1-Constraints in Implementation of EMS. 1- Higher management commitment and employees behaviour:

1- Higher management commitment and employees behaviour:

A detailed review has been conducted in order to understand and; assess the role and significance of these constraints in implementation of EMS.

1- Higher management commitment and employees behaviour: Top management commitment and training of the employees is considered an important point for successful implementation of any management system either it is ISO quality management system or it is EMS. For effective planning and development of an environmental policy require top management’s commitment (Sasseville et al 1997: p.72) three steps has been suggested for this purpose

1-      “Ensuring top management commitment and leadership.

2-      Performing an initial environmental review

3-      Developing an environmental policy.”

 . Amar and Zain (2002) points ‘lack of management commitment leads to ineffectiveness of the whole system. Some respondents argue that it is difficult to change the mindset of the employees, and employee’s behaviour is considered a great hurdle in implementation of EMS (Abdullah & Focng 2010).

 Although, EMS provides full guideline and information for implementation but is nothing without full commitment of trained employees under the leadership of motivated and committed management for successful implementation (Zhang: 2000).Employees, resistance against organizational change and fear of change adoption is considered a barrier in implementation of EMS. Sassevile et al (1997:71) argue that ISO14001 requires real commitment of management with full participation of employees and this must be defined in environment policy of company. Moreover, top management commitment is claimed three times more important than environmental policy development and four time more significant that continual management review (Ponsinska et al: 2003, p. 590). In addition, it requires looking at different aspects of business imposed by external and internal forces and their impact on environmental management and performance.

  Zutshi and Sohal (2004:401) and Sassevile et al (1997) agree that management plays vital role to develop the environmental policy and in setting objective and goals and to ensure the full participation of every employee.

Every employee’s participation requires knowledge, training and motivation and the employees participation can be exemplified as team work, commitment, dedication (Zhang: 2000 p.47). Similarly, the better understanding of the environmental management issues (Ponsinska et al: 2003, p. 590), creation and development of policy & procedures can enhance the motivation and participation of employees. In order to improve the environmental performance of the organization top management commitment, participant’s empowerment, incentives and feedback are considered effective tools (Govindarajulu , N. and Daily F.B. 2004).

In addition, they emphasise on the involvement of leadership on every stage of certification process and top management ensure that EMS elements are working in real. Higher management is also responsible to allocate reasonable resources like time, money and manpower. The success of EMS and policy lies in implementation and it is the responsibility of every person in the organization. It is identified that “inability to realize the benefits of EMS, the perceived complexity of the ISO 14001 standard and too much documentation are considered as a barrier to top management commitment.  Usually, in organizations environmental department is considered as stepchild and besides that management do not show commitment which ranks on fifth number (score 3.06) in a survey conducted by Babakri et al (2003). Management is responsible for training and development of the employees to achieve the set targets. Motivation and rewards are considered supporting elements to get the full commitment of employees.

 Zutshi and Sohal (2004) suggested following points for successful implementation stated as

·         “ Providing leadership and motivation to employees at all level

·          Appointing a champion for overseeing the implementation

·         Assisting the EMS implementation manager in finalising goals and objectives

·         Allocating time for communication , training and motivation

·         Providing adequate and timely resources for implementation of the changes required as a part of EMS implementation. 

Lack of awareness and understanding of the EMS & environmental issues is another constraint followed by   management commitment has been discussed.