The Effectiveness of Green Certification Programs for Businesses
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to evaluate how “green” certifications influence internal and external business practices and sustainability within forest industry businesses relative to environmental impact. This study is designed to add to the currently limited research available regarding the effectiveness of green certifications, and the first within the forest industry, and encourage further research in the field of environmental management. Organizations are increasingly confronting societal demands to address environmental concerns, generally by implementing new policies and practices. Policymakers as well as organizations themselves are recognizing the competitive benefits of environmental management practices for firms in terms of worker morale, public opinion, cost savings, and competitive edge. Certification programs have become a popular method to communicate and diffuse these practices. Many certification programs have emerged as a way of adding credibility, harmonizing, improving existing practices as well as increasing diffusion of environmental management practices. They present an opportunity for businesses to adopt best practices in this domain, and are marketed as such. They are thought to be successful due to a combination of improved environmental performance and improved efficiency and effectiveness at implementing environmental management practices.
Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate how the adoption of an environmental certification affects organizational behavior and, given this effect, what the broader impacts on sustainability are. Many have focused on individual sectors, whereas this study implements survey research across multiple sectors. The United States is a principal focus of these studies due to a widespread presence of different certifications. In comparison there is minimal research to date on green certification programs within Canada with certifications such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council, and Canadian Standards Association. This study is significant as it provides a broader examination of green certification programs using North America as a case, but focusing on Canada, and includes Australia as an additional comparison. It provides a greater understanding of the impact of certification programs and their potential role in future business strategies, as well as environmental policy.
Keywords green certification, business practices, sustainability, environmental management, forest industry, organizational behavior, competitive benefits, North America.
