The impact and significance of ISO 14001 certification on the adoption of new technologies The case of Slovenia

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess whether environmental management systems (EMS) according to ISO 14001 requirements have contributed to the implementation and adoption of new technologies and to the issues related to technology performance in industrial enterprises. Design/methodology/approach - The research is based on the questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of ISO 14001 certified Slovene manufacturing companies. Findings - The results revealed that ISO 14001 certified manufacturing companies still mostly used the combination of partly adopted and partly modified technologies in order to reduce environmental impacts. ISO 14001 was considered as a very useful tool for the promotion of technological modernisation. It was shown also that ISO 14001 standard can play a significant role as a support tool for the acceleration of technological innovation activities regardless of the origin of the technology. Research limitations/implications - The research surveyed only industrial ISO 14001 certified enterprises in the Republic of Slovenia. Differences among industrial branches exist as well as among small, medium and large enterprises. These facts must be further studied. Practical implications - ISO 14001 certification proved to be an important driver for technological modernisation in industrial practice. Some environmental indicators are still underestimated or nonsufficiently included into firms' environmental policies and must be certainly improved. Since adoption of new technologies and EMS were rarely covered together the findings are interesting for wider community. Originality/value - The paper covers a subject on how adoption of ISO 14001 influences technological changes and related activities. Not many information and in-depth case studies have been available until now.