Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM)

Total Quality Environmental Management refers to business management practices that reduce or prevent environmental pollution achieved through Total Quality Management techniques.(Albero A, 1999). Most literature on this topic abates with the increasing adoption of ISO 14001 in around 1995.

Socio-Industrial Facets of Total Quality Environmental Management

Abatement of environmental pollution cannot succeed with the dedicated efforts of an individual; it takes a village to raise environmental standards. Consequently, businesses can collectively attain environmental improvements through industry teamwork and in collaboration with regulators, thereby creating an alternative to stringent regulatory control. Total Quality Environmental Management has been proposed as an Alliance Framework (Odea & Pratt, 1995)

With respect to implementation, most businesses find it impossible to superimpose another company’s quality organization on their own firm similarly to the way that pouring beer into a soda pop can will not change the beer's taste into cola. (Woods, 1993) Thus, Total Quality Environmental Management implementations must address the unique aspects of each operating facility.

In 1992, performance indicators for Total Quality Environmental Management were "in the early stages of development" (Johansson, 1992) though little work in the area occurred since.

Total Quality Environmental Management Measures

An initial conceptual framework based on Juran’s COQ approach to identifying the costs of environmental projects has been introduced. However, an empirical examination of the proposed framework remains untested. (Curkovic et al, 2005). Total Quality Management frameworks and frameworks for capturing environmental costs do not yet cover the use of Total Quality Environmental Management.

Del Brío et al. (2000) presented and test two TQEM measures with good χ², but the measurements hold limited practical usefulness. Del Brio et al. found some correspondence between the attitude of the Spanish industrial companies' managers towards the environment based on their perception of the advantages and difficulties of environmental actions. Del Brio et al. also found a correspondence between the importance that managers attach to the adoption of a series of tools and the formal consideration they give to the environmental area; the managers were more concerned about the environmental advantages, difficulties and tools working in companies that attach more formal importance to the environmental area. They also found some correspondence between obtaining an environmental management certificate and the formal consideration given to the environmental area by managers. Those companies with an environmental management certificate attach more formal importance to the environmental area.

Green supply chain practices were defined in terms of four factors based on literature: internal environment management, external GSCM practices, inventory recovery, and eco-design. QM was defined as two main activities: TQM and ISO9000 certification. (Zhu & Sarkis, 2004)

Recent Total Quality Environmental Management Assessment

Jayathirtha (2001) provided a recent examination of Total Quality Environmental Management after the successful introduction of ISO 14001.

Both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series standards make some common requirements:

• Doing business as usual is “unacceptable.”
• Doing business without a systematic management approach is economic doom.
• Providing quality is key.
• Protecting and nurturing the environment is the key.
• Doing it right the first time is crucial.
• Getting your act together is essential.
• Listening to customers and other stakeholders is absolutely necessary.
• Respecting society is mandatory.

The objectives of Total Quality Environmental Management are to:

• reduce waste and improve continuously,
• reduce resource depletion,
• reduce or eliminate environmental pollution,
• design products for minimal environmental impact in production, use and disposal,
• control environmental impact of raw material sourcing,
• control environmental impact of new developments,
• promote environmental awareness among employees and
• promote environmental awareness within the community.

References

• Thompson(1993). Applying TQEM Practictes to Pollution Prevention at AT&T’s Columbus Works Plant Total Quality Environmental Management Summer: 373-381.
• Woods, S. (1993). Making Pollution Prevention Part Of The Coors Culture. Total Quality Environmental Management Autumn (1993): 31-38.
• O’Dea(1995). Achieving Environmental Excellence through TQEM Strategic Alliances. Total Quality Environmental Management Spring (1995): 93-108.
• Johannson, L. (1992a). TQEM Performance Indicators – How do you Measure Up? Total Quality Environmental Management Summer (1992): 415-419.

• Alm, A. (1992a). Pollution Prevention and TQM: Examples of Paradigm Shifts. Environmental Science and Technology 26(3): 452. doi:10.1021/es00027a601.

• del Brío, C.J. (2000). Environmental managers and departments as driving forces of TQEM in Spanish industrial companies. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management 18(5): 495-511. doi:10.1108/02656710110392638.

• Curkovic, S.; Sroufe, R. and Landeros, R. (2005). Measuring TQEM Returns from the Application of Quality Frameworks. Business Strategy and the Environment 17 (1): 93-106. doi:10.1002/bse.502.

• Jayathirtha, R. V. (2001). Combating Environmental Repercussions Through ‘TQEM’ and ‘ISO 14000’. Business Strategy and the Environment 10: 245-250. doi:10.1002/bse.294.

Further reading

• Alm, A. (1992b). Economic Incentives for TQEM: Are They in Your Future? Environmental Science and Technology 26(11): 2087.
• Bergeson(1991/2). Economic Incentives for TQEM: Are They in Your Future? Total Quality Environmental Management #: 151-158.

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• Corbett(2000). Environmental management systems in the New Zealand plastics industry. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 20(2): 204-224. doi:10.1108/01443570010304260.
• Ferguson, R. (1992 ). ANSI X12: Data Standards for TQEM. Total Quality Environmental Management Spring (1992): 261-267.
• Fisher, M. (1992). Building Audits into TQEM Measurement Systems at P&G. Total Quality Environmental Management Winter, (1992): 35-39.
• Fitzgerald, C. (1991). Quantifying TQEM at Florida Power and Light? Total Quality Environmental Managemen Winter, (1991/2): 181-189. XXX

Fitzgerald, C., 1991. Selecting Measures for Corporate Environmental Quality: Examples from TQEM Companies? Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1992, 329-337. Friedman, F.B., 1992. The Changing Role of the Environmental Manager. Business Horizons March-April 1992, 25-28. Greenberg, R.S., Unger, C.A., 1993. Environmental Management, Internal Control and TQEM. Total Quality Environmental Management August, 1993, 115-119. Hanna, M.D., Newman, W.R., 1995. Operations and environment: an expanded focus for TQM. Hettige, H., Lucas, R.E.B., Wheeler, D., 1992. The Toxic Intensity of Industrial Production: Global Patterns, Trends, and Trade Policy. The American Economic Review 82 (2), 478-481. Hughes SB, Willis DM. 1995. How quality control concepts can reduce environmental expenditures. Cost Management Summer: 15–19. Johannson, L., 1992a. TQEM Performance Indicators – How do you Measure Up? Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1992, 415-419. Johannson, L., 1992b. Environmental Leadership – Who are the TQEM Champions? Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1992, 119-127. Johannson, L., 1993a. The Power of IT: How Can Information Technology Support TQEM? . Total Quality Environmental Management Spring, 1993, 339-346. Johannson, L., 1993b. How Will TQEM Help You Identify Indicators of Success? Total Quality Environmental Management Winter, 1993/4, 237-248. Johannson, L., 1994. Voluntary Standards at the Dawn of ISO 14000: Fit or Folly for TQEM? Total Quality Environmental Management Winter, 1994/5, 101-112. Johannson, L., 1995. TQEM and the Internet: New Environmental Services and Resources. Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1995, 95-108. Johannson, L., 1995. If Innovation Is Important to Your Organization’s Survival, How will TQEM Help? Total Quality Environmental Management Spring, 1995, 135-141. Klassen, R.D., McLaughlin, C.P., 1993. TQM and environmental excellence in manufacturing. Industrial Management + Data Systems 93 (6), 14-52. Kraft, R.L., 1992. Designing TQEM into New Facilities: A Ten-Step Procedure from DuPont. Total Quality Environmental Management Autumn, 1992, 41-56. Leslie-Bole, C., Nelson, S.J., 1992. Environmental Community Relations: A Vital Component in TQEM. Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1992, 363-367. May, D.R., Flannery, B.L., 1995. Cutting Waste with Employee Involvement Teams. Business Horizons, Sept/Oct 1995, 28-38. Molina-Azorín, José F., Tarí, Juan J., Claver-Cortés, Enrique, López-Gamero, María D., 2008. Quality management, environmental management and firm performance: A review of empirical studies and issues of integration. International Journal of Management Reviews 11 (2), 197-222. Nash, J., Nutt, K., Maxwell, J., Ehrenfeld, J., 1992. Polaroid’s Environmental Accounting and Reporting System: Benefits and Limitations of a TQEM Measurement Tool. Total Quality Environmental Management Autumn, 1992, 3-15.

Oktem, U.G., Using Interactive Multimedia Training in TQEM Systems and Applications. Total Quality Environmental Management Spring, 1996, 89-99.

Rodenhurst, G., Spens, C., 1993. Supporting TQEM with Boeing’s Environmental Assessment Monitoring Program. Total Quality Environmental Management Spring, 1993, 291-296. Rondinelli, D.A., Berry., M.A.,1997. Case Study: Sonoco's Materials Reclamation Improves Environmental Performance through Quality-Based Management. Environmental Quality Management, Summer 1997, 1-9. Rondinelli, D.A., Berry., M.A.,1997. Industry‘s Role in Air Quality Improvement: Environmental Management Opportunities for the 2Ist Century. Environmental Quality Management, August 1997, 31-44. Rondinelli, D.A., Berry., M.A., Vastag, G., 1997. Strategic Programming For Environmental Management: Sonoco’s Take-Back Policy. Business Horizons, May/June 1997, 23-32. Sarkis, J., Rasheed, A., 1995. Greening the Manufacturing Function. Business Horizons, September/October, 1995, 17-27. Thompson, B.C., Rauck, A.C., 1993. Applying Tqem Practictes to Pollution Prevention at AT&T’s Columbus Works Plant . Total Quality Environmental Management Summer, 1993, 373-381. Wever, Grace H., 1993. Kodak’s Framework and Assessment Tool for Implementing TQEM. Total Quality Environmental Management August, 1993, 19-30. Wells, R.P., O’Connell, P.A., Hochman, S., 1993. What’s the Difference Between Reengineering and TQEM? Total Quality Environmental Management, Spring 1993, 273-282. Zhu, Q., Sarkis, J., 2004. Relationships between operational practices and performance among early adopters of green supply chain management practices in Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Journal of Operations Management 2(3), 265-89.

See also

Total Quality Management