Eco-efficiency and organizational practices: an exploratory study of manufacturing firms

As the pressure increases on organizations to improve their eco-efficiency, the identification of organizational practices that can support this improvement has become a major concern for managers and researchers. The aim of this exploratory study is to identify the association between organizational practices (ie managerial and operational) and eco-efficiency in manufacturing organizations. Combining survey and public data from a sample of Canadian manufacturing industries, the results suggest for managerial practices that environmental strategic planning, environmental administrative mechanisms, and incentives are associated with two eco-efficiency ratios-namely, the material intensity ratio and the environmental productivity ratio-while environmental performance indicators are associated with the material intensity ratio. Furthermore, the results suggest that three environmental operational practices-namely, product redesign, reduction, and alliances-are positively associated with the material intensity ratio. This study contributes to the sustainability and eco-efficiency literatures by exploring the role and contributions of organizational practices that support environmental and economic performance.