Abstract
Analysing environmental management practices of companies in developing and developed countries is important in the context of people in developing nations idealising and wanting the living standards and consumption patterns of developed countries. As a result, companies and government institutions in the former could be pursuing inadequate environmental strategies based on the latter with no regard of their own local conditions. Thus, there is a need to look at how comparable environmental management is between firms in developed and developing countries, what the most important environmental issues these firms are facing and how these issues are addressed. Furthermore, what lessons are derived from the environmental behaviour of companies in developed and developing countries, what is the role of environmental regulators in these nations and what policy recommendations could be made. This investigation contributes to the better understanding of environmental management in developed and developing countries through an empirical comparison of environmental management activities and strategies of companies in the United Kingdom and Mexico as examples of these nations. The empirical analysis is based on 358 questionnaires and 100 interviews conducted in Mexican and UK firms during 2001. Additionally, environmental government agencies were also interviewed. The research found that the ranking of environmental pressures experienced by companies is similar in both countries, but UK firms perceive higher pressures. The main obstacle to environmental activities amongst companies in both countries is high costs of such activities, but this obstacle seems to be more relatively important for Mexican firms. In addition, whereas Mexican firms are more oriented towards end-of-the-pipe solutions for their environmental problems, UK companies undertake more pollution prevention measures and more managerial action. There is also a similar lack of integration of environmental strategies into mainstream business strategies in Mexican and UK companies; however, the latter pursue more environmental strategies focussed on customers, suppliers, company image and the market. As general conclusions, the research found that the differences in drivers and obstacles to environmental activities experienced by companies have an influence on the environmental activities and strategies of companies. Equally, national contexts influence the drivers and obstacles to environmental activities. However, it was found that the operational environmental activities are mainly driven by regulation more than by any other driver. Finally, the lack of integration of environmental strategies into core business strategies amongst companies in both countries obeys to a lack of understanding of business drivers to pursue environmental activities and the high costs associated with such activities.