Institutional pressures, dynamic capabilities and environmental management systems: Investigating the ISO 9000 – Environmental management system implementation linkage

We hypothesize a model where domestic and international institutional pressures lead to the successful implementation of ISO 9000 and can in turn lead to the successful implementation of environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 environmental certification systems or total quality environmental management (TQEM) systems. Using appropriate tests for mediation with dichotomous mediators and outcomes, we find that the model holds for a sample of 377 Chinese manufacturers in six major industrial groups in Suzhou, Dalian, and Tianjin. Our findings are consistent with the theory linking internal capabilities to heterogeneous external (in this case, institutional) pressures on organizations for environmentally proactive efforts. Our findings suggest that institutions in developing countries with significant environmental concerns such as China as well as foreign suppliers and partners to firms in these countries should encourage and support ISO 9000 implementations by local firms. These findings may influence other developing nations' adoption of quality and environmental process systems.

► We examine the effect of ISO 9000 for environmental management systems adoption.
► Empirical evaluation from 377 Chinese manufacturing firms using a robust logistic regression approach.
► ISO 9000 is helpful for ISO 14001 and other EMS adoption given various institutional pressures.
► International organizations may justify ISO 9000 as a supportive tool for implementation of broader systems.