Environmental Knowledge Management - Recent Advances and Issues in Environmental Science - page 44

The objective of this study is to identify the extent and scope of EKM used in the
case study and evaluates its performance from the viewpoint of the knowledge circula-
tion process (KCP) [6]. This chapter begins with a discussion of KM and EM and then
outlines EKM using the EKCP. The case study in which EKM principles are applied
and the business responsibility for the sustainable development of the enterprise is
derived may lead to the improvement of environmental and fi nancial performance.
This study has been surveyed between May 2007 and February 2008.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Management
Petak [7] defined EM as managing human affairs so as to achieve acceptable balance
between the quality of the human environment and the quality of the natural environ-
ment. At that time, EM was still being used to find a balance between the environ-
ment, ecology protection and economics. According to Lorrain-Smith [8], the element
of “control” should be added to EM; hence, he redefined EM as an action taken by
society, a section of society and an organization to improve environmental quality by
developing plans, implementing them and continuously reviewing them introducing
the concept of control after the pollution problems have been caused. Traditional end
of pipe pollution control mechanisms were widely adopted in this period; however,
they are neither technologically efficient nor cost effective and may cause serious
environmental impacts [9].
The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Pollution Prevention
Act [10] defi ne pollution prevention as source reduction, material substitution and
more effi cient processes in order to prevent all kinds of pollutants from the very begin-
ning of the manufacturing process. In 1995, EM was used to enhance environmental
sustainability development [11]. The three requirements of economic growth, social
justness and sustainability in the use of natural resources should be kept in balance
[12]. As indicated above, it is clear that great progress has been made in EM in recent
years developing from passive pollutant control to the initiation of prevention right
from the start of the process and moving forward to encompass the concept of envi-
ronmental sustainable development.
Knowledge Management (KM)
In today's fast changing environment, knowledge is the highest source of power [13]
and how a company creates and shares its knowledge is the main source of sustainable
competitive advantage and profitability [14-17]. Hence, knowledge is a very impor-
tant and powerful resource for organizations to use it in the preservation of heritage,
accumulation of experience, creation of new ideas and sharing of new knowledge.
In the knowledge-based economy, KM has replaced the traditional factors of pro-
duction, including land (i.e., natural resources), labor and capital [18] and has become
a key factor in the success of a business. According to Malhotra [19], The KM is
defi ned as containing organizational processes that seeks a synergistic combination of
data and the information-processing capacity of information technologies and the cre-
ative and innovative capacity of human beings. Quinn et al. [20] defi ned KM generally