Environmental management accounting practices, management system, and performance

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management accounting practices (EMAP), environmental management system (EMS) and organizational performance (OPM) for Malaysian manufacturing industry by using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.Design/methodology/approachThe population of the Malaysian manufacturing industry comprised 2,600 manufacturing companies. The unit of analysis is the organization that participated in the survey comprised of automotive/machinery, plastics/rubber/metal, food/tobacco, electrical/electronics and chemical/woods. Out of the 2,600 questionnaires sent to the respondents, 395 were received from manufacturing companies. The collected data are analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statistics and SEM technique.FindingsFindings found that EMS implementation as a partial mediator to improve EMAP and OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Further, the implementation of EMS was found to mediate the relationship between EMAP and OPM.Research limitations/implicationsThe understanding of the importance of studying the relationship between EMAP, EMS and OPM has been emphasized in the present study. In fact, the findings of this study along with its limitations have paved the way for future research in EMAP, EMS and OPM areas.Practical implicationsThis research provides important guidelines for manufacturers and related companies to implement EMAP and EMS in order to improve OPM. Hence, the Malaysian manufacturing industry may need to consider the measurement of EMAP, EMS and OPM as beneficial to their manufacturing companies.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the environmental management accounting by empirically linking the relationship between EMAP, EMS and OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry.