Implementation, Integration and Auditing of ISO 14001 Management Systems in Canada

Abstract

The main goal of this research was to investigate the application of the ISO 14001 standard in Canadian organizations. Seventeen research questions were defined and addressed using a survey of 32 organizations registered to the standard. Descriptive, explorative factor, reliability and cluster analyses, as well as structural equation modeling, were employed. A relationship between the implementation motives and benefits was found to exist. The results regarding the integration and auditing processes were different from a previous Spanish study. For example, the majority of Canadian organizations faced difficulties related to the differences in the standards. The main limitation was a very small sample size. Nevertheless, the research presents a valuable contribution to the fields of research in integration, internal and external auditing, as well as the implementation of ISO 14001, since the examination of these fields has either not been done or has been limited in Canada.