ISO 14001 practices – A study of environmental objectives in Danish organizations

This article aims to shed light on how organizations implement environmental objectives in ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management Systems (EMSs), an issue that has been overlooked the literature. More specifically, flexible nature of set objectives, considering role their stakeholders, and specific aspects addressed are analyzed. The field work based mixed methods combined 20 qualitative interviews with a survey 277 Danish organizations. Findings show key stakeholders for EMSs - namely, employees customers rarely involved as top managers collaboration them. Objectives within areas energy/climate, waste, water consumption most common ones, while least used ones deal biodiversity, lifecycle assessments design. Thus, rather operational focus is highlighted. Implications organizations, managers, other discussed.