Determinants of environmentally responsible operations: a review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the underlining needs for and determinants (factors, tools and methods) of environmentally responsible operations (EROs) and present some direction for work in the areas involving an environmental/quality/operations management interface. Design/methodology/approach – Six typical ERO tools/methods are described, and the findings of a literature review, of selected journal articles on environmental management and related areas from 1994‐2003, are presented. Findings – The review identifies 15 ERO factors under three groupings, namely policy, product/process, and performance evaluation. The relevance of these factors to the ERO tools/methods is also discussed. The findings are useful for implementing EROs and developing a paradigm for integrating environmental, quality and operations management in organisations. Originality/value – The paper underlines the ERO potentials for environmental, quality and operations management interface and suggests the venues that warrant future work.