Evidence of the relationship between environmental management, organizational learning and performance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14392/asaa.2025180104Keywords:
Environmental management accounting practices, environmental management systems, organizational learning, performance, industrial organizationsAbstract
Objective: To investigate the mediating effects of the environmental management system and organizational learning on the relationship between environmental management accounting practices and operational, environmental and financial performance.
Method: A descriptive survey with a quantitative approach was carried out with 121 controllers from industrial organizations established in Brazil.
Results: The results show that the adoption of environmental management accounting practices supports the structuring of the environmental management system. However, they do not have a direct and positive impact on organizational learning, which is enhanced when an environmental management system is structured. The effects of adopting such practices on performance are also different, directly impacting only environmental and financial performance. The adoption of such a management system also has no direct impact on performance, but indirectly, mediated by organizational learning, which is the only variable that explains the improvement in the operational performance of the companies studied.
Contributions: These results reveal important contributions to the field of study. They indicate that adopting isolated practices may not be enough to support improvements in organizational performance. Likewise, the structuring of an environmental management system may not be enough for this to happen. It is necessary to learn and be able to improve the management processes established in the organization, so that problems can be corrected, improvements promoted and operational efficiency improved.
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