Back to top of the page

Back to the List of Participants with Research Papers

Back to Global Dialogue

Back to the Portal of the Global Community organization

CHALLENGES OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN BRAZIL

Armindo dos Santos de Sousa Teodósio
Andréa Alcione de Souza
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais

Abstract

This paper analyzes the development and incorporation of Environmental Management Systems by Brazilian organizations. The author discuss the implications of its diffusion in the national productive arena, distinguishing its relevance for the advance of the Management Theory and for the modernization of the Brazilian organizations.

I- Introduction

The last decades have been prodigal in social and economic challenges. The internationalization of national economies, the reorganization of the productive processes in the industry, its effects on the "World of the Work" and the crisis of the State hegemony are some of the changes that add to an intense process of discussion of the future of the humanity in the planet, characterized by the important position of environmental questions in the contemporary debate.

The environmental thinkings have brought great questions to the role of the industry in the modern society, not only related to the extraction of natural products, but also to the results of the production and consumption models, based on the increasing of the demand. This process has been intense in those industrial sectors historically associates to the systematic degradation of the environment, as siderurgy.

In the attempt of reply to these questions, there is a proliferation of models and managerial techniques directed to the environmental problems in organizations, like the ISO 14000. These strategies of environmental management many times are faced as definitive and miraculous prescriptions for the challenges in the industry (BRAGA, 1995).

In this arena, a deep reflection about the productive and social pattern that such managerial technologies come acquiring in the Brazilian context and its implications for the modernization of the processes of organizational management they become imperative.

II - Environmental Management & Administration Science

The model of economic development in the western capitalist economies, in some decades ago, was based on the increasing profits of scale through the intensive use of products, mainly of direct extraction in the nature. This form of capitalist development finds its limit in social, economic and politics factors, but over all, which had to the actual damages to the environment (ALVATER, 1995). As PAULA (1997) discussess, the questions become strengh with the scientific prognostics in the sixties on the destruction of the Earth’s natural resources must be understood as part of a bigger crisis: the crisis of the "Modernity".

For KURZ (1997), the environment is "dematerialized" by the organizational rationality in the capitalist society, submitting its substance to the performance criterions, depriving the nature of its real dimension. This imperative molds the thematic economic discussion around the environment.

The incorporation of this subject in the economic sphere inaugurates an intense debate under the possibility of monetary quantification of the environmental damages. This discussion finds great challenges in the rationality of the economic agents in the forecasting and measuring of the biodiversity degradation. (HANEMANN, 1997 and RANDALL, 1997)

Despite the dilemmas faced by the Economy Theory, TORRES et al (1997) considers that the introduction of the environmental questions in this field of knowledge has as the one of its "refresh" and backup of old links with other social sciences, as the Politics and Sociology.

The same can be noticed in Organizational Theory. In this area theses discussions indicate the need of continuous modernization of the productive processes. This change of the managerial logic processes dialectally in the confrontation between groups of divergent interests in the society and, mainly, inside of the organizations (BACKER, 1992).

To AKTOUF (1994), the refreshing of the Management as a knowledge area and intervention (management) in the organizations is linked to the construction of new bases for the organizational culture and the organization-environment, employees-managers and organization-society relations. However, the modernization of the environmental management systems in the organizations seems to be impelled with bigger intensity for external conditionings to the organizational of that for internal factors.

III - State And Environmental Regulation

The Sixties and Seventies can be identified as an intensification of the environmental conscience, with the increasing action of social groups and actors who had started to demand greater attention to the question of the environment degradation by the industry. In accordance with DONAIRE (1994, p. 69) "the chimneys’ smoke passed to be seen as anomaly and not more as an advantage".

In a reply to this social movements appear legal initiatives of regulating the predatory activities in the capitalist countries. The first law of evaluation of environmental impacts, known as National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) appears in the United States in 1968, having as objective the obligation of presentation by the organizations of a report about the environmental impacts of its operations.

In developing countries environmental laws were stimulated from the initiative of the ONU, through the PNUMA (Program of the United Nations for the Environment), that among others questions establish that the evaluation of the environmental impacts must: "to verify the problems, conflicts and aggressions to the natural resources, that also affect the viability of the project and as this will be able to cause damages to the population, the environment and surrounding enterprises" BARBIERI (1995, p. 79).

In the Brazilian case, the first law related to environment appeared in 1972, when the World Bank demanded an "Evaluation of Environmental Impacts" for financing the Sobradinho’s hidroelectric project. The Federal Constitution of 1988 includes a chapter about the environment and authorizes the creation of the CONAMA (National Council of Environment), besides favoring the sprouting of other federal, state and municipal agencies in this area.

To DEMAJOROVIC (1995) the traditional instruments of the State for environmental management are characterized by the control and command regulations, that currently have given to what is called "Economic Instruments". Between the first ones meet a direct regulation of the State, through rigorous laws and efficient politics of inspection, based on the determination of technician standards on the productive process. The emphasis is the reduction of trash and the recycling. On the "Economic Instruments" the strategy is based on the adoption of market mechanisms that cause a rise of the costs and the prices of the products, to the organizations that do not reduce the emission of pollutants.

For the author, the economic instruments of environmental management are more efficient and therefore, more recommendable, mainly for the developing countries, as it is in Brazil. Between its advantages can be mentioned: the incentive to the development of technologies of pollution control in the private sector, the reduction of extensive and detailed legislation of control and its respective institutional apparatuses, and the increase of the adoption of resources by the government for environmental programs of another nature.

In the scope of the control strategies of environmental damages can be observed three distinct phases. In the beginning of the Seventies the priority was the distribution and space disposal of the trashes, with prominence for the location of the urban and industrial trash deposits. In the middle of this decade, the priorities were reducing the generation of trash and to magnify the material recycling, as well as reduce the use of energy. In the Eighties emerge proposals of management of pollutant trashes during all the phases of the economic system. This implies in a deep changeof the behavior of all the social actors, mainly of the organizations. This strategy demands, according to DEMAJOROVIC (1995): 1- a redefinition of the products design (products of long life and easiness of repairing); 2- an alteration in the production model (less consumption of energy and raw materials); 3- a change in the distribution system; 4- a change in the consumption habits (educational programs of ecological awareness).

IV - Environmental Management Systems

These organizational changes suggest that the environmental abordage must happen in all strategic dimensions of the business, or either, beyond the technical aspects of production, also considers the organizational culture, the managerial practices, the decision process and the construction of the strategic planning. As detaches DONAIRE (1994, p. 70):

"the environmental protection leaving of being an exclusive production function to also become a Management function. Contemplated in the organizational structure, intervening with the strategic planning, it started to be an important activity in the organization, either in the development of the activities of routine, either in the quarrel of alternative scenes and the consequent analysis of its evolution, generating politics, goals and plans of action".

An efficient Environmental Management System, according to BACKER (1995), should articulate different organizational areas, with prominence for the sectors of Marketing, Production, Human Resources, Financial and Research & Development. For the author, fits to the Marketing to define and to propagate the image and the philosophy of commercial thread of the organization. To the Production demands the task of measure internal and external risks, through audit process of quality and technician risk, and structure a project of investiment rulled in the reflection of products ecologically correct. The Research & Development area should search the technological vocation of the organization and keep a process of continuous technologic innovation. The Human Resources Department has as goal the environmental education and the construction of the "environmental behavior". Finally, the Financial and Juridical should be put in charge of the reduction of risks and rise of financial advantages, using the execution of ecological audit process and reports.

However, the transition to a model articulated and efficient of environmental management is not a linear process. According to NASCIMENTO (1997, p. 5), can be delineated three basic phases of organizational action and strategy.

Table 1 - Organizational Strategies - External And Internal Pressures