Table 13. ESA - Chemical Company

Case studies | 95

use of environmental indicators for process monitoring and environmental reporting as business benchmark.

Voluntary initiatives are focused on the development of recreational and cultural activities for communities and have involved more than 1700 employees globally and 200 locally (Chemical Company, 2017b). The beneficiaries of the program has corresponded to communities located under the influence of the company in Las Hermosas Canyon (Tolima), San Carlos (Antioquia), Quibdó (Chocó), Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca), Florencia (Caquetá) and an indigenous reservation (Chemical Company, 2017b).

Table 13. ESA - Chemical Company

observed environmental practices

* Adoption of end of pipe technologies * Implementation of environmental communication campaigns * Development of social projects for low-income communities located nearby the facilities of the company * Commitment to voluntary initiatives, industry standards such as ISO 14001, Global

Compact, local product seals and local Water Company Standards for pipelines. * Cleaner production and operational efficiency * Participation in green awards * Adoption of parent company guidelines

• ESA Factors

a) Business Context.

The influencing factors observed in terms of the business context corresponded to regulation, public concern about the safety of the product and parent company´s guidelines for the adoption of environmental strategies. Colombian government has stipulated waste disposal rules for manufacturing companies (Chemical-Company, 2018). In relation to that, Company treats wastewater before its discharge, in order to fulfill the quality characteristics required under national laws and regulations (Chemical-Company, 2018).

In addition to regulation, public concern constitutes a key factor for the adoption of environmental strategies: The interviewee expressed that company decisions dealing with environmental issues were influenced by public concerned and the way Company responses to such pressure. Specifically, interviewee stated:

96 | Carlos Fúquene Retamoso

“[…] Stakeholders management in our company consists of: 1) keeping people informed about product safety through different communication media, 2) delivering technical assistance to municipalities regarding water solutions and 3) providing environmental education to children and youth to reach out the community and establish a relation with them […]”

No environmental practices associated to the imitation of competitors´ best practices were observed in Chemical Company. For example, they have been certified under ISO 14001 since 2002 (ICONTEC, 2017) and have subscribed to Global Compact since 2009 (Chemical-Company, 2015). For its part, the closest competitor, which holds less than 30% of the market, has not yet been certified under ISO 14001 or subscribed to Global Compact until present date. Finally, no evidence was found of sustainability self-reports from the closest competitor until present date, while Chemical Company has reported its environmental performance according to UN principles since 2009. As a consequence, mimetic pressures such as competitors’ best practices did not constitute an influencing sub-factor for the adoption of environmental strategies.

On the other hand, guidelines from the parent company have influenced the adoption of industry standards and their commitment to voluntary environmental programs. Specifically, global strategies of the parent company focus on energy efficiency programs in conjunction with water and waste management programs and employee participation in voluntary programs related to environmental education. Those practices constitute a general guidance from the parent company to be implemented around the world. Furthermore, voluntary initiatives such as environmental education programs originated from parent´s company initiatives and have raised awareness in more than 19.000 people at the local level about the use of water in a responsible manner (Chemical-Company, 2017b)

CEO has manifested that complete alignment is expected between the strategy of the local company and the strategy of the parent company. For example, in relation to shared value strategy he has exposed the following statement:

“Company decided to locate a plant in such municipality as a way of creating a competitive advantage through territorial development. This project corresponds to a shared value model because it has contributed to generate social and economic development, employment, governance, leadership and social cohesion in the municipality and, in turn, has