International Journal for Quality Research

8

Authors: J. Jovanovic, Z. Krivokapic, S. Ramovic, M. Perovic

The research is oriented on improvement of environmental management system (EMS) using BSC (Balanced Scorecard) model that presents strategic model of measurem ents and improvement of organisational performance. The research will present approach of objectives and environmental management me trics involvement (proposed by literature review) in conventional BSC in "Ad Barska plovi dba" organisation. Further we will test creation of ECO-BSC model based on business activities of non-profit organisations in order to improve envir onmental management system in parallel with other systems of management. Using this approach we may obtain 4 models of BSC that includ es elements of environmen tal management system for AD "Barska plovidba". Taking into acc ount that implementation and evaluation need long period of time in AD "Barska plovidba", the final choice will be based on 14598 (Information technology - Software product evaluation) and ISO 9126 (Software engineering - Product quality) using AHP method. Those standards are usually used for evaluation of quality software product and computer programs that serve in organisation as support and factors for development. So, AHP model will be bas ed on evolution criteria based on suggestion of ISO 9126 standards and types of evaluation from two evaluation teams. Members of team & will be experts in BSC and environmental management system that are not em ployed in AD "Barska Plovidba" organisation. The members of team 2 will be managers of AD "Barska Plovidba" organisation (including manage rs from environmental department). Merging results based on previously cr eated two AHP models, one can obtain the most appropriate BSC that includes elements of environmental management system. The chosen model will present at the same time suggestion for approach choice including ecological metrics in conventional BSC model for firm that has at least one ECO strategic orientation.

11

Authors: S. Karapetrovic, M. Sasadeus, I. Heras

The overall goal of this paper is to empirically analyze the augmentation and integration of ISO 9001 - based quality management systems with ISO 14001 - based environmental and other standardized management systems. Results from a survey of 298 organizations headquartered in the Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Basque Country are presented. All surveyed organizations were registered to both ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 14001: 2004, while some had further management system standard certificates, for example in occupational health and safe ty and social responsibility. Various aspects of augmentation and integration, such as the usage of additional subsystem standards, the process of in tegration and the conduct of audits, are discussed through largel y descriptive analyses.

13

Authors: D. Lionel

This paper deals with entrepreneurs' objectives when starting a business. At the very beginning of the firm, the entrepreneur chooses to secure their jobs or to develop their firms. We provide evidence on the determinants of individuals' aim using a rich databas e made of an entrepreneur survey gathering entrepreneur and firm characteristics. We implement probit models on different subsamples to emphasize some covariate e ects. People who are the most discriminated on the labor market are more likely to create their own job than developing the firm.

16

Authors: A. Drabo

This paper examines the link between health indicators, environmental variables and economic development, and th e consequences of this relationship on economic convergence for a large samp le of rich and poor countries. While in economic literature income and envi ronment are seen to have an inverted-U shaped relationship (Environment Kuznets Curve hypothesis), it is also well established that an improvem ent in environmental quality is positively related to health. Our study focuses on the implica tions of this relationship for economic convergence. In the early stage of econom ic development, the gain from income growth could be cancelle d or mitigated by envir onmental degradation through populations' health (and other channels) and create a vicious circle in economic activity unlike in developed countries. This in turn could slow down economic convergence. To empirically a ssess these issues, we proceeded to an econometric analysis through three equa tions: a growth equation, a health equation and an environment equation. We found that health is a channel through which environment impacts economic growth. When we take into account the effect of environment quality on economic growth, the speed of convergence tends to increase slightly. This shows that environmental quality could be considered as a constraint for economic convergence.