Applicability of corporate environmental management system in Tanzania.

Corporate firms in both developed and developing countries including Tanzania have adopted EMS as a strategy for managing the environment. Despite of EMS being widely used in the developed countries, its level of awareness and its applicability by corporate firms in Tanzania is scanty and questionable. This study assessed the applicability of the Corporate EMS in Tanzania. More specifically it assessed the extent to which employees an aware of EMS, its extent of applicability and the barriers for its effective implementation. Data were collected mainly using questionnaires and interviews for all employees selected randomly from corporate firms in Iringa and Morogoro Municipalities as well as Dar es Salaam City. Data were then analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) and confirmatory factor analysis was done to establish factors necessary for effective implementation of EMS using AMOS version 7 Software. The research findings revealed that the level of awareness of employees on EMS was adequate but the extent of applicability of EMS by corporate firms in Tanzania were low; among the reasons being lack of commitment from the top management, difficulty in dealing with environmental issues, lack of motivation on its implementation, and lack of environmental specialists. Most of the problems were found to be more managerial and financial than technical in nature. For effective implementation of EMS in the organizations, it was recommended that the top management should be well committed on EMS and government efforts should be directed to support both private and public firms in order to implement EMS.