SOFT EMS, HARD EMS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

An environmental management system (EMS) provides the framework for continual environmental improvement
through effective management of an organization’s environmental impacts. The most well-known and accepted EMS is the
ISO 14001 standard on environmental management established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The literature suggest that the key components that impact on environmental management system (EMS) implementation
are a synergistic blend of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ elements. The elements of soft EMS are essentially dimensions of human
resource management (HRM), while the ‘hard’ elements are more technical-oriented. To ensure successful environmental
management, the ‘hard’ elements of an EMS must be accompanied by equal attention to the ‘soft’ elements. At the present
time, the nature of the relationship between the soft EMS elements, hard EMS elements and environmental performance
remains unclear. Specifically more effort should be placed in formulating theoretical models that can represent the complex
EMS practices-environmental performance relationships. This paper aims to provide a motivation for investigating the
mediating effects of hard EMS elements in the relationship between soft EMS elements and environmental performance.