Abstract
Whether realized or potential there are a multitude of goals that the environmental manager may be working toward achieving. This thesis evaluated the hypothesis that regardless of the operational goal(s) that the environmental manager may be working toward, the ultimate goal is to achieve ecological balance. This research defines ecological balance, with specific regard to a company's activities, as a stable and productive (rather than destructive) interrelationship of a company with its environment with regard to the contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements that are present as a result of the company's actions.
This research defined five operational goals of the environmental manager: regulatory compliance, helping the company to reduce environmental costs, communicating environmental performance, helping the company to reduce environmental liability, and improving stakeholder support. The research conducted was aimed at uncovering any correlations between these five operational goals of the environmental manager, and the hypothesized ultimate goal of the environmental manager.
In addition to a review of the literature in-depth interviews were conducted with eight environmental managers, and group workshops were held at three separate International Environmental Management Leadership symposia (RIT, Budapest, and Dubrovnik respectively) in order to collect data on the environmental manager's operational goals and the link between these goals and the existence of an ultimate or greater goal.
The data collected show strong support that there in fact may be a greater goal for the environmental manager and additionally, whether known or unknown to environmental managers, this goal may already be unifying environmental managers.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Ecological integrity; Environmental management
Publication Date
2-25-2009
Document Type
Thesis
Student Type
Graduate
Degree Name
Environmental, Health and Safety Management (MS)
Department, Program, or Center
Civil Engineering Technology Environmental Management and Safety (CAST)
Advisor
John Morelli
Advisor/Committee Member
Stefano Pogutz
Advisor/Committee Member
Joseph Rosenbeck
Recommended Citation
Butler, Brian P., "Ecological Balance: The Greater Goal of the Environmental Manager" (2009). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/theses/9093
Campus
RIT – Main Campus
Plan Codes
EHSM-MS
