic improvements in order to secure Japanese standards as the de jure standards recognized by international bodies. To realize this, it is urgent that Japanese companies further improve their methods of information distribution for these two purposes.

3.The Importance of Risk Management

The breakthrough that led to the adoption of ISO14001 by businesses and various other organizations was the sudden acceptance of the British and American legal system's risk-management mentality and methodology. The quality standards of ISO9000, together with the occupational health and safety standards of OHSAS18001 and 18002 served as the premise for the integration and application of ISO14001. In order to impose supply-side restrictions on consumer-side demand, organizations have no choice but to polish their judicial skills and adopt American and European-style risk management attitudes. It is imperative for businesses and other organizations to search for appropriate responses to the international standards of information secrecy management (ISO/IEC13335), project risk (ISO10006), as well as financial and labor affairs.

4.Proactive Responses to the ISO and Japanese Business Reform

Systemization of management within Japanese businesses is a lagging field. By adopting such policies as ISO14001 and ISO9000, it is possible to plan for the reconstruction and bottoming out of these archaic management systems. Furthermore, these policies will also make it possible to improve management performance and expand productivity. The standardization and systemization of inter-business trading will also become a possibility through each business' successive accumulation of ISO responses.

ISO standards not only establish top-down policies, but also call for continuous bottom-up improvement; this marks the advent of a golden opportunity for Japanese firms to communicate their know-how-taught through Japanese-style TQC (total quality control) and TQM (total quality management)-to the rest of the world. In fact, ISO's introduction of the environmental management system (ISO14001), followed by the PDCA cycle aimed at continuous improvement through quality control (ISO9000) and occupational health and safety (OHSAS18001 and 18002), all had their origins in Japanese TQM activities.

Japanese businesses have witnessed improved performance through the introduction of ISO standards. Consequently, the construction of Japanese-style management systems have become accepted in the global market, and it has now become possible for Japanese firms to go one step further and aim for creating the world standard for workmanship via their unique TQM. Thus, Japan should proactively tackle the introduction and application of ISO standards. Furthermore, Japan's response to globalization should be to actively participate and accept international standards. There is no going back now, given the present environment of progressive international standardization and the continuing introduction of ISO standards by Japanese businesses. However, the rewards of Japan's proactive involvement with ISO would be considerable.

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