It is recognized that environmental quality degrades with the growth in
development. In this study, the
adoption of ISO 14001 was surveyed to learn the
differences in environmental management performance among
manufacturers in
Malaysia, before and after
certification. Questionnaire survey was conducted to
collect data. The data were processed to obtain statistical results using SPSS 11.5 for
Windows. The types of analysis used were descriptive and non parametric tests. A
total of 86 sets of survey component were sent to certified manufacturers. The
usable replies were 28 (32.6%). A total of 11 variables were tested for
environmental management performance. The results derived from Wilcoxon Test
show a majority improvement of 83.8% at positive ranks; a minority maintained
performance of 16.2% at ties and no degradation, i.e. 0% at negative ranks. All
these statistics are reliable at 0% significance level. In dealing with legal compliance
issues, difficulty in complying legal requirements show no significant correlation
(correlation coefficient ≤ 0.70) with consultation made to the authority. However,
most manufacturers have experience in liaison with the authority, with the most in
checking legal compliance (92.9%). In interacting with certification bodies,
manufacturers show satisfaction in certification bodies, as 92.9% address definitely
that they have benefited from the third party audit and 89.3% perceive certification
bodies as knowledgeable in performing environmental audit. Conclusions have been
drawn that the implementation of ISO 14001 among manufacturers would help in
approaching sustainability and the certification by third party is necessary to ensure
effective certification. As most manufacturers are certified to ISO 14001 due to
market forces, the role of customer in promoting ISO 14001 implementation among
manufacturers should be encouraged. However, as in dealing with legal
requirements, the roles of other parties could be possibly looked into so as to avoid
rigidity in compliance management that might hinder development.