Abstracts Category : Other

The use and effectiveness of environmental management practices in Australia

by Thanh Nguyet Phan

Thesis by publication. Bibliography: pages 181-200. Chapter One. Introduction Chapter Two. Literature review Chapter Three. Data collection and analysis Chapter Four. Paper one Chapter Five. Paper two Chapter Six. Paper three Chapter Seven. Conclusion Appendices References. This thesis examines the use of specific environmental management practices by Australian organisations, including Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) and Environmental Management Accounting (EMA), operationalised in respect to the use of physical and monetary components and Environmental Activity Management as a specific tool of EMA. In addition, the thesis investigates the influence of contingency factors on the use of these practices, and the association between the extent of use of such practices and environmental performance. Data were collected by mail survey questionnaire from a random sample of 208 senior managers in Australian organisations across different industries. The thesis adopts the thesis by publication format and consists of three academic papers. Paper One examines the influence of institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative) on the comprehensiveness of EMSs, and the impact of EMS comprehensiveness on environmental performance. The findings indicate that both coercive and normative pressures influence the comprehensiveness of EMSs. In addition, organisations with more comprehensive EMSs were found to experience higher levels of all four dimensions of environmental performance (resource usage, regulatory compliance, productivity, and stakeholder interaction). 1 online resource (xii, 200 pages) diagramsAdvisors/Committee Members: Macquarie University. Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance.