Environmental problem is a major and urgent issue facing the earth and its people. Many firms in Korea also have a growing commitment to assure environmental responsibility for all of their operations. This trend is driven partly by market demands for green products and partly by changes in international standards and regulations. However, there is little research on the behavioral analysis of environmental management in Korea. This study examines the behavior of environmental management in the Korean firms and the factors affecting that behavior.
The main objectives of this study are as follows:
1) What are the elements of the behavior of environmental management?
2) What are the relationships between the elements of the environmental management behavior and the influencing factors such as top management involvement in environmental management and resource ability?
3) What are the relationships between the elements of the environmental management behavior and the environmental performance? And what are the contingent factors affecting these relationships?
Based on the previous literatures on the quality management and management strategy, 8 elements of the behavior of environmental management were derived such as : i) employee participation in environmental management, ii) environmental training, iii) environmental audit, iv) management & improvement in environmental facilities, v) provision against emergencies, vi) resource reutilization, vii) linking with suppliers, viii) public relations of environmental management. Also the factors affecting the behavior of environmental management such as top management involvement in environmental management and resource ability were identified.
A field study was undertaken to test hypothesized relationships and data were collected from 42 Korean firms. Correlation analyses, Fisher's Z test were employed to test hypotheses, and ANOVA and t-test were conducted for further analyses.
The major findings of this study were as follows:
1) Top management involvement in environmental management is significantly correlated with employee participation in environmental management, environmental training, environmental audit, management and improvement in environmental facilities, and linking with suppliers.
2) Technical ability is significantly correlated with environmental audit, management and improvement in environmental facilities, and provision against Emergencies. Financial capability is also significantly correlated with environmental training, environmental audit, and management & improvement in environmental facilities.
3) All behaviors of environmental management except resource reutilization are significantly correlated with environmental performance.
4) Firm's industrial characteristics and product characteristics partly affect the relationships between the behavior of environmental management and the environmental performance
5) Additional statistical analyses show that environmental policy and the environmental department also affect affirmatively the behavior of environmental management.
Finally, some managerial implications and limitations of this study were described and future research directions were suggested.