Environmental Strategies of Polluting Industries

Citizen concerns about environmental management practices will usually lead to public attention and
legislative proposals. This paper intends to assess the behaviour of potential environmental polluting
industries. In order to accomplish this objective, a survey composed of twenty-five questions was sent
to large, medium and small enterprises located in Portugal. To analyse the data obtained, statistical
methods – descriptive, bivariate and multivariate – were applied using SPSS 10.0 (Statistical Program
for Social Sciences). The results of the present research allow the conclusion, with a confidence level
of ë=95%, that potential polluting companies can be aggregated into five strategic groups, each one
pursuing a distinct environmental strategy. Each group has specific characteristics that are reported
namely in terms of identification variables and environmental strategic factors. The data analysis
reveals that large environmental efforts are directly related with the company size. It also shows that
most of the companies that are investing to protect the environment are those that include environmental
facts (accidents) in their accounts.