Knowledge Creation and Environmental Management

In the light of environmental pollution and climate change, environmental problems have now become one of the most important issues worldwide; so the importance of the environmental management (EM) for industries and firms has been particularly rising. This paper proposes a research framework of knowledge creation through EM using Nonaka's theory of knowledge creation, which helps illuminate how EM can lead to knowledge creation and performance improvement. This paper shows how EM activities can contribute to the four types of knowledge-creating processes (socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization), that is new in describing the dynamics of how knowledge can be created through EM. Our findings are consistent with resource-based view and natural resource-based theory which state that the basis of competitive advantage lies in the heterogeneity of resources of firm, and with the knowledge-based view of films which emphasizes the integration of knowledge into firm's processes for environmental competitive advantage.