Corporate environmental performance evaluation: a measurement model and a new concept

While many third-party organizations are practically evaluating corporate environmental performance (CEP), few academic studies have paid attention to third-party environmental performance evaluation (EPE). To answer the question of what should be measured for third-party EPE, we develop an environmental performance measurement (EPM) model consisting of environmental management performance (EMP) and environmental operational performance (EOP), and hypothesize that EMP be measured by four management performance indicators (MPIs: organizational system, stakeholder relations, operational countermeasures and environmental tracking) and EOP be measured by two operational performance indicators (OPIs: inputs and outputs). Further, to answer the question of how to enable third-party EPE comparable across companies from different (sub-)sectors, we propose to use the environmental intensity change index (EICI) as a measure of OPIs. Empirical tests confirm that the EICI and the evaluation based on it are comparable across companies from different sub-sectors. Empirical tests also support the existence of the MPIs and OPIs and the two-dimensioned constructs of CEP. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.