A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001

Environmental management has recently emerged as a competitive edge in the international market. Vietnamese companies can no longer ignore this phenomenon in the way joining the world business community. However, they are far behind world level practice in environmental management and now pacing to catch up with their rivals in advanced countries. ISO 1400 standards series developed by the International Organization for Standardization is widely acknowledged as a solution for business entities based in developing countries to compete equally in the world market in terms of environmental management. Vietnamese enterprises are now paying more attention to environmental management and, thus, considering the option of implementing ISO 14000. This research aims at discovering the practice of ISO 14000 standards series in a Vietnamese facility: Lever Vietnam, Hanoi Branch. The author wants to analyze the practice of building an Environmental Management System through a standard of the ISO 14000 series, ISO 14001 namely "Environmental Management System specification". Base on the analysis the research study draws the lessons for implementing ISO 14001 at the facility and suggests recommendations to improve the EMS of the facility.