Gestión Ambiental Empresarial: Instrumento de Competitividad y Solidaridad

Abstract

In a global society and in an interrelated world the existing trends of environmental management on companies are incorporated in the concept of competitiveness. The methods of Total Quality Management and Strategic Planning have contributed immensely in order that companies are more open to their environment and place their activities in relationship to it. In this article several reasons are proposed to incorporate environmental management as a part of the firm's strategy to improve its positioning in a global world and to contribute to competitivity in the area of costs, market an quality. Starting from an historical point of view the answer of the colombian companies to the growing invironmental crisis of the country is described. Then an overview is presented of the importance of the environmental action as an instrument to improve competitivity; an effort is done to show that competitivity implies cooperation between the private and the public sectors in order to build "scenarios" that are important for the performance of the firms; where experiences are shared, and technology is interchanged and where the offer of the infrastructure and services by government to the private sector can guarantee a better action.