"Corporate Greening Through ISO 14001: A Rational Myth?" Boiral, O. (2007). Organization Science 18: 127

doi:10.1287/orsc.1060.0224.

Abstract

The process used by organizations to integrate the ISO 14001 standard has not yet been the subject of extensive research in environmental management despite the rapid development of this standard, particularly in industrial companies. The results of a case study conducted among nine ISO 14001 certified Canadian organizations showed that adopting this standard tends to lead to a ceremonial behaviour intended to superficially show that the certified organizations conformed to the standard. Although rigorous compliance with the standard often resulted in real improvements, these improvements were primarily technical and administrative in nature. However, in most of the cases studied, daily practices remained somewhat decoupled from the prescriptions of the ISO 14001 system, of which employees generally had only a vague understanding...This research also illustrates how adopting the ISO 14001 system can have an ambiguous effect on environmental management practices and performances.