Environmental management in proactive commercial firms : lessons for central logistics activities in the Department of Defense

Like Many Innovative Commercial Firms, The Department Of Defense (dod) Has Sought To Take A Proactive Approach To Environmental Issues. However, It Has Found It Difficult To Implement Proactive Policies In Ways That Affect Decisions Made Throughout The Department. This Study Focuses On How Commercial Firms Recognized As Having The Best Environmental Management Practices In The Country Have Implemented Those Practices, Specifically Addressing Practices Relevant To Dod's Central Logistics Activities. Lessons From These Firms Should Help Dod Implement A Proactive Approach. Among Study Findings: Dod Can Learn A Great Deal From Commercial Firms, In Areas Ranging From Fuel Consumption And Packaging To Hazardous-waste Generation. A Broad Consensus Is Emerging From The Many Commercial-sector Experiments In Environmental Management Presently Under Way; Dod's Policy Is Broadly Compatible With This Consensus. Dod Should Integrate Environmental Management With Its Core Mission Concerns And Should Develop A Formal Environmental Management Program To Increase The Likelihood That Implementation Will Succeed. Finally, Dod Can Use Total Quality Management (tqm) To Verify Its Implementation Approach, Particularly In The Area Of Pollution Prevention; If Effective In Central Logistics Activities, This Could Help Lead Dod Toward Broad Acceptance Of Tqm. Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. Environmental Issues In Central Logistics Activities -- Central Logistics In The Dod -- Integrated Supply Chain Management -- Environmental Issues In Central Logistics -- Contracting -- Ch. 3. Approaches To Environmental Management In Proactive Commercial Firms -- Motivation For Change -- Barriers To Change -- The Basic Consensus On A Proactive Approach -- Defining A Proactive Environmental Management Program -- Implementation -- Total Quality Management As A Solution -- Ch. 4. Using Iso 14001 To Enhance An Environmental Management System -- Potential Benefits That Commercial Firms Perceive In Iso 14001 -- Iso 14001 And The Dod: An Illustration -- Implementation -- Global Registration To Iso 14001 In Two Large American Firms -- Ch. 5. Conclusions. Frank Camm. Mr1308. Prepared For The Office Of The Deputy Undersecretary Of Defense For Environmental Security. Includes Bibliographical References. Central logistics activities in the Department of Defense (DoD) face environmental performance challenges very similar to those faced by industrial activities in the private sector. The regulatory environment is becoming more demanding as regulations grow in complexity, and in addition, persistent demands to reduce the size of the DoD "infrastructure" (however that is defined) have focused attention on any costs associated with that infrastructure, including the costs of meeting environmental goals. Like many of its innovative commercial counterparts, the DoD has sought to take a proactive approach to environmental concerns. Rather than simply reacting to regulators' demands at the "end of the pipe," DoD policymakers have sought policies that are more positive and constructive. These policies try to motivate personnel to adjust environmentally relevant processes in ways that enhance the DoD's ability to pursue its core military mission while maintaining its standing as an environmentally responsible public agency that sets a good example for others in government and the private sector. But like many of their commercial counterparts, high-level decisionmak- ers in the DoD have found it difficult to implement proactive policies in ways that affect decisions made throughout the organization. The Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security asked RAND to study how commercial firms recognized as having the best environmental management practices in the country have implemented those practices. Lessons from these firms should help the DoD improve its own implementation of a proactive approach to environmental management. This report addresses commercial implementation of environmental management practices that are relevant to the DoD's central logistics activities