The research reported in this paper develops a framework for environmental management practices (EMPs). Specifically, EMPs are grouped into the formal systems that integrate environmental procedures and processes that relate to the operational, tactical and strategic levels of a firm. Content analysis of the environmental reports of 45 multinational firms reveals the validity of the proposed EMP framework. The results of this qualitative study suggest many firms are emphasising a subset of practices at strategic and operational levels but tactical practices remain underutilised. The conceptual framework and results of this study can be used to develop measurement scales to guide additional research and to develop theory in the area of environmental management.

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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (EMPs) ARE BEING EMPLOYED MORE Nil widely as a result of changing business conditions that emphasise environmental performance. Consequently, meaningful and effective tools for measuring environmental performance are increasingly important because of the costs of new environmental technologies, the need for compliance with regulatory pressures and the need to address the concerns of external and internal stakeholders. Additionally, voluntary environmental initiatives such as ISO 14001 of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the Business Principles for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have impacted firms in recent years (GEMI 1997), causing them to emphasise environmental programmes and EMPs (Corbett and Kirsch 2001).

At present there are a number of different ways to label environmental programmes and systems. These labels include industrial ecology (Arthur D. Little 1991), environmental operations management (EOM; Gupta and Sharma 1996), environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM; Sarkis and Rasheed 1995) and environmentally responsible manufacturing (ERM; Handfield and Melnyk i995), to name a few. What these descriptive concepts have overlooked is a more comprehensive typology of the environmental activities corporations practise at multiple levels of the firm. For example, although there may be a number of specific practices that can be found within industrial ecology or environmentally responsible manufacturing, those same practices may not be found within environmental operations management or environmentally conscious manufacturing. The overlap between the different environmental concepts is a good indication of the importance given to these EMPs. The differences between these environmental concepts present an opportunity to better define EMPs.

For the purposes of this study, EMPS are defined as the formal systems that integrate environmental procedures and processes for the training of personnel, for monitoring and controlling environmental impacts and for summarising, integrating and reporting environmental performance. These practices are reported to internal and external stakeholders of the firm. EMPs are internally focused on operational-, tactical-and strategic-level practices that facilitate training, reporting to top management and the setting of environmental goals. The use of this information for external stakeholders is primarily found in annual reports, focuses on the outputs of the firm and is used to enhance the firm's image.

A review of the business literature reveals that academic research is focused mostly on high-level, strategic issues of EMPS relating to sustainable development or descriptions and analyses of specific environmental tools. Much of...