Relaci´ on entre la potencia incidente y el tiempo de captura

AS/NZS ISO 14001, a standard identical to ISO 14001 prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee QR-011, defines an EMS as being

“part of an organization’s management system used to develop and implement its environmental policy and manage its environmental aspects [and] includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities,

36

practices, procedures, processes and resources” (AS/NZS ISO 14001, 2004: 2).

This definition does not refer specifically to accounting, and it must be noted that an EMS is not an accounting, or software system. An EMS is a group of management processes that requires organisations to “identify, measure, and control their environmental impacts” (Bansal & Hunter, 2003: 290). Therefore the purpose of the EMS in the context of this discussion is to aid organisations in systematically identifying and measuring information regarding their environmental performance. It does this by defining how an organisation will address its environmental impacts (Darnell, Jolley & Handfield, 2008), and providing additional sources of information and control over an organisation’s environmental and business processes and performance (Florida & Davison, 2001).

An EMS comprises an assortment of internal policies, appraisals, plans and implementation procedures affecting the organisation and the way it interacts with the natural environment. Whilst the specific characteristics of EMSs vary across organisations, every EMS involves the establishment of an environmental policy, undertaking internal assessments of the environmental impacts of the organisation, including quantification of those impacts and how they vary over time, the creation of quantifiable goals to decrease environmental impacts, the provision of resources and workplace training, monitoring the progress of implementation via methodical auditing to ensure goals are being met, rectifying deviations from the achievement of goals and undertaking management reviews (Darnall et al., 2008).

The use of an EMS is increasingly acknowledged as the most comprehensive and systematic method of improving environmental performance. However, the area remains under-researched (Florida & Davison, 2001; Pérez, Ruiz & Fenech, 2007). Whilst previous studies have examined the use of EMSs with respect to improved environmental performance (e.g. Pérez et al., 2007; Nawrocka & Parker, 2009), few have examined their use with respect to improved environmental accounting or reporting. However, it has been suggested that the use of an EMS with ISO 14001 certification would partially enable the discharge of S&EAA, as it requires the implementation of environmental monitoring, measurement and recording systems (Mitchell & Hill, 2009).

37

The implementation and operation of an EMS requires a significant investment in organisational resources (Nawrocka & Parker, 2009), and as such the majority of EMSs tend to be found in large, well-resourced organisations (Florida & Davison, 2001). In addition to facilitating the on- going, systematic identification and measurement of environmental information (Gray et al. 1993; Bebbington et al. 1994), EMSs have been shown to provide financial benefits through effective risk management and improved operational efficiencies, and non-financial benefits through effective stakeholder and reputation management (Williams et al., 2000; Florida & Davison, 2001; Darnall et al., 2008). The use of EMSs has been associated with increased environmental awareness and discussion amongst employees, increased staff morale (Williams et al., 2000), improved stakeholder relationships (Florida & Davison, 2001) and an increased likelihood that the organisation will engage in ‘green supply chain management’ (Darnall et al., 2008).

These benefits have contributed to the growth in the adoption and use of EMSs. Since their development in the 1990s (Nawrocka & Parker, 2009), the number of organisations obtaining ISO14001 certification for their EMSs internationally has increased from 13,994 in 2009 to over one quarter of a million in 2010, and has more than doubled in the same period in Australia and New Zealand (ISO, 2011). However, interpretations of environmental performance as referred to in ISO 14001 may vary according the perceived role of the EMS within the organisation, and whilst ISO 14001 requires the establishment of environmental targets, these targets are also organisation-specific (Nawrocka & Parker, 2009), and thus offer little in the way of comparability between organisations. Furthermore, whilst the use of an EMS may assist with or improve compliance with legislation (Williams et al., 2000), anecdotal evidence suggests that EMSs may also be used by organisations to delay or avoid regulation (Pérez et al., 2007).

Evidence suggests that the level of commitment to the ongoing identification and measurement of relevant information, and recognition of the role the EMS may play in this, has an impact on the benefits an organisation can expect to reap from the implementation of an EMS. For example, Florida and Davison (2001), who classified users of EMSs as being either ‘high adopters’ or ‘low adopters’ according to whether or not they had also implemented a pollution prevention program, found that ‘high adopters’ actively engaged in stakeholder communication and involvement in environmental activities (Florida & Davison, 2001).

38

The literature examining the use of EMSs has focussed solely on their use with respect to environmental performance (e.g. Bansal & Hunter, 2003; Darnall et al., 2008; Nawrocka & Parker, 2009), and S&EA has been criticised for focusing on the environment at the expense of organisational social performance (Everett & Neu, 2000). Furthermore, much of the extant literature examining social performance management has considered only one specific aspect of social performance, such as occupational health and safety (e.g. Rikhardsson, 2004), stakeholder engagement (e.g. Perrini & Tencati, 2006), or human rights issues (e.g. Dey, 2007; Chetty, 2011). However, all aspects of life are interconnected (Gray, 1992), and the social impacts of organisational activities are equally important as environmental impacts (Everett & Neu, 2000). Therefore, the identification, measurement and reporting of all relevant aspects of both social and environmental performance must be undertaken in order to discharge S&EAA. An overview of the implementation and use of the systems used by organisations to monitor and manage their social impact and performance is provided in the following section, before the need for integrated management systems is emphasised.