The purpose of this essay is to analyse the benefits and shortcomings of Environmental Management Systems in relation to Canon Inc. The first part of the essay consists of an introduction to Environmental Management Systems (EMS), ISO 14001and a brief introduction on Canon Inc. First of all, Canon Inc is a multinational company which is specialised in the manufacture of imaging and optical products (Canon 2014). It is very important for an organisation like Canon Inc to implement a proper EMS, as the company’s business acts can have a lot of negative impacts on the environment especially since it is a manufacturing company. Now, why should Environmental Management Systems be used? Environmental Management systems have become an essential tool for almost all organisations like Canon Inc, as they have to deal with environmental issues such as how to deal with pollution, especially when you are aware of the fact that the company in question’s business activities can prove to be harmful to the environment. Environmental Management Systems helps the company to minimise the impacts of their activities. For companies like Canon Inc, which have large turnover rates, are more likely to get larger returns on the cost of certification, which is why Canon Inc has been chosen for the purpose of this essay, as large organisations like them realise the importance of having proper EMS and ISO 14001 certification (CAMPOS 2014).

Now, what is an Environmental Management System. The basic definition of an Environmental Management System is that it sets procedures and practices that enable an organisation to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operational efficiency (US Environmental Protection Agency) Basically it requires the business to identify its environmental issues and thus helps it meet its obligations (CAMPOS 2014). It also helps companies to identify the significant threats that its activities have and provides them with a set of procedures to manage them ( Seymour and Ridley 2005 and Morelli, 1999). Each company has to identify its own business activities from which it will have to set its own goals and objectives. The Environmental Management process will help the company to address regulatory demands in a cost effective manner. It is in a certain way a proactive approach which helps companies enhance their compliance and foster a better working environment for its own employees and the society (EPA 2014). An Environmental Management System also helps organisations, especially large organisations like Canon Inc to address non-regulatory issues such as how to conserve energy and its resources effectively. Canon Inc manufactures over millions of products during a year, conserving energy and resources can generate a lot of profit to the organisation. The basic elements of an Environmental Management Systems, taking Canon Inc into consideration. First of all Canon will have to set up environmental goals or review their existing ones, then they have to analyse the environmental impacts that their business might have and check whether they are complying with relevant legislations. After identifying the environmental impacts, the environmental objectives and targets have to be set, and programs should be established to meet these objectives, usually these programs would include providing training to employees. The company also has to monitor and measure its progress (EPA).

Canon Inc, uses the Environmental Management System framework based mostly on ISO 14001 standard. The ISO 14000 series, Organisation for Standardisation, consists of a set of standards and guidelines of Environmental Management Systems (Implementing IS014001 2014). ISO 14001 sets five main stages of EMS which are; commitment and policy, whereby the company decides to improve its environmental performance and establishes a relevant environmental policy, which is the foundation of Environmental Management System. Secondly planning, whereby the company identifies the aspects of its operations which can be the types of materials or chemicals that they use in the manufacturing process, and assess the impacts that it can have on the public or the environment. Then the company has to choose one of the significant impacts an thus focus on it, set goals so as to be able to reduce its use by a certain percentage. Thirdly the implementation process, whereby the company has to go through its action plans and ensure that all employees related have a certain degree of awareness on the environmental issues. The company also has to evaluate its operations to check whether the targets are being met. Lastly, reviewing the process whereby the company will have to review the results that they gained from implementing the Environmental Management System process (EPA 2014). Canon decided to implement Environmental Management System so as to promote environmentally conscious management so as to be able to achieve the Canon group Environmental Charter goal of maximising resources efficiency. Canon has constructed an environmentally conscious management system to support the efficiency of all its environmental assurance activities (Canon 2014).

They have also set up environmental audits so as to evaluate the implementation of their Environmental Management Systems. As mentioned earlier, the one basic elements of EMS is to identify the aspects of its operations and take actions concerning it. Some of the environmental areas that Canon Inc, has concentrated on are carbon dioxide reductions, recycling, management of chemical substances and provision and disclosure of environmental information. Carbon dioxide reductions (energy conservation), Canon Inc tried to focus on the product’s entire life cycle so as to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As for their products, they adopted eco design systems which have product energy conservation standards. Canon Inc, also adopted recyclability so as to conserve their resources. They participated in recycling schemes and how to implement recycling programs. Through which, they were able to place logos on all their products, which helps to indicate how to properly sort and dispose a product. An important part of the Environmental Management process is to provide training to employees, which forms part of the implementation process (EPA 2014). First of all, the training started off with an awareness training such as all employees require at least a basic understanding of environmental issues. Specialised education training, whereby the trainees themselves need to have a basic knowledge and technical skills related to environmental audits of the operational sites (Canon 2014).

Environmental Management Systems can generate a lot of benefits for the company, take for example Canon Inc, the list of the advantages that Canon Inc is indeed very long. First of all, it helps the company to improve the its environment aspect and performances. Through the identification of the aspects of its operations, companies like Canon Inc, can identify the main causes of environmental issues, such as examining the product life cycle and see which substance or which material has a higher pollution capacity and set a specific target such as to reduce carbon dioxide emission by 25% by the year 2015. This can help improve the environmental performance of the company. It can help enhance employees’s motivation, employees would be happier to work for a company that cares for the environment and ultimately for its employees as they are providing them with a cleaner environment. They will be able to retain their high performing employees and also high calibre employees would want to join the company. It also helps to enhance the image of the company in the society. The society usually tends to favour companies that care for the environment, this will create a good reputation for the company and will in turn attract investors and customers. Not only that the company will also be able to retain their loyal customers. A better market position can be achieved thus the company will perform better in the global economy. It also provides the company with a proactive approach to help improve the management system for environment accidents and risks. The Government usually sets legislations regarding the pollution and emission, having a proper Environmental Management System can help improve compliance and thus maintain a good relationship with the authorities and the local communities (CARY 2010). The company decided to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and adopt recyclability, thus enabling them to conserve their resources and reduce costs. It also helps to increase productivity, in terms of boosting employees morale. As mentioned earlier the employees would be more likely to be happier thus, which can greatly affect the way they work positively. Increased productivity would of course mean increased profitability. They will also get the benefit of cost reduction, for example Canon Inc, which tried to reduce carbon emissions, they certainly stopped the use of a certain substance. It also helps to conserve energy, which can save a lot of money at the end of the year. The environmental management methods are also improved, through the implementation of the Environmental Management System process, companies have a better idea of how to go about the issues that are arising. They can instantly identify an issue arising and since the Environmental Management System provides the company with a proactive approach, they can easily minimise the risks. The company can also get new international market opportunities, integrating the international market can be possible. Also local market opportunities would become more frequent. Although, implementing Environmental Management Systems is a very long process, it definitely generate a lot of benefits that compensate for the time spent in implementing it. Environmental Management System, is a process whereby the benefits can be seen after a period of time, there are more long term advantages associated to it rather than short term benefits.

Although Environmental Management Systems has many strengths that comes with it, it also has some weaknesses associated to it. Companies often face difficulties during the implementation of the Environmental Management System process, these difficulties can be encountered before the implementation process, during the implementation process as well as after the EMS has been implemented. Some of the difficulties that can be faced in the initial stage of implementation can be where the company has to identify the impact that their activities have on the environment, for a large company like Canon Inc which have millions of products being manufactured everyday, it can be hard for them to find a specific aspect to focus on as they have so many. The documentation can also be an additional work for the staff. Additional work can decrease staff morale as they will have an overload of work, and a lot of work pressure can decrease their concentration thus affecting productivity. Companies might also want to recruit new staff which can also be time consuming. The main difficulties that almost all companies adopting Environmental Management System process faces are that the costs of implementing the process can be very high. The costs include getting the certification, implementation process, training, reviewing and the evaluation. There can also be barriers to communication during the training process, whereby the employees might not understand what is being taught to them or vice versa. Environmental Management Systems is very costly for the company, they have to invest a lot of money and usually the benefits can be seen only in the long term (CARY 2010)

Overall Environmental Management Systems, is very beneficial for a company. Although the benefits cannot be seen right away, it comes with various long term benefits. Canon Inc, initially adopted Environmental Management System mainly because they wanted to maximise resource efficiency which is why they accordingly constructed the environmentally conscious management system. The main benefits that can be acquired through the implementation of the environmental management system are improved environmental performance, pollution prevention, resource conservation, attract new customers and markets, efficiency is increased and costs is reduced by a significant amount. Employee morale is increased thus increasing profitability, since the society and media favours mostly socially responsible companies it can help them enhance their public image with the authorities and investors. Their were also many difficulties which are associated with the implementation of the Environmental Management System Process, such as increased responsibility. The company now has more pressure on them as they have additional work. The auditing process can also be very time consuming. Defining the environmental policy can be quite lengthy and difficult as well.

In the light of above all, Environmental Management Systems under 14001 standards can prove to be very beneficial for the company. For a company like Canon Inc, which operates in several countries across the world, it is essential for them to maintain a good relationship with the authorities and the media as this can help them perform better in the global economy. Although Canon, had to invest a significant amount of money on the implementation and the certification, in the long term it will help them collect the money through adopting recyclability and conserving the resources. A very interesting quote that can sum up the whole essay would be “Many people seem to be obsessed with technology. However, if we just made better use of the technologies and management techniques that we already have, we could go a long way to removing many key environmental problems - Dr Martin Gibson, Programme Director, Envirowise (2008)”. Basically what he wants to say is that we have not been using technology and management in an efficient way, implementing Environmental Management Systems require good management skills, which can be acquired through good training. If an effective Environmental Management System is established, definitely the company will have to deal with less environmental issues.

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