Does quality management improve the internalization of environmental practices? An empirical study in Africa

Abstract This article analyzes the role of quality management in the internalization of environmental practices. A qualitative study based on interviews with 35 practitioners was conducted in three African countries (Cameroon, Senegal, and Ivory Coast). The results highlight the contrasting roles played by the main reference model for quality management—International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001—in the internalization of the international standard for corporate environmental management—ISO 14001—with positive points related to formal and documentary aspects and perverse effects such as increased bureaucracy and a focus on quality at the expense of the environment. The results also point to four configurations of integration of environmental practices according to the level of quality management internalization and the level of institutional pressure to adopt corporate environmental management: poor integration, partial integration, substantial integration, and sustainable integration.